Point 1: We embrace in full the doctrinal content of:

– The Apostles Creed
– The Nicene Creed
– The Athanasian Creed

Point 2: We embrace as brothers and sisters in Christ all who:

– confess Jesus as Lord and
– embrace, in full, the doctrinal content of:
– The Apostles Creed
– The Nicene Creed
– The Athanasian Creed

Point 3: We affirm the five “Solas” of the Protestant Reformation:

1) We are saved by Grace Alone: “Sola Gratia” – Grace Alone
2) through Faith Alone: “Sola Fide” – Faith Alone
3) in Christ Alone: “Sola Christus” – Christ Alone
4) as revealed in the Scriptures Alone: “Sola Scriptura” – Scripture Alone
5) for the Glory of God and The Glory of God Alone: “Soli Deo Gloria” – To the Glory of God Alone.

Point 4: We believe:

– the local church is under the authority of Christ alone, and exists to worship, to declare the Glory of God through Christ and to serve others as an expression of our love for God in Christ

– that the Bible is Inspired by God, is Inerrant, and therefore is Authoritative on every issue to which it speaks

– in the one true and living God, in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who is invisible, personal, omnipresent, eternal, dependent on none, unchanging, truthful, trustworthy, almighty, sovereign, omniscient, righteous, holy, good, loving, merciful, long-suffering and gracious

– God, from eternity past, before creating anything created, by the holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably determined to ordain (fix with certainty) every event in thought, word, and deed in every created being (men and angels) that would ever come to pass within His created order

– God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one-in-three and three-in-one, the Triune God — for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, chose to create, making out of nothing, the universe. God made our first father, Adam, holy and upright, able to sin or not sin, and inherently righteous. He was appointed representative and head of the human race

– Adam fell from his original righteousness into sin and brought upon himself and all his offspring death, condemnation and a sinful nature

– because we were born spiritually dead, it is utterly beyond the power of fallen man to love God, to keep His laws, to understand the gospel, to repent of sin or to trust in Christ

– the spiritually dead person, fallen in Adam, having rejected all spiritual truth throughout life and having, in particular, rejected Christ will, unless God intervenes in Grace, upon physical death, be judged in their sin and will be justifiably sentenced to hell

– God, before the foundation of the world, for His own glory did elect a great multitude of men and women to eternal life as an act of free and sovereign grace. This election was in no way dependent upon His foresight of human faith, decision, works or merit. God — by His choosing — intervenes and changes the nature of the elect such that we are Born Again, whereby our old nature (that which was spiritually dead and incapable of trusting Christ) is removed and replaced with a new Spiritually Alive nature, possessing faith. We believe the elect, who are called by grace, are justified in the sight of God on account of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is received by faith alone as a gift. This grace is possible only through the meritorious work of God’s Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

– God sent His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, into the world, conceived of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, unchangeably sinless, both God and man, born under the law, to live a perfect life of righteousness on behalf of His elect people. Jesus died at Calvary to effect propitiation, reconciliation, redemption and atonement for His elect people. God bore testimony to His acceptance of His Son’s work by raising Him bodily from the dead. Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father and is enthroned in glory, where He intercedes on behalf of His people and rules over all things for their sake. We believe that God the Son has poured out God the Holy Spirit to work alongside the preached Word. God the Holy Spirit regenerates elect sinners and draws them irresistibly to faith in Christ the Savior. We believe that all who are regenerated, called and justified shall persevere in holiness and never finally fall away. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ shall come again to raise the dead bodily, both righteous and unrighteous, and that the righteous in Christ shall enjoy everlasting life and those who died in their sins will be sentenced to hell

– the local church is under the authority of Christ alone, and exists to worship, to declare the Glory of God through Christ and to serve others as an expression of our love for God in Christ

Second Level: Detail and Scriptural Support

1.  About God’s revelation to men

– God, by grace and grace alone, has chosen to reveal Himself and to declare His glory through, and only through, His written Word (Heb 1:1)

– The written Word is inspired — authored by God — through human instruments.  These errant human vessels, through whom the Holy Spirit of God wrote the Scriptures, wrote precisely and perfectly the content that God intended and thus no human error exists in the Word of God (2 Tim 3:16; 1 John 5:9; 1 Thess 2:13)

– Because the Bible is inspired, it is as well without error (2 Tim 3:16; Matt. 5:17 – 20; John 10:34,35; Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18)

– The Bible is Authoritative on every issue to which it speaks, establishing absolute truth that is independent of human reason and human opinion.  The perspectives forwarded by the Scriptures define truth and are independent of any human input. (2 Pet 1:19-21; 2 Tim 3:16; 1 John 5:9; 1 Thes 2:13)

2. About God, and of the Holy Trinity:

– There is but one God (Deu 6:4)

– The one God is both living and true (1 Thess 1:9)

– The one living and true God is infinite in being and is perfect in every attribute (Job 11:7)

– The one living and true God exists as three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — referred to as the Triune God (Matt 3:16-17; 2 Cor 13:14; Matt 28:19)

