The following statement sets forth the doctrinal convictions of [Ministry Name]. It does not stand above the Holy Scriptures, but summarizes what we believe the Scriptures teach. Subscription to this statement is required of elders and staff, and it is offered to the congregation as a faithful summary of our common faith. Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we seek charity.
1.The Holy Scriptures
The Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the verbally inspired Word of God, written by men carried along by the Holy Spirit. It is without error in the original manuscripts and is the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
Scripture is sufficient, clear in all that is necessary for salvation, and self-authenticating by the inward witness of the Spirit. Its authority rests wholly on God its author, not on the church, tradition, reason, or experience. We interpret Scripture literally and grammatically-historically, holding that the New Testament interprets the Old, and that promise and fulfillment run through the whole canon. All doctrine, ministry practice, and personal conduct are to be measured by it.
Psalm 19:7–9; Isaiah 8:20; Matthew 5:17–18; John 10:35; 17:17; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Revelation 22:18–19
2.The Triune God
We believe in one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — coequal in power, glory, and essence, and coeternal in being. Each person is wholly God, and God is one.
God is spirit, self-existent, infinite, eternal, unchanging, all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, sovereign over all things, and perfect in holiness, righteousness, justice, goodness, love, mercy, and truth.
Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5–7; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1–18; Acts 5:3–4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Hebrews 1:1–3; Revelation 4:11
3.God the Father
We believe in God the Father, the first person of the Trinity, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and, by adoption, the Father of all who believe.
He created all things, orders all things according to the counsel of His own will, and sovereignly sustains and governs the universe, including the free actions of men. Salvation is traced to the Father’s electing love and gracious purpose.
Psalm 103:19; Isaiah 46:9–10; Matthew 6:9; John 1:12–13; Ephesians 1:3–6; 3:14–15; 1 Peter 1:2–3
4.God the Son, Jesus Christ
We believe in the eternal, pre-existent Son, the second person of the Trinity, truly God and truly man, one person in two natures without confusion or mixture. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, taught with authority, and worked miracles.
He died on the cross as a substitutionary, propitiatory, and reconciling sacrifice, bearing the guilt of His people and satisfying the wrath of God. He rose bodily from the dead on the third day, ascended to the Father’s right hand, and now intercedes as our High Priest and Mediator. He will return personally, visibly, bodily, and gloriously to judge the living and the dead and to consummate His kingdom.
Isaiah 7:14; 53:4–6; John 1:1, 14; 8:58; 10:30; 14:6; Acts 1:11; Romans 3:24–26; 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3–8, 20–23; Philippians 2:5–11; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 4:14–16; 7:25; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2
5.God the Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, a divine person and not a mere force, who eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son, and who is to be worshiped and obeyed.
He inspired the Scriptures, empowered the incarnate Christ, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, effectually calls and regenerates sinners, baptizes believers into the body of Christ, and indwells, seals, illuminates, assures, comforts, sanctifies, and gifts His people, producing in them the fruit of the Spirit.
John 3:5–8; 14:16–17, 26; 16:7–14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9–16; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:13; Galatians 5:22–23; Ephesians 1:13–14; 4:30; Titus 3:5; 2 Peter 1:21
6.Creation and Providence
God created the heavens, the earth, and all that is in them out of nothing, by the Word of His power, and apart from any pre-existing material. He made all things good and ordered. We hold to the special, direct creation of the first man, Adam, from the dust and of Eve from Adam’s side, as a literal, historical, single human pair and the federal head of the race; man did not evolve from lower forms.
We hold the creation week to be six ordinary, consecutive days followed by a day of rest; this is our settled conviction and a secondary matter of fellowship.
God providentially sustains and governs all things, working all things after the counsel of His will, so that nothing comes to pass apart from His decree, and yet human responsibility and means are entirely real.
Genesis 1–2; Exodus 20:11; Psalm 33:6, 9; 104; Isaiah 45:12; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17; Hebrews 1:3; 11:3; Revelation 4:11
7.Angels, Satan, and Demons
God created a great host of spiritual beings. The elect angels are ministering spirits who serve God and His people.
Satan was created good and fell through pride, drawing a host of angels with him. He and the demons are real personal beings, not symbols. Satan is the adversary, deceiver, accuser, and tempter, yet he is on a leash, was defeated at the cross and resurrection, and is destined for the lake of fire.
Job 1:6–12; Isaiah 14:12–15; Ezekiel 28:12–17; Matthew 4:1–11; Luke 10:18; John 8:44; Ephesians 6:11–12; Hebrews 1:14; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 12:9; 20:10
8.Mankind
Man is the crowning work of creation, made in the image of God, male and female, with inherent dignity, reason, morality, and dominion over the earth. God created humanity as two distinct, complementary sexes, male and female, ordered toward one another and both bearing His image.
Every human being is a single person of body and soul, not a spirit trapped in a body. Human life begins at conception and is sacred until natural death.
Genesis 1:26–28; 2:7, 18–25; 9:6; Psalm 8; 139:13–16; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 19:4; 1 Corinthians 11:7–12; James 3:9
9.Sin and the Fall
Our first parents were created upright and fell by voluntary transgression. Adam acted as the federal head of the race, so that his guilt and corruption are imputed to all his descendants.
