January 27, 2013.
Purpose: To set forth the position of Yigo Baptist Church with respect to certain issues which have become known as “secondary” issues of doctrine in the church. These issues are known as distinctives because they are areas of faith and practice where Yigo Baptist Church may differ from other churches.
Distinctives
1. Centrality of the Word of God. The Word of God is at the center of everything we do at Yigo Baptist Church. The Word of God is at the center of the Sunday worship service. We strive to ensure the Word of God and the gospel message contained therein is at the center of all other activities of the church.
2. Believer’s Baptism. Being that there are no explicit examples of infant baptism mentioned in scripture and all baptisms referenced in scripture follow a profession of faith unto salvation, Yigo Baptist Church practices and teaches that baptism should only be performed after a profession of faith and the concurrence of a mature Christian.
3. Regenerate Church Membership. Recognizing that the reception of the gift of salvation is always accompanied by a true profession of faith and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, membership into the church will only be extended following an interview by an elder to confirm the presence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
4. Church Discipline. Although Christians have been born again of incorruptible seed, the tent of flesh remains and Christians are subjected to temptations and appeals to earthly desires. Scripture lays out a program for restoring individuals who are found to be entangled by sin. If loving appeals fail to bring the desired restoration, the final action is to revoke membership and withhold benefits of shared fellowship with God. The focus of these actions also is the restoration of the individual to the fellowship of the saints.
5. Local Church Autonomy. Yigo Baptist Church is an autonomous local church congregation following the pattern of new testament churches described in scripture. The church is vested with the full authority to recognize the call of elders, ordain elders for official ministry, establish patterns of practice of the faith for the church body consistent with scriptural mandates.
6. Plural Elder Leadership. Jesus Christ is the head of the church and He leads the church through the activity of the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches that the leading of the Holy Spirit should be sought through the prayer by elders and elders are responsible for managing the affairs of the church. Significant decisions should be discussed and affirmed by the body following an appropriate period of teaching and prayer.
7. Family Integrated. Yigo Baptist Church believes that parents are responsible for the training of their children in spiritual matters and such training should occur by modeling and teaching principles of Christian living within the family structure on a daily basis. While there may be times where it is appropriate for children to have specific lessons or activities during the service, the primary responsibility for the spiritual development of children resides with parents. We recognize that while there may be a role for children’s church for very young children as well as other circumstances, the Biblical pattern is for children and their parents to worship as a family unit.
8. Complementarianism. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him before God, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of elder is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.