Confession of Faith
Berean has a strong history of being grounded in the revealed truth of God's Word. In keeping with congregations throughout the centuries, we have adopted a summary statement of the essential things we believe that Scripture teaches about God and us. Our Confession of Faith expresses the core truths that unite followers of Christ yet minimizes things which have sometimes divided us. Of special significance is our last article of faith which reminds us that faith is lived out in community, not merely a mental exercise.
We believe:
- In one God, the creator and sovereign Lord of all things. He is an infinite, personal spirit. He is holy, perfect, and worthy of all honor, confidence, and love. God eternally exists in the unity of three persons, the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are equal in divine perfection and self-giving love, and they play unique but harmonious roles in the work of creation, providence, and redemption.
- God has revealed himself in the books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is verbally inspired, truth without error in all it affirms, and it serves as our final authority for faith and practice.
- Humans are created in the image of God and first lived in innocence with God, but we are now sinners by nature and choice, separated from God and under his just condemnation.
- In the eternal deity of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He added full humanity to his deity, and he lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to God the Father. He proclaimed God’s reign in word and deed, and he satisfied the just demands of a holy and righteous God by laying down his life on the cross for our sins. He rose bodily and triumphantly from the dead, he ascended into heaven where he now intercedes on our behalf as Savior and Lord, and he will physically return to reign on earth.
- Our only hope for salvation is Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice for our sins and his victorious resurrection by which he defeated the power of sin and death. Those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior pass from death to life as they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
- The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin and gives new life to those who come to Christ, baptizing them into his body. He indwells believers and uses God’s Word to convict and inspire us to live new lives of holiness and joyful obedience to God. The Spirit has given gifts to believers to glorify God and edify other believers. The Spirit also enables us to love God supremely by pursuing what God values and by serving others with self-giving love.
- The universal church is the body of Jesus Christ. It is made up of all regenerated believers who tangibly represent Jesus Christ in the world. The local church is made up of a fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ who associate for worship, discipleship, and service. Christ has given two ordinances to the local church: water baptism by immersion as a testimony of faith and the Lord’s Supper as a communion with our Savior.
- The mission of the church is to disciple people from every culture to love and obey Jesus Christ and to experience the richness of new life in him. As disciples of Jesus, we depend on the Holy Spirit and prayer to become more like Christ in faith as manifested in thoughts, character, and good works. We covenant together to love God and love one another through worshipping, praying, observing the ordinances, saturating our minds with God's Word, confessing and repenting of our sins, giving generously, living hospitably, mentoring, equipping, serving, influencing our communities and the world for Christ, and caring for God’s creation.
- The Lord Jesus Christ will return in power and glory to establish his kingdom forever. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead, the final judgment, the everlasting fellowship of the righteous with God, and the everlasting punishment and separation of unbelievers from God. Christ’s return will be personal and imminent and it inspires believers to live faithfully for him. Until that day he keeps us in his perfect care.
- As follows of Jesus Christ, we covenant together to love God and love one another. We seek to honor God through worshipping, praying, confessing and repenting of our sins, and living in faithful obedience to him. We seek to grow together in Christ through saturating our minds with God's Word, living holy lives, and seeking to mentor and encourage others in the faith. We seek to serve others through living hospitably, giving generously, influencing our communities and the world for Christ, and caring for God's creation.
- As followers of Christ, we believe that marriage is the spiritual and physical union of one man and one woman according to Scripture. It is an institution ordained by God for the benefit of humanity and the passing on of the faith to the next generation.
