Statement of Faith

What We Believe & Teach

We believe that God, as Creator, is the ultimate Owner of all possessions on earth. God has given people the authority to be stewards of those possessions and the responsibility to faithfully manage them according to the principles in the Word of God.

- The Bible -

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

- God -

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

- Jesus Christ -

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His Virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and His personal return in power and glory.

- Salvation -

We believe that the salvation of man who is sinful and lost is only by the New Birth or regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

- The Holy Spirit -

We believe in the Spirit-filled life; the believer fully consecrated is indwelt by the Holy Spirit whereby one is able to witness with power to the saving of souls.

- The Resurrection -

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

- The Church -

We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

From the GOVERNING DOCUMENTS of the COMMUNION OF REFORMED EVANGELICAL CHURCHES

Article X1.

Reformed Evangelical Confession

(1)

A Westminster Creed 

(A modern selection from the 17th century Shorter Catechism)

I believe man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever;

I believe God is  a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth;

I believe there is but one true and living God, that there are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory;

I believe God has foreordained whatever comes to pass; that God made all things of nothing, by the word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good; and that God preserves and governs all His creatures and all their actions.

I believe our first parents, though created in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, sinned against God, by eating the forbidden fruit; and that their fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery;

I believe God determined, out of His mere good pleasure, to deliver His elect out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer;

I believe the only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever;

I believe Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a King.

I believe Christ as our Redeemer underwent the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, the cursed death of the cross, and burial; He rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended up into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father, and is coming to judge the world at the last day.

I believe we are partakers or the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit;

I believe God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance unto this life to escape the wrath  and curse of God due to us for sin;

I believe by His free grace we are effectually called, justified, and sanctified, and gathered into the visible church, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation;

I believe that we also are given in this life such accompanying benefits as assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end; that at death, we are made perfect in holiness, and immediately pass into glory; and in our bodies, being still united in Christ, rest in their graves, till the resurrection; and at the resurrection, we shall be raised up in glory, we shall openly be acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

(2)

An Evangelical Statement 

(Adapted from the National Association of Evangelicals)

We believe the Bible to be the only inerrant Word of God.  It is our only ultimate and infallible authority for faith and practice.

We believe that there is one God, eternal existent in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He is omnipotent, that is, He is all-powerful.  He is omnipresent, that is, He is present throughout all Creation but not limited by it.  He is omniscient, that is, nothing is hidden form His sight. In all things He is limited by nothing other than His own nature and character.

We believe that God we serve is holy, righteous, good, severe, loving and full of mercy.  HE created the heavens and earth, and everything in them, in the space of six ordinary days, and all very good.  He is that Creator, Sustainer, and Governor of everything that has been made.

We believe in the true deity and full humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death 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.

We believe in the full deity of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging Him together with the Father and the Son in the works of creation and redemption.

We believe that because of Adam’s sin all mankind is in rebellion against God. For the salvation of such lost and sinful men, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary.

We believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone, and that faith without works is dead.

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live  a godly life.

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and lost; those who are saved to the resurrection of life, and those who are lost to the resurrection of damnation.  We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.