What We Believe
We, the members of St Johns Park Baptist Church, do hereby organise ourselves willingly and seriously in accordance with our Constitution as our articles of governance, to be interpreted at all times to reflect the character of, and bring glory to, Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Holy Bible and articulated further in the standards set forth in the Articles of Faith and Church Covenant of this church.
Furthermore, we believe that the 1677/1689 “London Baptist Confession of Faith” to be, with the exception of the following statements, a faithful summary of Biblical doctrine and as a guide for the theological formulation of the church.
Chapter 26, paragraph 4, “… neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
While we do disagree with the Confession’s terminology of the Pope as being the significant antichrist described in Scripture and recognise the Confession’s historic lens by which it sees the Pope, we do hold the office of the Pope, as the so-called “vicar of Christ”, along with the principal teachings of Catholicism, to be completely contrary to Scripture. We would also believe, however, that the Pope of Rome is not the antichrist, yet he is certainly an antichrist.
Chapter 22, paragraph 7, “…from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's day: and is to be continued to the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.“
Chapter 22, paragraph 8, “The sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all day, from their own works, words and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but are also taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.”
Positively, however, we do ascribe to the Sabbath principle when it comes to our life and practice on Sunday. That is, the first day of the week is to be considered the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
A more concise summary of SJPBC’s beliefs being found in the church’s Articles of Faith below:
