God

God is the perfect, eternal Creator who exists in unity as the three persons of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jesus

Jesus Christ is true God and true man. He was conceived by Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He died upon the cross, the Just for the unjust, as a substitutional sacrifice; and all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood. He arose from the dead according to the Scriptures. He is now at the right hand of the Majesty on high as our great High Priest. He will come again to establish His Kingdom of righteousness and peace.

Holy Spirit

Holy Spirit is fully God, just as God the Father and God the Son are. Holy Spirit convicts people of sins (1 Thess. 1:5), regenerates them (Titus 3:5), and draws people to himself (1 Pet. 1:12). When the message of salvation is given, Holy Spirit is poured out on people so they can believe (Acts 10:44) and guides people in all truth (Heb 10:16). Holy Spirit sanctifies believers (Rom. 15:16) and seals them until they receive their inheritance (Eph. 1:13). Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts just as he determines in order to build up the church.

People’s Relationship with God

Romans 5:12 tells us: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” As descendants of Adam, sin was imputed to us. When sin entered into the world, evil started to reign by bringing sickness and disease and through destroying life and relationships. Ephesians 2:12-13 tells us that we “were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” So without Christ, mankind was doomed to death and separation from God. Because of our sin, we deserve punishment and eternal separation from God, but Jesus came to save us by taking our punishment in our place and reconciling us to God.

Salvation through Christ Alone

Jesus physically died and was in the grave from Friday until Sunday (1 Cor. 15). He bodily rose from the dead overcoming death and hell and sin for our sakes.

John 14:16 tells us, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’” and Acts 4:12 tells us, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Free Gift of Eternal Life

Because of the gift of eternal life, God has saved us from the curse of sin and death and made us right with him through the sacrifice Christ made by dying on the cross in our place. We are saved by grace through faith, which has nothing to do with us, it is all a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). We can’t earn our salvation through any good works, and the opposite is also true: we can’t lose our salvation because of anything we do or do not do, either (Rom. 8:38-39), if we have repented of our sins and put our trust in Jesus.

Repentance and Justification

In order to be saved, a believer must repent of their sins. Repentance means being remorseful for one’s sins (2 Cor. 7:9), turning away from them, and moving in the opposite direction (Acts 26:20).

When a person puts their faith in Christ, they are justified before God because of what Christ accomplished on the cross. Justification means that we are no longer condemned for our sins; Christ’s blood has made it possible for us to be declared righteous before God. Romans 5:1-2 tells us, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” At salvation we are justified before God.

Regeneration

When we put our faith in Christ, we are made into a new creation. Regeneration means being born again. People are regenerated when they put their faith in Jesus, and the Spirit takes up residence in their lives. Believers are made alive (Rom. 6:11) and are new creations when they put their trust in Jesus for their salvation (2 Cor. 5:17).

Sanctification

Believers are sanctified, are being sanctified, and will be sanctified beginning from the moment they placed their trust in Christ for salvation. To be sanctified means to be clean and blameless (1 Thess. 5:23). At salvation we were washed clean by Jesus’s blood in the sight of God. As we grow in Christ, the outward evidence of his work in our lives will show that he is purifying us more and more until the day we go home to be with him in heaven and are finally made whole, completely sanctified with our new, heavenly body.

The Sacraments

Baptism is administered to people who express a personal faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Baptism symbolizes our relationship with Christ and identifies us with him: we are united with him in death, and we die to our sins (going under the water), our sins are washed away, and we are raised to new life in him (out of the water).

Eucharist, or the Lord’s supper, is administered to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. We take it to remember his body that was broken for us, and his blood that was spilt for us to bring us salvation.

The Church’s Mission

Jesus is the head of the Church, his body (Eph. 5:23), and he desires for us to do our part and work in unity with each other (1 Cor. 1:12).

Acts 2:42 tells us that the early church lived in community, and as a result the world took note. Many people came to faith in Christ in large part because “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” In addition, Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us that the church is important for growing in our walk with God: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Jesus commanded us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 24:14 states, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” It is the Church’s, each individual saint’s, responsibility to proclaim the gospel and build up believers as they grow in Christ.

The Disciplines of the Christian Life

Psalm 119 makes it clear that the Word of God is essential to living a godly life. Therefore, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on Scripture is a basic discipline of the Christian life. In addition, prayer allows us to grow in our relationship with God, so speaking to him and listening for his promptings are important as well (1 Thess. 5:17). The Bible also makes it clear that fellowshipping with other believers is important as a means of being a testimony in our communities (Acts 2:42-47) and standing firm in the faith (Heb. 10:25).

The Afterlife

Those who have put their trust in Jesus for salvation will be resurrected bodily and spend eternity with God in “the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). Those who have rejected the free gift of salvation will be separated from God (2 Thess. 1:9) “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

The Return of Christ

Christ will return at any time (Luke 12:40) to make his “dwelling place among the people” (Rev. 21:3).