Our Beliefs

There is only one living and true God, who is eternal and without body, indivisible and invulnerable. He is of infinite power, wisdom and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things both visible and invisible. Within the unity of the Godhead there are three persons who are of one substance, power and eternity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Son, who is the Word of the Father, was begotten from eternity of the Father, and is the true and eternal God, of one substance with the Father. He took humanity's nature in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary, of her substance, in such a way that two whole and perfect natures, the Godhead and manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided. Of these two natures is the one Christ, true God and true human.

He truly suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried, to reconcile the Father to us and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt but also for all actual sins of people. Christ truly rose again from death and took again his body, with flesh, bones and all that belongs to the completeness of humanity's nature. In this body he ascended into heaven, where he is now seated until the last day, when he will return to judge all people.

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, true and eternal God. He works to change the sinful hearts and minds of disobedient people. He directed people writing the Bible and now opens our eyes to understand and believe the truth of the gospel of Jesus. He dwells in each Christian and unites us to Jesus by this faith, so we enjoy a new life with God. He works in us to make our characters more like Jesus; full of love for God and others.

Because God loves us he speaks to us. The Bible is the exact record of what God chose to say through God’s Spirit guiding its human authors. It is true in everything it affirms. It contains all things necessary for salvation. It is not lawful for the church to order anything contrary to God's written word. Nor may it expound one passage of Scripture so that it contradicts another passage.

Every person born is infected with a sinful nature predisposed to evil, so that we rightly deserve God's anger and condemnation. Everlasting life is offered to humankind by Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between God and humankind, being both God and human. Jesus was made like us in every respect except that he had no sin. He died for us and rose to life. His sacrifice of himself was to take away the sins of the world.

God saves us solely on account of the merit of Jesus, not on account of our own good works or of what we deserve. We receive this salvation through faith alone. Through faith we are counted righteous and are being made righteous. All this is a gift of God by his grace. Our sinful condition means that we are not even able to turn to God in faith unless he works in us by his Spirit. God chooses us, calls us, justifies us, adopts us, transforms us to be like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, and gives us eternal happiness and life.

The visible church of Christ is a gathering of believers in which the pure word of God is preached and in which Baptism and the Lord's Supper are rightly administered according to Christ's command.

After being saved, the Christian life is to become more like our Lord Jesus, overflowing with love to others, according to his command and in the same way that he has loved us. This is an inward battle between our sinful desires and God's Spirit within us. So we strive by God’s Spirit not to give up but to grow to know, obey, love and enjoy God more, even when that means suffering or facing ridicule like Jesus. This strengthens our faith in Jesus, and teaches us too long for his return, when we will fully experience God’s blessings.