Question 1

The One God, the Trinity

Accepted Answer

We believe that there is only one living and true God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He has all possible perfections, each in an infinite degree. He has revealed himself in the Holy Scriptures as existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in essence and equal in every divine perfection. (Exod. 20:1-3; Isa. 46:9; Matt. 28:19; Mark 12:29; John 10:30; 14:9; 16:7-15; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1-3)

Question 2

The Father

Accepted Answer

We believe that God, our heavenly Father, is eternally the loving Father of his Son. He created the universe through his Son. The Father planned redemption and sent his Son into the world so that, through the Son’s perfect life and substitutionary sacrifice, we sinners have the way to be reconciled to our loving Father. (Isa. 53:10-11; John 1:3; 3:16; Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 8:6; Gal. 4:4; Eph. 1:3-5; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2; 1 John 4:7-10)

Question 3

The Son, Jesus Christ

Accepted Answer

We believe that Jesus Christ is eternally the beloved Son of God. He is the Word (Logos) of the Father; he is the true and eternal God. In the Son’s incarnation through the Virgin Mary, he took man’s nature, so that two whole and perfect natures—the divine and the human—were joined together in one person, Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Jesus suffered, was crucified, died, and was buried to reconcile us to the Father and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for the actual sins of humankind. (Isa. 53:4-5; Matt. 20:28; John 1:1-2, 14; 10:28, 30; Rom. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:16; Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 1:8; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18)

Question 4

The Holy Spirit

Accepted Answer

We believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, was sent to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He brings about our new birth, baptizes us into the universal body of Christ, and indwells us from the moment of our conversion. He leads believers in paths of truth and holiness. (Ezek. 36:27; John 3:5-8; 15:7-11; Rom. 8:9-10; 1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 5:22-25; Eph. 4:1-3)

Question 5

The Bible

Accepted Answer

We believe that the Bible, the sixty-six books of the Holy Scriptures, are the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God and contain all things necessary to salvation. Whatever is not found in or cannot be proved by Scripture cannot be required for salvation. All that the Scriptures teach, whether of faith, history, or nature, is true, without any mixture of error. (Luke 16:17; John 10:34-35; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)

Question 6

Mankind

Accepted Answer

We believe that human beings were created in a holy and happy state. In disobeying the law of their Creator, they not only exposed themselves to personal misery but involved their whole posterity in the temporal and eternal consequences of sin. As a result of this apostasy, the whole human race possesses a depraved nature, by which they are disinclined to things morally good and prone to choose and delight in evil. (Gen. 1:27; 3:6-24; Eccl. 7:29; Ps. 51:5; Jer. 13:23; Matt. 25:46; John 3:6; Rom. 1:32)

Question 7

The Resurrection

Accepted Answer

Resurrection. We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ bodily rose again from the dead, during forty days showed himself alive to his disciples and more than five hundred other witnesses, and then ascended into heaven. He sits there at the right hand of God, where he ever lives to make intercession for all who draw near to God through himself. (Acts 1:3, 9; 1 Cor. 15:3-8, 20; Heb. 1:3; 7:25; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:1)

Question 8

Salvation

Accepted Answer

Salvation. We believe that the only way of salvation from this state of guilt and condemnation is through the righteousness and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now exalted as King and Savior to grant repentance and forgiveness. Whoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life. (Isa. 53:4-8; John 3:16, 36; 10:9-11, 15; Acts 4:11-12; 5:31; Rom. 3:21-26; 5:6, 8-11, 21; 6:23)

Question 9

Assurance

Accepted Answer

We believe that Christ Jesus died for our sins and rose again for our justification and that we have the fullest assurance that those truly born of the Spirit and trusting in Christ shall never be lost, and that those who die in the Lord shall rise again to a glorious immortality. It is thus the duty of all believers to “be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” and to persevere in sincere and loving obedience to the commands and teachings of his Word. (John 10:28; Rom. 4:25; 5:18; 8:28-39; 1 Cor. 15:3, 52-53; Phil. 1:6; Heb. 10:39; 2 Peter 1:10)

Question 10

The Church

Accepted Answer

We believe that a true church is a congregation of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, observing the ordinances of Christ, and exercising the gifts and privileges of his Word for mutual edification and the spread of the gospel throughout the world. The church’s officers are elders, assisted by deacons and deaconesses, whose qualifications and duties are clearly set forth in New Testament. (Matt. 28:20; Acts 2:41, 47; 11:21-23; 1 Cor. 1:1-13; 4:17; 14:23; 2 Cor. 8:1-5; Gal. 6:2; 1 Tim. 3; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 3 John 9)

What We Believe