The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), wisdom (Psalm 111:10), and understanding/insight (Proverbs 9:10). Everything must be understood in submission to God and His revealed Word (John 1:1-3,14; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:1-4).
There is one true and living God, an infinite, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful being, perfect in all attributes, one in essence, yet eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and these are equal in every divine perfection yet execute distinct and harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence, redemption, and judgement. (Genesis 1:1,26; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:21-22; John 1:1-3, 5:19-23; Matthew 28:19; Ephesians 1:17, 2:18, 4:5-6)
God the Father is an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. He is the Father eternally in His eternally begotten Son and the Father of all creation. He concerns Himself graciously in the affairs of men through possessing righteous anger toward all those who do wicked, yet in condescension and covenant, He hears and answers prayer, and He joyfully saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ. He orders and disposes all things according to His own purpose and grace. (1 John 3:1; Luke 10:21-22; Matthew 6:8-9, 23:9; John 3:16, 4:23, 5:21, 5:46, 6:27, 6:44; Romans 11:33; Revelation 1:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6)
As the only absolute and omnipotent ruler over the universe, He is sovereign in creation, providence, redemption, and the final word of the final things. He is infinitely good, and yet is neither the author nor approver of sin, nor does He make null and void the accountability of His creatures by His sovereignty. From eternity past, before the ages began, He has chosen those whom He would have as His own, not based on anything we have done, nor anything He saw in us, but He has done so by His decree and according to His own good counsel and pleasure. (Genesis 1:1-31; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 103:19; Acts 1:6-8; Romans 11:36; 1 Timothy 6:13-16; Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47; 1 Peter 1:17; James 1:13; Ephesians 1:4-6, 2:8-10)
Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was born of a virgin, led a sinless life, performed many signs and miracles, submitted to substitutionary and propitiatory death in atonement, was bodily resurrected, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, providing perpetual intercession for His people, and His return will be personal and visible. Jesus Christ is coequal, consubstantial (having the same substance, nature, or essence), and coeternal with the Father. (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1, 1:14, 10:30, 14:9, 20:28; Romans 8:34, 9:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30-31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8, 6:9-10; Hebrews 1:1-8, 7:25, 9:28; 1 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6-7; 2 Peter 1:1)
In the Incarnation (God assuming man), Christ surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. (Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 2:9)
Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness. He is perfect both in deity and in humanness, without confusion of the two natures, without transmuting one nature into the other, without dividing them into two separate categories, and without contrasting them according to area or function. (Micah 5:2; John 5:23, 14:9-10; Colossians 2:9)
On the foundation of the efficacy of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, every genuine believer is freed from the punishment, the penalty, the power, and one day the very presence of sin; and is declared righteous (justification), given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God. (Romans 3:25, 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18)
In the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, God the Father displayed to His creation the deity of His Son and gave proof that He accepted the propitiatory work of Christ on the cross, and assurance to all mankind that He will one day judge man by the standard of righteousness that Jesus manifested. (Isaiah 53:10-12; Acts 17:30-31)
The Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, came to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration. It is His work to indwell, sanctify, instruct, empower for service, and seal until the day of redemption all who believe on Jesus Christ. He is a divine person, eternal, underived (having no beginning or source), possessing all the attributes of personality and deity. In all the divine attributes, He is coequal, consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father and the Son. (John 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26-27, 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 2:15-20; Hebrews 10:15-16; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13)
The Bible is God's written revelation to humanity, and thus the sixty-six books of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary Word of God. (Jeremiah 23:28-29; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
The Bible is the Word of God, verbally inspired and absolutely inerrant in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (2 Timothy 3:16; John 8:31-32; 20:31; Acts 20:32)
Mankind was directly and immediately created by God in His own image and likeness, free from the knowledge of evil and sin, with a rational nature, intelligence, and volition, yet was given moral responsibility to his Creator. (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7, 15-25; 1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9)
God's intention in the creation of man was that man should glorify God by enjoying Him forever. (Isaiah 43:7 Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11)
