Sovereign Grace Baptist Church of Pensacola stands for the faith once delivered to the saints, as practiced by Baptists of old. Our message to the world is based on the sovereignty of our God, the sinnerhood of man, and the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to humble the pride of man, exhalt the grace of God in salvation and promote holiness in both heart and life.

The following are our Articles of Faith and Church Covenant.
  • I. Of the scriptures top
    We believe that the Holy Bible, as originally written, was divinely inspired, and the product of Spirit controlled men; having God for its author, the Lord Jesus Christ for its theme, Salvation for its end and Truth without any admixture of error for its matter. We believe the Bible reveals the everlasting principles by which God will judge us, is the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and opinions should be tried.

    Psalms 40:7…II Timothy 3:16-17…Hebrews 4:12…II Peter 1:19-21
  • II. Of the true God top
    We believe that there is only one true and living God; He is the Maker and Sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love.

    Exodus 20:2-3…Daniel 4:35…I Corinthians 8:6…Revelation 4:8 & 11
  • III. Of the trinity of God. top
    We believe that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, equal in every Divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

    John 10:30…II Corinthians 13:14…Ephesians 2:18…II Corinthians 13:14
  • IV. Of the person, Jesus Christ top
    We believe that Jesus the Christ was the supernaturally begotten Son of God, that He was begotten of the Holy Spirit and conceived in the womb of a virgin. That His birth was as none other was, nor shall there ever be any like unto it. That He is God of very God, and yet was a man in the flesh, but without a sinful nature or the slightest capacity for sin. That, being set up from everlasting as the Mediator of the new covenant, He engaged to be the surety of His people.

    Matthew 1:18-25…John 1:1-14…Hebrews 8:6…Hebrews 7:22
  • V. Of the Holy Spririt top
    We believe that the Holy Spirit is one of the three divine persons of the Eternal Godhead. The work of the Spirit includes the making available and application of the benefits of Christ’s death to the Elect: indwelling, regenerating, and sanctifying believers; He works in them a full, complete and everlasting salvation. We reject the unbiblical teaching that He is responsible for the fanaticism of our day among cults, ie, the perversion of the gift of tongues (so called) and divine healing (so called), as they are exploited today.

    1 John 5:7…Matthew 28:19-20…Hebrews 9:4…John 16:13-14
  • VI. Of the Devil, Satan top
    We believe in the personality of Satan, that he is the unholy "god" of this present age and world-system, that he is the author of all the powers of darkness, and is the enemy of God’s redeemed people. He is destined to the judgement of an eternal justice in the lake of fire.

    Matthew 4:1-3…II Corinthians 4:4…Ephesians 2:2…Revelation 20:10
  • VII. Of the creation top
    We, by faith, believe the complete Bible account of creation without question and unreservedly, including that God created all things in six literal days by His almighty creative word, calling them into existence, and that man is the result of a direct creative act of God. We reject the theory of evolution.

    Genesis 1:1…Genesis 1&2…John 1:1-3…Colossians 1:16-17
  • VIII. Of the fall of man top
    We believe that man was created in the image of God, and sinless, also innocent under the law of his Creator, but by voluntary transgression, fell from his happy and holy state, in consequence of which all mankind became sinners, not only by birth but by choice and practice, and are therefore under the just condemnation of God and are without either defense or excuse, and as such are within themselves totally depraved and irrecoverably lost. From all which there is no deliverance but by CHRIST, the second Adam.

    Genesis 3:1-6…Romans 1:18, 32& 3:10-23…Romans 5:12…Eph. 2:1-3
  • IX. Of God's purpose of grace top
    We believe that, before the world began, God did elect a certain number of men unto everlasting salvation, whom He did predestinate to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, of His own free grace, and according to the good pleasure of His will: and that in pursuance of this gracious design, He did contrive and make a covenant of grace and peace with His son Jesus Christ, on the behalf of those persons, wherein a Savior was appointed, and all spiritual blessings provided for them; as also that their very persons were put in the hands of Christ, and made His care and charge.

