GOD
There is one true God who is the infinite, personal, uncaused creator of the universe. God stands in relationship to the universe as its creator and benevolent Sovereign. He exists eternally in three discreet persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each of whom equally possessing all the necessary attributes of deity and personhood. God is further defined by his loving nature, his absolute holiness, and is perfectly just in all his judgments.
JESUS
Jesus Christ is the eternal second person of the Godhead, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and thus became perfect man without ceasing to be God—two complete and distinct natures (divine and human) existing in one person. He lived a sinless life as he proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, and died on the cross for the sins of mankind. I affirm that Christ died on our behalf and in our place. In doing so, he revealed the full extent of the Father’s love for us, satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. He bodily rose from the dead to vindicate his claims as Lord, ascended to the throne of heaven, and will one day return to earth literally, personally, and visibly.
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father to all believers. He is God's personal, empowering presence. The Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ; to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and certain judgment; to impart new spiritual life to all who believe in Christ’s finished work on the cross; to continually indwell and fill the believer, and to build Christ’s community until he returns, sealing them until the day of redemption. He baptizes believers into the Body of Christ, the Church, and every believer is to surrender to his will as they are conformed to the image of Christ. The Spirit fills and enables every believer for works of service through spiritual gifts.
THE BIBLE
The Bible (Old and New Testaments) is our sola regula fidei — the sole rule of our faith and practice. I believe that it was verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and that it was written without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible provides practical instruction for growth in the Christian life and is meant to be read, studied, and obeyed. All good Bible instruction points to the saving and sanctifying work of Jesus and the spiritual life that is found only in Him.
MANKIND
Human beings were created in the image of God as male and female—and blessed to live in harmony with God. Adam and Eve were created without sin, shame, or death as they extended the gracious project of Eden into the rest of the undeveloped world. As God’s image-bearers and co-heirs, men and women were given the vocation of vice regency, representing God’s sovereign and benevolent reign in His good world. Because of Adam’s original sin, all of his descendants are alienated from their Creator and have inherited a corrupt nature leading to sin, which incurs the sentence of death. They are unable to please God or accomplish anything that pertains to salvation. Every person is in need of forgiveness, regeneration, enlightenment to the truth of the gospel, and renewal by the Holy Spirit—God’s restoring presence.
SALVATION
All who trust in Christ for salvation are saved by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone. Being saved in Christ from everlasting judgment and condemnation, all believers will enjoy the full and immediate presence of God forever when they die. Believers are foreknown and predestined by God, called according to His will, justified by faith, and glorified as coheirs with Christ. Christians are reconciled through Christ's substitutionary work on the cross, living in anticipation of heaven when they die, new creation at the end of the age, and bodily resurrection at Christ’s return.
THE CHURCH
There is one true universal church comprised of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and all those who come into union with him become members of a holy community. The Church is described in Scripture as a “body,” “temple,” “bride,” and most of all as God’s “family” or “household.” I encourage and celebrate the great diversity within Christ’s church, while affirming unity in the essentials of the Faith. This universal church takes expression in the form of local congregations who gather to affirm and be regularly instructed in the foundational truths of the Christian faith. That body of baptized believers lives in holy communion with God symbolically represented in the bread and wine. New believers gain admittance into the body through the public proclamation of their faith in water baptism—the symbol of covenant membership with Christ. The Church enjoys reconciled relationships with one another, and enjoys the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in its public worship gatherings.