Historically, churches have expressed their core beliefs through confessions and statements of faith. Though never equal in authority to Scripture, these documents summarize the essential truths of the Christian faith and the shared convictions that unite a church. The following Statement of Faith is adapted from the New Hampshire Confession of Faith of 1853.
We believe that the Holy Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is God-breathed, written by human authors under the sovereign guidance of the Spirit of God, so that their words, written in their own distinct voices and styles, are the very words of God. The Bible is therefore entirely true and trustworthy, free from error in all that it affirms, and clear in all that God requires us to know, believe, and obey.
The Bible is God’s complete, sufficient, and final revelation. From beginning to end, it unfolds the eternal purpose of the Triune God to establish His kingdom and redeem a people for His glory through the biblical covenants, each advancing His one redemptive plan until it reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant.
As a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction, the Bible reveals God’s will for our faith and life and the standard by which He will judge us. It therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the true center of Christian unity and the supreme and final authority by which all human conduct, teaching, creeds, and opinions must be tested.
We believe that there is one, and only one, true and living God, an infinite and intelligent Spirit whose name is Yahweh, the Creator and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. He is glorious in holiness and infinitely worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love. The one God eternally exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each fully and equally possessing the whole divine essence. From all eternity, the Father has loved and delighted in His eternally begotten and uncreated Son, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
In the great work of salvation, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit act inseparably in perfect unity, yet each according to His personal distinction: the Father purposes redemption and sends the Son, the Son accomplishes redemption, and the Holy Spirit gives life to the spiritually dead and applies to them all the benefits secured by the Son’s death and resurrection.
We believe that humanity was created by God in His image, male and female, upright and holy, under the righteous rule of their Creator and in unbroken fellowship with Him. But through Adam’s voluntary transgression, acting as the covenant head and representative of humanity, the human race fell from that holy and happy state.
In Adam, all stand guilty before God, corrupted by sin in every part of their nature, devoid of the holiness God requires, inclined toward evil, and enslaved to sinful passions and pleasures. Dead in trespasses and sins, and under the power of the evil one, we sin willingly, not by external compulsion, but from the corrupt desires of our fallen hearts. By nature, we are utterly unwilling to turn to God or submit to His righteous rule, and utterly unable to do anything spiritually good or pleasing to Him. We therefore lie under God’s righteous wrath and curse, justly deserving death and eternal punishment, without defense or excuse.
We believe that the salvation of sinners is by grace alone through Christ alone. The eternal Son of God, sent by the Father, freely took to Himself a true human nature without ceasing to be fully God, and lived without sin. As the last Adam and Mediator of the new covenant, He perfectly obeyed His Father and fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of His people. By His once-for-all death on the cross, He bore the penalty of their sins in their place and made a full, final, and substitutionary atonement for them. He rose bodily from the dead and was exalted to reign over all at the right hand of His Father in heaven.
One person in two distinct natures, Jesus possesses in His glorious person the fullness of divine perfection and the tenderest human sympathies, and is therefore in every way qualified to be the perfect, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior of every sinner who comes to God through Him.
We believe that justification is the great gospel blessing in which God freely declares the ungodly to be righteous, not as a reward for our works, but as a gift of grace received through faith alone in Jesus Christ. In justification, God freely and fully pardons all our sins and clothes us in the spotless, everlasting righteousness of His Son, solely on the basis of our Redeemer’s perfect obedience and sin-bearing death on the cross.
In Christ, we are now and forever free from condemnation and at peace with God, having been brought into an unchanging standing of grace and acceptance before Him, with holy boldness to draw near to His throne of grace as adopted sons and daughters. We rest therefore in the blessed assurance that God Himself has declared us righteous by a verdict that can never be overturned, one that silences every accusation against us and secures for us every other blessing necessary for time and eternity.
We believe that the blessings of salvation are freely offered to all people through the gospel, and that everyone who hears it is commanded to respond with genuine repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, without delay. Nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity, love for the darkness, hatred for the light, and willing rejection of Christ and His gospel.
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again. We believe God bestows regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit and in a manner above our comprehension and without our cooperation; transforming our minds, securing our voluntary obedience to the gospel, and showing evidence in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and newness of life, regeneration being the cause and not the effect of these God-glorifying fruits.
We believe that repentance and faith are inseparable, sacred acts and graces, formed in our souls by the regenerating Spirit of God; whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger and helplessness, and of the way of salvation through Christ, we turn to God with genuine contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy, endeavoring by the help of the Spirit to live no longer for human passions, but for the will of God; while at the same time receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King, and relying on Him alone as the only and all-sufficient Savior.
We believe that election is God’s eternal purpose to graciously regenerate, sanctify, and save sinners. We believe election is perfectly consistent with the free agency of mankind, that it encompasses all the means in connection with the end, and that it is a glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, being infinitely free, wise, holy and unchangeable. We believe election completely excludes boasting, and promotes humility, love, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of his free mercy. We believe election encourages evangelism and discipleship; that it may be perceived by its effects in all who truly believe the gospel, that it is the foundation of Christian assurance, and that to perceive it in ourselves demands and deserves the utmost diligence.
We believe sanctification is the process by which God makes us partakers of his holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it begins in regeneration; and that it is accomplished in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, through appointed means, especially the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. We believe the Holy Spirit's work of transforming and conforming us to the image of Christ occurs as He opens and enlightens the eyes of our hearts to behold the all-satisfying glory of Christ.
We believe real believers are those who endure to the end; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the chief mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors; that God’s special providence watches over their welfare, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith to eternal salvation. The persevering faith of the saints is sustained by the preserving faithfulness of their Savior.
We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government; that it is holy, just and good; and that the inability of fallen people to fulfill its precepts arises entirely from their love of sin and separation from God. We believe that Christ is the Mediator who delivers us from this love of sin and restores us to obedience God's law, as it is fulfilled in Him. In the Spirit's work of regeneration, God's moral law is written upon the hearts of believers and is strengthened through the church's means of grace.
We believe the universal or invisible Church consists of all the elect, and that the union between Christ and his church is pictured in the one-flesh union of marriage between a man and a woman. This universal church is made visible in the local church, which is a congregation of baptized believers. The local church is associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observes the ordinances of Christ; is governed by his Word; and exercises the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in it by the Scriptures and given by his Spirit. We believe the two biblical officers of the local church are Elders (or Pastors) and Deacons, whose qualifications and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus.
We believe that Christian Baptism is the immersion of a believer in water, into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, with its effect, in our death to sin, our resurrection to a new life, and our incorporation into His church; that it is required to enjoy the privileges of being identified with the church, and for receiving the Lord’s Supper, in which the members of the church by the sacred use of bread and wine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ; preceded always by solemn self-examination.
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day, commemorating Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It is a time for corporate worship, spiritual devotion, and engaging in the church's means of grace as we joyfully anticipate the eschatological rest that awaits the people of God in glory. Activities on the Lord’s Day should align with the Christian’s biblically informed conscience under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
We believe civil government is of divine appointment, for the interests and good order of human society; and that governing authorities are to be prayed for, honored according to conscience, and obeyed; except only in things opposed to the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
We believe that the end of the world is approaching; that at the last day Christ will descend from heaven, and raise the dead from the grave to final retribution; that a solemn separation will then take place; that the wicked will be adjudged to endless conscious punishment, and the righteous to endless joy; and that this judgment will fix forever the final state of all people in the New Jerusalem or the Lake of Fire, on principles of righteousness.
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are regarded as righteous in His sight; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are wicked in His sight, and under His wrath and curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death.