Statements of Belief

  1. God

We believe, teach, and confess there is one God alone (Deuteronomy 6:4). He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). He is spirit, being without body (John 4:24); eternal, being beyond time (Psalm 90:2); perfect in wisdom (Romans 11:33-34); and the source of all goodness (James 1:17). God has revealed Himself as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). God the Father is known primarily for creating and preserving all things. God the Son, Jesus Christ, is known primarily for saving us from sin and death. God the Holy Spirit is known primarily for calling us through the Word of God and making us holy. There are not three gods but one God in three persons, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the essence of God. God is triune (unity of three).

  1. Word of God

God comes to us through His Word (John 1:1-14). The Word was with God in the beginning and the Word was God. By the Word of God all things are created and by the Word all things are sustained. The Word became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ through whom we have salvation, the forgiveness of sins. The Bible is the word of God which professes of the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ (John 20:30). The Holy Spirit moved the prophets and the apostles to write the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). The Holy Spirit authored the Bible through the prophets and apostles to be inerrant (without mistakes) and infallible (incapable of error) for it is God speaking to us through the words of human authors (2 Peter 1:21). God continues to work through His Word in scripture to forgive us our sins and bring us eternal life (Isaiah 55:11; Hebrews 4:12).

  1. Creation

When God declared His name to be “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), God declared everything that “is” depends on the “I AM.” The triune God is the source of all that exists and the one on whom all things depend (Psalm 104:27-30). He is the one who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and still takes care of them (Psalm 146:6). The Lord creates and sustains the universe through the power of His Word according to His will (Colossians 1:16-17). God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, declaring His works to be very good (Genesis 1:1-2:3). All that is evil and sinful is opposed to God and the goodness of His creation.

  1. Humanity

God created human beings on the sixth day of creation in His image to tend to His creation and participate in the goodness of the Lord (Genesis 1:26-31). The Lord has created us to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). He formed the first man, Adam, from the dust of the earth and breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). From Adam, God took a rib from which He created the first woman, Eve, and all people are descended from them (Genesis 2:21-22; 3:20). Man and woman are of the same flesh and both have the image of God given to them (Genesis 1:27; 2:23), although God has shaped them differently from one another.

  1. Sin

Sin is that which is against God. It can be described as a separation from God and the goodness of His will in creation (Isaiah 59:2). There are two kinds of sin: original sin and actual sin. Original sin is inherited from Adam, the first sinner, which is the inclination to sin. Actual sins are thoughts, words, or deeds that flow from the original sin of inclining away from the goodness of God, that is, an enacting of our sinful inclination. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12). The consequence of sin is death (Ezekiel 18:4), that is, a separation from God and the goodness of His creation from which sin separates you.

  1. Christ and Salvation

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but are made innocent of sin by the grace of God as a gift through the redemption of Christ Jesus by his sacrifice on the cross (Romans 3:23-25). Christ is fully God but came to earth (Philippians 2:5-8) to be born of the Virgin Mary in her flesh. Therefore, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, fully uniting his divinity and humanity, but keeping his divinity and humanity fully distinct from each other. Jesus lived perfectly free from sin (Hebrews 4:15), but was crucified, died, and buried for your sake. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4), and ascended to heaven on the fortieth day (Luke 24:51) to live and reign eternally (Ephesians 1:21). In him is forgiveness and newness of life, the promise of the resurrection from the dead, and the assurance of life in heaven.

  1. Justification

You are saved by grace through faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9). While you were dead in your trespasses and sins, God the Father sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for your sake. Your sins are forgiven in Christ’s blood and you are made just and righteous in God’s sight by Christ’s actions upon the cross (Colossians 1:22). In Christ, you are given eternal life through the promised resurrection of the dead. You receive this gift of God not by any work or decision you have made but through faith (Romans 4:5). Our greatest works are like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6) but our God of love still saves us through the death of Jesus (Romans 5:8). Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to the Father except through him (John 14:6).

  1. The Church

The Church is the body of all those who have faith in Christ. The Church is built upon Christ to include everyone made holy through Christ (Ephesians 2:19-22). It is in the Church that we receive the forgiveness of sins unto life everlasting. There is unity in the Church for the Church is of one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all in all (Ephesians 4:4-6). The Church is defined by the pure teaching and preaching of God by His word as well as the correct administering of the sacraments in the fellowship of one another (Acts 2:42).

  1. Sacraments

God saves us through His word which creates faith in us (Romans 10:17) that receives God’s grace (Romans 5:2). God also graces His people by attached the word of salvation to various means. These means of grace God instituted and commanded, which are joined to the word of God, promise the salvation by the forgiveness of sins. The sacraments of the Christian Church are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

  • Baptism

Jesus commands his Church to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). In baptism, Jesus makes us holy by cleansing us from our sins by the washing of water and the word (Ephesians 5:26). The word used in the washing is “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Through baptism you receive the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38), and are joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-23). As Christ died to sin, so does the baptized person die to sin. As Christ is raised into new life in the resurrection, so does the baptized person have new life. Those who have been baptized live in the salvation of their baptism by faith for they can always say, “baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). Infants can have all the promises of baptism when parents or guardians bring them to be baptized as part of their household (Acts 16:15, 33).

