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What We Believe
The Bible We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, fully authoritative and without error in its original autographs. Holy Scripture is the only infallible rule of Christian faith and practice, and it contains all things necessary for human salvation. (For a fuller explanation of Biblical Inerrancy, see “The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy”: http://vintage.aomin.org/inerrancy.html ) God We believe in the one true God revealed in the Bible. This one true God exists eternally in three co-equal and co-eternal Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God Incarnate. He is the promised Messiah, and we confess Him as our Lord and Savior. Regeneration We believe regeneration by the Holy Spirit (being “born again”) is absolutely essential for salvation (see John 3). We believe this new birth is given by God prior to the human response of faith. The Doctrines of Grace We confess what are often called the “doctrines of sovereign grace” or TULIP: Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited (or “Definite”) Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. These Bible doctrines highlight the truth that we are saved solely by God’s grace, not by human merit or achievement. Justification We believe we sinners are justified freely by God’s grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from works.
Church Membership We believe Holy Scripture requires those who have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ express that commitment openly through public profession of faith in Christ and responsible communicant membership in a church that faithfully preaches the gospel.
Worship We believe we may only worship God in the way He has revealed in the Bible. We are to come to church in order to worship and serve our Creator God according to His prescriptions for worship revealed in Scripture, not to be amused or entertained according to our own personal preferences or desires. Therefore, we believe worship should be God-centered and reverent, not man-centered and casual. However, such reverent, God-centered worship should not be gloomy or somber; rather, it should be joyful and festive!
Fuller explanations of our beliefs are found in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, and in the Westminster Standards. (The Westminster Standards include the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. The Confession and Catechisms can be found here: http://www.opc.org/confessions.html) |
