OUR BELIEFS

Statement of Faith | Nicean Creed

OUR core values

Statement of faith

We believe that there is only one true God who is the eternal King, Creator, and Redeemer of all that is. He is perfectly holy, just, loving, and truthful. He has revealed Himself to be eternally self-existent – one being in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

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We believe that the Bible is the inspired and only infallible and authoritative Word of God.

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We believe that humankind was created in the image of God to know and enjoy Him, yet we willfully rejected the Lordship and glory of God for which we were intended. Because of this, sickness, death, and judgment entered the world and now creation experiences the effects and consequences of sin.

We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and is God’s Anointed One, empowered by the Holy Spirit to inaugurate God’s kingdom on earth. He was crucified for our sins, died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven, and is now alive today in the presence of God the Father and in His people. He is "true God" and "true man."

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We believe that we are saved by God’s grace, through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Anyone can be restored to fellowship with God through repenting, believing, and receiving Jesus as their Savior and Lord. The Holy Spirit convicts, regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and adopts us as we enter the kingdom of God as His sons and daughters.

We believe in the ongoing, sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a holy life and minister super-naturally. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, according to Acts 1:4-8 and 2:4, is poured out on believers that they might have God’s power to be His witnesses.

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We believe in the victorious, redemptive work of Christ on the cross provides freedom from the power of the enemy – sin, lies, sickness, and torment.

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We believe that the Church consists of all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. He gave His Church the ordinances of baptism and communion. The Church exists to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ and further advance His kingdom by undoing the works of the enemy, preaching and living the good news of God’s love, and discipling the nations – baptizing and teaching them to love and obey God.

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We believe in the ever-increasing government of God and in the Blessed Hope, which is the glorious, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign with His overcoming bride – the Church.

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We believe that heaven and hell are real places. There will be a resurrection of the lost and the saved, the one to everlasting death and the other to everlasting life.

The Nicean Creed

Article I: God the Father, Creation

We believe in one God (1), the Father Almighty (2), maker of heaven and earth (3), and of all things visible and invisible (4).

(1) Romans 10:10; Deuteronomy 6:4, (2) Matthew 6:9; Exodus 6:3, (3) Genesis 1:1; John 1:1, (4) Colossians 1:16.

Article II: God the Son, Justification

And in one Lord Jesus Christ (5), the only-begotten Son of God (6), begotten of His Father before all worlds (7), God of God, Light of Light (8), very God of very God (9), begotten, not made (10), being of one substance with the Father (11), by Whom all things were made (12); Who for us men and for our salvation (13) came down from heaven (14) and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary (15) and was made man (16); and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate (17). He suffered and was buried (18). And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures (19) and ascended into heaven (20) and sits at the right hand of the Father (21). And He will come again with glory (22) to judge both the living and the dead (23), Whose kingdom will have no end (24).

(5) Romans 10:9, Ephesians 4:5, (6) John 3:16; Matthew 16:16, (7) John 1:2, (8) John 17:22; John 8:12; John 1:1, (9) Colossians 2:9, (10) John 1:2, (11) John 10:30, (12) Hebrews 1:2; John 1:3, (13) 1 Timothy 2:4; Romans 3:23, (14) John 6:41; Luke 15:20, (15) Luke 1:34–35, (16) John 1:14, (17) Mark 15:25; John 19:16–18, (18) John 19:1–3; Luke 23:53, (19) 1 Corinthians 15:4; Luke 24:6, (20) Acts 1:9, (21) Acts 7:55, (22) Matthew 26:64, (23) Acts 10:42; Matthew 3:12, (24) Luke 1:33; 2 Peter 1:11.

Article III: God the Holy Spirit, Sanctification

We believe in the Holy Spirit (25), the Lord and giver of life (26), Who proceeds from the Father and the Son (27), Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified (28), Who spoke by the prophets (29). And we believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church (30), we acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins (31), and I look for the resurrection of the dead (32) and the life of the world to come. (33)

Amen. (34)

(25) John 14:26; Genesis 1:2; Acts 2:38, (26) Genesis 1:2; John 3:6, (27) John 15:26, (28) Matthew 3:16–17; Luke 2:14, (29) Ezekiel 11:5; 2 Peter 1:20–21, (30) 1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:19–22, (31) Ephesians 4:5; Acts 2:38, (32) 1 Corinthians 15:35–49; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, (33) Mark 10:29–30; Matthew 10:40–42, (34) Psalm 106:48.

*The Nicene Creed, also called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is a statement of the orthodox faith of the early Christian church in opposition to certain heresies, especially Arianism. These heresies, which disturbed the church during the fourth century, concerned the doctrine of the trinity and of the person of Christ. Both the Greek (Eastern) and the Latin (Western) church held this creed in honor, though with one important difference: the Western church insisted on the inclusion of the phrase "and the Son" (known as the "filioque") in the article on the procession of the Holy Spirit; this phrase still is repudiated by the Eastern Orthodox church. In its present form this creed goes back partially to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) with additions by the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381). It was accepted in its present form at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, but the "filioque" phrase was not added until 589. However, the creed is in substance an accurate and majestic formulation of the Nicene faith. This translation of the Greek text was approved by the CRC Synod of 1988.