Creeds and Confessions
Confession of Faith
ARTICLE I: CREEDAL STATEMENTS
Our confessions stress the heart of the Christian faith, but also include some of the distinctive teachings that derive from the Great Reformation which led to the establishment of the Protestant Churches. As such, these confessions do not define the boundaries of our fellowship. Some Christians will certainly differ with some of what is set forth below. This should not present a barrier to fellowship. Our basis for unity and communion is a biblical confession of the lordship of Jesus Christ, and the absence of a scandalous lifestyle. All who are able to make this profession are welcome to worship the Lord together with us.
This confession of faith does represent the doctrinal understanding of the eldership of Grace Covenant Church, and it is our intention that the teaching and preaching at Grace Covenant Church reflect this understanding also. Procedural standards for our church government can be found in our Constitution.
As a body of reformational evangelicals, we seek to display our unity in truth with other faithful churches, not only in the present, but also with the historic Christian church throughout the centuries. Although not included here, we are also in essential agreement with the historic confessions of the Reformation, including the Synod of Dordt, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism (together known as the Three Forms of Unity), the Westminster Confessions (on which also the London Baptist Confession of 1689 was largely based). These documents will be used as touchstones* and tools for the teaching of the church.
Together with the historic church, we confess the following:
The Apostles' Creed (AD 2nd century)
I believe in God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin, Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hades. On the third day He rose again, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Nicene Creed Constantinople (AD 381)
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the virgin, Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures, and ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spoke by the Prophets. And I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church; acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Definition of Chalcedon (AD 451)
Following, then, the holy fathers, we unite in teaching all men to confess the one and same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This selfsame one is perfect both in deity and in humanity; truly God and truly man, with a rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father according to His deity, and consubstantial with us according to the humanity; like us in all respects, sin only excepted. Before the ages He was begotten of the Father, according to the deity, and in these last days, for us and for our salvation, He was born of Mary the virgin, who is Godbearer according to His humanity; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures; without confusing them, without interchanging them, without dividing them, and without separating them; the distinction of natures by no means taken away by the union, but the properties of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one subsistence; not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as from the beginning the prophets have declared concerning Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has taught us, and the symbol of the fathers has handed down to us.
A Westminster Creed
(A modern selection from the 17th century Shorter Catechism)
I believe man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever;
I believe God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth; I believe there is but one true and living God; that there are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and that these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; I believe God has foreordained whatever comes to pass; that God made all things of nothing, by the word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good; and that God preserves and governs all His creatures and all their actions.
I believe our first parents, though created in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, sinned against God, by eating the forbidden fruit; and that their fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery; I believe God determined, out of His mere good pleasure, to deliver His elect out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer; I believe the only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever; I believe Christ, as our Redeemer, executes the office of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king. I believe Christ as our Redeemer underwent the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, the cursed death of the cross, and burial; He rose again from the dead on the third day, ascended up into heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father, and is coming to judge the world at the last day.
I believe we are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit; I believe God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance unto life to escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin; I believe by His free grace we are effectually called, justified, and sanctified, and gathered into the visible church, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation; I believe that we also are given in this life such accompanying benefits as assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end; that at death, we are made perfect in holiness, and immediately pass into glory; and our bodies, being still united in Christ, rest in their graves, till the resurrection; and at the resurrection, we shall be raised up in glory, we shall openly be acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
An Evangelical Statement (Adapted from the National Association of Evangelicals)
We Believe the Bible to be the only inerrant Word of God. It is our only ultimate and infallible authority for faith and practice.
We Believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three Persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is omnipotent, that is, He is all-powerful. He is omnipresent, that is, He is present throughout all Creation but not limited by it. He is omniscient, that is, nothing is hidden from His sight. In all things He is limited by nothing other than His own nature and character. We believe the God we serve is holy, righteous, good, severe, loving and full of mercy. He created the heavens and earth, and everything in them, in the space of six ordinary days, and all very good. He is the Creator, Sustainer, and Governor of everything that has been made.
We Believe in the true deity and full humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father and in His personal return in power and glory.
We Believe in the full deity of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging Him together with the Father and the Son in the works of creation and redemption.
We Believe that because of Adam's sin all mankind is in rebellion against God. For the salvation of such lost and sinful men, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary.
We Believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone, and that faith without works is dead.
We Believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We Believe in the resurrection of both the saved and lost; those who are saved to the resurrection of life, and those who are lost to the resurrection of damnation. We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
ARTICLE II: GOVERNMENTS
Introduction
We Believe that God has ordained various governments among men. The three basic governments are civil government, church government, and family government as foundational to the first two. To fulfill their proper function, all of these governments are dependent on the grace of God, common or special, working in individuals to bring about self-government. Without such self-control, no other government can function according to the Word of God.
We deny that the authority of these governments should be set against one another. God has ordained them all, and assigned to them differing responsibilities. We further deny that any form of human government can be considered absolute.
Self-government
We Believe that a man is saved in truth when in an effectual call the Holy Spirit regenerates him and he consequently submits, in faith, to the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:5). As a follower of Jesus Christ, he seeks to live in submission to His Word.
