STATEMENT OF FAITH

God (Theology Proper-Nature of God):

We believe that there is one God who is holy, just, good, loving, eternal, ever-present, all-powerful, all-knowing, and unchanging. We believe in the Trinity, that the one divine being exists in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Creation (Theology Proper-Works of God):

We believe that God created all things visible and invisible, speaking the world into existence out of nothing and that His creation was according to His perfect wisdom and was ordered, beautiful, and very good.

Man (Anthropology):

We believe that man was a special creation of God, finite and dependent along with all of creation, yet made in God’s image: rational, moral and endowed with the ability to receive God’s revelation, and with authority to rule over creation as God’s regents; that life begins at conception; and that because all people bear God’s image, human life is precious.

We believe that God created man with the duty to serve and obey his creator-king and called him to build culture as sub-creators; and that mankind accomplishes this calling as two distinct, yet complementary genders – male and female.

We believe that God created man as two distinct genders, male and female, and that a person’s gender and gender identity are determined by God; that God ordained marriage as a lifelong union between one man and one woman as the basis for the family which is entrusted with the responsibility for raising and educating children; that God established the sexual union for use exclusively within the bonds of marriage; and therefore that all sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage is contrary to God’s design and purpose.

We believe that despite man’s original creation as morally good, the first man and woman rebelled against God, and that this resulted in the fall of the human race into sin: a lost, disordered, broken state of separation and alienation from God, from one another, and from the world around us; that this fall means all people are born with original sin guilty before God, and with corrupted, rebellious natures; and that the fall also plunged the world into a disordered, broken state, such that both man and the physical world stand under God’s curse.

Revelation:

We believe that God gives revelation of Himself, of man, and of the created order, and that this revelation comes in two forms, both general and special.

We believe that despite creation’s fall, God’s general revelation still reveals truth about the nature and purpose of creation, thus making both truth and wisdom possible for man and giving man sufficient knowledge of God to be accountable to and guilty before Him.

We believe that God has specially and specifically revealed Himself in history, both by acts and words; that God’s acts include both ordinary works of providence as well as miracles; that God’s words came in various forms including direct speech and writings; that the supreme act and word was His taking on humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, who is God with us.

We believe that the perfect record, and thus ultimate expression, of God’s special revelation is found in the 66 books of the Bible; and that the human authors were inspired by God such that they truly communicated God’s Word.

We believe that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is the plenary, verbal, infallible, and inerrant Word of God; that its primary purpose is to make known the character of God and His work of saving lost sinners and redeeming creation itself; and that the content of those original manuscripts has been accurately preserved, so that modern versions truly communicate God’s Word.

Christ (Christology):

We believe that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the Logos, fully God and fully man, incarnated in the womb of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, both God and man forever.

We believe that Jesus came to redeem fallen humanity and this fallen world and to establish the kingdom of God on earth; that this purpose is accomplished by His sinless life, miracles, teaching, substitutionary and propitiating death on the cross, bodily resurrection from the dead, ascension into heaven, present reign and ministry from heaven, and future bodily return with power and glory to consummate that kingdom.

Salvation (Soteriology):

We believe that God is gracious toward sinners, and that by grace He bestows blessings on all people and saves His people.

We believe that Christ is the only savior of sinful man, that apart from Christ and His saving work there is no way for sinners to be reconciled with God, and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for the salvation of sinners.

We believe that justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, and based upon the imputation of Christ’s righteousness alone; and that faith without works is dead.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is active and ministers to and through God’s people; that the indwelling of the Spirit enables Christians to die to sin and to live godly, holy lives; and that Christian lives are characterized by faith in Christ and repentance from sin.

Church (Ecclesiology):

We believe that God has instituted the Church with her officers and ordinances as distinct from the divinely established institutions of the family and the state, as well as distinct from the human institution of the school; and that the ordinances of Baptism and the Eucharist are part of the jurisdiction of the church.

We believe that the Christian life is not meant to be lived in isolation but instead is established in community for support and accountability; and that the Church is God’s primary instrument for and expression of this community.

We believe that there is ultimately one invisible Church, and that all true believers in Jesus Christ have spiritual unity in the Lord.

End Times (Eschatology):

We believe that Christ will return from heaven to consummate God’s kingdom with salvation and judgment; and that there will be a bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost – the saved to eternal life and the lost to eternal condemnation.

We believe that there will be a redemption of this world, a new creation, where God’s kingdom will be perfectly manifested on earth as it is in heaven, and where God will dwell with His people for eternity.