GRACE and FAITH
God's Word is NECESSARY in order to understand life on Planet Earth.
Two things… no THREE ...are true about the
NECESSITY of the Scriptures: 1) The Bible is the only book in existence which tells us exactly what humanity is to believe concerning God, and what duties God requires of humanity. 2) The Bible clearly and authoritatively contains everything we need to know about becoming a Christian, living as a Christian, and growing as a Christian. 3) Without the Bible… we couldn’t know any of these things. |
GRACE and FAITH
What we believe
APOSTLES CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
What we believe
APOSTLES CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father Almighty,
the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
NICENE CREED
WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
euangelion: the “evangel”, good news, gospel. Euangelion is a Greek word which means principally two things: 1) a message of victory and joy (either personal or political), and 2) the reward given to one who bears the message of victory and joy.
In the Hellenistic culture which preceded the New Testament, euangelion also carried the meaning of an oracle (a prophetic promise of some future event.) In the religious sense, this euangelion proclaimed “news of a divine ruler’s birth, coming of age, or enthronement, as well as his speeches, decrees, and acts.”1 In this sense, the good news of such events created anticipation that “Better days are comin’!”
As used in the New Testament, the word gospel speaks preeminently to the person, words and works of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, sent from God to do the works of the Father (through a ministry of compassionate miracles), to testify to the truths of God (through a ministry of itinerant teaching throughout the nation of Israel), to die for our sins, and to rise again “eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.” 2
Martin Luther speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ in this way:
“[A]t its briefest, the Gospel is … about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, that he has been established as a Lord over all things. … This may be seen clearly and well in [Paul’s] greeting to the Romans 3, where he says what the Gospel is, and declares, ‘Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,’ etc. There you have it. … Just as there is no more than one Christ, so there is and may be no more than one Gospel....” 4
The Apostle Paul wrote another succinct version of the Gospel (inspired by the Holy Spirit, of course!) in his first letter to the Corinthians: 5 “Now, my brothers, I want to speak about the Gospel which I have previously preached to you, which you accepted, in which you are at present standing, and by which (if you remain faithful to the message I gave you) you are being saved—unless, of course, your faith had no meaning behind it at all. For I delivered to you, as of first importance, the full message I myself received—that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures said he would; that he was buried and rose again on the third day, again as the Scriptures foretold. He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, and subsequently he was seen simultaneously by over five hundred Christians, of whom the majority are still alive, though some have since died. He was then seen by James, then by all the apostles. And last of all, as if to one born abnormally late, he appeared to me!”
But what did this mean to Paul personally? As both a believer of the Gospel and a messenger of the Gospel, Paul declared “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for the salvation of each one who believes (for the Jew first, then the Greek); because in it God’s righteousness is revealed, from faith to faith; just as it is written: ‘The righteous one will live by faith.’”6
Paul was not ashamed of this message of victory and good news, because it brought with it its own reward: the power to believe (and thus be made right with God, to know God and enjoy him forever)—the power to be saved.
But saved FROM what?
Saved from the consequences of sins, so that we do not perish at the end of our earthly days, but have everlasting life.7 Saved from the power and the condemnation of sin.8 Saved from a life of futility, from a life without hope and without God in the world.9 Saved from the wrath of God and everlasting punishment.10
Saved FOR what?
Saved for a life of love and good works,11 which glorifies God and continually points to Jesus Christ himself, so that he (as he is “lifted up” through our life witness) draws men and women to himself, so that they ask about him who is our hope, and we are then able to tell them of his message of victory and good news, and teach them all that Jesus commanded his disciples (which is written for our sakes in the Holy Bible.) 12
Saved WITH what?
Saved with men and women of all nations who, as they hear and respond to the Gospel, believe, are forgiven their sins, and are added to the family (or household) of God, which is the Church of Jesus Christ, his body in the earth, the pillar and ground of the truth. 13
Saved with the earth and the heavens themselves!—which will one day share in the redemption of all created things.
Saved IN ANTICIPATION of what?
