Southern Baptist

II. God

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the
Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other
perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things,
past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the
highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or
being.

A. God the Father

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the
stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all
loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in
Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

B. God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy
Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon
Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with
mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His
substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was
raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was
with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of
God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the
reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to
consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present
Lord.

C. God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures.
Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the
moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian
character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His
church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the
guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and
empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Report of the Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee to the Southern Baptist Convention Adopted, June 14th, 2000