Changeless Truth for Changing Times
Our beliefs are not new. They are as old as the Bible itself. They can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. The primary standard for the church, that by which it measures its life and ministry, is the Bible, the Word of God. The secondary standards of our church are the historic doctrinal statements, the Westminster Confession of Faith and its companion documents, the Westminster Larger Catechism and Shorter Catechism.
The Bible is more than a collection of moral teachings or a handbook on theology. It is the history of the unfolding and establishment of God’s kingdom. Thus our teaching and preaching show how the Bible, from beginning to end, points us to Jesus Christ, who inaugurated the kingdom of God by his death and resurrection in our place. By nature we are dead in sin. But the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, has loved us and has drawn us to himself. We hold to the historic Reformed faith. We believe in what is known as “The Five Solas”:
- Scripture Alone: We believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of the living and true God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. The Bible is God’s complete, final, and sufficient revelation to us. The Bible is the sole written divine revelation that can alone bind the conscience of believers. Scripture alone is the sole authority for all matters of faith and practice, and the traditions of men must always be judged by this holy standard (Mark 7:8-13)
- Faith Alone: We believe that the only way sinners can draw near to a holy God is to have their sins pardoned and receive the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. Not even the best of our works can merit this. Justification is by faith alone. As the Westminster Confession of Faith puts it (Chapter 11, Section 2): “Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.”
- Grace Alone: We believe in the sovereignty of God in salvation and all things. We affirm the Calvinistic doctrines of total depravity, unconditional election, definite atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10
- Christ Alone: We believe that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is about Jesus Christ. He is our only hope of salvation. Therefore we preach Christ and not moralism, legalism, or politics. Only when we focus on Christ and trust in him can we walk worthy of the calling with which we have been called.
- To the Glory of God Alone: Glory belongs to God alone. God’s glory is the central motivation for salvation, not improving the lives of people—though that is a wonderful by product. God is not a means to an end—he is the means and the end. The goal of all of life is to give glory to God alone: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). As The Westminster Catechism says, the chief purpose of human life is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
