Confession of Faith
We hold the following beliefs as essential to the historic Christian faith, so we unify around them. Those who reject these beliefs are to be considered apostate and outside of the faith because they do not hold to the gospel of God or the historic Christian faith.
1
The Triune God
We believe in one true and living triune God who exists in three co-equal and co-eternal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Deut 6:4; 2 Cor 13:14; 1 Pet 1:2
2
God the Father
We believe in God the Father, infinite and perfect spirit, who, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, is the creator and sustainer of all things, visible and invisible.
Col 1:16–17
3
Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who, being God, took on true and sinless humanity by being born of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death on Calvary for the sins of the world. He arose bodily from the grave, ascended back into heaven, and is today acting as the believer's advocate and great high priest.
John 1:1–14; 10:28; Gal 4:4–5; Phil 2:6; Col 1:15–18; 1 John 2:1; Luke 24:39; Heb 4:15; 1 Tim 2:6
4
The Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who is himself God, equal in essence with the Father and Son. He brings the lost to Christ for salvation, unites the redeemed together into the Church, and gives gifts to believers, filling and enabling them for service to God and others.
Matt 28:19; John 3:5; 16:8; 1 Cor 6:19; 12:7–31; Eph 4:30; 5:18
5
The Holy Scriptures
We believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Holy Bible, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament canon as they were originally written, which are believers' final authority for faith and practice.
Ps 12:6–7; 119:128; 1 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 3:16–17; 2 Pet 1:20–21
6
Humanity and the Fall
We believe that humanity is fallen, though created sinless, and are now sinners by nature and by choice. God made humanity as male and female in his image. In the fall, humanity incurred the just condemnation of a holy God, resulting in both spiritual and physical death.
Gen 1:26–27; 2:19; 3:1–19; Rom 3:10–12, 23; 5:12–19
7
Salvation
We believe that God saves sinners from condemnation by grace, and they are justified through faith alone in Christ alone, to his glory. Sinners receive salvation through the atoning work of Christ upon repentance from sin and are then united to the Body of Christ. Those whom God saves, he calls to a life of holiness and keeps them to the end.
John 3:16; Acts 3:19; 4:12; 20:21; Rom 5:1; 8:15, 30; 1 Cor 6:11; Eph 2:8–9; Phil 1:6; 1 Tim 4:10; Titus 3:5–7
8
The Return of Christ
We believe in the imminent, personal, and bodily second coming of Christ to rule the earth and judge the nations and establish the new heaven and the new earth.
Matt 24:36–51; 25:31–45; John 14:3; Rev 21–22