PREAMBLE:

We prayerfully declare and establish this Constitution to uphold the principles of our faith and to guide the church in an orderly and Christ-honoring manner. It preserves the freedoms of each member while affirming the God-given autonomy of this body in fellowship with other churches.

Name and Purpose:

Section 1. Name:

The name of this church shall be Cedar Crossing Baptist Church of Cedar Crossing, Georgia.

Section 2. Purpose:

The purpose of this church shall be the advancement of the Kingdom of God. This purpose shall be pursued through the public worship of God, the faithful preaching of the Gospel, consistent Christian living among its members, personal and corporate evangelism, missionary endeavors, and Christian education.

Section 3. Denominational Policy:

It shall be the policy of this church, to the fullest extent consistent with its identity as an independent Baptist church, to prayerfully support the missionary and benevolent ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Daniel Baptist Association.

Section 4. Church Covenant:

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and having professed our faith through baptism, we now, in the presence of God and this assembly, solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.

We therefore engage, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; and to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel throughout all nations.

We also engage to maintain family and personal devotions; to faithfully educate our children in the Christian faith; to seek the salvation of our family members and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our commitments, and exemplary in our conduct; to avoid gossip, backbiting, and excessive anger; and to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating beverages.

We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember one another in prayer; to aid one another in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in spirit and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the teachings of our Savior.

(Articles of Faith adopted from the Baptist Faith and Message, as approved by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1963.)

1.  The Scriptures:
    The Holy Bible, written by men who were divinely inspired, is God’s revelation of Himself to humanity. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction, having God as its Author, salvation as its purpose, and truth, without any mixture of error, as its foundation. It reveals the principles by which God judges us and shall remain, to the end of time, the true center of Christian unity and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious beliefs are to be evaluated. The life and teachings of Jesus Christ are the key to understanding and interpreting the Scriptures.
   
11.  God 
     There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being—the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and in every other perfection. To Him we owe our highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, yet without division of His nature, essence, or being.
 
 
A. God the Father
     God, as Father, reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the course of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise. God is Father in truth to those who become His children through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all people.
 

B. God the Son

     Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and fulfilled the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with humanity, yet without sin. He honored the divine law through His perfect obedience, and by His death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of humanity from sin.

He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the same person who had been with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God, where He is the one Mediator, fully God and fully man, through whom reconciliation between God and humanity is accomplished.

He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord.

 

C. God, the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination, He enables people to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls people to the Savior and brings about regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church.

He seals the believer until the day of final redemption. His presence in the life of the believer is God’s assurance that He will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers both the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

 

111.  Man

     Man was created by the special act of God in His own image and is the crowning work of His creation. In the beginning, man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his own free choice, man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God and fell from his original innocence. As a result, his descendants inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin and, as soon as they are capable of moral action, become transgressors and are under condemnation.

Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable him to fulfill the creative purpose for which he was made. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image and that Christ died for all people. Therefore, every person possesses inherent dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
 
 
IV. Salvation
 
     Salvation involves the redemption of the whole person and is offered freely to all who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Through His own blood, He obtained eternal redemption for all who believe. In its broadest sense, salvation includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
 

A. Regeneration

     Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart brought about by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of God’s grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and the commitment of one’s entire life to Him as Lord and Savior. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ, based upon His righteousness. Justification brings the believer into a relationship of peace and favor with God.

 
B. Sanctification

     Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart for God’s purposes and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the believer’s life.

 
C. Glorification
        Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final, blessed, and eternal state of the redeemed.
 
 
V. God’s Purpose of Grace

     Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man and comprehends all the means connected with His purpose. It is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility.

All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Holy Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach upon the cause of Christ, and incur temporal judgments upon themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

 
VI. The Church

     A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are united by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel. They observe the two ordinances of Christ, are committed to His teachings, exercise the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seek to extend the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

     This church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a congregation, all members are equally responsible. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.

     The New Testament also speaks of the church as the Body of Christ, which includes all the redeemed of every age.

 

VII. Baptism and The Lord’s Supper

     Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior; the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to the believer’s faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and participation in the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.

 
VIII.  The Lord’s Day
     The first day of the week is the Lord’s Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be devoted to worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. It should also be observed by refraining from worldly amusements and resting from secular employment, except for works of necessity and mercy.
 
1X. The Kingdom

         The Kingdom of God is both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over those who willingly acknowledge Him as King. In particular, the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which people enter through trustful, childlike faith in Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and labor that the Kingdom may come and that God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of the age.

 

X. Last Things

         God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end according to His promise. Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. The dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all people in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous, in their resurrected and glorified bodies, will receive their reward and will dwell forever in heaven with the Lord.

 

XI. Evangelism

      It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of a person’s spirit by the Holy Spirit results in a love for others. Therefore, missionary effort on the part of all believers rests upon the spiritual necessity of every regenerated life and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. It is the duty of every child of God to seek continually to win the lost to Christ through personal witness and by every other method that is in harmony with the Gospel of Christ.

 
XII. Education

       The cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is closely aligned with the causes of missions and Christian benevolence and should receive, along with these, the generous support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian schools is essential to a complete spiritual program for Christ’s people.

      In Christian education, there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom within the orderly relationships of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the preeminence of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Scriptures, and the distinct purpose for which the institution exists.
 
XIII. Stewardship

        God is the source of all blessings, both temporal and spiritual. All that we have and all that we are, we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debt to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the Gospel, and a binding stewardship of their possessions. Therefore, they are under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions, recognizing that all these have been entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and the good of others.

According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and generously for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.

 
          XIV. Cooperation          

     Christ’s people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great purposes of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches. They are voluntary and advisory bodies designed to encourage, combine, and direct the efforts of God’s people in the most effective manner.

     Members of New Testament churches should cooperate with one another in carrying forward the missionary, educational, and benevolent ministries for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom. Christian unity, in the New Testament sense, is spiritual harmony and voluntary cooperation among various groups of Christ’s people for common purposes. Cooperation among Christian denominations is desirable when the objective is consistent with the will of God and when such cooperation does not violate conscience or compromise loyalty to Christ and His Word as revealed in the New Testament.

 
XV. The Christian and the Social Order            

      Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in his or her own life and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among people can be truly and permanently effective only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual through the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus.

     The Christian should oppose, in the spirit of Christ, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice. Christians should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the influence of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.

     In order to promote these ends, Christians should be ready to work with all people of goodwill in any good cause, always being careful to act in a spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.

 

XVI.  Peace and War

     It is the duty of Christians to seek peace with all people on principles of righteousness. In accordance with the spirit and teachings of Christ, they should do all within their power to put an end to war.

     The true remedy for the spirit of war is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world’s supreme need is the acceptance of His teachings in every area of life and among all nations, together with the practical application of His law of love.

 

XVII. Religious Liberty

     God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men that are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should remain separate. The state owes every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual mission. In providing for such freedom, no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state over another.g