What We Believe

 
 

Part a

1. We believe the Scripture to be the Word of God, the absolute and infallible authority for Christian Faith and Living (2Tim 3:15-17; Matt 5:18-19).

2. We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent (1Tim 2:5; Eph 4:5-6; Jn 1:1-3; Mark 3:29; Acts 1:16).

3. We believe the full deity and full humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His suffering, in His vicarious and atoning work through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory (Phil 2:5-7; Jn 1:14; 2Cor 5:14-15).

4. We believe regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for the salvation of the lost (Jn 3:7-8); and that salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9).

5. We believe faith without works is not true saving faith (James 2:24-26).

6. We believe the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those that are saved to the resurrection of eternal life, and those that are lost to eternal damnation (Matt 25:31-46).

7. We believe The Great Commission to be the calling of the church (Matt 28:19-20; Jn 17:18; Ac 1:8; 2Cor 5:17-20).

8. We believe biblical church government to be elder-led form of government (Jn 21:15; Acts 20:28).

9. We believe biblical church discipline (Matt 18:15-20).

10. We subscribe to the doctrines of Reformed Faith as contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

  • Sovereignty of God: He rules over all things

  • The Five Solas – Part B

 

Part b

 

1. Thesis One: Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone

  • We reaffirm the infallible & inerrant Scripture to be the sole source of written divine revelation, which alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured (2Timothy 3:16-17; 1Corinthians 4:6).

  • We deny that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian's conscience, that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation.

2. Thesis Two: Solus Christus – Christ Alone

  • We reaffirm that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of the historical Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father (John 14:6; 1Timothy 2:5).

  • We deny that the gospel is preached if Christ's substitutionary work is not declared and faith in Christ and his work is not solicited.

3. Thesis Three: Sola Gratia – Grace Alone

  • We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by His grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to spiritual life (Ephesians 2:8).

  • We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith cannot be produced by the sinful nature of man in his fallen state.

4. Thesis Four: Sola Fide – Faith Alone

  • We reaffirm that justification is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. In justification Christ's righteousness is imputed to us as the only possible satisfaction for God's perfect justice (Romans 5:1).

  • We deny that justification rests on any merit to be found in us, or upon the grounds of an infusion of Christ's righteousness in us, or that an institution claiming to be a church that denies or condemns sola fide (faith alone) can be recognized as a legitimate church.

5. Thesis Five: Soli Deo Gloria – To God Alone be the Glory

  • We reaffirm that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, it is for God's glory and that we must glorify Him always in all things. We must live our entire lives before the face of God, under the authority of God and for His glory alone (Isaiah 43:7).

  • We deny that we can properly glorify God if our worship is confused with entertainment; if we neglect the Gospel in our preaching; or if self-improvement, self-esteem, or self-fulfillment is allowed to become an alternative to the gospel.

*For more information on the Five Solas: www.theopedia.com/the-cambridge-declaration-of-the-alliance-of-confessing-evangelicals