3. About God’s Sovereignty and His Eternal Decree

– God, from eternity past, before creating anything created, by the holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably determined to ordain (fix with certainty) every event that would ever come to pass within His created order (Eph 1:11; Heb 1:3; Rom 11:33; Heb 6:17; Dan 4:34; Psa 139:15-16; Isa 46:9-10; Isa 45:12; Prov 20:24; Isa 14:24,27; Acts 17:26; Phil 2:13; Phil 1:6).  God’s ordaining will cannot be thwarted (Prov 21:1 Lam 3:37,38; Dan 4:35)

–  God actively ordains all events in thought, word or deed that are righteous and obedient to God’s precepts (James 1:17; Eze 36:27; Eph 2:10; Heb 13:20, 21).  Thus, God is the sole author of all that is good (Isa 46:9, 10; Prov 21:1; Lam 3:37,38; Gal 5:22ff; Ja 1:17; Eze 36:27) such that any good seen in any creature is a good that is instilled in the creature by God, who by grace and grace alone works the good through the creature (Ja 1:17; Phil 2:13)

– God actively restrains sin, removing from the heart of individuals the desire to sin in certain circumstances — though God as well allows certain sins to be manifest and, as such, controls even the sinfulness of men  (Gen 20:6; Psa 81;12; Job 1:12; Rom 1:24; 1 Sam 3:13; Lu 4:41).  When God allows certain sins, He does so by passive ordainment — allowing a sinner to manifest what they author, doing so consistent with Romans 8:28

– In God’s passively ordaining sin, God is not the author of sin — but the controller of sin (Ja 1:13; 1 John 1:5).  Fallen men are the author of all sin (Rom 3:10-18; Gen 6:5; Rom 1:29; Rom 8:8; Jer 17:9; Rom 8:5), and would, were it not for God’s restraining hand, sin in every way possible, at all times (Gen 6:5) and devour each other.  Thus, the restraining of sin, God’s active ordaining, controlling sin, is an expression of grace from God

4.  About the creation of the universe and the creation of men

– God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one-in-three and three-in-one, the Triune God (Heb 1:2; John 1:2; Gen 1:2; Job 26:13) for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness,(Rom 1:20; Jer 10:12; Psa 104:24) chose to create, making out of nothing, the universe, our galaxy and our world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible — with all creation deemed very good (Gen 1; Heb 11:3; Col 1:16; Acts 17:24)

5.  About the Fall of Mankind The Fall of Adam and Spiritual Death:

– God created men and women upright with a righteous relationship with the Creator such that God and man could walk together and commune. (Gen. 2:16,17)

– God gave His creation a righteous law and the ability to obey (or not obey) that law, which if Adam and Eve were to have completely followed ,would had been unto life (Gen. 2)

– God threatened death (spiritual and ultimate physical) upon the breach of the law — both for the original created beings (Adam and Eve) and for their progeny

– Satan using the subtlety of the serpent to subdue Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who, without any compulsion, did willfully transgress the law of their creator, and the command given to them, sinned (Gen. 3:12,13; 2 Cor. 11:3)

– Our first parents (Adam and Eve), by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we as their progeny, spiritually died with and in them — becoming dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body (3 Rom. 3:23; Rom 5:12,  Titus 1:15; Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-19)

– The guilt of the sin of Adam was imputed to all men and the corrupted nature that resulted from the Fall was conveyed to all men such that all men in the lineage of Adam were conceived in sin (this applies to all men born since the Fall, with the exception of Jesus Christ, whose birth was not in the lineage of Adam).  Being born spiritually dead, all men are thus children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal. (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:21,22,45,49;  Ps. 51:5; Job 14:4; Eph. 2:3; Rom. 6:20, 5:12;  Heb. 2:14,15; 1 Thess. 1:10)

6. About the nature of fallen, spiritually-dead people

All people after the Fall, all men and women, without exception are born physically alive — but enter into this world spiritually dead (Psa 51:5; Jn 8:34;Rom 8:7,8)

All people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, and, as a result, are born spiritually dead without the desire and therefore without the ability to be obedient, living life in sin and sinning only (Jn 8:44; Jn 8:34; Gen 6:5; Rom 8:7, 8; 1 Cor 2:14; Rom 1:29; Rom 8:5-8; Mk 7:21)

– Fallen people, owing to this original corruption are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all that is good (as reckoned by God), and are wholly inclined to  evil.  Thus, fallen people, being spiritually dead, have no ability not to sin (have the ability only to sin and thereby 100% of all thought, word and deed is 100% sinful). (Rom. 8:7; Col. 1:21; James 1:14, 15; Matt. 15:19; Gen 6:5)

7. About the eternal fate of fallen, spiritually-dead people

– The spiritually dead person, having rejected all spiritual truth throughout life and having, in particular, rejected Christ — and living life with 100% of all their thoughts, words and deeds  deemed as sinful, will, upon physical death, be judged in their sin and will be justifiably sentenced to hell. (Rom 6:23; Heb 9:27; Rev 21:11-15; 2 Thess 1:8,9)

8. About man’s need for grace

– While spiritually dead, one cannot move toward God or believe in Christ (and cannot therefore cooperate in a synergistic interaction with God for salvation — such a spiritually dead person cannot “accept Christ” because he/she is an enemy of God and does not want to move towards God in any way).  If God, by Grace, does not intervene into the life of a spiritually-dead person, then that person will ultimately die physically while still spiritually dead and will justifiably be sentenced to hell.  Unless God — by His choosing — intervenes and changes our nature such that we are Born Again, whereby our old nature (that which was spiritually dead and incapable of trusting Christ) is removed and replaced with a new Spiritually-Alive nature — we have no hope whatsoever for salvation. (Heb 12:2; Eph 2:8,9)    That is….  Salvation is 100% the work of God, through Christ, applied to certain men by God the Holy Spirit (Psa 3:8; Isa 56:1; 2 Thess 2:13; Eph 1:4; John 15:16; Mt 24:31)

–  Thus, when we are Born Again, by God’s Choosing — God, by Grace, instills within us a desire to believe in Jesus.  Our will — which is always enslaved to our nature, will then choose consistent with our new nature — and we will confess Jesus as Lord and be saved.  In this sense, Grace is irresistible, in that God changes our desires so that we do not want to resist. That is, all whom God chooses to regenerate will be saved.  The Grace He renders onto His people is irresistible because He simply instills within us a desire to believe (which is faith) and we have no other desire but to believe.  Thus, we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead and we are saved. (John 6:37; John 5:21; John 10:16; Rom 8:29, 30; John 3:3; Acts 13:48; Eph 1:19, 20)

9. About God’s provision for Grace: Jesus Christ as Savior

– Jesus is the Christ because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22; 4:14-19; Isa. 61:1; Heb. 1:9; Ps. 45:7) to be our Savior and our chief prophet and teacher (Acts 3:22) who perfectly reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God for our deliverance (John 1:18; John 15:5).  He is our only high priest (Heb 7:17) who has set us free by the one sacrifice of his body, (Heb 9:12; Heb 10:11-14; Isa 53) and who continually pleads our cause with the Father (Rom 8:34).  He is our eternal king (Matt 21:5) who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us (Matt. 28:18-20; John 10:28; Rev. 12:10-11)

– In all this, Jesus is the Logos — the Word or revealer — who displays the Glory of God and who Glorifies God in that He GIVES glory on to God the Father (Jn 12:28; Jn 14:31)

– In all this, Jesus is the Logos — the Word or revealer — displays the Glory of God though having lived a PERFECT LIFE WITHOUT SIN (2 Cor 5:21) -The Implications of Christ’s Perfect Life:

– Jesus Possesses Perfect Righteousness:

– Righteousness is a right, perfect relationship with God the Father. Jesus, both intrinsically and because of His perfect life, has a right relationship with God the Father. Jesus is also perfectly righteous by His perfect and sinless obedience to the law of God. He “fulfilled all righteousness” (Matt. 3:14-15)

– Jesus then choose to die on the cross.  He died physically — but infinitely more importantly — He suffered the pangs of God’s wrath — a wrath equal to the pangs of hell that we deserve — a spiritual wrath infinitely worse than the simple physical death he suffered — and a wrath that Jesus in no way, in and of Himself deserved (though He was guilty of our sin and was rightly punished for our sin).  The wrath that otherwise would have been poured out upon you and I (and upon all sinners who are elect onto salvation for all time), was poured out on God the Son, our blessed Savior (2 Cor 5:21; Jn 8:21-24; 1 Pe 2:24; 1 Pe 3:18; Jn 3:14-18; Jn 12:27-33; Isa 53:1-12)

– Because of Jesus’ perfect life and earned righteousness before the judgment seat of God the Father, Jesus is able to impute His righteousness to our account.  That is, not only did Christ take upon Himself what He did not deserve — our sin penalty, a hell sentence worth of pain and agony — but He also gave to us what we did not deserve — a righteous stand before God.  By impute, what is meant is that what Jesus earned — a right standing of perfection before God, innocent before the law — was placed into our account.  Therefore, when God, as judge, looks at us — the elect, you and I — He sees the earned righteousness of Christ.  Thus, because of what Jesus did on the Cross, not only are we spared an eternity of agony in hell (what we do deserve), we are given an eternity in heaven praising God (what we do not deserve).  God can be perfectly just because the penalty has been paid for our sin (by the innocent Lamb of God, our Savior Jesus Christ), and He (God the Father) can spend an eternity in heaven with us because we are not reckoned as sinners — we are instead covered by the blood of Christ reckoned as clean and innocent, the benefactors of Christ’s imputed righteousness

10. About the Church

– The Church is the Body of Christ (Rom 12:5), prepared to be the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:9-10; Eph 5:22-23), with Christ as the Head of the Church (Eph 5:23), and exists to declare the Glory of God through Christ.  Members of the true church reside within the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, in the world but not of the world, dedicated to sharing the Word of God with all they encounter (Matt 24:14; Mt 6:33; Mt 28:18ff; Acts 1:8)