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Meet the Pastor

Tom Johnston is the pastor of Onycha Baptist Church. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Bradley University and a Bachelor of Divinity from Pensacola Bible Institute. He was saved at Bradley University through a gospel tract that he received. Pastor Johnston has pastored in southern Alabama for the past 15 years. He has a heart for souls and encourages everyone to share the gospel. In April 2007, God led him to Onycha Baptist Church where he has been a blessing and encouragement in the restart of the church.

 

Statement of Faith

The Scriptures

We believe the authorized King James Version, 1611, is the preserved word of God and is the final authority of all matters of faith and practice. Galatians 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 12:6-7

The True God

We believe in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth. We believe that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in power and glory and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:2, 3; John 1:1-3; Romans 1:1-6

The Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary as no other man was ever nor can be born of a woman. He is God manifest in the flesh. He lived a life of absolute sinlessness and in His death made a full and vicarious atonement (redemption) for our sins, dying not as a martyr, but as voluntary substitute in the sinners place. He rose from the dead on the third day and ascended bodily into heaven. He is coming again to rapture His saints, and to set up the throne of David and establish His kingdom. This rapture coming is imminent and will be personal, pre-tribulational and pre-millennial. Isaiah 7:14; John 1:1. 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Peter 2:22, 3:18

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person possessing all the attributes of personality and of deity. He is equal with the Father and the Son and is of the same nature. His relation to the unbelieving world is that He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. He is the agent of the new birth, and His work among believers is that He seals, indwells, fills, guides and teaches them the ways of righteousness. 1 Corinthians 12-14; Eph 4:11-13; Romans 12:6-8

Man

We believe the Scriptures teach that man was created by a direct act of God and not from any previously existing form of life. By willful sin he fell from his state of innocence, in consequence of which all men are now sinners by nature and by choice, utterly devoid of the holiness required by the law, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal punishment in hell and everlasting separation from God without defense or excuse. Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23, 5:12-19

Salvation

We believe the Scriptures teach that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly of grace, and accomplished only through the mediatorial work of the Son of God; that it is wholly apart from works of man and is never without genuine repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ; that in order to be saved the sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ and becoming the recipient of a new nature; that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification, that judicial act of God accompanied by the pardon of sin and the imputation of divine righteousness, not because of any works of righteousness on the sinner's part, but solely through faith in the Redeemer's blood and resurrection; that the believer who has exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is completely justified and in possession of a salvation which is eternally secure. John 3:3-6, 3:16, 10:28-29; Acts 3:19, 13:39, 20:21, 26:20; Hebrews 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Titus 3:5

Onycha Baptist Church fully endorses:

1. The King James Bible (AV 1611) as its sole and final authority for faith and practice;

2. Autonomy of the local church;

3. The two scriptural offices of elder and deacon, the presiding elder being the pastor;

4. The two symbolic ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper for believers only;

5. Individual priesthood of the believer, with individual soul liberty and accountability to God;

6. Separation of church and state.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper

We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem his identification with the crucified, buried, risen Saviour, thus illustrating the believer's death to sin and his resurrection to a new life. It is a prerequisite to membership and privileges in a local church. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes and should be preceded by solemn self-examination. Observance of the Lord’s Supper is for believers only. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper must be observed under the discipline of the local church and is open to all believers in attendance when it is observed. Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28

The Eternal State

We believe the Scriptures teach the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust. All those who through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in full enjoyment of Gods presence and those who through impenitence and unbelief refuse to accept God’s offer, salvation through Jesus Christ, will spend eternity in everlasting punishment. Psalm 16:11; John 5:28-29, 14:2; Matthew 25:46; Revelation 20:14-15, 21:4

Satan

We believe the Scriptures teach that there is a personal devil who is the god of this age and the prince of the power of the air, who is full of all subtlety, who seeks continually to frustrate the purposes of God and to ensnare the sons of men, and who was conquered by Christ on the cross and His resurrection and is condemned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire. 2 Corinthians 4:4; Hebrews 2:14; Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9

Personal Separation

We believe the Scriptures teach that every believer should be separated unto God from the world system, and by the aid of and surrender to the Holy Spirit, should walk in Christian love and holiness, exhibiting qualities of honesty, integrity, forgiveness, and loving-kindness. We further believe that any achievement in these characteristics will be evidenced by sincere humility and genuine zeal for the advancement of the gospel of Christ. We also believe the Scriptures admonish every believer not to love the world or the things in the world, but rather flee evil desires, avoid every kind of evil, and refrain from questionable practices which destroy ones testimony, offend the brethren, and fail to glorify God. Proverbs 15:33; Galatians 5:22-25; Romans 14:19-21; Ephesians 4:32, 5:1-2

Ecclesiastical Separation

We believe the Scriptures teach that the believer should be separated from apostasy as exemplified in ecclesiastical organizations that include radicals, liberals, modernists, ecumenists, and those who sanction theological compromise. This doctrine is based upon God’s eternal principle of division between truth and error and His specific command to be separate from unbelievers and disobedient brethren. This truth is to be practiced with an attitude of devotion to God, humility, compassion, and yet with conviction, to create the proper condition and atmosphere for the main objective, i.e., the salvation of the lost through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:34-39, 18:15; 1 Timothy 6:3-6; Romans 16:17; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Galatians 1:8-9