| Statement of Faith |
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1. We affirm our belief in one eternal God, Creator of heaven and earth, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 2. God has revealed himself to be the living and true God, perfect in love and righteous in all His ways. 3. God revealed Himself in the creation and has lovingly spoken in the words and events of redemptive history. His purpose in history has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, who is made known to us by the Holy Spirit and sacred Scriptures. 4. God by His Word created the world from nothing for His glory. He created Adam and Eve in His own image as the crown of creation, that they might have fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, they rebelled against God. For this, they became subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved, and apart from grace, incapable of returning to God. 5. The only Mediator between God and humankind is Christ Jesus our Lord, God’s eternal son, who, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, fully shared and fulfilled our humanity in a life of perfect obedience. By His death in our place, He revealed the divine love and upheld justice, removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Having redeemed us from sin, the third day He rose from the grave, victorious over death and the powers of darkness. He ascended into heaven where, today at God’s right hand, He intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all. 6. We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament scriptures in their entirety as the only written Word of God, without error in all that it affirms and the only infallible rule of faith and practice. We also affirm the power of God’s word to accomplish His purpose of salvation. The message of the Bible is addressed to all humanity, for God’s revelation in Christ and in Scripture is unchangeable. Through it the Holy Spirit still speaks today. He illuminates the mind of God’s people in every culture to perceive its truth freshly through their own eyes and thus discloses to the whole Church of the multi-colored wisdom of God. 7. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent His Spirit to bear witness to His Son; without His witness, ours is futile. Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth and Christian growth are all His work. 8. We believe the Universal Church is comprised of all true believers. With Christ as Her head, She exists in local expression to glorify Him by edifying believers and evangelizing lost people everywhere. 9. We believe that Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in power and glory to consummate His salvation and His judgment. Then shall the eager expectation of creation be fulfilled and the whole earth shall proclaim the glory of God who makes all things new. |
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