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» about us » what we believe
The doctrine of this church shall be
that system commonly called “The Reformed Faith”, as expressed
in the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with the Larger and Shorter
Catechisms; an abbreviation of which, called “The Doctrinal Statement
of this Church”, is as follows:
We believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as
inspired of God, and inerrant in all its parts in the original writings,
and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life.
Scriptures: Nothing at any time is to be added to this Scripture, either
by new revelations of the Spirit or by traditions of men. The infallible
rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself.
We believe in one God existing in three persons: Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, co-equal and eternal.
God: He is unchanging, boundless, immeasurable, eternal, almighty,
all-wise, holy, free and absolute. He accomplishes all things for His
own glory according to the purpose of His own unchangeable and righteous
will. He is loving, gracious, merciful, patient, abundant in goodness
and truth, the forgiver of iniquity, transgression of sin. He is the
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him yet He is just in His judgements,
hating all sin, and will by no means acquit the guilty. He has sovereign
rule over His creation, to do by them, for them, or to them whatever
He pleases. In His sight all things are open and clear; His knowledge
is unlimited, infallible and not dependent upon the action of His creatures.
God has from all eternity ordained everything that happens,
is not the author of sin, yet allows His creatures to act freely. He
has predestined some to eternal life, others He has passed by, acting
according to His sovereign choice. He has also foreordained the means
of their salvation through Christ’s atoning sacrifice and the
Spirit’s work.
We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he
sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also the spiritual
death which is separation from God; and that all human beings are born
with a sinful nature.
Man: Adam, the first man, sinned against God’s covenant of works
and brought ruin upon his race. This defilement renders us not only
unwilling and unable to do what is good, but opposed to the good and
completely inclined to all that is evil.
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in the
fullness of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man,
and that He was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of
the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
Jesus Christ: He was sinless and undefiled. His righteous life among
men, and His death, equipped Him to be our mediator before God’s
throne, interceding for His people.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice and
that all that believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
The Lord Jesus Christ: Christ’s atoning death for His people
resulted in salvation - justification, sanctification, and glorification
- the evidences of which are exercised in faith, repentance, and holy
living.
We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord,
in His ascension in the heavens and in His present life there for us as
High Priest and Advocate.
Resurrection: His resurrection guaranteed the bodily resurrection of
every human being, whether a resurrection to life or to death, both
eternal.
We believe in that blessed hope, the personal and visible return
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Blessed Hope: This will usher in the judgment of condemnation on the
wicked and the eternal blessedness of God’s people in His presence.
We believe that all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ
are born again of the Holy Spirit, and thereby become the children of
God.
Born Again: An act of regeneration of the Holy Spirit whereby a spiritually
dead person is made alive. Those who thus exercise saving faith in Christ
do so because God has given them a believing heart, unlike the heart
of stone that was theirs by nature. Salvation is of the Lord!
We believe in the eternal security and everlasting blessedness
of the saved, and the eternal conscious punishment of the lost.
Eternal Security: Believers, because of their new nature, are enabled
by the Holy Spirit to persevere to the end, increasing in godliness
and victory over personal sin before glorification. The unsaved are
condemned on the basis of their own sinful works, falling short of God’s
standard, and not coming under the forgiveness that is in Christ.
We believe that Christ instituted the ordinances of Baptism and
the Lord’s Supper as the only Sacraments to be observed until He
comes.
Baptism/Lord’s Supper: These picture the work of the Holy Spirit
and of Christ, respectively, and are to be practiced only by those who
are under the New Covenant and in fellowship with God and His people.
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