We base our beliefs on the Bible and proudly accept the label of “Christian”. When we say “Christian” we are using the word according to its early, and somewhat pejorative, definition which was simply, “One who follows Jesus Christ”.
We align ourselves with the orthodox Christian Faith as summarized in the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith.
We also find the historic Apostles’ Creed to be an accurate summary of the basic Tenets of the Christian Faith.
In an attempt to describe our distinctions, within the broader Christian community, three words best sum-up our beliefs: Reformation, Reformed and Reforming.
Reformation:
We believe in the five “solas” of the Reformation–
- “sola scriptura” (“scripture alone” as the authority for life and practice in the church),
- “sola gratia” (God’s sovereign “grace alone” as the reason for our salvation without any actual or potential human merit),
- “sola fide” (justification by “faith alone” and no human works),
- “solus Christus” (salvation through the Person and work of Jesus “Christ alone”),
- “soli Deo gloria” (all things ultimately for “the glory of God alone”).
Reformed:
We believe in–
-
Humanity’s Radical Corruption
-
God’s Sovereign Choice
-
Christ’s Purposeful Atonement
-
The Spirit’s Effective Call
-
God’s Preservation of the Saints
Reforming:
We believe that all God’s people, in every generation, must seek to constantly bring their doctrine, their behavior, their attitudes and their thinking, into greater and greater conformity to the example of Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, we can never truly call ourselves “Reformed” in a complete sense, but rather we are “reformed” and “reforming”.