The Gospel is not simply an announcement of victory over the sins that plague men’s souls, but an announcement of an eternal kingdom which belongs to Jesus Christ the LORD and is shared as an inheritance and a reward with all who have been saved by him. And so we are saved in anticipation of this inheritance, which includes eternal, glorified, resurrected bodies, as well as a new heaven and a new earth, foreordained in eternity and created in time by God for his own pleasure. 14
In anticipation of heaven itself, of hearing those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master”—of an eternity with God and all those who love God. 15
In anticipation of that great marriage celebration when Christ and his Church are united forever in eternity. 16
In anticipation of the fulfillment of history, when God brings unity to all things under Christ. 17
In anticipation of that moment when ALL THINGS have been worked together for the good of those who love God, those he has called according to his purpose and pleasure and will. 18
In anticipation of the day when, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”19
The Gospel is the joyous announcement of that great victory won by Jesus upon the cross when he shed his blood to redeem us from all that had enslaved us. That victorious battle over Satan and sin, waged and won by Jesus for God’s great pleasure and the eternal good of those who are called by God, has opened the door, once again, for men and women to know God, to enter into his endless joy, and to live with him in intimate and everlasting relationship.
1 The NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words, p484, , edited by Verlyn D. Verbrugge, Zondervan, 2000
2 “What’s the Gospel?” from The Gospel in 6 Minutes by John Piper; http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-
gospel-in-6-minutes
3 Romans 1:1-4
4 “A Brief Instruction on What to Look for and Expect in the Gospels”, Martin Luther, http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=553&var3=main
5 15:1-4
6 Romans 1:16-17
7 John 3:16
8 1 Corinthians 15:16, Romans 7:14-25, 8:1-17
9 1 Peter 1:18, Ephesians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:13
10 Matthew 25:46, Romans 5:9
11 Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 10:24, Titus 3:8
12 Matthew 28:19, John 12:32, Ephesians 3:7-10, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Peter 3:15-16
13 Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:46-47, Ephesians 2:11-21, Ephesians 4:1-14, 1 Timothy 3:14-15
14 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 8:1-30
15 Matthew 25:23
16 Revelation 19:7
17 Ephesians 1:9-10
18 Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:3-6
19 Philippians 2:10-11
euangelion: the “evangel”, good news, gospel. Euangelion is a Greek word which means principally two things: 1) a message of victory and joy (either personal or political), and 2) the reward given to one who bears the message of victory and joy.
In the Hellenistic culture which preceded the New Testament, euangelion also carried the meaning of an oracle (a prophetic promise of some future event.) In the religious sense, this euangelion proclaimed “news of a divine ruler’s birth, coming of age, or enthronement, as well as his speeches, decrees, and acts.”1 In this sense, the good news of such events created anticipation that “Better days are comin’!”
As used in the New Testament, the word gospel speaks preeminently to the person, words and works of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, sent from God to do the works of the Father (through a ministry of compassionate miracles), to testify to the truths of God (through a ministry of itinerant teaching throughout the nation of Israel), to die for our sins, and to rise again “eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy.” 2
Martin Luther speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ in this way:
“[A]t its briefest, the Gospel is … about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, that he has been established as a Lord over all things. … This may be seen clearly and well in [Paul’s] greeting to the Romans 3, where he says what the Gospel is, and declares, ‘Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the Gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,’ etc. There you have it. … Just as there is no more than one Christ, so there is and may be no more than one Gospel....” 4
The Apostle Paul wrote another succinct version of the Gospel (inspired by the Holy Spirit, of course!) in his first letter to the Corinthians: 5 “Now, my brothers, I want to speak about the Gospel which I have previously preached to you, which you accepted, in which you are at present standing, and by which (if you remain faithful to the message I gave you) you are being saved—unless, of course, your faith had no meaning behind it at all. For I delivered to you, as of first importance, the full message I myself received—that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures said he would; that he was buried and rose again on the third day, again as the Scriptures foretold. He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, and subsequently he was seen simultaneously by over five hundred Christians, of whom the majority are still alive, though some have since died. He was then seen by James, then by all the apostles. And last of all, as if to one born abnormally late, he appeared to me!”
