Statement of Faith
The Bible
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired Word of God in the original autographs, that it was written by men controlled by the Holy Spirit, and therefore without error. It is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
The Trinity
We believe in the Trinity of the Godhead; there is one God eternally existing in three equal but distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God the Father
We believe in God, the Father, and rejoice that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and eternal damnation all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. We believe He has a paternal relationship to believers only.
God the Son
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, born of a virgin, sinless in His life, who atoned for the sins of the world by His death, burial, and bodily resurrection. We believe in His ascension into Heaven, His perpetual intercession for His people, His personal coming in the air for His church prior to the seven year tribulation, and His return to earth at the close of the tribulation to establish His millennial Kingdom.
God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit who convicts, regenerates, baptizes, indwells, seals, and fills. We believe Spirit baptism takes place at the time of regeneration and that the filling of the Spirit is manifested by the fruits of the Spirit rather than by any specific spiritual gift.
Creation
We believe in the direct creation by God in six solar days, of the physical universe, all spirit beings, man, and lower forms of life, without the process of evolution; and also that the early chapters of Genesis are literal and accurate history. God sustains all creation but exists in no necessary relationship to it.
Spirit Beings
We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless spirit beings. One of these, though created holy by God, sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan, the Devil, the enemy of his Creator, leading a host of angels in rebellion against God. He became the god of this age and the ruler of all the powers of darkness and is destined to the judgment of an eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
Mankind
We believe that all men are sinners by nature and under the condemnation of God. The only remedy for this condition is Holy Spirit regeneration through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as payment for one's sins. We believe regeneration is the irrevocable act of God, thus securing the believer for all eternity. We believe the Bible does not teach that God created any person for the purpose of condemnation.
Final Destinies
We believe that the souls of believers in Christ do at death immediately pass into His presence and there remain until the resurrection of the body at the rapture when soul and body reunited shall stand before Christ to be judged of their Christian works for the giving of rewards; and they shall then be associated with Christ forever in glory. The souls of unbelievers remain after death in conscious misery until the final resurrection at the end of the millennium for judgment; the result of this judgment will be that all will be cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting separation from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
The Church
We believe in the Church, a living spiritual body, of which Christ is the head and of which all regenerated people are members. We believe that a local church is a company of believers in Jesus Christ baptized on an acceptable confession of faith associated for worship, work and fellowship and having two offices, pastor and deacon. We believe that to these visible churches were committed, for observance throughout the church age, the ordinances of baptism by immersion and the Lord's Supper, and that God has laid upon these churches the task of witnessing to a lost world to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and of building up the saints in the faith once for all delivered. We believe that human betterment and social improvements are the inevitable by-products of the Gospel and edification.
Separation
We believe that separation is a doctrine as well as a practice and that the separation principle runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We believe that true spiritual fellowship is the result of a common faith and practice. We believe there are four aspects of Biblical separation.
    a. Political separation - the separation of the church from the state (Luke 20:25).
    b. Personal separation - the separation of the believer from the world and sin in order to serve God. This involves a separation from acts of sin, the world system, the unbeliever, heretics, and false teachers (Josh. 24:15; Ephesians 5:15-18; I John 2:15-17; II Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Titus 3:10; II John 10:11; I John 4:1).
    c. Ecclesiastical separation - the separation of the church from apostasy. Each local church is independent and autonomous and must be free from interference by any other ecclesiastical authority. We believe we are to reprove apostates rather than recognize them, to rebuke rather than to reason with them, to reject rather than to receive or unite with them. We believe that loyalty to Christ also demands separation from those groups content to walk with or tolerate religious unbelief. (II Corinthians 6:14-17; II John 10-11; II Timothy 4:2-4).
    d. Practical separation - the separation of the believer from an erring brother. We believe that we must separate from those who continue in disobedience to the Word of God. This includes the trouble maker, the disorderly, and the immoral brother (II Thessalonians 3, 6, 14, 15; Romans 16:17; I Corinthians 5:11).

We Believe in God and Country
I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's Holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. I will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.

I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands, one Savior, crucified, risen, and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We Believe in Our Constitution
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
We Believe in Our Declaration of Independence
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed . . ."

Philosophy of the School

The Fourth Baptist Christian School was organized in 1966 to assist parents in their God-given responsibility of teaching and training their own children, bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The primary goal of Fourth Baptist Christian School is to partner with parents in the preparation of their young people for a life of service to the Lord in a lost world that rejects Biblical Truth. FBCS seeks to supplement the home academically and complement the home spiritually.

Academically, students are offered a sound, broad based curriculum that will give them a solid foundation for further studies after graduation and/or for the work force. Spiritually, it is our desire for each of our students to know Christ as their personal Savior and to dedicate their lives to do His perfect will, whatever that may be. Through Biblical integration of all subject matter, the faculty will seek to facilitate the application of God's principles in the students' daily lives, thus encouraging discernment and spiritual growth beyond salvation. The building of Christian character will be emphasized as it is remembered that FBCS does not primarily exist to train children how to make a living, but rather how to live. A child needs to grow as Jesus Himself grew, as defined in Luke 2:52. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." "Wisdom" is intellectual growth; "Stature" is physical growth; "In favor with God" is spiritual growth; and "In favor with man" is social growth.

True education conforms to the ideal set forth in Scripture, and it involves the total development of the born-again believer. For this reason, only "born-again" applicants in grades 7-12 who express a desire to attend FBCS are admitted. Though evangelism is more prevalent in the younger students and may also occur in the upper grades, FBCS exists to provide training (spiritual, academic, physical and social) for Christian young people as an extension of their Christian homes.

Fourth Baptist Christian School is an integral arm of the Fourth Baptist Church; thus it maintains and teaches without apology the same doctrinal position as set forth in the constitution and the doctrinal statement of the church.