What is a Baptist?

The name Baptist simply means we are a group of Christians who believe what the Bible says and seek to live our lives based on the truth it contains. Baptists have, historically, been biblicists, viewing the Bible as the final authority for all matters of faith and practice.

Huikala is not associated with any conventions, associations or any sort of denominational authority and operates as an autonomous, New Testament Church. 

The following paragraphs give a brief summary of what we believe as a church family. The bottom line is that we believe the Bible and teach it to be perfectly true.

THE BIBLE

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe God not only inspired every word, but has preserved them through the ages. We believe the King James Version to be one of the best translations for English-speaking people and use it for our preaching and teaching (Psalm 12:6-7II Timothy 3:15-17I Peter 1:23-25II Peter 1:19-21).

GOD

We believe in one God, who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance, yet manifests Himself to man in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4I Timothy 1:17James 1:17I John 4:4).

SON

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the Cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time of receiving His church at the Rapture, and returning seven years later to earth to rule and reign as King for 1,000 years (Psalm 2:7-9Isaiah 7:149:643:11Micah 5:2Matthew 1:25Luke 1:26-35John 1:11:3141829Romans 3:19-25Romans 5:6-15Philippians 2:5-11I Thessalonians 4:13-18I Timothy 2:5I Timothy 3:16Titus 2:10-15Hebrews 7:269:24-28I Peter 1:192:2I John 1:3Revelation 20:1-6).

THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind. However, we believe He has a special ministry which began at Pentecost and will continue until the Rapture. This ministry includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:5-6John 14:16Acts 1:5Acts 11:15I Corinthians 3:16I Corinthians 6:19-20I Corinthians 12:13).

SIN AND SALVATION

We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the Cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Genesis 5:1-5Acts 4:19Acts 16:31Romans 3:10-23Romans 5:6-12Romans 6:23Romans 10:9-10Ephesians 2:8-9Titus 3:5-6Revelation 20:11-14).

THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH

We believe the church began with the calling out of the twelve apostles by Jesus Christ and was empowered on the day of Pentecost. We believe the local church is God’s only institution to carry out His work today. We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and the Lord’s Table. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the Rapture, just prior to the Tribulation (Matthew 16:16-18Acts 1:15Acts 2:41-43Acts 11:15Acts 20:28I Corinthians 15: 51-58Ephesians 1:12-14Ephesians 5:25-30I Thessalonians 4:13-18I Timothy 3:4-15).

THE LAST DAYS

We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures in their grammatical and historical context. We believe in the pre-tribulational Rapture of the church saints, followed by the seven-year Tribulation. We believe in the pre-millennial return of Christ to the earth and His literal rule of one thousand years. Following this one thousand years is the Great White Throne judgment and then the new Heaven and new earth (I Corinthians 15:51-58I Thessalonians 4:13-18I Thessalonians 5:1-9; Revelation 19-22).

WHY BAPTIST?

Check out this message about church history and see how we identify with Bible-believing Christians back to the time of Jesus.