Foundations of the Church's Faith
(1) The Church believes in the following foundations:
(a) We believe that the true and ever-living God is only one.
(b) God reveals Himself to us in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and these three are equal in unity within the perfection of one God (John 1:1-5, 12, 18; 1 John 5:5-8).
(c) God is wise and is the source of all intelligence and knowledge. He is unlimited in power, authority, glory, perfection, eternity, and holiness.
(d) God has personal attributes and honor that no human can fully describe; instead, we should honor, love, worship, and obey Him above all else (Mark 12:29-30).
Salvation
(2) Salvation is brought by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ, so that everyone who believes in Him may be born again (Ephesians 1:8-10).
The Bible (Holy Scriptures)
(3) a. The Bible (Old and New Testaments), comprising 66 books, is the true Word of God — inspired, anointed, powerful, without any deficiency or error in its original form, and useful for teaching, reproof, and correction.
b. The Bible is the Word of God written by people guided by the Holy Spirit; therefore, it has supreme authority in all matters concerning the guidance of our faith and the conduct of our daily lives (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
Faith
(4) Faith is the key to victory (Hebrews 11:33; 1 John 5:4) and a power that cannot be resisted in the spiritual world (Matthew 17:20).
Prayer
(5) Prayer is the means of communicating with God and building a relationship with Him, and thus it should be part of every believer's daily life (Jeremiah 33:3; Philippians 4:6).
The Church
(6) The Church is the gathering of people who have believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, have been baptized, and have united together in one locality as a collective testimony of all Christians worldwide, to worship and live as witnesses of Christ Himself by fulfilling His commands and proclaiming His promises (Matthew 16:16-18).
Membership of the Church
(7) A member is one who has believed and confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their life, has been baptized in much water, and has joined the local Church (Acts 2:37-41), and walks together in obedience to the requirements of this Constitution and its Bylaws.
Ordinances of the Church
(8) The ordinances given by the Lord Jesus Christ and taught in the Bible are Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which are symbols of spiritual realities and a remembrance of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore:
a) Baptism — as taught in the Bible and accepted by the Baptists' Church of Tanzania, is for those who have believed, repented, and confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The only mode is immersion in much water (Matthew 3:13-17; Acts 8:34-40).
b) The Lord's Supper — is a remembrance of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ until He returns. Those qualified to partake are only those who have believed and been baptized by immersion (Matthew 26:26-29).
The Priesthood of All Believers
(9) (a) We believe that Christianity is a spiritual faith freely accepted after a person is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and drawn to the Lord.
(b) Every Christian has the privilege of communicating with God through prayer and receiving revelation and true understanding of God through the Bible, as revealed by the Holy Spirit (Revelation 5:9-10).
(c) We believe that every Christian has the freedom to communicate with God directly through Jesus Christ, who is our High Priest and Intercessor before God.