By the grace of God we are a Word-driven, Christ-exalting, doctrinally-minded local church (per 1 Tim. 3:15; Jude 3; Col. 1:28-29). In all things we seek to be biblically balanced and to be a body committed to grace and truth. Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength is of course the Greatest Commandment of them all (Matt. 22:36-40; Rev. 2:1-7). We are sinners saved by grace who long to please the Lord in all of our ways.
Though all biblical truth is important we embrace a theological triage approach to Christian ministry. In other words, some theological matters are of “first rate” importance. This is the inspired language the Apostle Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.
“The word triage comes from the French word trier, which means ‘to sort.’ Thus, the triage officer in the medical context is the front-line agent for deciding which patients need the most urgent treatment. Without such a process, the scraped knee would receive the same urgency of consideration as a gunshot wound to the chest. The same discipline that brings order to the hectic arena of the Emergency Room can also offer great assistance to Christians defending truth in the present age.”
Fundamental doctrines would include things like penal substitution, justification by grace through faith in Christ alone, the virgin birth, the bodily resurrection of Christ, the Deity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, the Trinity of Persons within the One true God, etc. To deny any of these gospel truths is to be outside orthodox Christianity (see 1-3 John, 2 Peter).
“The set of second-order doctrines is distinguished from the first-order set by the fact that believing Christians may disagree on the second-order issues, though this disagreement will create certain boundaries between believers. When Christians organize themselves into congregations and denominational forms, these boundaries become evident.”
The Bible does not establish an definitive list of second and third order doctrines, therefore, each congregation will establish their own theological identity. Some embrace a “big tent” approach to local church ministry, while others, (like FBC) are more precise in their philosophy of ministry and in their theological distinctives.
Some second tier theological distinctives at First Baptist include: Believer’s baptism, the doctrines of grace, premillennial eschatology, biblical manhood and womanhood (aka- Complementarianism), Cessationism (we are non-Charismatic), six day creationism, a Nouthetic approach to Biblical counseling, Lordship salvation, a high view of the Bible (inerrancy, Divine inspiration, sufficiency).
In order to maintain Christian unity within this local ekklesia we require that all of our officers and teachers uphold these first and second tier doctrinal distinctives.
“Third-order issues are doctrines over which Christians may disagree and remain in close fellowship, even within local congregations. Christians may find themselves in disagreement over any number of issues related to the interpretation of difficult texts or the understanding of matters of common disagreement. Nevertheless, standing together on issues of more urgent importance, believers are able to accept one another without compromise when third-order issues are in question.”
Third order doctrines at First Baptist Church include church polity, (FBC has historically embraced a hybrid form of church government- though leadership embraces an elder-led form of church polity); certain personal convictions related to Christian liberty issues, (such as tattoos, preferred styles of music, Sunday morning attire, education, etc); preferred Bible translations (NAS, KJV, NIV, ESV); etc.
Some other important convictions of First Baptist include Text-driven, in-depth, expositional preaching; biblically qualified shepherd-leadership; courageous confrontation and radical restoration (church discipline); God-centered, Word-saturated worship; meaningful membership; a missions-minded church culture; a biblical understanding of gender and sexuality; a biblical view of marriage, divorce, and remarriage; the 5 Solas, a Christian maturity focused philosophy of ministry (note Col. 1:28-29; Eph. 4:11-16; Matt. 28:18-20; Heb. 5:12-14; Acts 2:42), etc.
In short, our constitution is the governing document of this church and the statement of faith represents our core theological convictions. Our church covenant is a summary of what we believe it means to be a faithful member within the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Pet. 4:10-11). Because no human document is inerrant we heartily embrace the Reformation principle of Semper Reformanda. "When we invoke this whole phrase — the church Reformed and always being reformed according to the inerrant Word of God — we confess that we belong to the church and not simply to ourselves and that this church is always created and renewed by the Word of God rather than by the spirit of the age.”
