God and His Revelation - Creation, Man and Sin - Christ and Redemption - Justification by Faith - Good Works and Prayer - The Means of Grace - The Church and its Ministry - The Church and the State - Jesus' Return and the Judgment


Christ and Redemption

  1. We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who was with the Father from all eternity (John 1:1,2). In the fullness of time He took a true and complete, yet sinless, human nature to Himself (Galatians 4:4) when He was conceived as a holy child in the Virgin Mary through a miracle of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). The angel testified, "What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20). Jesus Christ is that unique person in whom the true God and a true human nature are inseparably united in one, the holy God-man, Immanuel.

  2. We believe that He at all times possessed the fullness of the Deity, all divine power, wisdom and glory (Colossians 2:9). This was evident at times when He performed miracles (John 2:11). But while He lived on earth, He took on the form of a servant, humbling Himself by laying aside the continuous and full display and use of His divine characteristics. During this time we see Him living as a man among men, enduring suffering, and humbling Himself to the shameful death on the cross (Philippians 2:7,8). We believe that He rose again from the grave with a glorified body, ascended and is exalted on high to rule with power over the world, with grace in His church, with glory in eternity (Philippians 2:9-11).

  3. We believe that Jesus Christ, the God-man, was sent by the Father to humble Himself for the redemption of mankind and that He was exalted as evidence that His mission was accomplished. Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17), so that by His perfect obedience all men should be accounted righteous (Romans 5:18,19). He came to bear "the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6), ransoming us by His sacrifice for sin on the altar of the cross (Matthew 20:28). We believe that He is the God-appointed substitute for man in all of this: His righteousness is accepted by the Father as our righteousness, His death for sin as our death for sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). We believe that His resurrection gives full assurance that God has accepted this atonement for all (Romans 4:25).

  4. We believe that in Christ God reconciled the "world to himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19), that Jesus is "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The mercy and grace of God are all-embracing; the reconciliation through Christ is universal; the forgiveness of sins has been gained as an accomplished fact for all men. Because of the substitutionary work of Christ, God has justified, that is, declared the verdict of "not guilty" upon all mankind. This forms the firm, objective basis for the sinner's assurance of salvation.

  5. We reject any teaching that limits the work of Christ as to either its scope or its completeness, thereby failing to recognize the universality of redemption or the full payment of the ransom.

  6. We reject the views which see in the Gospel accounts the church's proclamation and interpretation of Jesus Christ rather than a true account of what actually happened in history. We reject the attempts to make the historicity of events in Christ's life, such as His virgin birth, His miracles or His bodily resurrection, appear unimportant or even doubtful. We reject the attempts to stress a "present encounter with the living Christ" in such a way that Jesus' redemptive work in the fullness of time, as recorded in Scripture, would lose its importance.
This is what Scripture teaches about Christ and redemption.
This we believe, teach and confess.


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