WHAT WE BELIEVE?
THE TRIUNE GOD
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignty rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.
Isaiah 46:9-10; Hebrews 1:3; Titus 2:11-14;
Revelation 7:10; Isaiah 45:5; John 1:18; Colossians 2:9; John 5:18; Acts 5:3-4;
John 16:13-15; Psalm 18:30; Hebrews 11:3
REVELATION
God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is tobe believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s peoplehear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.
Romans 1:19-20; John1:1; John 14:9; Genesis 1:3, 12:1; Matthew 3:17; 2 Peter 1:20-21, 3:15-16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Acts 1:16; Hebrews 3:7; Luke 1:1-4; James 1:21; Psalm 19:7,119:160; John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:19; Luke 16:31; John 20:21; James 1:22; Proverbs 30:5-6; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Luke 8:21; Hebrews 10:23; Revelation 1:3; 1 Peter 1:8; John 17:6
THE FALL
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention.The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose justand holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3 Romans 3:23, 6:23; Romans 5:1-11; 1 John 2:2; Revelation 20:11
GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE
We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude ofguilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation, and to this endforeknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those whoby grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them—all to the praise of his glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
Romans 8:28-29; Ephesians 1:11-12; Revelation 5:9-10; Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 3:21-26;Hebrews 10:10-14; Revelation 7:9-12; Mark 1:14-15; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 13:7-10
THE GOSPEL
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utterfolly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is Christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is: “Christ died for our sins . . .[and] was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).
John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 1:20, 2:14; Romans 1:16, 3:23-26, 4:24-25; 1 Corinthians 15:2-3; Acts 2:22-25; Isaiah 53; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 15:12-18, 15:4-8; Acts 1:21-22; 2 Thessalonians 2:13
THE REDEMPTION OF CHRIST
We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father,exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin,propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else,for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
John 4:31-34; Hebrews 1:8; Hebrews 13:8; John 1:14; Titus 2:13; 1 John 5:20; Hebrews 2:17,4:15; 2 Samuel 7:13; Isaiah 7:14, 11:1, 53:5; Luke 1:27-35; 1 Peter 2:22; John 9:1-34; Matthew 8:23-27; Matthew 27:11-58; John 20:25-27; Luke 24:39-43; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Acts 1:2-3;Ephesians 4:10; 1 Timothy 2:5; Ephesians 1:20, 2:6; Jude 1:4; Hebrews 3:1; 1 John 2:1; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:14; 1 John 2:2; Colossians 2:13-14; Romans 1:16, 3:22, 6:8; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14; Matthew 25:46; John 14:3; Acts 4:12; Job 5:11; Ezekiel 21:26; Galatians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 1:30
THE EFFECTUAL CALL
For those whom God has predestined to eternal life, he is pleased to effectually call to Himself by his Word and Spirit. He calls them out of their natural state of sin and death to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. He enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God. He takes away their heart of stone and gives to them a heart of flesh. He renews their wills and by his almighty power causes them to do what is good. He effectually draws them to Jesus Christ, yet in such a way that they come completely freely, for they are made willing by his grace.This effectual call is of God’s free and special grace alone, not on account of anything at all foreseen in us. It is not made because of any power or action in us, for we are altogether passive in it, we are dead in sins and trespasses until we are made alive and renewed by the Holy Spirit. By this regeneration we are enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace offered and conveyed in it, this power being none other than that which raised up Christ from the dead.
Romans 8:29-30; Romans 9:22-24; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; John 3:8;Ephesians 1:11; Matthew 22:14; Romans 8:28; 1 John 5:1-5; Romans 1:16-17; Romans 10:14;Acts 26:18; 1
Corinthians 2:10,12; Ephesians 1:17-19; Ephesians 2:1-9; John 15:16, John6:44-45; Philippians 2:12-13; John 6:37; Romans 6:16-18; Acts 13:48; Romans 9:11; 1Corinthians 2:14; Romans
THE JUSTIFICATION OF SINNERS
We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We believe thata zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.
