It was Jesus Christ Himself who once prayed, "This is eternal life: to know You, the only true God." The following statement of faith represents the heart of what we believe and how we worship. For us, there is no real distinction between our theology and our worship of God, because the one affects the other. If our beliefs about God are wrong, then our worship will reflect that. This is illustrated elsewhere in Scripture, where Jesus Christ taught, "You worship what you do not know, but we worship what we do know," that is to say, you cannot worship what you don't know. We know that God is a Trinity, that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He sent the Holy Spirit to justify and sanctify us, and that the Spirit does so through the Word and Sacraments. It is this mighty-to-save, Triune, incarnate, sacrificial God whom we worship in spirit and in truth.
I. On the Godhead
We believe that the God of the Bible is a Trinity of one Being and three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the Head of the Godhead, the Son is Begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son.
(Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Matthew 3, John 1:1-14, John 17:3-5, John 14:25-28, 1 John 5:7, John 5:16-47.)II. On Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father, equal in every power and glory with the Father. He is the Light of the world who came into the world by the Holy Spirit through the Virgin Mary. He took upon Himself everything that belongs to our human nature, except without sin. He lived, died, descended into Hell, rose again, ascended into Heaven, and He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
(John 1:1-14, Philippians 2:5-11, Romans 1:1-7, Hebrews 1:1-4, Isaiah 53:1-5, Matthew 26:26-28, John 19:38-42, John 20-21, Matthew 27:50-53, 1 Peter 3:18-4:6, 1 Corinthians 15:55-58.)III. On the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is our Helper, Healer, and Comforter. He is sent from the Father and the Son to the saints, poured out into our hearts to convict and convert us. He dispenses spiritual gifts to the saints at His discretion, such as tongues, prophecy, and healing. But tongues are other languages, not ecstatic or angelic speech; prophecy is about foreknowledge and exhortation to repentance, not inspiration or revelation; and healing does not depend on the degree to which one believes or gives financially, but on the secret counsel of God’s own will.
(John 14:16-17, John 16:5-15, Romans 8:5–8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 1 Corinthians 14:6-17, 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.)IV. On the Bible
We believe that the books of the Bible are the inspired Word of God, inerrant in their original manuscripts, and that they have been adequately preserved for the modern Christian Church. The Bible is our only infallible rule for faith and practice against which every other rule of the Church is compared. Every doctrine that is necessary for salvation is contained within the Bible.
(2 Timothy 3:10-17, Psalm 12:6-7.)V. On God's People
We believe that the New Testament is grounded in the Old Testament and that the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets is Jesus Christ. The covenant of Moses is superseded and fulfilled by the new covenant of Christ. Only those that are saved by Christ and partake of the new covenant are God’s people; there exists no other covenant and no other so-called people of God.
(Jeremiah 31:31-33, Luke 24:44-48, Galatians 3:26-29.)VI. On Original Sin
We believe that God created human beings in His own image, but that by the original sin of Adam, sin has entered into the world, thus perverting the creation and separating us from our Creator. Original sin is not only the historical transgression of Adam but also the innate sin and corruption of everyone who is descended from him, the wages of which is death. Everyone is in need of God’s prevenient and saving grace.
(Genesis 2-3, Romans 5:12-14, Ephesians 2:1-3.)VII. On Justification
We believe that God is calling and drawing everyone to the justification of the cross of Jesus Christ. Justification is the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us, the remission of our sins, and the transformation of our hearts. It is a free gift purchased by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is by God’s grace through the instrument of faith, not by any meritorious works of our own, but by the merits of Jesus Christ.
(John 6:43-47, Romans 5:18-19, Ephesians 2:4-10.)
VIII. On Sanctification
We believe that God means to sanctify us by His grace, to perfect us in love, keep us from sin, and make us actually righteous in our hearts. This sanctification is a gift from God that all Christians ought to desire, but our falling short of Christian perfection does not tear Christ from us or cause us to lose our justification.
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Romans 8:37-39, John 6:37-40.)
IX. On the Church
We believe that the Christian Church is the mystical Body of Jesus Christ, born of the Spirit and built on the Apostles and Prophets to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commission of Christ is to preach the Gospel of the cross of Christ to the whole world, and the Christian Church does so through the preaching of the Word and regular ministration of the Sacraments.
(Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 2:11-21, 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Acts 2:40-42, 1 Timothy 3:1-13.)
X. On the Officers of the Church
We believe that there are two Holy Orders in the Christian Church: Pastor and Deacon. Pastors are the shepherds and overseers of Christ’s Church charged with the preaching of the Word and the regular ministration of the Sacraments. Deacons are the servants and helpmeets of Christ’s Church charged with charity, teaching, and service. Holy women should not be ordained to Holy Orders, but should instruct younger women and children in holiness.
(Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 3:1-13.)
XI. On the Sacraments
We believe that the sacraments of the Christian Church are signs sanctified by the Word and the Spirit to be means of grace, by which the signs communicate the things signified: washing with water is the sign of baptism, the grace being new birth and the remission of sins; bread and wine are the signs of the Supper, the grace being communion with Christ’s Body and Blood. The sacraments are signs, seals, and assurances of our living in Jesus Christ forever.
(John 6:32-35, 1 Corinthians 10:1-7.)
XII. On Baptism
We believe that the sacrament of baptism is the washing of water by the Word, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is our dying and rising with Christ to new life, the remission of original and actual sins. It is our being born again by the Spirit into the mystical Body of Christ. The gift is for both believers and the infants of believers, but none are justified without continuing in the faith that is imparted by baptism.
(Acts 2:37-39, Romans 6:1-7, Colossians 2:11-15, 1 Peter 3:21-22.)
XIII. On the Lord's Supper
We believe that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is the eating and drinking of bread and wine by the Word, “Take, eat; this is my Body…Drink ye, for this is my Blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Our communion with the Body of Christ in, under, and with the bread affects our being the mystical Body of Christ. Our communion with the Blood of Christ in, under, and with the wine affects our living forever with Christ, for the life of a thing is in its blood. But whoever receives unworthily from the Lord’s Table, without contrition and faith, eats and drinks condemnation on themselves.
(Matthew 26:26-28, 1 Corinthians 10:15-18, 1 Corinthians 11:23-32.)
XIV. On the Early Church
We believe that the three Ecumenical Creeds contain the authoritative doctrine of Christ on the Godhead. The theology of the Ecumenical Creeds is completely identical to that of God’s Word. The deposit of the early Church Fathers is saturated and grounded in God’s Word, and their witness and wisdom are essential to the modern Christian Church.
(Proverbs 6:20–22, Matthew 16:18-19.)
XV. On Heaven and Hell
We believe that the whole world will be brought before Jesus Christ for judgment, both the living and the dead, believers and unbelievers. The saints will receive the mercy of God the Father because of the Son; they will be glorified and transformed in the twinkling of an eye, and they will be invited to receive Paradise. But the unbelieving and wicked will be condemned to eternal, conscious torment.
(1 Corinthians 15:50-58, Romans 8:18-25, Revelation 20:11-15, Revelation 21:1-8, 1 Corinthians 2:6-12.)