What We Believe
A short summary of our beliefs:
We believe the Bible is the written word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the revelation of God’s truth and is infallible and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice.
We believe in the Holy Trinity. There is one God, who exists eternally in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We believe that all are sinners and totally unable to save themselves from God’s displeasure, except by His mercy.
We believe that salvation is by God alone as He sovereignly chooses those He will save. We believe His choice is based on His grace, not on any human individual merit, or foreseen faith rather salvation from start to finish is a gift from God including our faith.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation.
We believe that God is gracious and faithful to His people not simply as individuals but as families in successive generations according to His Covenant promises.
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells God’s people and gives them the strength and wisdom to trust Christ and follow Him.
We believe that Jesus will return, bodily and visibly, to judge all mankind and to receive His people to Himself.
We believe that all aspects of our lives are to be lived to the glory of God under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
- Sola Scriptura:
“Scripture alone” is authoritative for the faith and practice of the Christian. The Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible, all sufficient word. Scripture alone can utterly bind the conscience of believers (2 Timothy 3:16). - Solus Christus:
“Christ alone” accomplished our salvation by his historical and mediatorial work (Hebrews 7:14; 7:24-25; 9:24). His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father. - Sola Gratia:
“Grace alone” acknowledges that the Bible teaches that the totality of our salvation is a gift of God’s free grace. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” It is the acknowledgement that salvation from the wrath of God is based on God’s grace and mercy and not on anything good in us. - Sola Fide:
“Faith alone” is important because it is one of the key points that separate the true biblical Gospel from false gospels. At the very core of this tenet is—on what basis does God declare man justified (man made right with God)? Scripture makes it very clear that, no human being is ever justified in God’s sight through his own attempt at law keeping (Romans 3:19-20). - Soli Deo Gloria:
“To God alone be the glory” is the goal of life; moreover, all glory is to be given to God. Particularly, salvation, sanctification, and glorification are accomplished through God’s will and action not man’s effort, even including the good works of men (Ephesians 2:10). The idea of soli Deo gloria is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31.
The five solas of the Protestant Reformation offered a strong corrective to the faulty practices and beliefs of the time, and they remain relevant today. We are called to focus on Scripture, accept salvation by grace through faith, magnify Christ, and live for God’s glory. These form the basis of Protestantism as much as they do for the Reformed tradition.
- Total Depravity
- Unconditional Election
- Limited Atonement, or, better, Particular Redemption
- Irresistible Grace
- Perseverance and Preservation of the Saints
These five distinct points of doctrine derive from the decision of the Synod of Dordt (1618-19), popularly known as the Canons of Dordt, on the five main points of doctrine in dispute in the Netherlands .
Although this was a national synod of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, it had an international character, since it was composed not only of Dutch delegates but also of twenty-six delegates from eight foreign countries.
The Synod of Dordt was held in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. Jacob Arminius, a theological professor at Leiden University, questioned the teaching of Calvin and his followers on a number of important points. After the death of Arminius, his own followers presented their views on five of these points in the Remonstrance of 1610. In this document and later in more explicit writings, the Arminians taught election based on foreseen faith, universal atonement, partial depravity, resistible grace, and the possibility of a lapse from grace. The Synod of Dordt rejected these views and articulated the Reformed doctrine on these points, namely, unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of saints. These points of doctrine are based entirely on the Bible, and refute Arminian theology which is, at the heart, synergistic, relying on a cooperative effort between man and God.
Westminster Confession and Catechisms:
We believe in the Biblical doctrinal explanations contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Westminster Larger Catechism with all of their Scripture proofs.
You can check out more of our theology through the Cool Links button, but you'll find us to be Biblical, Gospel-focused, and Reformed. Our church firmly believes that people in U.S. churches today are spiritually hungering for the Bible to be explained accurately and clearly. God's Word and the Holy Spirit are meagerly taught from most pulpits today. Our desire is to make certain that our attenders understand God's Word clearly, know how to apply it, and always see Christ and his Gospel magnified when they leave each one of our services.