In Adam's sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, humanity lost its innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God, and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. Thus, every human being is totally depraved and, having no recuperative powers to enable him to rescue himself, and is in himself, hopelessly lost. Man's salvation is, therefore, wholly of God's grace through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was necessary, because of the noetic effects of sin, for God to explain knowledge, wisdom, understanding, salvation, the universe, and Himself by condescending to us in His Son, and Holy Word. (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-19; John 3:36; Romans 3:10-11, 3:23, 5:12, 6:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1-3, 2:8-9; 1 John 1:8; Romans 1:18-32)
All humanity is descended from Adam, and thus gain a nature corrupted by Adam's sin which is transmitted to all of humanity (Jesus Christ, having no human father, being the only exception). All of humanity is thus sinful by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration, spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins, and by nature, children of God's wrath. (Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:18 Romans 3:9-18, 3:23, 5:10-12; Ephesians 2:1-3)
Election is the sole act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ all whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies. (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:10; 1 Peter 1:1-2)
Sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of human beings to their Creator. Spiritually dead humanity, however, can never be considered righteous, and none will ever understand spiritual truths, much less ever seek after God on their own accord. Therefore, God's sovereign grace includes the only means of receiving the gift of salvation. God's sovereign election always results in what God determines. Therefore, all whom the Father calls to Himself will come in faith and all who come in faith the Father will receive. (Isaiah 5:6-7; Luke 13:3; John 6:37-44; Acts 2:38, 3:19, 11:18, 13:48; Romans 2:4, 3:10-18, 8:28-30, 9:11-16; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 7:10; Ephesians 1:1-11, 2:1-9; 2 Peter 1:1)
When God grants grace to depraved sinners, it is not related to any initiative of their own, nor to God's anticipation of what they might do by their own will, but is solely on the basis of His sovereign purpose and will. (Ephesians 1:4-8; 2 Peter 1:1; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:1-2)
All those who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior and become new creatures, delivered from condemnation, and recipients of eternal life. Regeneration is an instantaneous act, accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the preaching and hearing of the Word of God, founded on the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, through his active (sinless life) and passive (substitutionary death) obedience, and not on the basis of human merit or work, whether that work or merit be of mind, emotion, action, or word (John 3:14, 5:24-30, 7:13, 8:12, 10:26; Romans 9:22, 10; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 19:3, 20:10-15, 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:1)
Regeneration is manifested in humanity by fruits consistent with repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct in accordance with obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 7:18-21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 1:5, 16:26)
Justification is the act of God by which He declares man righteous. This righteousness is apart from any virtue or work of man and involves the imputation of our sins to Christ and the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us. By this means, God can "be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus". (Romans 3:20-26, 4:6, 8:33; Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 2:14)
Sanctification in the believer is being progressively conformed to the likeness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this respect, every saved person is involved in an ongoing conflict, which is, the new creation in Christ doing battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Those who are genuinely saved will persevere to the end in this battle. (John 17:17-19; Romans 6:1-22; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:16-25; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, 5:23)
Glorification is the renewal of man into his final stasis by God in which He transforms our mortality into immortality. In this state, the believer dwells with the Lord forever and enjoys increased capacities. This is guaranteed to the believers in Christ Jesus, even as it is spoken of in the past tense from the perspective of God. (Romans 8:30)
The universal church is a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head, and all regenerated persons are members. The local church consists of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, ministry, sacraments/ordinances, discipleship, and fellowship. The overflow of the worship of knowledge of the glory God will lead the members of the local church to declare the of Jesus Christ to the world. (Ephesians 2:19-22; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:19-21; 2 Corinthians 4:5-6)
Jesus will return gloriously and visibly to earth and consummate His eternal kingdom. This will be accompanied by the bodily resurrection of all humanity, which results in salvation (eternal felicity and life) of the elect, and the final judgment and endless suffering of the wicked. (Job 19:25-26; Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 5:29, 11:24, 14:3; Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 4:5, 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6)
Marriage is only defined by God, by His Word, and being defined as a covenantal union, sanctioned by God, which joins one man, as defined by God, and one woman, as defined by God, in a single and exclusive union, as defined by God in scripture. God, being perfect in all decrees and creative acts, has determined the sexuality of particular humans from before the foundation of the world, and sex cannot be defined according to human understanding, will, desire, or inclination. (Genesis 2:18-24; Deuteronomy 24:1-4; Matthew 19:4-6; 1 Corinthians 7:1-39)
