We believe that scripture is ‘God-breathed’ or divinely inspired (2 Tim 3:16). By the same Spirit, the writers of both the Old and New Testaments recorded the word of God, which they have received. The Old Testament is true and authoritative because Jesus Christ confirms his life, death, and resurrection as the fulfillment of all that has been written (Matt 5:17), and the New Testament is true and authoritative because of its apostolic origin and gospel witness (Mark 3:14). Scripture is the final authority for a life marked by faith, the sure medium in which God speaks to the church. It is true in all it says, and is without error or contradiction. It is through faith in Christ Jesus that scripture holds validity and power.

We believe in one God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. We deny any notion that would collapse the three distinct persons in on each other, while denying any notion that would erroneously separate them apart from one another. Affirming the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, we profess that the Father eternally begets the Son from whom proceeds the Spirt, and are together worshipped and glorified.

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In his divine fullness, the Word emptied himself by taking on a human body. He is fully divine and fully human, and he became like us in every respect except for sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, Christ overturns the effects of sin by way of the incarnation; destroys death by his own death; and offers sinners the hope of assurance in the resurrection.

We believe in the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, sent out to illuminate natural minds, break obstinate wills, and make room in sinners’ hearts for saving knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ (Jn. 16:5-15). The Spirit dwells within believers, transforming them into the image of the Son. And by the Spirit, Christ joins believers to himself to receive divine benefits and new life.

We believe God created Adam and Eve in his image for the sake of communion with him. However, Adam and Eve fell into sin when they willed to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, human nature became corrupted, and relationship with God was broken. Because of sin, human beings deserve God’s wrath and judgment, but Christ freely offers salvation to sinful beings because of his atoning work on the cross.

We believe Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins. He diverts God’s wrath away from us, and takes it upon himself. He bore the sins of humanity so that – in his life, death, and resurrection – we may be forgiven and reconciled to the Father. Salvation is received through faith alone in Christ alone (Rom 5:1-2; Gal 2:16), and is experienced in terms of a past-present-future reality. In Christ, we are saved through justification (Eph. 2:8); we are being saved through sanctification (2 Cor. 2:15); and we will be saved on the day of glorification (Rom. 5:9-10, 13:11; 1 Pet. 1:5). This is the whole of salvation, such that there is no possibility of having one without the others; and it brings about tangible outward effects (Matt. 7:16; Gal. 5:22-23).

We believe the church is the body of Christ (Eph. 1:23). Christ himself has returned to the Father, and yet through the church his presence on earth remains (1 Cor. 3:16-17; Col. 1:27). We are united to Christ insofar as we are united to the church, and we are incorporated into his body through baptism (Acts 2:41; Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27). For this reason, we reject worldly conceptions of the church as a mere religious institution; and moreover, the contradiction that one can have Christ apart from the church that is his presence (Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:12-27). The church is the communion of saints, where Christ is preached, where his sacraments are received, and where we humbly submit to the spiritual authorities whom Christ has appointed for our care (Eph. 4:11-12; Heb. 13:17). Despite the ongoing presence of sin, members of the body are called to hope for the church, love the church, and serve the church.

We believe in the holy sacraments instituted by our Lord. The sacraments are the visible means of God’s invisible grace, or the tangible means through which we receive God’s benefits. There are only two sacraments: baptism and eucharist. Through baptism, we are initiated into our lives with Christ, and through the eucharist we are sustained in our lives with him. Through baptism, we participate in the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sin and new life, upon which we are sealed with the promise of God’s Spirit (Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12). Thus, baptism is not primarily a ‘public declaration of one’s faith’, but it is the joyous reception of God’s covenant, as we are joined to Christ, and are thus made members of his church. Eucharist is the sacrament reserved for baptized Christians, where the church is nourished by the bread of Christ’s body (Jn 6:35, 51; 1 Cor. 10:16), and is cleansed by the wine of his blood (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:22). In accordance with the scriptures, as well as the witness of the early church, we affirm the real presence of Christ. In and of themselves, the sacraments have no saving properties, but only when they are rightly received in faith. We thereby observe the sacraments with holy reverence, because Christ himself has graciously ordained such means for the distribution of his covenant gifts.

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