What We Believe

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Total Depravity, the first of the Doctrines of Grace, says that human beings are not inherently good after all. Every part of them is bound by sin and corruption. They cannot do anything on their own power to please or be reconciled to a holy God. They are incapable of choosing to know and love God, or of carrying out any spiritual good without the prior regeneration of the Holy Spirit. And everyone is affected; no one human being is more or less depraved than the next – regardless of how much more openly it manifests in some people than in others.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.

Genesis 6:11 NIV

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

Romans 3:23 NIV

Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

Jeremiah 13:23 NIV

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 flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3 NIV

The Doctrine of Limited Atonement is the most controversial of the five points in the Doctrines of Grace. Other terms used to describe this doctrine are Definite Redemption, Definite Atonement or Particular Redemption. It seems to be the one doctrine that causes the most confusion. Is Christ’s atonement universal; for all? Or is Christ’s atonement for a select group of people? We believe we can find our answers in the Word to support the latter. If God’s purpose in the atonement of Christ was for all, we are faced with Universalism: the belief that all humankind will eventually be saved. The Word clearly tells us that not all will be saved, that there are those that will perish. “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many that go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14. This is just one verse that contradicts the belief of Universalism. Many people will perish in Hell. If what Christ accomplished on the cross was for everyone, then everyone would be saved. The cross had an intentional, specific, definite purpose. If His death was for the propitiation for all, and all are not saved, then Christ would not have accomplished what He needed to. It would not be a “done deal.”

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of to your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

John 17:10-11 NIV

Unconditional Election is defined as that God saving us because of his sovereignty, nothing we can do will ever change that. We can’t earn our salvation, we can’t lose our salvation, we are elect and chosen.

 When discussing the concept of predestination, the first thing people usually say is that it isn’t fair. When you look at it biblically, however, the only thing that really isn’t fair is that God sent his Son to die for sinners like you and me. We all deserve hell, but by God’s sovereign grace, he chooses some.

How is this fair? How come a loving God would choose some, and not choose others? The first thing we must remember when questioning these things is that we are created for God, for His glory and His purposes, plain and simple. God is sovereign. 

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits (Some manuscripts: because from the beginning God chose you) to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13 NIV

Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Romans 9:11-15 NIV

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. Acts 13:48 NIV

Irresistible Grace refers to the sovereign work of God to overcome the sinful rebellion of our hearts and call us to Christ so that we can be saved. We must fully grasp our total depravity in order to come to terms with irresistible grace. If we are dead in our sins, unable to commit our lives to Christ because of our fallen nature, then we will never come to Christ unless God calls us to Him personally, overcoming our own rebellion. Romans 8:7-8 states, “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." So, to the person who says we can use our freedom to resist or accept God’s grace, this is not biblical. The Bible teaches those who are in the flesh cannot and will not please God. It is only by divine intervention — by His will — and by Him giving us a new and humble nature to do so. As Charles Spurgeon said, “We believe that the work of regeneration, conversion, sanctification and faith are not an act of man’s free will and power, but of the mighty, efficacious and irresistible grace of God.” Christians, this revelation should be beyond freeing. We no longer have the pressure of our salvation lying heavily on our shoulders; instead, our salvation is in the hands of our eternal Father ... and in His hands rests grace upon grace.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7 NIV

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:25-27

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. John 6:44

The Westminster Confession of Faith describes Perseverance of the Saints as, “They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. John 10:28-29 NIV

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