This confession states only those things Scripture makes sufficiently clear and sufficiently important to define this church. It is written for ordinary members. Where Scripture requires a firm word, we speak firmly. Where Scripture leaves room, we refuse to invent certainty.
1. Scripture
The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are the written Word of God, God-breathed, true in all they affirm, and the only infallible rule of faith and life. They are sufficient to make the believer complete and equipped for every good work. The church recognizes the canon; it does not create the authority of the books. Later tradition may help us hear Scripture, but it cannot stand above it or beside it as an equal authority.
2. God
There is one living and true God, eternal, self-existent, Creator of all things, distinct from His creation. He is holy, just, good, loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, and faithful. He exists eternally as three distinct persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - each fully God, equal in glory, and worthy of the same worship.
3. Creation and Humanity
God freely created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He made human beings, male and female, in His own image. Adam and Eve were historical persons at the head of the human race. Through Adam's disobedience sin and death entered the world. Every human being is created with dignity and is accountable to God.
4. Sin
All have sinned. Every person is born with a nature inclined to evil, under the power of sin, and subject to condemnation apart from Christ. God is not the author of sin. Human beings remain fully responsible for their own sin.
5. Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is true God and true man: one person with two natures, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived without sin, died as a substitutionary sacrifice for sinners, rose bodily from the dead on the third day, ascended into heaven, and now reigns at the Father's right hand. He will return personally, visibly, and gloriously to judge the living and the dead.
6. Salvation
Salvation is by the free grace of God alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. Sinners must repent and believe. God justifies the ungodly through faith, apart from works of the law. This faith is living and produces obedience, yet works are the fruit of salvation, never its ground. Those whom God truly regenerates He also keeps, and they persevere in faith and holiness. God elects a people according to His gracious purpose; He also commands all people everywhere to repent and believe.
7. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a distinct person, fully God. He regenerates, indwells, seals, and sanctifies every true believer at conversion. He gives gifts to the church for the common good. All claimed gifts must be tested by Scripture. No gift is required as proof of genuine faith or as a mark of a higher class of Christian.
8. The Church
The church is the people united to Christ by faith, expressed in local congregations. Local churches are led by a plurality of qualified elders and served by deacons. The congregation retains final human responsibility in membership, discipline, and the recognition of officers. The office of elder is reserved for qualified men. Women are equal in dignity and gifted for many ministries. The church practices discipline for the purity of the body and the restoration of the sinner.
9. Baptism
Baptism is the immersion in water of a person who has repented and believed in Jesus Christ, administered in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It signifies union with Christ in His death and resurrection and entrance into the visible church. Baptism does not regenerate. Infant baptism is not practiced or affirmed, nor is it demonstrated in Scripture.
10. The Lord's Supper
The Lord's Supper is the covenant meal of the gathered church. In it the church remembers and proclaims Christ's death until He comes, and believers truly participate in the benefits of His body and blood by faith through the Spirit. The bread and cup remain bread and cup. The table is for baptized believers walking in repentance.
11. Christian Life
Believers are called to holiness, prayer, gathered worship, generous giving, sexual faithfulness within the marriage of one man and one woman, truth-telling, and care for the vulnerable. Marriage is the lifelong covenant of one man and one woman. Sexual activity outside that covenant is sin. Civil government is ordained by God; believers submit to it except when it requires disobedience to God.
12. Last Things
At death the believer is with Christ; the unbeliever enters conscious anguish. Both await the resurrection. Christ will return personally and visibly. The dead will be raised. All will be judged. The righteous will enter eternal life in the new heavens and new earth. The wicked will enter eternal punishment. The present creation will be renewed.
13. The Gospel Boundary
We receive as Christians all who confess the one true God and the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. We will not treat gospel-confessing believers as unbelievers because they differ from us on secondary matters. We will not treat denial of the gospel, of the deity or humanity of Christ, or of the Trinity as a minor disagreement. Full membership, pulpit, and table in this church belong to those who walk in the faith and order here confessed.
We affirm what Scripture requires. We deny what Scripture excludes. We permit freedom where Scripture permits freedom. We remain silent where Scripture remains silent.
1. Essentials - what makes someone a Christian
Required of every member. Denying these is departing from the gospel.
2. Church convictions - what the Bible teaches with clarity.
Required of pastors, elders, and teachers. Members receive them with humility.
3. Freedom - where believers may differ in good faith.
Held and discussed freely; never made a test of fellowship or preached as required doctrine.