SONOMA BAPTIST CHURCH - STATEMENT OF FAITH - ADOPTED JANUARY 2026

The Bible is God's Word. The very words written in the 66 books of the Old and New Testament are divinely inspired1 and without error.2 They are our supreme and final authority for belief and behavior.

12 Tim. 3:16 ("All Scripture is breathed out by God"); 2 Pet. 1:21 ("For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit"). 2i.e. the original writings. Jn. 17:17 ("your word is truth").

There is only one God.1 He is infinitely perfect in all his characteristics and eternally exists in three Persons-Father, Son,2 and Holy Spirit.3 Each is worthy of our same worship, faith, and obedience.

1Isa. 46:9 ("I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me"). 2Jn. 1:1, 14 ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth"); Php. 2:5-6. ("Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God"). 3While no Bible verse explicitly states that the Holy Spirit is God many do imply it. For example, in Acts 5:3-4 lying to the Holy Spirit is equal to lying to God and several passages place the Holy Spirit alongside the Father and the Son (Mt. 28:19, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"); 2 Cor. 13:14 ("May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you"); 1 Pet. 1:2 ("who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood"); Heb. 9:14, "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God!"). 

God created man.1 He was originally innocent and pleasing to God.2 But when tempted, Adam sinned.3 That sin severed mankind's relationship God4 and caused death to enter the world.5 All now have a sinful nature which inclines them to sin in thought, word, and deed,6 and brings them under God's condemnation.7

1Gen. 1:27 ("God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them"). 2Gen. 1:31 ("God saw all that he had made, and it was very good"; cp. Gen. 6:5-6 ("The Lord saw how great. man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain"). 3Gen. 3:1-7. 4God's "friend" then became fearful. God's "son" became a prodigal (cf. Lk. 15:11-24). 5Rom. 5:12 ("sin entered the world through one man, and. death through sin"). 6Psa. 14:2-3 ("The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, theyhave together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one"). 7Jn. 3:18-19 ("whoever does not believe stands condemned . . . men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil").

Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man.1 He was born of a virgin2 and lived a sinless life.3

1 Tit. 2:13 ("our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ"); 1 Tim. 1:5 ("for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"). 2 Mt. 1:23 ("The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel-which means, 'God with us'"). 3 Heb. 4:15 ("For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin").

Jesus died for our sins, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice.1

1Rom. 5:6-8 ("Christ died for the ungodly . . . Christ died for us"); 1 Tim. 2:5-6 ("who gave himself as a ransom for all men"); 1 Pet. 3:18 ("Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God").

We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of Jesus,1 in His ascension into heaven,2 and in His present ministry there for believers as high priest3 and advocate.4

1Acts 1:3 ("After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive"). 2Acts 1:9 ("he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight"); Eph. 1:20 ("he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms"). 3Rom. 8:34 ("Christ Jesus . . . is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us"); Heb. 7:24-25 ("Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore. he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them"). 41 Jn. 2:1 ("we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One").

Jesus will physically come again, and this can occur at any time.1

1Jn. 14:3 ("I will come back"); Acts 1:11 ("This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back"); Php. 3:20 ("we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ"); 1 Ths. 4:13-18 ("For the Lord himself will come down from heaven"); Tit. 2:11-14 ("we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ"); Rev. 22:20 ("He. who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come Lord Jesus").

Salvation is by grace through faith alone.1 It rests solely on God’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice-his death and resurrection. Man can contribute nothing because our best efforts are worthless. We can only receive salvation as a gift, by trusting in Jesus’ work, apart from any work of our own.2

1Eph. 2:8 ("For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works"). 2Jn. 6:29 ("The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent"); Acts 13:38-39 ("through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses"); Acts 16:31 ("Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved"); Rom. 1:16-17 ("I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . . for in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith"); Rom. 3:21-28 ("But now a righteousness from God, apart from law has been made known . . . This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe"); Rom. 4:5 ("to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness"); Rom. 5:6-10; Php. 3:2-9; 1 Pet. 1:18-21 ("For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed . . . but with the precious blood of Christ . . . through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God").

All who trust solely in Jesus' saving work1 are forgiven and made righteous2 solely on the basis of His shed blood.3

1Jn. 3:16. 2Rom. 4:5 ("to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness"); 2 Cor. 5:21. ("God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God"). 3Lev. 17:11 ("it is the blood that makes atonement"); Heb. 9:22 ("without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness").

All who put complete confidence in Jesus' saving work are regenerated1 and indwelled2 by the Holy Spirit, who inspires and empowers them to obey3 and serve4 Christ.

1John 3:6-8 ("the Spirit gives birth to spirit . . .you must be born again"); Tit. 3:5 ("He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit"). 2Rom. 8:9 ("if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ"). 3Rom. 8:5-17; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Gal. 5:22-25. 4Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-10.

We believe in the future bodily resurrection of both believers and unbelievers,1 the eternal blessing in heaven of all who have trusted Christ as Savior2 and the everlasting, conscious punishment in hell of all who have not.3

1Dan. 12:2; Lk. 16:19-26; 1 Cor. 15:42. 21 Cor. 15:50-53. 32 Ths. 1:6-10; Rev. 20:11-15.

Two ordinances are to be celebrated as part of the church's worship-Baptism and Lord's Supper. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water to symbolize faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus for forgiveness of sin. Lord's Supper is a symbolic reminder of Jesus' sacrifice for our salvation and his promised return. God created marriage to be an exclusive union between one man and one woman, and sexual intimacy is to occur only within that union. Made in the image of God, people were created with equal intrinsic value and two distinct biological sexes-only male and female.1

1Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:24; Jer. 29:6; Lev. 18:22; Psa. 139:13-14; Mt. 19:4-5.