Marriage is the only legitimate context for sexual intercourse. All forms of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, pornography, or any entertainment of the temptation to altar one’s predetermined sex or disagree with God’s predetermined choice of one’s biological sex, is sinful and an affront to God’s creation and eternal decree. (Proverbs 5:15-19; Hebrews 13:4; Matthew 5:27-30; Ephesians 5:3; Galatians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 18-20; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)
Even before the fall of mankind, God has ordained marriage to be of the help of men and women. Man as husband, being incomplete without his helper who is the woman as wife, is no less than the head of the wife. He therefore bears responsibility for the building up of the family, giving himself up for his wife and family, in the interest of the kingdom of Christ. Therefore, the man shall be the head of the wife, and responsible for raising the children of the family in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The woman bears responsibility for helping the man, being subject and submitted to their own husband. The biological sex which God has preordained for each individual has no influence on the standing before God in judgement, nor in salvation before the cross of Christ, rather this relationship between man and woman is picture of Christ and His bride and should be maintained with the weight and gravity of that understanding. (Genesis 1:27, 2:18-24; Ephesians 5:22-6:4; 1 Peter 2:13, 2:18-3:7)
A. We confess that the church is subject to Christ, who is Lord over all. While church members ought to obey civil rulers in temporal things, provided they are not required by those authorities to sin (Mk. 12:13-17; Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pt. 2:13-17), the church has a divine right to embody her beliefs in her practices and to carry out the mission Christ has entrusted to her without interference or hindrance. The church as an institution shall remain free from state control in faith, doctrine, and practice, and her members should not be forced to act contrary to their consciences, as informed by the Word of God. With these truths in view, we declare the church’s right to reject any attempts on the part of the state to impose on her institutionally or her members individually unbiblical, unnatural definitions of marriage or sexuality.
B. God created man male and female in the beginning for this very reason, that they might be joined together in the covenant of marriage as one flesh (Mark 10:5ff). Marriage as a covenant bond between a man and a woman is an institution founded not in cultural convention or convenience, but in God’s act of creation (Gen. 2:23-24).
C. We resist and reject all attempts to redefine marriage to include same-sex partnerships. Certainly, we desire to serve and love persons with homosexual desires or who engage in homosexual practices. We know we are fellow image bearers and fellow sinners along with them, and we long to show them the compassion of Christ. But we cannot endorse the fulfillment of their desires under any circumstances. Rather, we call on persons with such desires to join us in trusting the Lord Jesus to forgive our sin through his shed blood and transform us by his healing grace.
D. We claim the right for our churches and church members (whatever their particular vocation) to refuse to host, officiate, or in any way support same-sex “marriage” ceremonies, not out of animus, but out of love for God, neighbor, and truth. Likewise, we refuse to host, officiate, or support other ceremonies that violate biblical teaching on marriage.
E. We reject transgenderism as a perversion of God’s good creational order. There are only two sexes, male and female (Gen. 1:26-28). Sex is not fluid, it is binary. We reject the notion that gender is determined by one’s feelings, or is detachable from biological and bodily givens. God forms each person genetically as a distinct male or female from the moment of conception. As God is the Creator, and makes each of us either male or female, we cannot unmake and remake ourselves into the opposite sex. Sex is an immutable feature of our identity as creatures; thus, it is impossible for anyone to change his or her sex.
F. Gender dysphoria should not be used to create a protected class of persons, in which one’s feelings override the facts of biology, or in which the rights, dignity, and privacy of transgender persons override the rights, dignity, and privacy of others. Thus, we claim for our churches and church members (in whatever vocation they serve) the right to reject compliance with any public policies or laws that would require us to deny binary sexes, or to accept claims of gender identity that are contrary to one’s God-assigned biology. We reject the legal redefinitions of sex and gender that divorce either of these realities from God-given biology. We claim the right to speak to people according to their God-given sex, rather than reinforcing gender dysphoric confusions by using alternative pronouns. We claim the right to restrict access to intimate facilities (e.g., bathrooms, nursing areas, shelters, etc.), to sex-specific events, etc., strictly according to God- given biological realities. In the case of someone who has already transitioned to the appearance of the opposite sex, the session of the local congregation will determine the wisest and most compassionate course of action.
G. All sexual sins can be forgiven through the shed blood of Christ, including the practice of sodomy and transgenderism. But forgiveness can never be separated from confession and repentance; forgiveness can never be separated from denying oneself and taking up the cross daily; forgiveness can never be separated from fighting against sin and pursuing holiness in the power of the Holy Spirit.