- The Bible is God's unique revelation to people. It is the
inspired, infallible Word of God, and the supreme and final
authority on all matters upon which it teaches. No other
writings are vested with such divine authority.
- There is only one God, creator of
heaven and earth, who exists eternally as three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
each fully God yet each personally distinct from the other.
- All people are created in God's image and matter deeply
to Him. Central to the message of the Bible is that God
loves people, and invites them to live in communion with Himself and
in community with each other.
- Apart from Jesus Christ, all people are spiritually lost
and, because of sin, deserve the judgment of God. However, God
gives salvation and eternal life to anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ
and in His sacrifice on his or her behalf. Salvation cannot
be earned through personal goodness or human effort. It is a gift
that must be received by humble repentance and faith in
Christ and His finished work on the cross.
- Jesus Christ, second Person of the Trinity, was born of
the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless human life, willingly took upon Himself
all of our sins, died and rose again bodily, and is at
the right hand of the Father as our advocate and mediator. Some day, He
will return to consummate history and to fulfill the eternal plan of God.
- The Holy Spirit, third Person of the Trinity, convicts
the world of sin and draws people to Christ. He also indwells all believers.
He is available to empower them to lead Christ-like lives,
and gives them spiritual gifts with which to serve the church and
reach out to a lost and needy world.
- Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. At the
final judgment, unbelievers will be separated from God into condemnation.
Believers will be received into God's loving presence and
rewarded for their faithfulness to Him in this life.
- All believers are members of the body of Christ, the one
true church universal. Spiritual unity is to be expressed among
Christians by acceptance and love of one another across ethnic, cultural,
socio-economic, national, generational, gender, and denominational
lines.
- The local church is a congregation of believers who gather
for worship, prayer, instruction, encouragement, mutual accountability,
and community with each other. Through it, believers invest time,
energy, and resources to fulfill the Great Commission —
reaching lost people and growing them into fully devoted followers of Christ.
This statement reflects a contemporary summary of the central
doctrines in the Bible, which are also presented in the
historic creeds of the Christian church.
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