    Exodus 33:18-19…Rom. 8:28-31…Eph. 1:3-14…II Thess. 2:13
  • X. Of the attonement for sin top
    We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the mediatorial office of the Son of God, who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin. Honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and perfect atonement for our sins; that the atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinners place, the Just dying for the unjust; Christ the Lord bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, that having risen from the dead, He is now in Heaven. We do not believe that Christ made an atonement for those who are forever damned. Christ’s atonement will accomplish all that it was intended to do, that is, each and every one for whom He died shall be saved: a multitude which no man can number from every nation, from every class, young and old, male and female, Jew and Gentile. The Lord Jesus Christ is in every way qualified to be a suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior.

    Isaiah 53…Matthew 1:21…Romans 5:11…Hebrews 9:12-15, 28
  • XI. Of salvation top
    We believe that salvation is in the Person Jesus Christ; that New Testament evangelical repentance toward God and faith in the Redeemer’s blood are both gifts of God and inseparable graces wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit and are the only conditions to a saving relationship. Salvation is not an act of man’s free will and power, but of the mighty efficacious, and irresistible grace of God.

    John 14:6…Acts 16:31…Acts 20:20-21…Ephesians 2:8-9
  • XII. Of justification top
    We believe that justification of God’s elect is only by the righteousness of Christ imputed unto them, without the consideration of any works of righteousness done by them; and that the full and free pardon of all their sins and transgressions, (past, present and to come), is only through the blood of Christ, according to the riches of His grace.

    Romans 4:1-8…Romans 5:1&9…Galatians 2:16…Titus 3:5-7
  • XIII. Of sanctification top
    We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of His holiness; that it is a progressive work, begun in regeneration, and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, (the Sealer and Comforter), in continual use of the appointed means: especially, the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness and prayer.

    Lev. 20:7-8…John 17:17…1 Cor. 6:9-11…2 Cor. 6:14-18
  • XIV. Of the security of the saints top
    We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ. All those who are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sanctified by the Spirit, shall certainly and finally persevere, they being engraven upon the palms of the LORD JESUS, and their names having been written in the Book of Life from all eternity. Therefore, not one of them shall ever perish but shall have everlasting life.

    John 10:27-29…Rom. 8:35-39…Eph. 2:8-10…Phil. 1:6
  • XV. Of the harmony of law and gospel top
    We believe that the law of God is the eternal and UNCHANGEABLE rule of His moral government; that it is HOLY, JUST, and GOOD, and that the inability of fallen men to keep the law arises entirely from their sinful nature. To deliver them from this hopeless situation, and to restore them through the Mediator Jesus Christ to unfeigned obedience to the Holy Law, is the great end of the Gospel.

    Matt. 5:17…Rom. 3:20…Rom. 6:23…Rom. 7:12…Gal. 3:24
  • XVI. Of the local church top
    We believe that a local church is a congregation of immersed believers, associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the Gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges vested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors and deacons whose qualifications are clearly defined in the Scriptures; we believe the true mission of the church is the faithful witnessing of Christ to all men as we have opportunity. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self government: free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals, organizations or governments, and that the one and only Head is Christ, through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the Gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its cooperation on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence. The will of the local church is final. We do not believe in the "universal, invisible church" doctrine as widely taught in this day.

    Matt. 22:21…28:18-20…Eph. 3:21…4:1-16…Col. 1:18-19
  • XVII. Of the origin/ pertetuity of the church top
    We believe the church had its origin during the personal ministry of its Founder and Head the Lord Jesus Christ, that it was added to on the day of Pentecost, that it has had a VISIBLE, CONTINUAL EXISTENCE ever since, even unto this very day; that it has not been REFOUNDED, REFORMED, REORGANIZED or RESTARTED, but has continued to exist according to the promise of Matthew 16:18, and SHALL CONTINUE TO EXIST until Christ comes for it.

    Matthew 16:18…Matthew 28:19-20…Mark 3:13-19…Acts 2:41-47
  • XVIII. Of the local church's support top
    We believe that a New Testament Church should be supported by the Lord’s tithe and offerings given freely by its members, and we do not agree with the high-pressure and unscriptural methods used today to collect money from the multitudes.

