Our Beliefs
What we believe the Bible teaches is consistent with what is called the Reformed faith, also called Calvinism. It pulls together the most significant doctrines taught in the Bible. These beliefs or doctrines are set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. These beliefs can be summarized as follows:
The Bible, as the inspired word of God, is the bedrock of our faith. Its trustworthiness and lack of error make it the ultimate authority in our lives. Therefore, we are to believe and obey its teachings.
The one true God is personal yet beyond our full comprehension. He is an invisible spirit, completely self-sufficient and unbounded by space or time, perfectly holy and just, and loving and merciful.
God created the heavens and the earth and all that they contain. He upholds and governs them in accordance with his eternal will. God is sovereign and in complete control, yet this does not diminish human responsibility.
Because of the sin of the first man, Adam, all mankind is corrupt by nature, dead in sin, and subject to the wrath of God. But God determined, by the covenant of grace, that sinners may receive forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ has always been the only way of salvation in both Old Testament and New Testament times.
Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and died on the cross, bearing the sins of and receiving God’s wrath for all those who trust in him for salvation. He will return to judge the living and the dead, bringing His people into eternal life and the wicked to eternal punishment.
Those whom God has called are drawn to Christ by the working of the Holy Spirit as they hear the gospel. They are declared righteous, their sins pardoned, not because of any good works of their own, but because of the shed blood of Christ on the cross.