Our Beliefs
Yokosuka Baptist Church
Welcome to YBC -
Our hope is not found in religion or a church. Our hope IS found in Jesus Christ! We strive for a personal relationship with Him and we love one another.
We endeavor to accomplish this while worshiping God through honoring music and Bible preaching & teaching.Please join us as we discover God’s truth and grow in His grace.
Our Mission
The purpose of this church is to evangelize the lost at home and abroad, to edify Christians through the teaching of God's Word, to promote Godly worship, to defend "the faith once delivered unto the saints", and in everything, to glorify God.
Inspiration of Scriptures
We believe that the original writings of the Old Testament and New Testament were inspired of God, that they are inerrant, and that they are of supreme and final authority on all maters of faith and practice. (Matthew 5:18; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)
Trinity
GOD
JESUS CHRIST
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in one God who is spirit, sovereign, infinite, holy, loving, all wise, and all powerful. He is self-existent in three distinct eternal persons...the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Mark 12:29; John 4:24; John 14:9; Psalm 135:6; 18:30; 147:5; Deuteronomy 33:27; Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, Who without any change in His divine person, became man by the miracle of the virgin birth. He will continue forever as both true God and true man, one person with two natures. As man, He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin; as the Lamb of God, He suffered the full penalty of divine wrath, and died in our stead. After three days, He arose bodily from the grave and ascended into Heaven. There, as our Great High Priest, He appears before the face of God interceding for us. (John 1:1; John 3:16; John 1:14; John 1:29; John 9:46; John 20:25-28; Titus 2:13: Romans 9:5; Matthew 1:23; Matthew 20:28; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 22:16; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 9:24; Isaiah 53:5,6; Galatians 3:13; 1 John 2:1)
We believe the Holy Spirit is the divine agent in nature, revelation, and redemption. He convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. He regenerates, indwells, baptizes, seals, and anoints all who become children of God through Christ. He further empowers, guides, teaches, sanctifies, and fills believers who daily surrender to Him. (Acts 5:3,4; Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 6:19; ; 1 Corinthians 12:13; ; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; John 6:8-11; John 14:26; 3:5; Ephesians 4:30; 3:16; Romans 8:14; John 14:26)
Man
We believe all men are, by nature and choice, sinful and lost. Adam was the direct creation of God, made in His image and not by process of evolution. By personal disobedience to God, Adam became a sinful creature and the father of a fallen race which is universally sinful in both nature and practice and thus alienated from the life and family of God. Under the righteous judgment and wrath of God, man has within himself no possible means of salvation. (Genesis 1:26:28; Genesis 2:7, 18-24; Genesis 3:1-24; 5:3; Matthew 19:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 2:3; 4:18; Romans 3:23; 5:12; John 8:42-44)
Salvation
We believe salvation is the free gift of God, neither merited nor secured in part or in whole by any virtue or work of man, but received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him all believers have as a present possession, the gift of eternal life, making them children in the family of God and giving them deliverance and security from all condemnation. (Romans 6:23; Romans 4:4,5; Romans 11:16; Titus 3:5-8; John 6:28,29; John 5:24; John 10:27-30; Acts 16:30,31; 4:12; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 John 5:13; Galatians 3:26; 2 Peter 1:3)
Works
We believe in righteous living, not as a means of salvation in any sense, but as its proper evidence. Therefore, we should obey the Word of our Lord, seeking things which are above and walking as He walked. We should conscientiously accept our responsibility of bearing the Gospel to a lost world; remembering that every spiritual resource needed for life and godliness is available as we implement the great commission. (1 John 3:9-11; 1 John 4:19; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 5:4; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14; 3:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 12:1,2)
Satan
We believe that Satan was originally created holy, but as a result of pride, he rebelled against God. He then became an utterly depraved leader of evil angels and spirits and the deceiver and god of this present world. His powers, though vast, are strictly limited by God. He was defeated and judged at the cross, and therefore his final doom is certain. We are able to resist and overcome him only in the armor of God, by the blood of the Lamb, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Ezekiel 28:13-17; Isaiah 14:13,14; 1 Timothy 3:7; John 8:44; Matthew 4:1-11; Matthew 12:24-26; Matthew 25:41; Luke 22:31,32; Ephesians 6:12-18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Job 1:1-22; Revelation 12:10; Revelation 20:10)
The Rapture of the Church
We believe the rapture is the blessed hope for which we should constantly watch, the time being unrevealed but always imminent. At this event, Christ will remove His church from the earth and then pour out the righteous judgments of God upon the unbelieving world in a period of time known as the tribulation. (Titus 2:11-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)
The Second Coming of Christ
We believe Christ will return in a body and will be visible. This event will follow the tribulation when Christ will descend with His church and establish a glorious and literal kingdom over all nations for a thousand years. (Acts 1:8-11; Daniel 7:13,14; Revelation 19:14; Revelation 20:4-6; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10)
The Future Life, Bodily Resurrection, and Eternal Judgment
We believe the souls of the saved at death go immediately to be with Christ in Heaven and their works shall be brought before the judgment seat of Christ for the determination of rewards which will take place at the time when Christ comes for His own. We believe the souls of the unsaved at death descend immediately into Hades where they are kept under punishment until the final day of the Great White Throne Judgment at which time their bodies will be raised from the grave, judged, and cast into the Lake of Fire, the place of final and everlasting punishment. (Philippians 1:21-23; Philippians 3:20,21; 2 Corinthians 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:35-58; 1 Corinthians 3:8-15; 1 John 3:2; Luke 16:19-31; Revelation 20:11-15; Mark 9:43-48; Jude 13)
The Priesthood of the Believer
We believe Christ is our great high priest and through Him every born again person has direct access into God's presence without the need of any other intercessor. Every believer has the right and responsibility to study and interpret the Scriptures guided by the Holy Spirit and to offer up spiritual sacrifices. (Hebrews 4:14; 1 Peter 2:5,9; 1 John 2:1)
The Local Church
We believe a New Testament church is a local assembly of born again, baptized believers united in organization to keep New Testament ordinances, to meet together for worship, prayer, fellowship, and instruction, to present to the world a united testimony, and to actively engage in carrying out the great commission. We believe that each New Testament church is free to govern itself without ecclesiastical interference, though it should cooperate with other churches of like faith as the Holy Spirit leads. The local church is directly accountable to God. We also believe in the separation of church and state, with each having definite and distinct spheres of responsibility. (Acts 2:41-47; Acts 14:27; Acts 20:17; Matthew 22:17-22; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 12:27; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Hebrews 10:25)
The Ordinances
We believe Christ has commanded two ordinances: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Baptism is by immersion of believers only, both identifying the believer with Christ and portraying the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper is the partaking of the bread and cup by the believer as a continuing memorial of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 28:20; Romans 6:3,4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32)