Every person is therefore born with a corrupt nature, is by nature a child of wrath, and is unable of himself to please God or to turn to Him. Sin has corrupted the mind, will, affections, and body, and it brings both physical and spiritual death.
Genesis 3; Psalm 51:5; 58:3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9–23; 5:12–19; 6:23; 8:7–8; Ephesians 2:1–3; James 2:10
10.Election and Sovereign Grace
Salvation is of the Lord: planned by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and applied by the Spirit. Before the foundation of the world God chose a people in Christ, not because of foreseen merit, faith, or works, but according to His sovereign good pleasure, that they should be holy and blameless.
All whom the Father gave the Son will come to Him, and none will be cast out. The atonement is definite in its intent and infinite in its worth; it secures the salvation of the elect and is offered freely to all who repent and believe.
John 6:37–44, 65; 10:27–30; 15:16; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:28–33; 9:10–23; Ephesians 1:4–11; 2:8–9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:1–2
11.Regeneration, Repentance, and Faith
The sinner is dead in trespasses and cannot come to Christ apart from a work of God. In regeneration the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life, and by effectual calling He draws the elect to Christ, opening blind eyes.
Conversion consists of repentance — turning from sin with grief and hatred of it — and faith, which rests on Christ alone for salvation. Both are gifts of God, and both are the duty of every hearer of the gospel.
Ezekiel 36:26–27; John 1:12–13; 3:3–8; 6:44, 63–65; Acts 2:38; 11:18; 16:31; 20:21; Ephesians 2:1–10; Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:25–26; Hebrews 12:2
12.Justification by Faith Alone
Justification is the act of God’s free grace by which He pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight, solely on the basis of the finished work of Christ — His obedience and His death — imputed to us and received by faith alone.
Christ bore our sin; we receive His righteousness. Justification is not by works, sacraments, or personal merit, but by grace through faith, and it issues in peace with God, adoption, and an inheritance among the saints.
Isaiah 53:5–6; Habakkuk 2:4; John 5:24; Acts 13:38–39; Romans 3:21–28; 4:1–8, 23–25; 5:1–2, 18–19; 8:1, 15–17; 10:9–10; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:16; 3:11; Ephesians 2:8–9; Philippians 3:8–9; Titus 3:5–7
13.Sanctification and Good Works
All whom God justifies He also sanctifies. Sanctification is a work of God’s grace by which we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and enabled to die more and more to sin and to live unto righteousness. It is definitive, progressive, and imperfect in this life.
Good works are the fruit and evidence of faith, never the ground of justification. God works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure.
John 15:1–5; 17:17; Romans 6:11–14; 8:13; 12:1–2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 7:1; Galatians 5:16–25; Philippians 2:12–13; Colossians 3:1–17; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–7; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15–16; 1 John 2:29; 3:9–10
14.Perseverance and Assurance
The saints are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Those whom God has chosen, called, justified, and adopted will never finally fall away, because their perseverance rests on the finished work of Christ and the promise of the Spirit, not on the strength of their own will.
Believers may enjoy true assurance through the promises of Scripture, the inward witness of the Spirit, and the fruit of obedience. Assurance may be shaken by sin, doubt, or neglect, and is recovered by repentance and faith.
Psalm 37:24; Jeremiah 32:40; John 10:27–29; Romans 8:31–39; Philippians 1:6; Colossians 3:3–4; 2 Timothy 1:12; 4:8; Hebrews 6:17–20; 10:14; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 2:3–6; 5:11–13; Jude 24–25
15.The Church
All who are born again by the Spirit are members of the universal church, the body and bride of Christ, of which He alone is Head. The local church is the visible expression of that body: a congregation of baptized believers in covenant fellowship with God and with one another.
The marks of a true church are the faithful preaching of the Word, the right administration of the ordinances, and the practice of church discipline. The church exists to worship God, to edify and equip the saints, and to evangelize the lost.
Local churches are self-governing and directly accountable to Christ, while bound to one another in fellowship, cooperation, and mutual care. We affirm the spiritual unity of all true believers while maintaining doctrinal fidelity.
Matthew 16:16–18; 18:15–20; 28:18–20; Acts 2:41–47; 6:1–6; 13:1–3; 14:23; 20:17–32; 1 Corinthians 12:12–27; Ephesians 1:22–23; 4:11–16; 5:25–32; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1–13; Titus 1:5–9; Hebrews 10:24–25; 1 Peter 5:1–4
16.Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
Two ordinances were given by Christ to the church. Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It pictures our union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection and is a public declaration of faith. We practice believer’s baptism, holding that Scripture requires personal faith before baptism, while honoring the sincere faith of paedobaptist brethren.
The Lord’s Supper is a memorial and proclamation of the Lord’s death until He comes, in which believers partake of bread and the fruit of the vine. We hold to a spiritual presence of Christ in the Supper, and we welcome to the table baptized believers in good standing who examine themselves first.
