---

God

There is one God, eternal and self-existing in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is the almighty Creator, sovereign Ruler and Sustainer, loving and merciful Savior, and holy and righteous Judge. Each person of the Trinity is to be equally loved, honored, and worshiped.

​

Bible

The Bible is, in its entirety, the inspired Word of God and the only infallible rule for faith and practice. It is spiritual food for the growth of faith, love, knowledge, and holiness, and a source of wisdom and instruction to which we are obliged to submit.

​​

Salvation

All humanity has been created in the image of God and is of immeasurable worth. When sin entered the world, all people fell into sin and became separated from God. Therefore, humanity is utterly incapable of saving themselves from the wrath of God. God does not desire that anyone should perish, but that all people should turn to Him and be saved. Therefore, God the Father sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Christ "bore, in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race; in order that by His suffering, as the only atoning sacrifice, He might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal life (Heidelberg Catechism 37)."

​

In His grace, God applies all the benefits of salvation to the Church, which has been purchased by the blood of Christ from every tribe, language, nation, and people. His will does not depend on human merit or foreseen faith, but on His immeasurable, unconditional, and incomprehensible love. Those whom the Holy Spirit brings to new life receive the forgiveness of their sins by grace alone. They are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and God does not allow them to be tempted beyond what they are able to bear, but preserves them from true apostasy so that they will certainly persevere to the end. This salvation is received through faith alone. The goal of God’s salvation in the Christian life is a holy life according to God’s will, lived for the glory of God and in service to the King of kings, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

​

Baptism and the Church

God is gracious and faithful to his people, not only as individuals but from generation to generation, according to his covenant promise. Just as Abraham, as a believer, received the outward sign and seal of the covenant of his inward reality, so too should baptism be given to first-generation believers upon their profession of faith. Likewise, just as Abraham’s descendants received the same sign based on Abraham's faith, so too should the children of believers receive the sign and seal of the New Covenant—baptism. The visible Church then consists of baptized believers and their children.

​

The Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist, is a sacrament instituted by Christ. God chose visible and tangible bread and wine, to which He unites His grace and covenant promises through His Word and Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Supper is a means of grace in which Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, nourishes believers with His real body and blood. In the Lord's Supper we are "so united more and more to His sacred body by the Holy Spirit, who dwells both in Christ and in us, that, although He is in heaven and we on earth, we are nevertheless flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone" (Heidelberg Catechism 76). The whole Christ, the true God and the true Man is "without confusion, without change,
without division, without separation" (Chalcedonian Definition) present to the believer through the sacrament in such a way that he eats and drinks through faith the body and blood of Christ at the Lord's Supper. How this happens is a mystery.

 

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit regenerates, transforms hearts, apportions spiritual gifts as He wills, condemns sin, and renews. He applies the benefits of Christ's work of salvation by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ. The Spirit dwells in God's people, manifests in each member of Christ for the common good, and gives them the power and wisdom to trust in Christ and follow Him.

 

The End Times

At the moment of death, the soul of a Christian immediately goes to God, and the soul of an unbeliever is separated from God forever to be judged. At the end of time, Jesus Christ will return visibly and physically to the earth to consummate all things according to the eternal plan of the Triune God. He will judge all mankind, gather His people to Himself, and live with them forever in the New Creation.

​

---