A Summary of What We Believe
If you are visiting our website for the first time, you probably want to know a little more about us. So let us introduce you to our most basic beliefs, conveniently summarized by the “Five Solas.”
Grace Alone
(Sola Gratia)
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. . . For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not of works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2.1-5, 8-9
God says that no one has the ability to choose him or obey him. Man is dead in sin, a prisoner of Satan and a slave to his own corrupt desires. He is lost! He is an object of God’s wrath! Because of that lost condition, man cannot earn his way into God’s favor. The only hope is God’s unmerited favor – his grace! It is by the grace of God alone, without respect to human ability or merit, that God reconciles sinners to himself.
Faith Alone
(Sola Fide)
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
Philippians 3.7-9
Do not put your hope in your obedience to God’s commands; what is here called a “righteousness of my own that comes from the law.” If you expect God to accept you based on your righteousness, you are still lost. What is the answer to this dilemma? You must receive a righteousness from God that comes through faith. Faith is trusting Christ on account of what he has done. Faith is the hand that receives Christ’s righteousness from God. It is through faith alone, not anything else, that sinners receive a righteousness that reconciles them to God.
Christ Alone
(Solo Christo)
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4.12
Jesus alone is the avenue to God; Christ is the exclusive means of reconciliation with God. All other proposed paths to God are useless and ineffective. Jesus alone reconciles you to God without aid from anyone or anything else. You cannot add the merits you think you might gain through your own obedience and working. Jesus’ sinless life and death alone are sufficient for our reconciliation to God.
Scriptures Alone
(Sola Scriptura)
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, convicting, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3.16-17
The Scriptures alone reveal to us Jesus Christ and the knowledge of the salvation which is found in him. The Scriptures alone, apart from any religious traditions or secular philosophies, are the ultimate authority for what we believe and what we practice. The Scriptures alone are sufficient to give us an understanding of our world, ourselves and our God.
For the Glory of God Alone
(Soli Deo Gloria)
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 11.33-36
Because of God’s gracious work in reconciling sinners to himself, he deserves all praise and glory. The revelation of his character and his works ought to cause all men to praise and thank him. We can do no less than render to him our whole life in grateful worship, love, holiness and service whereby we seek to glorify him.
If you want to know more about our beliefs and practices, view our Statement of Faith and our Constitution