Fruitland’s passion is the Gospel and our purpose is to equip the next generation of Christian leaders. Our doctrinal statement is grounded in the Scriptures and is consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000.

  1. The Scriptures. The Bible is divinely inspired Word of God. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and is inerrant in the original manuscripts.
  2. God. There is one and only one living and true God, the Creator of the universe. He is eternal in existence, infinite in his perfections and sovereign in the fulfillment of his purpose. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.
  3. Jesus Christ. Jesus is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary and both revealed and fulfilled the perfect will of God. He died on the cross to provide atonement for our sins, was buried and rose again. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God as the one mediator between God and humanity.
  4. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. He exalts Christ, convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment and indwells the believer to empower for Christian living and service.
  5. Man. Man was created by a special act of God, in God’s own image. Mankind fell into sin, became separated from God and is subject to death as the consequence of sin. Only by the grace of God can one be saved, restored to fellowship with God and made a new creation.
  6. Salvation. Salvation is ‘by grace through faith’ in Jesus Christ. The one who repents and trusts Christ as Savior is born again of the Holy Spirit, set apart to a life of holiness and finally will be glorified with Christ. Those who are redeemed are kept by the power of God eternally.
  7. Church. A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel observing the two ordinances of Christ, committed to His teachings, exercising the gifts, rights and privileges invested in them by His Word and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. The New Testament also refers to the church as the body of Christ including the redeemed of all locations and ages.
  8. Ordinances of the Church. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience by which the believer publicly confesses faith in Christ and symbolizes the believer’s experience with God. The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
  9. Last Things. God, according to His own purpose and plan, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to earth according to His promise. The dead will be raised and judged by Christ in righteousness. Unbelievers, the unrighteous, will be consigned to hell, the place of everlasting punishment. Believers, the righteous, will be raised and clothed with glorified bodies. These will receive their reward and will live forever in heaven with the Lord.