Eastern Liangmai Baptist Association affirms The Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the basis for any statement of faith. This Association also affirms the doctrinal statement of The Baptist Faith and Message and the Baptist Distinctive.
The Scriptures
We believe the scriptures in both Old and New Testaments to be verbally and plenary inspired words of God. The scriptures are inerrant, infallible and God-breathed and, therefore, are the final authority for our faith and practices (II Pet.1:21; IITim.3:16, 17; Matt.24:35).
The Godhead
We believe that the Godhead exists in three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are One God, having precisely the same nature, attributes and perfection and worthy of the same homage, confidence and obedience (Matt.28:18-19; Mk.12:29; I Jn.5:7-8; Acts 5:3-4; II Cor.13:14; Heb.1:1-3; Rev.1:4-6).
Angels: Fallen and Unfallen
We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless spiritual beings known as angels.
One of them, “Lucifer, son of the morning”, highest in rank sinned through pride thereby became Satan and that a great multitude of the angels followed him in his fall, some of whom became demons and are active in his ungodly purpose, while others who fell are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day (Isa.14:12-17; Ezek.28:11-19; I Tim.4:1; II Pet.2:4; Jude 6; Eph.3:10)
A great company of angels who kept their holy estate are there before the throne of God, from whence they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Rev.7:11-12; Lk.15:10; Heb.1:14)
Man: Creation and the Fall
We believe that man was originally created in the image and likeness of God, and that he fell through sin, and, as a consequence of his sin lost his spiritual life, becoming dead in trespasses and sins, and that he became subject to the power of the devil (Gen.1:26; 2:17; 6:5; Psa.14:1-3; Rom.3:10-19; IJn.3:8)
The First Event of Christ
We believe that as pronounced in the prophecies of the scriptures, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God came into this world that He might manifest God to men, fulfil prophecy, and redeem the lost world. To this end He was born of the virgin and received a human body and a sinless human nature (Isa.7:14; Lk.1:30-35; Jn.1:18; 3:6; Heb.4:15)
Salvation
We believe that a man being forgiven of his sin be saved exclusively in the name of Jesus Christ. Salvation is the gift of God. On hearing and receiving the Gospel, a man is born again by the Holy Spirit and is saved by grace through faith (Eph.1:7; Jn.1:12; 3:1-7; Rom.1:16; 10:9-10; Eph.2:8-9).
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the blessed Trinity. Though omnipresent from all eternity, He took up His abode in the world in a special sense on the day of Pentecost according to divine promise, dwells in every believer and by His baptism unites all to Christ in one body (Jn.14:16-17; 16:7-15; I Cor.6:19; Eph.2:22; II Thess.2:17)
The Church
We believe that the true church which is the body of Christ is solely made up of born again persons (I Cor.12:12-14; II Cor.11:2; Eph.1:22-23; 5:25-27).
We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 2:42-47; 14:27; Tit.1:5-11; I Cor.12:12-27).
We believe in the autonomy of the local church free of any external authority or control (Acts 13:1-4; 15:19-31; 20:28; Rom.16:1,4; ICor.3:9,16; 5:4-7,13; IPet.5:1-4)
The Ordinances
We believe that water baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the only ordinances of the church and that they are a scriptural means of testimony for the church in this age (Matt.28:19; Lk.22:19-20; Acts 10:47-48; 16:32-33; 18:7-8; ICor.11:26).
The Blessed Hope
We believe that, according to the word of God, the next great event in the fulfilment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord in the air to receive to Himself into heaven both his own who are alive and remain unto his coming, and also all who have fallen asleep in Jesus, and this event is the blessed hope set before us in the scripture, and for this we should constantly looking (Jn.14:1-4; ICor.15:51-52; Phil.3:20; IThess.4:13-18; Tit.2:11-14).
The Great Tribulation
We believe that the translation of the church will be followed by the fulfilment of Israel’s seventieth week (Dan.9:27; Rev.6:1-19:21).
During this time, the church which is the body of Christ will be in Heaven. The Israel’s seventieth week will be the time of judgement on the whole earth, at the end of which the times of the gentiles will be brought to a close. The second half of this period will be the time of Jacob’s trouble which our Lord called the great tribulation (Jer.30:7: Matt.24:15-21).
We believe that universal righteousness will not be realized previous to the second coming of Christ, but that the world is day by day ripening for judgement and that the age will end with a fearful apostasy (I Tim.4:1-3; II Tim.3:1-5).
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth as He went, in person on the clouds of heaven, and with power and great glory He will rule in the millennial kingdom. His second coming will be the climax of the great tribulation. When He come, He will bind Satan and place him in the abyss, lift the curse which now rests upon the whole creation, and restore Israel to her own land and give her the realization of God’s covenant promise. The whole world then will come to the knowledge of God (Duet, 30:1-10; Isa.11:9; Ezek.37:21-28; Matt.24:15-25; Acts 15:16-17; Rom.8:19-23; 11:25-27; Rev.20:1-3).
The Eternal State
We believe that at death the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in the conscious bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body, when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body reunited shall be associated with Him forever in glory.
But the spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgement of the great white throne at the close of the millennium when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (Lk.16:19-26; 23:42; II Cor.5:8; Phil.1:23; II Thess.1:7-9; Jude 6-7; Rev.20:11-15).
