Our Beliefs
Doctrinal statement of Redemption Church
How can I know truth about God?
We can know truth about God in two ways: First, we believe that the order, vastness, and beauty of God’s creation reflect His nature. Second, we believe that God has made Himself known to us through the Bible, which is His Word, written by human authors whom He guided so that they wrote without error. The Old and New Testaments, in their entirety, constitute the written Word of God and are without error in the original manuscripts. They were written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore fully authoritative and sufficient in all matters for the follower of Christ.
Scripture Support:
Romans 1:18-20; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21
Who is God, and what is He like?
We can know truth about God in two ways: First, we believe that the order, vastness, and beauty of God’s creation reflect His nature. Second, we believe that God has made Himself known to us through the Bible, which is His Word, written by human authors whom He guided so that they wrote without error. The Old and New Testaments, in their entirety, constitute the written Word of God and are without error in the original manuscripts. They were written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and are therefore fully authoritative and sufficient in all matters for the follower of Christ.
Scripture Support:
Genesis 1:1-2; Acts 5:3-4; John 10:30; Romans 3:25-26; Isaiah 46:8-11; Job 42:2; Revelation 1:8; Genesis 1:1-3:24
Who is man, and how does he relate to God?
God created man in His image to be a people who would enjoy Him, and who, in doing so, would give Him glory. He created man innocent, without moral failing, and able to love and obey Him. He created mankind male and female, with the first two humans being Adam and Eve. All humans are created in God’s image; therefore, all human life is sacred, including unborn babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death.
So that Adam and Eve could relate to God in obedience, recognizing His authority as Creator, He gave them a single command. However, rather than obey God, they were tempted into disobedience. Through Adam’s act of disobedience, all of mankind has become corrupted by sin and has fallen under God’s just anger. Because of this, mankind is in need of a way to be made right with God again. Every sin is a transgression of the righteous law of God. Because of this transgression, sin brings guilt upon the sinner. So, all who sin are given over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death.
In creating humans as male and female, God communicated His image through complementary relationships. Just as there is equality of personhood and importance among the persons of the Trinity, yet with distinctions in role and authority, so God created the two sexes to be equal, yet distinct from one another. Because God has such glorious intentions for creating humanity as male and female, it follows that rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of one aspect of the image of God within that person. According to the Bible, the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, life-long, exclusive union.
Scripture Support:
Genesis 1:1-3:24; Romans 5:12; Romans 3:10-18; Romans 3:23
How can man be made right with God again?
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth in order to reconcile men to God. He was both fully human and fully God, being born of the virgin Mary. He lived the perfect life that man could not and died on a cross, bearing the punishment for sins so that it might not be required of man. On the third day he rose from the grave victorious over sin, Satan, and death. Those who trust Jesus to save them have His perfect obedience counted to them as if it were their own, and God’s wrath against their sin has been fully propitiated on the cross. It is because of this that we are reconciled to God and declared not guilty in His sight. We believe that the Holy Spirit is the supernatural agent in salvation, prompting saving faith in the heart of all who believe, baptizing all Christians into the universal Church at conversion, indwelling and sealing them until the day of Christ’s return. We believe all humans are sinful and in need of salvation. Salvation is the gift of God, brought to humans by grace alone, and received through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A true Christian will be kept by God’s power forever.
Scripture Support:
Luke 1:1-2:21; John 2:23; John 3:2; Romans 3:23-26; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; Titus 2:14; Romans 6:4-5; Romans 10:9-10; John 3:16; John 3:36; Romans 4:1-5; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:1-11
What does it mean to be a Christian?
God, in His grace, does more than declare us “not guilty.” He also gives us a new nature and frees us from the corruption of sin which keeps us from being able to live in obedience to Him. This new nature brings with it new desires and a new love for God. We are also placed into a new relationship with Christ. The Bible pictures us as so interwoven into Christ that we can never be separated from Him. Believers are said to collectively form“the Body of Christ,” which is the Church. The Church exists in both a universal and a local form. The Church has been given the work of making disciples of Christ, and it fulfills this work by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, who indwells and empowers believers.
Scripture Support:
1 John 5:1; Romans 6:17-18, 22; Romans 8:5-10; John 6:56; John
6:37-40; John 10:27-29; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Acts 2:42-47; Colossians 1:18; Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:17-30; Ephesians 5:18
What are the Church, Baptism, and Communion?
We believe that the church is a spiritual organism made up of all believers everywhere for all time. All Christians in all times and in all places have been united into a single body by an operation of God. This resultant union is called the Body of Christ, the universal Church.
We believe in the autonomy of the local church and recognize believer’s baptism and Communion. Christ commanded that all Christians band together in assembly for instruction, worship, service, and fellowship. These assemblies are called local churches.Only those who are members of the universal Church shall be eligible for membership in the local church. Membership in the local church is essential to both the health of the believer and that of the local church body and is the context in which sanctification occurs.
Redemption Church practices the baptism of believers by immersion. Baptism and the Communion are the only two ordinances, ordained by the Lord Jesus himself, to be observed by the local church in the present age.
The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. For this reason, we believe that those seeking to profess faith in Christ should follow him in baptism prior to participating in Communion.
These ordinances are not to be regarded as means of salvation but are vital to Christian holiness and piety, nonetheless.
Scripture Support:
Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 2, 1 Cor 11:17-34
What does the future hold for mankind?
The Bible tells us quite plainly that Christ has promised to return. The Bible never encourages any attempt to discern how near or how far off Christ’s return might be.Instead, the Bible urges us to live our lives with the expectation that Christ could return at any moment. The Bible tells us that Jesus will return visibly and physically as both ruler and judge. Those who have accepted the reconciliation offered by God in Christ will spend eternity with Christ, while those who reject the reconciliation offered in the gospel will remain in their sin and will suffer God’s wrath against their sin in Hell.
Scripture Support:
Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 25:31-36; Mark 14:62;
John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 19:11-21:4
Other Doctrinal Matters
The above statement constitutes the core doctrinal beliefs of Redemption Church. As there are many secondary and tertiary issues of Christian doctrine not covered in this statement, Redemption Church recommends the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, New City Catechism, and the Lausanne Covenant as examples of faithful Christian thought on these issues. We do not ask any of our Members to give affirmation to these documents,they are offered as examples of how the wider body of Christ has thought through these issues.
