The Bible

We believe that the Bible is God’s written revelation to man, and the 66 books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God. We believe these writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative, and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We believe that God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, they composed and recorded God’s Word to man (2 Peter 1:20-21) without error in the whole or in the part (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16). We believe As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.

God

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another, each of the same substance and perfections (attributes).

God the Father

We believe that God the Father is the first Person of the Trinity. We believe He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). As the only absolute and omnipotent Ruler in the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, and redemption (Psalm 103:19; Romans 11:36). We believe He has graciously chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own (Ephesians 1:4-6); He saves from sin all who come to Him through Jesus Christ; He adopts as His own all those who come to Him; and He becomes, upon adoption, Father to His own (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9).

God the Son (Jesus the Christ)

We believe that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, possesses all the divine excellencies, and in these He is coequal and coeternal with the Father (John 10:30; 14:9; Col 2:9).We believe that God the Father created according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and in operation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).We believe that in the incarnation (God becoming man) Christ surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. In His incarnation, the eternally existing second Person of the Trinity accepted all the essential characteristics of humanity and so became the God-Man (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9).We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and that His death was voluntary, substitutionary, propitiatory, and redemptive (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25;5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).

God the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). In all the divine attributes He is coequal with the Father and the Son. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers them for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption (Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13). We believe that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to the church as He wills.

Man

We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Man was created free of sin with a rational nature, intelligence, volition, self-determination, and moral responsibility to God (Genesis 2:7, 15-25; James 3:9). We believe Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women (Genesis 2:15-25, Ephesians 5:22-33).

The Fall

We believe that in Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 1 John 1:8). We believe that, because all men were in Adam, a nature corrupted by Adam’s sin has been transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. All men are thus sinners by nature, by choice, by divine declaration and are under the wrath of God. (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9-18, 23; 5:10-12).

Salvation

We believe that salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the redemption of Jesus Christ, and His shed blood, and not on the basis of human merit or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19). We believe that regeneration (being made alive) is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, where the unbelieving eyes are opened to the wonders of Christ (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5).

We believe regeneration is instantaneous and is accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God (John 5:24) when the repentant sinner, as enabled by the Holy Spirit, responds in faith to the divine provision of salvation. We believe that justification before God is an act of God (Romans 8:33) by which He declares righteous those who, through faith in Christ, repent of their sins (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Isaiah 55:6-7) and confess Him as sovereign Lord. We believe this righteousness involves the imputation of our sins to Christ (Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24) and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). We believe that true saving faith is evidenced by the bearing of fruit and works of service (Galatians 5:23, Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 5:16).

The Church

We believe that all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13), the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8), of which Christ is the Head (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18). We believe that the formation of the church began on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21, 38-47) and will be completed at the coming of Christ. We believe that the establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:23, 27; 20:17, 28; Galatians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1) and that the members of the one spiritual Body are directed to associate themselves together in local churches (1 Corinthians 11:18-20; Hebrews 10:25). We believe that the one supreme authority for the church is Christ and the biblically designated officers serving under Christ and over the assembly are elders (also called bishops, pastors, and pastor teachers; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 4:11) and deacons, both of whom must meet biblical qualifications (1Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-5). We believe that the purpose of the church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the faith (Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Timothy 2:2, 15; 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42) and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42). We believe the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every member of the church for the edifying of the Body (Romans 12:5-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

Baptism and The Lord’s Supper

We believe that two ordinances have been committed to the local church: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42). Christian baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) is the solemn and beautiful testimony of a believer showing forth his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Romans 6:1-11). It is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible Body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42). We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes, and should be always preceded by solemn self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28-32). We also believe that the Lord’s Supper is a representation of the body and blood of Christ but is still actual communion with the risen Christ.

The Consummation

We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust (John 5:29; Revelation 20:13-15)—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9), and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of Him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.

* This Statement of Faith was created using Grace Community Church’s “Distinctives” and The Gospel Coalition’s “Confessional Statement” as direct resources.