Statement of Faith

Regarding God:

God is One.
He is the Creator of all things.
He is holy; He is completely perfect; He is eternal—He has always been, is, and always will be.
He is Triune God, three equal divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing in perfect unity and love.
God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.
God is the initiator of our faith in Him through Jesus Christ.

Regarding the Bible:

The Bible is God’s Word to us. It is also referred to as the Scriptures and The Holy Scriptures.
God has spoken to us through the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments.
God used human authors in conveying His Word to us.
The Scriptures are inspired by God and inerrant in original writings.
The Bible contains God’s revealed will for all people unto salvation, and is the authority for all pertaining to life, knowledge, and judgment.
The Bible’s teachings are those of God Himself and are to be obeyed, and its promises trusted.

Regarding the condition of humanity:

God created Adam and Eve in His image.
However, they sinned upon being tempted by Satan to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the one tree from which God said that they were not to eat.
Adam was the first of the human race. By nature and by choice, therefore, human beings are sinners.
We are alienated from God, under His wrath until being saved—rescued—through Jesus Christ because of His salvation gained for us on the cross.
Only through Jesus Christ can we be redeemed and reconciled to God. This is by grace, through faith, not of works and not of ourselves; it is a free gift of God through Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Regarding Jesus Christ:

He is wholly God and wholly man.
Jesus Christ is God made flesh (incarnate) who came down from heaven with the purpose of saving His people from their sins. (Luke 2)
Jesus is the Anointed One, Messiah; the One who was promised by God to His people through the ages.
He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary.
He was sinless. (Hebrews 4:15)
He was crucified, died, and was buried. He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. (From The Apostles’ Creed)
Jesus now sits at the right hand of God the Father and is the only mediator between us and the Father. He acts as our High Priest and is our Advocate.

Regarding the work of Jesus Christ:

Jesus Christ is not only our representative before the Father. He is also our substitute sacrifice to turn God’s wrath from us. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the only perfect and sufficient atonement for our sins through His shed blood.
His death on the cross and bodily resurrection from the dead are the only ground for our salvation.

Regarding the Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit points to and gives glory to Jesus Christ.
He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
The Holy Spirit regenerates sinners and transforms us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
He renews the minds of believers; baptizes them in unity with Jesus Christ; and “is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (Ephesians 1:14, NIV). The Holy Spirit indwells believers; He guides, equips, empowers, and gifts believers in order that they might live for Christ and serve Him rather than ourselves.

Regarding the Church:

“The true church [is] comprise[d of] all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone.”

Regarding Christian Living:

With God’s help through Jesus Christ, each individual believer is responsible to pursue righteous and godly lives (1 Timothy 6:11-12; 2 Timothy 22-24).
Believers are to wholly love God and extend His love to one another.
We are to “stand firm against” (Ephesians 6:11, NASB) and “resist” (Ibid., vs. 13) the “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12, NIV).
Further, we are to obey Christ’s commission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and in the Spirit’s power be Christ’s witnesses near “and to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8-9, NASB).

Regarding Christ’s Return:

Jesus Christ will personally come again on this earth in bodily form. “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son, but the Father alone” (Matthew 24:36, NASB).

Regarding our response and eternity:

God desires that all repent, “not wanting anyone to perish” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV). To all who receive Jesus Christ, who believe in His name, God gives the right “to become [His] children—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12, NIV). “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16b NIV). Paul writes that it is "by grace . . . through faith” (Ephesians 2:8a NASB) that one is saved; “not of [our]selves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB). The Apostle John also notes that “he who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life” (1 John 5:12, NASB).

This Statement of Faith generally follows and is partially quoted from the Statement of Faith for the Evangelical Free Church of America. I am using the brochure, This is the EFCA: Multiplying Transformational Churches Among All People, The Evangelical Free Church of America. (Nextstep Resources: Minneapolis, MN, reprinted 7/2015.)