Matthew 26:26–29; 28:19; Acts 2:41–42; 8:36–39; 16:31–34; 18:8; Romans 6:3–5; 1 Corinthians 11:23–32; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21
17.Church Officers and Government
Christ has given the church two offices: elders, also called pastors or overseers, and deacons. Elders are to be qualified men who shepherd, teach, pray, guard sound doctrine, and lead the congregation; a plurality of elders is the biblical norm. Deacons serve the church in practical and administrative ministry.
Scripture reserves the pastoral office to qualified men, while both men and women serve the church with their gifts. The congregation participates in the calling of officers and the affirmation of major decisions. Our government is congregational and our practice is elder-led.
Acts 6:1–6; 14:23; 20:17, 28; 1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–13; 5:17; Titus 1:5–9; Hebrews 13:7, 17; 1 Peter 5:1–4
18.Marriage, Family, and Sexuality
Marriage is the covenant union of one man and one woman, ordained by God in creation, blessed by Christ, and a picture of the relationship between Christ and His church. It is to be monogamous, heterosexual, and lifelong. God hates divorce, yet permits it in cases of sexual immorality and desertion.
Husbands are to love and lead sacrificially; wives are to respect and submit willingly; both are equal in worth and standing before God. Children are a heritage from the Lord, to be raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; the family is the first school of discipleship and worship.
God created two sexes, male and female, fixed from conception and not interchangeable. Sexual intimacy is designed for marriage alone. We believe all sexual relations outside marriage between one man and one woman fall short of God’s design, and that the only other God-ordained state is honorable, chaste singleness.
Genesis 1:27–28; 2:18–24; Deuteronomy 6:6–9; Malachi 2:14–16; Matthew 19:3–9; Mark 10:6–9; Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 7; 11:3; Ephesians 5:22–33; 6:1–4; Colossians 3:18–21; 1 Timothy 5:8; Hebrews 13:4
19.The Sanctity of Human Life
Human life is a gift of God, created in His image, and therefore sacred from conception to natural death. We affirm the full personhood of the unborn, oppose abortion except where the life of the mother is genuinely endangered, and oppose euthanasia and the willful ending of life.
We affirm the goodness of the body and the stewardship of health, and we look for the bodily resurrection of the saints.
Genesis 1:27; 9:6; Job 31:15; Psalm 139:13–16; Isaiah 44:24; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41–44; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 2 Corinthians 5:1–8
20.The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes gifts to every believer for the common good and the building up of the church. Some gifts are miraculous, some ordinary; all are to be exercised in love and in order.
We hold that the apostolic sign gifts have not necessarily ceased and may be present in the church today. We practice a sober, Word-governed approach to their use and allow liberty where Scripture allows it.
Acts 2:1–21; Romans 12:3–8; 1 Corinthians 12–14; Ephesians 4:7–16; 1 Peter 4:10–11
21.Evangelism and Missions
The Lord Jesus gave His church the Great Commission: to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that He commanded. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved.
We are committed to personal witness, local evangelism, church planting, and world missions, supporting those who go and sending out from among us. The return of Christ is a motive for urgency.
Psalm 2:8; Matthew 24:14; 28:18–20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46–49; John 3:16; 14:6; Acts 1:8; 4:12; 13:2–3; Romans 1:16; 10:13–17; 1 Corinthians 9:16; 2 Timothy 4:2; 2 Peter 3:9
22.Christian Living, Separation, and Liberty
We are called to holiness in all of life: in speech, dress, entertainment, work, and leisure. Believers are to be in the world but not of it, refusing to be conformed to this present age, and to separate from false teaching and from what dishonors God, without becoming legalistic or withdrawing from the world entirely.
Where Scripture is explicit we are bound; where it is silent we are free in Christ, and we are not to judge one another in matters of indifference. Each believer must be fully convinced in his own mind, and each will give an account to God.
We affirm the Lord’s Day as a day of worship, rest, and works of necessity and mercy; the practice of personal and family prayer and Bible reading; the public reading and preaching of the Word; and the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Psalm 1; Matthew 5:13–16; John 17:15–17; Acts 2:42; Romans 12:1–2; 14:1–23; 1 Corinthians 8–10; 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1; 10:3–5; Galatians 5:1; Ephesians 5:1–21; Philippians 2:15; Colossians 3:16–17; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15–17
23.Stewardship, Work, and Giving
God owns all things; we are stewards of everything entrusted to us, including time, talents, possessions, and money. We are to work diligently as unto the Lord, to provide for our families, to be industrious and honest, and to enjoy God’s good gifts with gratitude and contentment.
We believe in regular, cheerful, generous, and sacrificial giving to the Lord’s work, regarding the tithe as the biblical pattern and freewill offerings as a matter of grace. Believers are to be free of the love of money and of debt as far as is possible.
Genesis 2:15; Exodus 20:9–11; 35:5; Leviticus 27:30; Psalm 24:1; Proverbs 3:9–10; 13:11; 22:7; Malachi 3:8–10; Matthew 6:19–21, 24; 25:14–30; Acts 20:35; Romans 13:8; 1 Corinthians 4:2; 16:1–2; 2 Corinthians 8–9