About
To contact Gabe, his e-mail address is pastorgabehughes@gmail.com. You may also call the church office at 520.477.7450, or send mail to the following address:
Attn: Pastor Gabe Hughes
P.O. Box 11181,
Casa Grande, AZ 85130
Providence follows the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1689. The following is a brief form of all 32 chapters of that confession, with summaries given from either the confession itself or from the Baptist Catechism. You can read the full confession here:
1. Of the Scriptures
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being
given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and
practice. (Isaiah 8:20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21)
2. Of God and the Holy Trinity
There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in
power and glory. (Matt. 28:18-20; John 10:30, 14:9; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor.
13:14)
3. Of God's Decree
The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according
to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He has foreordained whatsoever
comes to pass, and He executes His decrees in the works of creation and
providence. (Dan. 4:35; Rom. 11:36; Eph. 1:11)
4. Of Creation
The work of creation is God's making all things of
nothing, by the Word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good. God made man in His image, male and female He created them. (Gen. 1:1, 27, 31;
Ex. 20:11; Heb. 11:3)
5. Of Divine Providence
God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and
powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions. (Neh. 9:6;
Ps. 103:19; Matt. 10:29-30; Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3)
6. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof
The sin whereby our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell from the estate
wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit. All mankind, descending from Adam by ordinary generation,
sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression, lost communion with God,
are under His wrath and curse, and made liable to all the miseries of this life, to
death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.
7. Of God's Covenant
When God created man, He entered into a covenant
of works with him, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death. God, out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity,
having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver
them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation,
by a Redeemer.
8. Of Christ the Mediator
The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus
Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God
and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.
9. Of Free Will
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, being left to the freedom of their
own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by eating the
forbidden fruit and thereby sinning against God, bringing all of their
descendants into a state of sin and misery.
10. Of Effectual Calling
Effectual Calling is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, He does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the Gospel.
11. Of Justification
Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
12. Of Adoption
Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.
13. Of Sanctification
Sanctification is a work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
14. Of Saving Faith
Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel.
15. Of Repentance Unto Life and Salvation
Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.
16. Of Good Works
Good works are only such as God has commanded in His Holy Word, and done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith.
17. Of the Perseverance of the Saints
Those whom God has accepted in the beloved, effectually called and
sanctified by His Spirit, and given the precious faith of His elect
unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but
shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
18. Of the Assurance of Salvation
Those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love Him in sincerity,
endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before Him, may in this
life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.
19. Of the Law of God
The duty which God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law, summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, the sum of which is to love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourselves.
20. Of the Gospel and the Extent of Grace Thereof
God was pleased to give the promise of Christ as the means of calling the elect, and begetting in them
faith and repentance;
in this promise the gospel, as to the substance of it, was revealed,
and is therein effectual for the conversion and salvation of sinners.
21. Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience
The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel,
consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin and the condemning wrath of
God, unto obedience to God.
22. Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
Religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to Him alone. He has particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy unto Him,
the first day of the week, which is called the Lord's Day.
23. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows
A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein the person
swearing in truth, righteousness, and judgment, solemnly calls God to
witness what he swears. A vow, which is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone, is to
be made and performed with all religious care and faithfulness.
24. Of the Civil Magistrate
God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained civil
magistrates to be under Him, over the people, for His own glory and the
public good; and to this end has armed them with the power of the sword,
for defense and encouragement of them that do good, and for the
punishment of evil doers.
25. Of Marriage
Marriage is to be between one man and one woman.
26. Of the Church
The church is the organized society of professing believers, in
all ages and places, wherein the Gospel is truly preached and the
ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper rightly administered.
27. Of the Communion of Saints
It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to join themselves to
some visible and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in
all the commandments and ordinance of the Lord blameless.
28. Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign
institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be
continued in His church to the end of the world.
29. Of Baptism
Baptism is a holy ordinance, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, signifies our ingrafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace. Baptism by immersion is to be administered to all those who profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other.
30. Of the Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper is a holy ordinance, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and the cup, according to Christ's appointment, His death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers are by faith made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.
31. Of the State of Man After Death and of the Resurrection of the Dead
The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption; but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, immediately return to God who gave them. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive shall not sleep but be changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the selfsame bodies, and none other; although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.
32. Of the Last Judgment
God has appointed a day wherein He will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. All persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear
before Him, to give an account of their thoughts,
words, and deeds, and receive according to what they have done in the
body, whether good or evil.