Philippians 2:8; Colossians 2:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:21; Ephesians 2:8; Isaiah 53:6, 10; John 10:18; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:1-2; Titus 3:5-8; Ephesians 2:8-9
REPENTANCE AND FAITH
Repentance is a gospel gift and a heart orientation of hatred for sin which is the inevitable fruit of faith in Christ. There is no salvation apart from faith and repentance.When we become aware of our sin and need of grace, we humble ourselves, pray for forgiveness, turn away from our sin, and trust the Holy Spirit’s power to walk in a manner pleasing to God. Repentance continues through the whole course of life because of the persistence of indwelling sin. Thus, it is the duty of every Christian to repent of specific,known sins with particular care, remembering that even though the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation, no sin is greater than the grace of God in the lives of those who repent and believe the gospel. Thus, the continual preaching of repentance, faith, and renewal in the gospel is essential.
Acts 5:31; Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25; Acts 2:36-38; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21; Acts 26:20; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11; Matthew 3:8; 1 John 1:9; 1 Timothy 1:13-15
THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the “Helper,” is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignty distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells,guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 3:8; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:13-14; John 14:16-18; John 3:8;Acts 16:14; 1 John 5:1; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 3:23-25; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 1:14; Romans 8:12; John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 12:11;John 6:63; Acts 1:8
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
Those who truly believe in Christ, who love him sincerely, and strive to live in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Although some may experience seasons of doubt where they are tempted to question whether they are in the faith, it is not God’s will to leave us without hope, but rather for us to strive in faith to be restored to our hope in the gospel.
Philippians 1:6, Philippians 3:20-21, John 17:2, John 6:39, John 10:28, 1 Peter 1:4-5, 2 Timothy 1:12, Ephesians 1:11-14, 2 Timothy 4:18, Jude 1, 24-25, Romans 8:1, Hebrews 12:5-11
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God,already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.
Colossians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 2:8-10; Mathew 5:13-16; John 17:16-18;Jeremiah 29:7; Revelation 21:24-27; John 18:36; Matthew 22:39; Romans 12:16-18;Galatians 6:10; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 8:22-23; Revelation 21:1 4;Matthew 16:18; Acts 26:18; 1 Peter 2:9-1
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heaven lies. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all,by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world.Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.
Hebrews 12:22; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 2:19-22;1 Timothy 3:14-16; 1 Corinthians
12; Romans 12:3-5; Psalm 17:8; Isaiah 49:6; Matthew28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Matthew 18; Galatians 6:1-5; Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 12:31;Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 10:15; Ephesians 2:14; Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians3:27-29; Ephesians 2:19-22
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
We recognize two biblical offices of the church: elder and deacon. 4 5 The elders are the final human authority in the church and deacons serve at the bidding of the elders. Elders are biblically qualified men who are called to the office by God and affirmed by the church through prayer and examination. The work of the elders is to feed, lead, and protect the flock of God. This is done primarily through prayer, biblical preaching,pastoral care, and church discipline. Elders are also responsible to equip the saints for the work of ministry by affirming their gifts and deploying them for service. Deacons are biblically qualified men or women who assist the elders to meet the needs of the church,either voluntarily or through employment.
