Our faith is anchored in the belief of one God, eternally existing in three distinct but equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are in a perpetual relationship of knowing, loving, and glorifying each other. God is infinitely perfect, the Creator of all that is seen and unseen, deserving of all glory and honor. He possesses complete knowledge of all things from beginning to end, upholds and sovereignly rules over all creation, and purposefully works to redeem a people for Himself and restore His fallen creation, all for the glory of His grace.
Jesus Chris
We hold that God has supremely revealed Himself in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word. God is a communicative being who has graciously made Himself known through human language. The Scriptures, comprising the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, are the divinely inspired record and instrument of His salvific work in the world. These Scriptures stand alone as the authoritative Word of God, free from error in their original form, complete in revealing His will for salvation, sufficient for all faith and life, and holding final authority in all matters they address.
Humanity
In terms of humanity, we believe that God created humans, both male and female, in His image. Men and women have equal standing before God through faith in Jesus and are called to significant roles in private and public spheres, including family, church, and society. The marriage union of a man and a woman, as established in the beginning with Adam and Eve, sets the normative pattern for sexual relations. In this union, God assigns distinct but complementary roles to husband and wife, mirroring the relationship between Christ and the church: the husband demonstrating Christ’s loving headship, and the wife embodying the church’s respectful submission to Christ.
Regarding Jesus Christ
Regarding Jesus Christ, we believe in the great act of love and obedience by the eternal Son who became human. The Word became flesh, fully God and fully human, in one Person with two natures. Born of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit’s miraculous work, Jesus lived a sinless life in perfect obedience to the Father. He performed miracles, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, resurrected bodily, and ascended into heaven. Seated at the right hand of the Father, He wields divine authority in heaven and on earth and serves as our High Priest and Advocate.
Holy Spirit
Finally, concerning the Holy Spirit, we believe He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through His powerful work, He regenerates spiritually dead sinners, prompting them to repent and believe in Jesus. At conversion, all believers receive the Holy Spirit, who also calls them to ongoing spiritual empowerment in their Christian lives. The Holy Spirit bestows gifts for the edification of the church and service in the world. We affirm that all gifts present in the early church continue today, playing a crucial role in the church’s mission and are to be exercised orderly for the church’s edification.
Sin entered the world through Adam
We affirm that sin entered the world through Adam, who was created in God’s image. By yielding to Satan’s temptation, Adam marred this divine image and lost his original state of blessedness, not only for himself but for all his descendants. Consequently, every human being is estranged from God, inherently corrupted, and faces death without God’s gracious intervention. The greatest need of humanity is reconciliation with God, and our sole hope lies in God’s unmerited love through Christ, the only one who can rescue and restore us.
The Gospel
The Gospel is the joyous proclamation that God redeems sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ’s death on the cross stands as a substitutionary and appeasing sacrifice for our sins, demonstrating God’s immense love and grace, fulfilling His justice, and quelling His righteous anger. Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and humanity, and there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
Salvation
Salvation, a gracious gift from God, is granted solely by His grace through faith in Christ, to the glory of God alone. Turning from sin in repentance and trusting in Christ’s substitutionary death, one receives eternal life and is declared righteous by God. Christ’s righteousness is credited to the believer, resulting in justification and full acceptance by God. Faith in Christ’s atonement reconciles us to God, making us His children, forgiving our sins, liberating us from sin’s power, and securing our eternal joy in God’s presence.
God Leads, and sustains the Church
We believe that God, through His Word and Spirit, establishes, leads, and sustains the Church. The universal Church comprises all who trust in Jesus, while a local church is a community of believers united in Christ, overseen by qualified elders. The church engages in worship, prayer, biblical teaching, fellowship, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, restorative discipline, and the mission to make disciples. Both men and women are called to serve and lead in the church, though the specific role of elder is reserved for qualified men. The Church’s purpose is to glorify God and to spread the gospel, making disciples and planting churches worldwide.
Bodily return of Jesus Christ
Lastly, we believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of Jesus Christ with his angels, marking the final judgment and the fulfillment of His kingdom. We anticipate the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust – the unjust facing eternal punishment and the just enjoying eternal blessing in God’s presence. On that day, the church will stand faultless before God, cleansed by Jesus’ obedience and triumph, with all traces of sin removed. God will reign supreme, and His people will revel in His glory, celebrating His grace eternally.