What we Believe - Riverside Baptist Church

Core Beliefs
• The Bible
We believe the Scriptures are the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and complete Word of God. They are the final and supreme authority for all faith, doctrine, and practice.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 2 Peter 1:20–21 Psalm 12:6-7
• God
We believe in one eternal, living, and true God who exists in three co-equal, co-eternal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Matthew 28:19 2 Corinthians 13:14 Genesis 1:26
• Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, died as the substitutionary atonement for our sins, rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the Father, and will return visibly and gloriously.
John 1:1, 14 Luke 1:35 Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:23 1 Peter 2:22 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 Acts 1:9–11 Revelation 1:7
• The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; regenerates all who believe; baptizes them into the body of Christ; indwells them permanently; and empowers them for godly living and Christian service.
John 16:8 John 3:5–6 Titus 3:5 1 Corinthians 12:13 1 Corinthians 6:19 Acts 1:8 Romans 8:9
• Salvation
We believe salvation is the free gift of God’s grace, received through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:8–9 John 3:16 Titus 3:5 Romans 10:9–10, 13 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Humanity
We believe all people are created in the image of God, yet through Adam’s fall have inherited a sinful nature and are separated from God.
Genesis 1:26–27 Romans 5:12 Romans 3:23 Ephesians 2:1
Practice & Principles
• Baptism
We believe baptism is a New Testament ordinance for believers—an outward expression of an inward faith.
Matthew 28:19–20 Acts 2:41 Acts 8:36–38 Romans 6:3–5
• The Lord’s Supper
We believe the Lord’s Supper is a sacred ordinance given by Christ as a memorial of His death and a reminder of His return.
1 Corinthians 11:23–26 Luke 22:19–20
• Religious Liberty
We believe every individual is free and responsible to respond to God personally in matters of faith and conscience.
Romans 14:5, 12 Joshua 24:15 Galatians 5:1 Acts 5:29