Our Faith

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The foundation of our faith is the Bible. It is God’s message of love and hope for all people. The Bible is the written Word of God, given to us to show that we are saved from our sin and eternal death through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We believe that the Bible is completely reliable and without error. In it we find everything we need to know about God’s love and the gifts He gives us. 

 There is only one true God—the Triune God—who exists in three separate but equal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God the Father is our Maker and the Creator of all things. By the Father’s Word, all things were made, and we are His beloved creation and close to His heart. The Son is Jesus Christ, who came to earth as the perfect “go-between,” bridging the gap between God and humanity. He has redeemed us and pleads for us before the Father. The Holy Spirit calls us to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, keeps us in the one true faith, and equips us for living out our faith.

 We all fall short of God’s expectations because we are all born “sinful.” Sin can be summed up as all the things we say, think, do, and don’t do that fall outside of God’s holy will for our lives and end up separating us from God.

Sin was brought into the world when Satan lured the first people God created (Adam and Eve) into disobeying God through their own free will, breaking the perfect relationship between God and us. From that point on, sin ruined every part of our lives. The ultimate result of human sin is death.

Yet God loves us and does not want us to suffer from sin, death, and eternal punishment. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who willingly took our place as our Substitute. Christ took our sin upon Himself and died on the cross, on our behalf. When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, He bears our sin and gives us His forgiveness.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

There is absolutely nothing we can do to “be saved”—Jesus Christ has already done everything necessary. In His death and resurrection, everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior has been brought back into a right relationship with God. That means that, on account of Jesus, everyone who believes is “justified,” or declared innocent by God. Even though God will do justice to all the world’s sins, we who trust in Jesus will not be harmed; because of Him, we are forgiven and will live forever.

We do not cooperate in our salvation, and there is nothing we could ever present to God to make our way into eternal life with Him. We cannot reason our way to salvation, nor can we earn it. All we can do is to believe in Him, trusting that Jesus has already done all that is necessary for us.

It is through faith in Jesus that we receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. By faith we believe that He has freed us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin. Faith is a gift worked in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t come to us through anything we are capable of, but through what God does for us. We simply receive what God is already offering out of His great love. 

 In our faith, grace is the expression of God’s unconditional love. While we deserved to pay the price for our sins, God chose a different way through Christ. Jesus paid the price on our behalf, and we receive forgiveness and eternal life from Him. This gift is called grace because it is given freely, out of love, and is completely undeserved.

 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).” 

God shows His love and forgiveness to us in real and tangible ways. Through His Word, we come to know who He is and how He loves us. When we put our faith in Christ, we receive the gift of new life and share in the blessings He offers. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is the clearest demonstration of God’s love for us.

Since there is nothing we can ever do to earn salvation, we do not do good works in order to be saved. Good works are done out of praise and thanks because we are saved. Such good works include, but are certainly not limited to, serving and caring for the needs of others, honoring and giving respect to those in authority, keeping our vows and commitments, and seeking to do what God considers to be good and right. It’s often said that Martin Luther expressed it this way: “God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does.” 

On Judgment Day—we don’t know when—Jesus Christ is going to return. On that day, everyone who has died will be raised, and those who are still alive will be bodily transformed. At that time, the final judgment will take place. Those who do not believe will go into eternal damnation in hell, and all those who believe in Jesus as Savior will have eternal life in heaven.