Basic Beliefs
The Scriptures
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired
and is the record of God.s revelation of Himself to man. ...
It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth,
without any mixture of error, for its matter. ... The criterion
by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.
God
There is one and only one living and true God. ... The
eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without
division of nature, essence, or being.
God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His
universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of
human history according to the purposes of His grace. ...
God is Father in truth to those who become children of
God through faith in Jesus Christ.
God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation
as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and
born of the virgin Mary. ... He honored the divine law
by His personal obedience, and in His death on the
cross, He made provision for the redemption of men
from sin.
God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. ... He exalts Christ.
He convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. ...
He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church
in worship, evangelism, and service.
Man
Man was created by the special act of God, in His own
image, and is the crowning work of His creation. ... By his
free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into
the human race. ... The sacredness of human personality
is evident in that God created man in His own image, and
in that Christ died for man; therefore every man possesses
dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Salvation
Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man,
and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord
and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal
redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation
includes regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
God.s Purpose of Grace
Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to
which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. ...
All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God
has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will
never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere
to the end.
The Church
A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a
local body of baptized believers who are associated by
covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel ... and
seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. ...
This church is an autonomous body. ... The New
Testament speaks also of the church as the body of Christ
which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages.
Baptism & the Lord.s Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in
water. ... It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer.s
faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believer.s
death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection
to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.
The Lord.s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience
whereby members ... memorialize the death of the
Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.
The Lord.s Day
The first day of the week is the Lord.s Day. ... It commemorates
the resurrection of Christ from the dead and
should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual
devotion.
Last Things
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring
the world to its appropriate end. ... Jesus Christ will return
personally and visibly ... the dead will be raised; and Christ
will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will
be consigned to Hell. ... The righteous ... will receive their
reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Evangelism & Missions
It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ
and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor
to make disciples of all nations ... to seek constantly to
win the lost to Christ by personal effort.
Education
The cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is
co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general
benevolence ... there should be a proper balance between
academic freedom and academic responsibility. ... The
freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or
seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ,
by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the
distinct purpose for which the school exists.
Stewardship
God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual;
all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have
a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship
in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their
possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve
Him with their time, talents, and material possessions.
Cooperation
Christ.s people should ... organize such associations
and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the
great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations
have no authority over one another or over the churches.
... Cooperation is desirable between the various Christian
denominations.
The Christian & the Social Order
Every Christian is under obligation to seek to make
the will of Christ supreme in his own life and in human
society. ... The Christian should oppose in the spirit of
Christ every form of greed, selfishness, and vice.
Religious Liberty
... Church and state should be separate. The state
owes to every church protection and full freedom in the
pursuit of its spiritual ends. ... A free church in a free
state is the Christian ideal.
Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution
of human society. ... Marriage is the uniting of one
man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.
... The husband and wife are of equal worth before
God, since both are created in God.s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. ...Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing
