Pioneer Baptist Church has established doctrine and teaching positions that come from many years of study of the Word of God. To that end, teaching roles are limited to members who have been part of the Church for a minimum of six months. They must also complete and be in agreement with our basic discipleship lessons. To learn more about our stance on the Gospel of Christ, please see Pastor Mark's teaching on the Clarity of the Gospel on his podcast ministry Return to the Word located here.
The Bible is our teaching textbook. Our teaching highlights the following doctrines from the Bible:
The Bible
Every word in the original writings of the Holy Scriptures is inspired of God and without error (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet.1:20-21; 1 Cor. 2:13).
The Eternal Godhead
The Godhead exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God (Gen. 1:1; John 10:30; 4:24; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).
The Person and Work of Christ
The Eternal Son of God became incarnate in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man, having been born of the virgin Mary (John 1:1,14,18; Matt. 1:21-23; Heb. 1:6, 8; 1 John 5:20; 1 Tim. 2:5).
The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead, who regenerates, indwells, baptizes, and seals all true believers in Christ and fills those yielded to Him (Matt. 28:19; John 1:13; 3:3-6; Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 2:12; 6:19; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30).
The Total Depravity of Man
Man was created in the image and likeness of God, but in Adam all mankind fell into sin with the result that all men are sinners, hopelessly incapable of salvation in themselves, apart from the grace of God (Gen. 1:27; 9:6; Rom. 5:12; 3:23; Eph. 2:1).
Eternal Salvation
Salvation is received by faith alone in Christ alone, who died in substitutionary sacrifice for our sins and rose again (Acts 4:12; 13:38-39; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 4:4-5; 5:1).
Eternal Security and Assurance of Salvation
All who are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ have the assurance of salvation and are eternally secure in Christ (Rom. 5:1; John 3:5-6; 1 John 5:13; John 10:28-29; 17:12; 2 Tim. 1:12).
Personal Spiritual Growth
Every believer is justified at the moment of faith in Christ (positional sanctification), and is promised ultimate sanctification (perfect sanctification) with the possibility of progressive development in life spiritually (progressive sanctification) (Heb. 10:10, 14; John 17:17; Eph. 5:26-27; 1 Thess. 4:3-4; 1 John 3:2).
The Church
The Church, embracing all true believers of this age, is the Body and Bride of Christ, formed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The local assembly is a subset of the universal church and is comprised of a group of localized believers who meet regularly for worship, study, prayer, and fellowship for the mutual edification of its members (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:24-25, 30; 1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27). The scriptural ordinances of the local church are baptism and the Lord's supper, and they are for all true believers in Christ (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 8:12, 36-38; 9:18; 10:47; 1 Cor. 1:16; 11:23-26).
Spiritual Gifts
God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts. Certain apostolic sign gifts, such as speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles, gradually ceased as the New Testament Scriptures were completed and their authority became established (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 2 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 4:7-12).
Evangelism
It is the obligation of the saved to witness, by life and by word, to the truths of Holy Scriptures and to seek to proclaim the gospel to all mankind (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:19-20).
Eternal Rewards
Christians are called to a life of faithful and obedient service to our Lord and to a testimony of holiness in the power of the Holy Spirit, which service includes the propagation of the gospel message to the whole world. There is promised reward in heaven for faithfulness in such service (1 Pet. 1:15-16; John 12:25-26; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor. 3:12-15).
Angels
Angels were originally created holy, but now exist as unfallen and fallen, including Satan (Col. 1:16; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 143:2-5; Jude 6; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9; Eph. 6:11-12).
Satan
Satan is the author of sin and the cause of the fall of mankind. He is the open and declared enemy of God and man and he shall be eternally punished in the Lake of Fire (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12-17; Matt. 4:2-11; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).
The Dispensations
God has revealed different dispensations or stewardships with corresponding rules of life, of which the present dispensation is the Church Age. These various dispensations do not represent different ways of individual salvation, but rather different ways in which mankind interacts with his Creator. Individual salvation, in all ages, has always been by grace through faith alone. (Eph. 3:2-6, 9-11; Col. 1:25-27; Rom. 6:14; Heb. 7:18-19).
The End Times
The Rapture of the Church, which is the blessed, imminent hope of the Church, is to be followed in order by: the Judgment Seat of Christ in heaven for the Church, the unveiling of the Antichrist on earth, the seven-year Tribulation; the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of the millennial reign of Christ on earth; the Great White Throne Judgment; the eternal state of punishment for the unsaved and the eternal state of blessing for the saved; and the New Heaven and New Earth (Titus 2:13; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:4-10; 2 Cor. 5:9-11; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; Rev. 3:10; Matt. 24:21, 29-30; 25:31; Rev. 20:1-6, 11-15; Matt. 25:46).
