Our Beliefs

God

We believe that God is one being and that this being is tri-personal. That is, there are three persons (Father, Son, Sprit) who are properly called God (Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:13). We believe that He is the creator of all things (Gen 1:1; John 1:1-3). We believe that God is faithful—trustworthy and reliable—in keeping all of His promises, that He is essentially loving (Ezek 16; Hosea 1-3; Matt 23:37; John 3:16; Rom 5:6-8), and that he is essentially just.

Jesus

We believe that Jesus is truly man and truly God. We believe that He was crucified for the sins of all humanity, that His blood is the only way to cleanse us of sins, that He was raised from the dead three days later, and that He now sits at the right hand of the Father acting as mediator between humanity and the Father (1 Cor 15:3-8).

Spirit

We believe that the Spirit reveals the Father’s will to humanity (Jer 1:6-9; 1 Cor 12:28-29; 2 Tim 3:16-17). We believe that He is active in the church and in the life of a Christian (Rom 7:6; 8:14-17, 26-27; 1 Cor 6:9-11; 2 Cor 12:18; 1 Thess 1:6). We do not believe that the Spirit’s power is available today in the way it was in the 1st century.

The Bible

We believe in the inspiration and inherency of the 66 books of the Bible. We believe that the Old Testament describes God’s covenant relationship and dealings with the Jews. We believe that this covenant has been fulfilled, and therefore done away with, by Jesus. We believe that the New Testament is God’s covenant offering to the whole world and ought to guide all things in faith and practice (2 Tim 3:16; John 5:39).

Sin

We believe that God’s creation was initially very good. However, because God ensured the greater good of our freedom, He permitted the possibility of certain lesser evils (i.e. the use of that freedom to reject God and His purposes). Upon sin entering the world, spiritual death infected the human race and creation was subjected to futility (Rom 6:23; 8:20-23). We believe that sin is a corrupting force that is parasitic on God’s good created order, that it exploits the weakness of humanity’s flesh resulting in crimes against God’s law, and that it stems from contempt for God’s authority (1 Jn 3:4; Rom 5:13ff; 6:23; 7:11; cf. Gen 4:7).

Humanity

We believe that God has created humanity in His own image, that every human is intrinsically valuable because they bear that image, and that God has certain intentions for humanity. We believe that Adam is the soul progenitor of the human race (Acts 17:26), and that we bear his image of mortality (1 Cor 15:47, 49). We believe that each morally responsible person has freely chosen to sin, placing themselves under the righteous wrath of God (Rom 3:23; 5:12). And just as we bear the image of Adam, we are called to bear the image of Christ (1 Cor 15:48-49). We believe that God has formed us for Himself, and that our hearts are restless till they find rest in Him (Augustine, Confessions, 1.1). 

Further, as exemplified by Jesus, both in the incarnation and the resurrection, We believe that human beings are composed of body and soul, not mere souls trapped in a body. As such, our bodies are good, will be carried into our resurrection, and they currently inform our identity. 

Salvation

We believe that salvation from sin in Christ is the central message of Christianity. Salvation is a present reality for all those in Christ, not merely a future reservation in heaven; it is a whole new life with new relationships, new power, and new hope. We believe that our salvation is moving us toward some final end, and fulfilled in our becoming like Christ and communing with Him.

We believe that salvation is accessible to everyone, but applied only to those who receive it (Rom 5:17). We believe that reception of God’s grace has been predicated on faith in Jesus’ gracious saving act on the cross and His subsequent resurrection, confession of Jesus as Lord (entailing repentance from sin), and the identification of oneself with that saving act through immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; Rom 5:1-2; 6:3-6; Col 2:11-15; Titus 3:4-7). We deny that water has any spiritual properties or that baptism constitutes a work which one performs in order to earn one’s salvation. We believe that God has determined that one is saved “through faith in the powerful working of God” at the point at which one is baptized (Col 2:12).

Church

We believe that God has instituted and made provision for a community of those in Christ while on earth. This community is the church and is the body of believers that is made up of those whom God has saved. We believe that God has ordained His church to be His family to which He dispenses His inheritance (Eph 1:11; 5:5; Acts 2:32; cf. Rom 8:1-2; 12:4-5; Col 1:18). As such, we believe that there is no salvation outside of Christ’s Church. We believe with Cyprian, that, 

"Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ…He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother" (Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Church 6).

We believe that the mission of the church, ultimately, is to equip the saints so that they may preach the gospel. To that end, the church must foster and preserve its member’s holiness. It must also care for its own, and for the world (Acts 6; 1 Tim 5:9-10, 16; Gal 6:10; cf. 2 Cor 9:13-14).

Final Hope

We believe the Christian hope is for personal resurrection for those who are citizens of God’s Kingdom. These citizens will inherit the new creation which will be relieved of its shackles of corruption (Rom 6:5; 8:18-24a; 1 Cor 15:23, 51-53; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Phil. 1:23; Rev 21:4). We believe that this hope will be brought to its final realization at some unknown time in the future when God brings all of history to its intended climax (1 Thess 4:13-17).