Titus 1:5-16; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 1 Peter 5:1-5; Ephesians 4:9-16; Philippians 1:1-2; Acts 14:21-25; Hebrews 13:17;Matthew 20:20-28; Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 2:11-15 ; Matthew 18:17-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; 1 Corinthians 9:14
BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUFFER
We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper (also called “communion”) are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself and are reserved only for believers. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, a divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipation of his return and of the consummation of all things.We believe that all Christians should be baptized in water, as commanded by Jesus. The proper mode of water baptism is immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The proper candidate for baptism is one who has made a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer’s death to sin, the burial of the old life,and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. As a church ordinance, baptism is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper
Acts 2:38, 4:12, 8:12; Mathew 3:13-15, 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25; 1 Corinthians 11:26; John 6:53-57; Romans 6:1-10; Colossians 2:12; Mark 1:9-11; John 3:23;Acts 2:41-42; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:35-39; Acts 16:30-33; Romans 6:3-5;
MARRIAGE AND SEXUALITY
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. The term“marriage” has only one meaning: a covenant between one man and one woman, in a single exclusive union, by which their status changes from two individuals to one flesh as God joins them together. This covenant creates a new family such that their lifelong primary human loyalty is now to one another before anyone else. It is an earthly covenant between one man and one woman that God created and sanctioned to image the unbreakable heavenly covenant between Christ and His Church, therefore intended not to be broken by anything but death. From Genesis to Revelation, the authority of Scripture witnesses to the nature of biblical marriage as uniquely bound to the complementarity of man and woman. The Lord Jesus Himself said that marriage was created by God from the beginning, so no human institution has the authority to redefine marriage any more than a human institution has the authority to redefine the gospel,which marriage mysteriously reflects.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. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in various ways, such as managing the household and nurturing the next generation.God created sex as a gift to be enjoyed between husband and wife within the lifelong covenant of marriage. God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged6 The practice of Christ the King Church is believer’s baptism. We will accept, in certain instances, the infant baptism of one who holdsto Covenant Theology (such as is practiced in the PCA or similar churches). Likewise, we may also allow some flexibility for elders to hold a Covenant Theology paedobaptist view so long as they are willing to adhere to the credobaptist practice of the church.in outside of this marriage covenant. We believe that the exercise of sexual expressionoutside the biblical definition of marriage in any manner, including but not limited toadultery, homosexuality, premarital sex, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography, is sinful and contradictory to God’s design for sexuality and marriage.Regarding divorce, it is the church’s commitment to uphold the covenant of marriage and to pursue reconciliation as much as possible through pastoral care and church discipline.However, because of sin and hardness of heart, the scriptures do permit divorce in cases of adultery and abandonment. Divorce should always be regarded as a last resort and should not be considered apart from the care and authority of the elders.Regarding gender, God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological gender is a sinful rejection of the image of God within that person and a rebellion against one’s own body.
Genesis 1:26-28; Genesis 2:15-25; Genesis 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9;Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; Psalms 78:1-8; Psalms 127; Psalms 128;Psalms 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 5:15-20; Proverbs 6:20-22; Proverbs 12:4;Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 14:1; Proverbs 17:6; Proverbs 18:22; Proverbs 22:6, 15; Proverbs 23:13-14; Proverbs 24:3; Proverbs 29:15, 17; Proverbs 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12;Ecclesiastes 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:27, 32; Matthew 5:31-32; Matthew 19:3-12;Mark 10:2-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 11; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:21-33; Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 1:10;1 Timothy 2:12-14; 1 Timothy 5:8, 1 Timothy 5:14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5;Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7
SOCIAL ORDER
All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently help ful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery,homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth.
Exodus 20:3-17; Leviticus 6:2-5; Deuteronomy 10:12; 27:17; Psalm 101:5; Micah 6:8;Zechariah 8:16; Matthew 5:13-16, 43-48; Matthew 22:36-40; Matthew 25:35; Mark 1:29-34; Mark 2:3ff.;Mark 10:21; Luke 4:18-21; Luke 10:27-37; Luke 20:25; John 15:12; 17:15;Romans 12–14; 1 Corinthians 5:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:1-7; 1 Corinthians 7:20-24; 1Corinthians 10:23-11:1; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:12-17; 1Thessalonians 3:12; Philemon; James 1:27;
RESTAURATION OF ALL THINGS
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught,and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that daythe church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.
1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 1:7; James 5:7-9; Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Timothy 4:1;Revelation 20:12; Romans 2:5-7, 14:10, 12; 7:17; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:30, 46;Revelation 14:9-11; Revelation 22:3; 2 Peter 3:11-13; Hebrews 2:10; Ephesians 5:25-27;Revelation 19:6-9; Jude 24; Revelation 21:3-4, 21:23, 22:4