What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Grace based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines. Where specifics are not mentioned, Grace is in agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message (2000).

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

The Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. For a more detailed description of our view of the Scriptures, see the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.

Man is the special creation of God, in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore every person of every ethnicity possesses dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, human beings become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.

Jesus Christ came to reconcile us with God. He lived a life without sin and willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty for our transgressions. God raised him from the dead and now, by grace, offers as a free gift eternal life to all who follow Christ, by faith, as their Lord and Savior. That is why salvation can be found in Christ alone.

The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church gathers together and worships the risen Lord Jesus consistently.

The Church is called to cross-culturally witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, until He comes again. Everything the Church does centers on the reality of God's call for His Church to make disciples of all nations.

God has created men and women in the image of God and are of equal worth before God, as well as in the Church and the family. Children are a blessing from the Lord and are created in the image of God from the moment of conception.

Jesus Christ is returning one day to judge both the living and the dead and to usher in the fullness of God's kingdom on an earth free from sin and death. Those called to faith in Christ will reign with Him forever and ever in joy.