We deny that Christ can be received as Savior and rejected as Lord (Matt. 7:21).
We Believe that the elect were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to live holy and blameless lives (Eph. 1:4).
We deny that holiness can be defined on the authority of the word of man. Our only standard of holiness is the law of God, found in the Old and New Testaments (2 Tim. 3:16).
We Believe that God will always complete any saving work He has begun. A regenerated man will not fall away from God's work of salvation (Rom. 8:29-31). The basis for this is God's faithfulness and not the faithfulness of the believer (1 Cor. 1:8-9).
We deny that faith in God's sustaining faithfulness is in any way a cushion for sin. A life characterized by sin is inconsistent with assurance of salvation (Rom. 6:1-6; 1 John).
We Believe that a follower of Christ has an obligation to regularly and honestly confess his sins before God (1 Jn. 1:9; Prov. 28:13). In honest confession, the quality of a man's relationship with God is maintained and protected.
We deny that confession of sin is the foundation of the believer's relationship to God. Salvation does not depend on ongoing confession of sin; the joy of salvation does (Ps. 51:10-13).
We Believe that God commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel. All unregenerate men therefore have a true obligation to do so (Acts 17:30; 2 Thess. 1:8).
We deny that unregenerate men are unjustly excluded from grace. Because they are dead in their sins, they have no desire for God's grace apart from the quickening influence of that grace (Eph. 2:1; Rom. 8:6-8; 1 Cor. 2:14). They are therefore responsible for remaining in sin.
We Believe that God has given to each individual various gifts of varying worth (1 Cor. 12:7-24). Each believer has an obligation to use his gifts in service to the body of Christ.( Eph. 4:11-16).
We deny that equality in Christ (Col. 3:10,11) nullifies God-assigned roles and stations (Col. 3:12-22; Phil. 2:3), and also deny that Sunday worship is the only or primary occasion for exercising one's gifts.
Family Government
We Believe that God has ordained the husband as the head of his wife, and that he is answerable to God for the spiritual state of everyone in his household (Eph. 5:23).
We deny that the hierarchy established by God in the household diminishes in any way the worth of women in the sight of God or their husbands (Gal. 3:28). Righteous men rise up and call their righteous wives blessed (Prov. 31:28).
We Believe that men are responsible to lead their families (Josh. 24:15) and to provide for them (1 Tim. 5:8), loving their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25). Wives are responsible to care for their husband and children (Tit. 2:4), submit to their own husbands (Eph. 5:22), and manage their homes well (Tit. 2:5). We deny that reversal or rejection of God's assigned roles to husbands and wives can occur without serious damage to the family and, consequently, to society and the church (Tit. 2:5). We also deny that the role of a wife in the home is in any way demeaning.
We Believe that God blesses in a material way when men, families, churches and nations honor Him through hard work over a long time, when they are generous with the blessings God has already given, and when they provide for their families and dependents (2 Thess. 3:7-10).
We deny that material prosperity obtained by covetousness or greed can be construed as blessing from God (1 Tim. 6:5). We believe that believing parents have a covenantal obligation before God to provide their children with a godly understanding of the world in which they are growing up. To this end, Christian education, however administered, is essential (Dt. 6:1-6).
We deny that the civil authority or the church has the obligation to educate our children. That responsibility belongs to the parents (Eph. 6:4).
We Believe that marriage is ordained by God, and that man has no authority to sever what God has joined together. God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16). In certain circumstances, because of the hardness of men's hearts divorce and remarriage are permissible, but must be governed in all respects according to the Word of God (Matt. 19:9; 1 Cor. 7:12-13).
We deny that compassion for the divorced requires any softening of the biblical teaching on the subject.
Church Government
We Believe that each local gathering of the visible church is to be governed by a plurality of men called elders, each of whom must meet the requirements for church leadership (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Tit. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
We deny that someone can be called by God to such leadership when his life or family is not in order. Seminary training, long experience, and gifts of leadership or communication are no substitute for obedience (1 Sam. 15:22).
We Believe that each local gathering of the visible church is to be served by deacons as needed, each of whom must meet the requirements for church service (1 Tim. 3:8-13).
We deny that such service can be rendered properly when a deacon's life does not meet the criteria set by Scripture.
We Believe the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, to be the sole ultimate and infallible authority for faith and practice in the church. The entire Old Testament is profitable for Christians today for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness, provided it is understood and applied according to the teaching of the New Testament (2 Timothy 3:16; Rom. 13:8-10).
We deny that the grace of God in Christ has changed in any way the definition of moral right and wrong. Rather, the Spirit works love in us to accomplish the righteous requirements of the law (Rom. 8:4).
We Believe a great commission has been given to disciple the nations to Christ. The means for accomplishing this are the preaching of the gospel, baptism, and the teaching of obedience to the commandments of Christ, prior to His return (Matt. 28:18-20).
We deny that the church should work as though we are living in the last generation (2 Thess. 2:1-2), and also deny that the Church should live as if Christ weren't going to return (Mat. 25:13).
We Believe the Lord commissioned His church to undertake the discipleship of every nation (Matt. 28:18-20). The Lord has commanded baptism with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism with water is therefore a sacrament (or ordinance) of the Christian church, and the elders of the church are responsible to ensure that baptisms are administered in a scriptural fashion, and the proper signification of water baptism preserved and maintained. We affirm that water baptism signifies union with Christ (Rom. 6:3-7), the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13), the washing away of sin (Acts 22:16), the washing of regeneration (Tit. 3:5), the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:6; Acts 10:44,47), and the circumcision of the heart (Col. 2:11-12).
We deny that water baptism imparts grace by means of water. God imparts grace to His saints to enable them to obey Him (2 Cor. 9:8), and strengthens them further by grace in that obedience (Heb. 12:14-15). The faithful observance of water baptism constitutes one part of that obedience, and is therefore a means of grace.
We Believe that God's covenant relationship with his people includes the principle of family solidarity. The children of believers are therefore to be baptized, not to confer on them covenant status, but to attest the covenant status that by God's sovereign appointment their parentage has already given them (Gen. 17:9-14; 1 Cor. 7:14; Acts 2:39).
We deny that children are saved by baptism. Rather, the baptism of believers' children puts on them the sign and seal that they are under covenant obligation to receive the covenant promises and blessings through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We Believe the Lord's Supper to be a participation by faith in the body and blood of Christ. Christians should regularly eat at this table, as long as they are not under the discipline of God, or God's people (1 Cor. 11:23-26). It is a participation in Christ (1 Cor. 10:14-17), and God blesses faithful participation in the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 10:16-17), and disciplines faithlessness in it (1 Cor. 11:30).
We deny that the Lord's Supper imparts grace by means of the bread and cup. It is, however, a partic-ipation in Christ (1 Cor. 10:14-17). God imparts grace to His saints to enable them to obey Him (2 Cor. 9:8), and strengthens them further by grace in that obedience (Heb. 12:14-15). The faithful observance of the Lord's Supper constitutes one part of that obedience, and is therefore a means of grace.
We Believe baptism in water and the Lord's Supper to be external signs and seals of covenantal, historical, and spiritual realities.
We deny that these sacraments are an automatic means of grace through their own inherent power but rather become a means of grace as they are received through faith alone. Any biblical means to build biblical faith is therefore a means of blessing and grace - especially including water baptism and the Lord's Supper.
We Believe that legitimate modes of water baptism include immersion, pouring or sprinkling in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Rom. 6:4: Acts 10:44-48; Heb. 9:9-10).
We deny that the scriptural significance of water baptism can be nullified by the mode of application. It is the ceremonial washing, and not the action which is significant in the external act.
We Believe the sign gifts which were apparent in the first-century church were not given as a normative pattern for subsequent generations (1 Cor. 13:8-13), and are not now normative (2 Cor. 12:12).
We deny that a church must manifest such gifts in order to please God in worship (1 Cor. 14:20-22).
We Believe that all acceptable devotion in those that worship God is the effect of faith rooted in the precepts and promises of God alone (Jn. 4:24; Heb. 11:6). Therefore we do not add to nor subtract from those things which God has commanded in his word (Dt. 4:2; 12:32). The principal institutions of the gospel to be observed in the worship of God are: (1) prayer, (2) singing of Psalms, hymns, and scriptural songs (Eph. 5:19), (3) reading the word, (4) preaching the word, (5) administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper. Worship is to be entered into with joy mixed with trembling and distinguished sharply from entertainment (Ps. 2:11; Heb. 12:28, 29).
We deny that adding to or taking away from what God has commanded in worship can be pleasing to God, render worship more beautiful, or further genuine devotion (Mat. 15:9).
We Believe that Christians must fellowship in unity with all true Christians, and that we have no right to judge the hearts of fellow servants. If God has accepted someone, we must gladly do the same.
We deny that such fellowship requires joint ministry with those Christians who teach or practice that which is unbiblical. For instance, we may hold someone to be a Christian, and yet believe them to be unqualified for leadership. The qualifications for leadership differ from those for fellowship (Rom. 14:1-8; 1 Tim. 3:1-7).
Civil Government
We Believe that Christians are to live quiet and peaceable lives, in true submission to the constitutions, laws, and civil magistrates as ordained by God to be His servants (Rom. 13:1-7).
We deny that this submission is absolute. When civil authorities require something forbidden by God, or forbid something required by God, the duty of Christians is to humbly, respectfully, and submissively obey God rather than men (Acts 4:19-20).
We Believe that Christians are to pray for those authorities that God has placed over them (1 Tim. 2:1-4).
We deny that this prayer should be limited to blessings (Ps. 139:19-24).
We Believe that Christians should be involved in the political process. Christ required His followers to be salt and light in the world, and He did not exclude civil government from that Christian influence (Matt. 5:13-16).
We deny that the power of the gospel is to be found in political involvement. We do not believe civil government to be a savior (2 Cor. 10:3-6), and deny that the church is a political organization.
We Believe that the church is established by the Lord Jesus Christ alone, the only head of the Church (Eph. 5:23).
We deny that an unbelieving civil magistrate has the spiritual authority to establish a Christian church, or to prohibit the free exercise of the Christian religion in any way.