    Numbers 18:24-32…Malachi 3:7-10…Matthew 23:23…1Corinthians 16:1-2
  • IXX. Of baptism and the Lord's supper top
    We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water to demonstrate, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the Crucified, Buried, and Risen Savior. It is symbolic of our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; and a prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation. We believe that the Lord’s Supper, in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of unleavened bread and wine, commemorate Christ’s death until He comes. It should be preceded always by solemn self-examination. We heartily reject alien immersion and open communion, because both are unscriptural and destructive to the purity and preservation of the local body.

    Matthew 28:18…Romans 6:3-6…Luke 22:13-20…1Cor. 11:20-34
  • XX. Of civil government top
    We believe that Civil Government is of Divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the revealed will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ONLY Lord of the conscience and King of the earth. A citizen is under the authority of Civil Government. The Church, however, is not a citizen, but under the authority only of Jesus Christ her Lord.

    Matthew 22:21…1 Peter 2:11-20…Acts 5:12-29…Colossians 1:16-19
  • XXI. Of the righteous and the wicked top
    We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; only those that, (through faith), are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His sight; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse. This distinction holds among men both before and after death, resulting in the everlasting prosperity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.

    Prov. 14:32 …Mal. 3:18-4:3. . .Rom. 3: 10-26...1 Cor. 6:9-11
  • XXII: Of resurrections, the personal, premillenial return of Christ, and other related events top
    We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ: Matt 28:6... .Luke 24:38...John 20:27…lCor.15:4….Mark 16:6…Luke 24:2-6; The Ascension (The ascension of Christ into heaven) Acts 1:9-ll...Luke 24:51…Mark 16:19...Rev. 3:21...Heb.12:2; The High Priesthood (Christ being the only mediator between God and man for the reconciliation of their sins) Heb. 8:6...l Tim. 2:5…John 2:1…Heb. 2:17, 5:9-lO, The Second Coming of Christ (Christ descending from heaven to call up His people, when the dead in Christ shall rise first, then the living; we then being changed from corruption to incorruption shall be with Him forever), John 14:3…Acts l:11…I Thess. 4:16…James 5:8...Heb 9:28, The Wedding (Of Christ the Lamb to the Bride, His Church) Eph. 5:25. .Rev. 19:5-9, The Thousand Year Reign (The earthly reign of Christ the King upon His own throne) l Cor 15:25...Isa. 32:1 & 11:4-5...Psm. 72:8...Rev. 2O:1-4...Rev. 20:6, The Great White Throne Judgement (The judgement of the unsaved by God) Rev 20:11-15, The New Heaven and The New Earth Rev. 21:1-5.

    THESE ARTICLES OF FAITH

    (AND THE FOLLOWING CHURCH COVENANT)

    COMPILED BY: THE SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH OF PENSACOLA, FLORIDA LOCATED AT: 6209 DENVER AVENUE PENSACOLA, FLORIDA 32526
  • XXIII. Church Covenant top
    Believing it to be the teaching of GOD’s Word that where a company of Scripturally baptized believers meet together regularly in the Name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, they should be organized into a local Church, we therefore having been banded together as such, and as a body of CHRIST, do solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another, and shall endeavor by the grace of GOD to:

    1. Walk together in Christian love, strive for the advancement of this Church in holiness, in knowledge of the Word, and in its testimony before the world.

    2. Give to it sacred preeminence over all institutions of human origin, and attend its services regularly, unless prevented from doing so by reasons acceptable to the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

    3. Contribute cheerfully and regularly to the Church, for support of the ministry, expense of the Church, relief of the poor, and its missionary programs throughout the world.

    4. Labor and walk together in Christian love, to manifest the Spirit of CHRIST in all our dealings with one another, to refrain from all gossiping or backbiting, to watch over one another in Brotherly love, and to aid each other in sickness and distress. We further engage to remember each other in prayer, to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation and mindful of the rules of our SAVIOUR to secure it without delay.

    5. Give the work of the Church such a place in our lives that, should we remove from this place, we will at the first opportunity unite with some other Church of ‘like precious faith’ in the community to which we move, where we can carry out the Spirit of this covenant and the teachings of GOD’s Word.