What does this mean today? If the Senior Pastor and lay leaders come to a consensus related to second and third order doctrines that are different than the current doctrinal standards of the church our Constitution has a orderly process by which to propose revisions. Such proposals for revision should not be brought to the congregation for a vote if the leadership team is not fully united. Unity in the flock often flows from the top down. In addition to this, constitutional revisions should not be presented before careful biblical instruction on these related subjects has happened; (Beginning with the expository pulpit, and often, in more informal contexts, like Sunday School). If the preacher gets too far ahead of the congregation he may be mistaken for the enemy.
Per Article XII, “This constitution may be amended at any regular or called business meeting of the church by a three-fourths vote of those present and voting, provided a quorum is present and voting, and that notice of such amendment, stating the proposed change, shall have been given from the pulpit on two successive Sundays.”
Over the past eight years these guidelines have been carefully adhered to. As a result, no proposal related to Constitutional revisions has been “voted down” by the current membership of the church. We thank God for this! In short, our spiritual unity is grounded in the truth and is directly related to our common union in Christ (Eph. 4:1-6; Psalm 133).
“Third-order issues are doctrines over which Christians may disagree and remain in close fellowship, even within local congregations. Christians may find themselves in disagreement over any number of issues related to the interpretation of difficult texts or the understanding of matters of common disagreement. Nevertheless, standing together on issues of more urgent importance, believers are able to accept one another without compromise when third-order issues are in question.”
Third order doctrines at First Baptist Church include church polity, (FBC has historically embraced a hybrid form of church government- though leadership embraces an elder-led form of church polity); certain personal convictions related to Christian liberty issues, (such as tattoos, preferred styles of music, Sunday morning attire, education, etc); preferred Bible translations (NAS, KJV, NIV, ESV); etc.
Some other important convictions of First Baptist include Text-driven, in-depth, expositional preaching; biblically qualified shepherd-leadership; courageous confrontation and radical restoration (church discipline); God-centered, Word-saturated worship; meaningful membership; a missions-minded church culture; a biblical understanding of gender and sexuality; a biblical view of marriage, divorce, and remarriage; the 5 Solas, a Christian maturity focused philosophy of ministry (note Col. 1:28-29; Eph. 4:11-16; Matt. 28:18-20; Heb. 5:12-14; Acts 2:42), etc.
In short, our constitution is the governing document of this church and the statement of faith represents our core theological convictions. Our church covenant is a summary of what we believe it means to be a faithful member within the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Pet. 4:10-11). Because no human document is inerrant we heartily embrace the Reformation principle of Semper Reformanda. "When we invoke this whole phrase — the church Reformed and always being reformed according to the inerrant Word of God — we confess that we belong to the church and not simply to ourselves and that this church is always created and renewed by the Word of God rather than by the spirit of the age.”
What does this mean today? If the Senior Pastor and lay leaders come to a consensus related to second and third order doctrines that are different than the current doctrinal standards of the church our Constitution has a orderly process by which to propose revisions. Such proposals for revision should not be brought to the congregation for a vote if the leadership team is not fully united. Unity in the flock often flows from the top down. In addition to this, constitutional revisions should not be presented before careful biblical instruction on these related subjects has happened; (Beginning with the expository pulpit, and often, in more informal contexts, like Sunday School). If the preacher gets too far ahead of the congregation he may be mistaken for the enemy.
Per Article XII, “This constitution may be amended at any regular or called business meeting of the church by a three-fourths vote of those present and voting, provided a quorum is present and voting, and that notice of such amendment, stating the proposed change, shall have been given from the pulpit on two successive Sundays.”
Over the past eight years these guidelines have been carefully adhered to. As a result, no proposal related to Constitutional revisions has been “voted down” by the current membership of the church. We thank God for this! In short, our spiritual unity is grounded in the truth and is directly related to our common union in Christ (Eph. 4:1-6; Psalm 133).
To Him alone belongs the highest praise,
Pastor Caleb Kolstad
Key Scriptural Texts:
Ephesians 4:1-6- I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
1 Cor. 15:1-5, Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Col 1:28-29- And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Psalm 133:1-3- A Song of Ascents, of David . Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron's beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing-- life forever.
Matthew 28:18-20- And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Acts 2:42- And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Heb. 5:12-14- For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Matthew 22:36-40; "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
1 Timothy 3:15- I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth
