Theological Distinctives

1. We believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly human, the unique, sure, and sufficient revelation of the very being, character, and purposes of God, beside whom there is no other god, and beside whom there is no other name by which we must be saved.

2. We believe that the only ground for our acceptance by God is what Jesus Christ did on the cross and what He is now doing through His risen life, whereby He exposed and reversed the course of human sin and violence, bore the penalty for our sins, credited us with His righteousness, redeemed us from the power of evil, reconciled us to God, and empowers us with His life "from above." We therefore bring nothing to our salvation. Credited with the righteousness of Christ, we receive His redemption solely by grace through faith.

3. We believe that new life, given supernaturally through spiritual regeneration, is a necessity as well as a gift and that the lifelong conversion that results is the only pathway to a radically changed character and way of life. Thus the only sufficient power for a life of Christian faithfulness and moral integrity in this world is that of Christ's resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. We believe that Jesus' own teaching and His attitude toward the total truthfulness and supreme authority of the Bible, God's inspired Word, make the Scriptures our final rule for faith and practice.

5. We believe that being disciples of Jesus means serving Him as Lord in every sphere of our lives, secular as well as spiritual, public as well as private, in deeds as well as words, and in every moment of our days on earth, always reaching out as He did to those who are lost, as well as to the poor, the sick, the hungry, the oppressed, the socially despised, and being faithful stewards of creation and our fellow-creatures.

6. We believe that the blessed hope of the personal return of Jesus provides both strength and substance to what the Church is doing, just as what we are doing becomes a sign of the hope of where we are going; both together leading to a consummation of history and the fulfillment of an undying kingdom that comes only by the power of God.

7. We believe that all followers of Christ are called to know and love Christ through worship, love Christ's family through fellowship, grow like Christ through discipleship, serve Christ by ministering to the needs of others in His name, and share Christ with those who do not yet know Him, inviting people to the ends of the earth and to the end of time to join us as His disciples and followers of His way.