  • Lord’s Supper

Our Lord Jesus Christ on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup after supper, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, “Drink of it all of you; this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) At these words of Christ, bread and wine served in communion are joined with Christ’s own body and blood for believers to eat and to drink (1 Corinthians 11:27) for the forgiveness of their sins (Matthew 26:28). Reception of the body and blood of the Lord is for baptized Christians who desire forgiveness and recognize the presence body and blood of Christ in bread and wine (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).

  • Fellowship in the Supper

We are called not to have the Lord’s Supper together if there are divisions between us (1 Corinthians 11:19). All people are welcome to join together in prayer and praise of our Lord, but those who receive the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper must examine themselves and discern the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:27-31). The body of Christ is not only the flesh of our Lord in the bread but also the Church as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 12:12-26). As the Church is founded on the word of God and the sacraments, those who receive the Supper in communion with one another should be in agreement on what is taught by the word and what is received in the sacraments.

  1. The Ministry

The Church is the body of Christ and it is Christ who equips saints for the work of ministry as pastors (Ephesians 4:11-12). It is to the Church that Christ has given his word and sacraments to have as the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9) and it is through the Church that the Lord calls men to serve as ministers of the word and sacraments (Acts 14:23; Romans 10:15). Therefore, a called minister is to preach the Word in its purity and administer the sacraments properly on behalf of Christ for the benefit of the body of Christ.

  • Confession and Absolution

Christ has given to his Church the Office of the Keys which can loose the sins of those who repent or bind the sins to those who are unrepentant (Matthew 16:19). Confession is the admission of sins and Absolution is the forgiveness of these sins. If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Ministers of the Church, as those sent by Christ to preach the Law and the Gospel, can forgive the sins of the penitent or withhold forgiveness for the unrepentant by the authority of Christ (John 20:21-23).

  1. Sanctification

In a wide sense, Sanctification is all that the Holy Spirit does in separating you from sin and delivering us into heaven as children of God. In the narrow sense, Sanctification is the spiritual transformation which follows your Justification by which the Spirit makes you holy. The Holy Spirit turns us from the works of the flesh (such as sexual immorality, strife, jealousy, drunkenness, and the like) and produces in us His fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:18-26). As a good tree bears good fruit, so we who are in Christ will do good works (Matthew 7:17). However, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). The Spirit exposes our sins by His holiness and drives us to repentance so that we may continually receive forgiveness in Christ through the word of God and the sacraments.

  • The Place of Good Works

Good works are not for meriting salvation or any other grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, assurance of our salvation cannot be found in our good works. Instead, good works are that which flow from us being a new creation in Christ (Ephesians 2:10) and his love which he freely gives (John 15:1-11). Salvation is found in nothing and no one else than Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), and assurance of salvation is found in Christ’s word and sacraments which promise the forgiveness of sins. Good works will necessarily come from the salvation of Christ, not for the salvation of the person doing the works, but for the benefit of the people whom the person is serving with good works (Galatians 6:2).

  1. Law and Gospel

The distinction between Law and Gospel is the highest Christian art taught only by the Holy Spirit together with experience. The Law is the divine will of the Lord for His creation which guides us in our actions, shows us our sins, and rightly condemns us for them (Galatians 3:10). The Law demands perfection (Matthew 5:48). The Gospel is the good news that you, who are condemned by the Law, are saved in Christ by grace. We are saved by grace alone, apart from the works of the Law, for if we could be perfect under the Law then Christ died for no purpose (Galatians 2:21). This does not mean that the Law has been removed from us. Rather, the Law has been fulfilled by Christ (Matthew 5:17). We do good works by the Law as those saved by grace and enlivened by the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4).

  1. End Times

We believe, teach, and confess that God has appointed a Day for judgment according to our deeds (Acts 17:31). On the Last Day, Jesus Christ will come again in glory and power to gather his elect (Mark 13:24-27). All those who have died in Christ will be raised from the dead and be clothed with immortality for their sins have been forgiven in Christ (1 Corinthians 15). Although your flesh might be destroyed, yet, in your own body, will you see God (Job 19:23-27). Those outside of faith in Christ are held to account under the Law which condemns them for their sins (Matthew 25:41-46). Those who stand condemned will be cast into the eternal fire apart from the grace of God (Revelation 20:11-15).

  1. New Heavens and the New Earth

The first heaven and the first earth will pass away in God’s judgment and the new heavens and the new earth will come. Death, mourning, crying out, and pain will pass away as God wipes away every tear from your eye (Revelation 21:1-4). Here we will live in paradise with our Lord who sustains us with everlasting life, singing the praises of our Lord who saved us (Revelation 5:8-12).