Faculty must affirm the following doctrinal distinctives:
Sufficiency of Scripture: GBTS adheres to and teaches the sufficiency of Scripture in all things, not only in matters of salvation (2 Tim 3:15) but in all Christian theology and ethics (2 Tim 3:16–17). We affirm that Holy Scripture is the written revelation of God, verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit and penned through the instrumentation of men. The Bible is self-testifying, infallible, inerrant, and authoritative in all that it says. The complete canon of the Old and New Testaments is necessary and sufficient for a proper knowledge of God, self, and salvation. Accordingly, as an institution, Grace Bible Theological Seminary affirms:
- Christ-centered, biblically rooted theology
- Presuppositional apologetics
- Biblical counseling
- Strong complementarianism
- Biblical sexuality
Protestant: We affirm the five solas of the Reformation as essential doctrines of the faith: Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura), Grace Alone (Sola Gratia), Faith Alone (Sola Fide), Christ Alone (Solus Christus), and Glory to God Alone (Soli Deo Gloria).
Reformed: We affirm the doctrines of grace, covenant theology, the importance of a confessional legacy, and the regulative principle of worship.
Baptist: We substantially affirm the distinctives of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), Reformed Baptist covenantalism, believer's baptism, regenerate church membership, liberty of conscience, and separation between church and state.
Humility and Charity: We recognize the diversity of thought among Reformed Baptists and other Reformed traditions, as well as non-Reformed traditions. For this reason, we wish to show humility and charity toward those of other theological persuasions, while still maintaining our doctrinal commitments.
GBTS Faculty also affirm The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (1988), The Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality (2017), and The Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel (2018).
Student Doctrinal Affirmations
Students must affirm the following 12-point doctrinal statement of evangelical essentials for admission to GBTS:
- I believe in the authority and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
- I believe that the God of the Bible is the only true and living God.
- I believe that God is one in essence and three in persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
- I believe that Christ was born of the virgin Mary.
- I believe that Christ became a man in his incarnation while remaining at the same time fully God.
- I believe that Christ lived a sinless and perfect life.
- I believe that Christ died innocently on the cross to pay for the sins of guilty sinners.
- I believe that Christ rose bodily from the dead.
- I believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
- I believe that Christ will physically appear again at the last day.
- I believe that there will be a bodily, general resurrection of the dead.
- I believe that those who are in Christ will enter into eternal joy, and those who are lost shall enter into eternal punishment.
Student Ethical Affirmations
Students must also affirm the following ethical statements:
- The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (1988) - The full text for this statement may be found at: https://cbmw.org/about/danvers-statement/
- The Nashville Statement on Biblical Sexuality (2017) - The full text for this statement may be found at: https://cbmw.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/The-Nashville-Statement.pdf
- The Dallas Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel (2018) - The full text for this statement may be found at: https://statementonsocialjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/SSJG-FINAL.pdf
