We believe in but one true and living God: without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and sustainer of all things. He is an incomposite spiritual being, self-existent, uncaused, fully actualized, and without limit in his perfections. Omniscient and benevolent, he governs all according to his sovereign will.

In unity of this Godhead there are three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are consubstantial, co-equal, and co-eternal, working inseparably and distinguished only by relations of origin.

The Holy Scriptures are the Word of God written and contain all things necessary for salvation and godliness of life. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, they are inerrant and infallible, and the final authority for faith and practice.

The Canon of the Holy Scriptures is the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, wherein the New does not abolish the Old, but fulfills it. The Holy Scriptures are to be translated, read, preached, taught, and obeyed in their plain and canonical sense, respectful of the Church’s historic and consensual reading.

Through his Word and out of nothing, God spoke all things into existence in six normative days. On the seventh day God rested, prescribing a temporal order of work and rest for human flourishing. The doctrine of Creation establishes an absolute distinction between the Creator and His creatures.

Having declared all things good, God made man and woman in His image, declaring them very good. He established their union in marriage, commanding them to be fruitful, to multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and take dominion. Any denial of the sexual difference between men and women, or alternate version of marriage, violates God’s order in creation.

The doctrine of Creation does not oppose the sciences; rather it establishes them, for a rational Creation is the foundation of all inquiry. Any science which denies the Creation departs from God and defeats itself.

God made man to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Of our own fault we sinned by disobeying God, whereby we incurred his judgment, were driven out of Eden, and now deserve his just condemnation. Corrupted and inclined to sin and evil, man is unable to repent or return to God of his own power. Nor can the works of sinful man earn him any favor before a holy and righteous God.

Though fallen, man retains the image of God, for which reason God prohibits murder and establishes a right to life. This right is in force for the entirety of human life, from conception to natural death. And God made in his image the people of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, promising through his people to bless all the nations of the world. Regardless of race or ethnicity, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and all are called to repentance and redemption in Christ.

In His mercy and by His sovereign will, God has purposed the redemption of man in the Covenant of Grace, for those predestined and chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world.

Under the Old Covenant, He called a people to himself, revealing His righteous law, holy worship, and the necessity of sacrifice for sin. Under the New Covenant, God sent His eternal Son Jesus Christ, to be incarnate of the Virgin Mary and made the God-man. One person of two natures, fully human and fully divine, Jesus obeyed God’s law, fulfilled all righteousness, and became the final sacrifice for human sin on the cross. There Jesus made atonement for our sin in his blood, dying the death that we deserve, that we might be justified by grace through faith in Him.

Jesus resurrected bodily on the third day, appeared to His disciples, and sent them to proclaim forgiveness of sins in His name. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes for the saints and empowers them with His Holy Spirit.

The church is the body of Christ, His bride who submits to Him as her head. She is visible in the congregation of the faithful, where the pure gospel is preached and the sacraments duly administered according to the discipline of Christ. At present the church is militant, sent out to disciple the nations, to teach the commandments of Christ, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. In the end the church is triumphant, even over the gates of hell.

Christ will return bodily at the general resurrection to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

We proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our only Savior from sin, judgment and hell, until He comes. In our studies and our service, our prayer and our work, He sanctifies us by his Holy Spirit to be his holy people, glorifying Him in the love of God and neighbor.