But what did this mean to Paul personally? As both a believer of the Gospel and a messenger of the Gospel, Paul declared “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for the salvation of each one who believes (for the Jew first, then the Greek); because in it God’s righteousness is revealed, from faith to faith; just as it is written: ‘The righteous one will live by faith.’”6
Paul was not ashamed of this message of victory and good news, because it brought with it its own reward: the power to believe (and thus be made right with God, to know God and enjoy him forever)—the power to be saved.
But saved FROM what?
Saved from the consequences of sins, so that we do not perish at the end of our earthly days, but have everlasting life.7 Saved from the power and the condemnation of sin.8 Saved from a life of futility, from a life without hope and without God in the world.9 Saved from the wrath of God and everlasting punishment.10
Saved FOR what?
Saved for a life of love and good works,11 which glorifies God and continually points to Jesus Christ himself, so that he (as he is “lifted up” through our life witness) draws men and women to himself, so that they ask about him who is our hope, and we are then able to tell them of his message of victory and good news, and teach them all that Jesus commanded his disciples (which is written for our sakes in the Holy Bible.) 12
Saved WITH what?
Saved with men and women of all nations who, as they hear and respond to the Gospel, believe, are forgiven their sins, and are added to the family (or household) of God, which is the Church of Jesus Christ, his body in the earth, the pillar and ground of the truth. 13
Saved with the earth and the heavens themselves!—which will one day share in the redemption of all created things.
Saved IN ANTICIPATION of what?
The Gospel is not simply an announcement of victory over the sins that plague men’s souls, but an announcement of an eternal kingdom which belongs to Jesus Christ the LORD and is shared as an inheritance and a reward with all who have been saved by him. And so we are saved in anticipation of this inheritance, which includes eternal, glorified, resurrected bodies, as well as a new heaven and a new earth, foreordained in eternity and created in time by God for his own pleasure. 14
In anticipation of heaven itself, of hearing those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master”—of an eternity with God and all those who love God. 15
In anticipation of that great marriage celebration when Christ and his Church are united forever in eternity. 16
In anticipation of the fulfillment of history, when God brings unity to all things under Christ. 17
In anticipation of that moment when ALL THINGS have been worked together for the good of those who love God, those he has called according to his purpose and pleasure and will. 18
In anticipation of the day when, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”19
The Gospel is the joyous announcement of that great victory won by Jesus upon the cross when he shed his blood to redeem us from all that had enslaved us. That victorious battle over Satan and sin, waged and won by Jesus for God’s great pleasure and the eternal good of those who are called by God, has opened the door, once again, for men and women to know God, to enter into his endless joy, and to live with him in intimate and everlasting relationship.
1 The NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words, p484, , edited by Verlyn D. Verbrugge, Zondervan, 2000
2 “What’s the Gospel?” from The Gospel in 6 Minutes by John Piper; http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-
gospel-in-6-minutes
3 Romans 1:1-4
4 “A Brief Instruction on What to Look for and Expect in the Gospels”, Martin Luther, http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var1=ArtRead&var2=553&var3=main
5 15:1-4
6 Romans 1:16-17
7 John 3:16
8 1 Corinthians 15:16, Romans 7:14-25, 8:1-17
9 1 Peter 1:18, Ephesians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 4:13
10 Matthew 25:46, Romans 5:9
11 Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 10:24, Titus 3:8
12 Matthew 28:19, John 12:32, Ephesians 3:7-10, 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Peter 3:15-16
13 Matthew 28:19, Acts 2:46-47, Ephesians 2:11-21, Ephesians 4:1-14, 1 Timothy 3:14-15
14 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 8:1-30
15 Matthew 25:23
16 Revelation 19:7
17 Ephesians 1:9-10
18 Romans 8:28, Ephesians 1:3-6
19 Philippians 2:10-11
EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH STATEMENT OF FAITH
Believing the Bible to be our final authority for faith and Christian living, we affirm the following:
- That the universe is the purposeful creation of a personal, loving, almighty God.
- That all human beings are made in the image of the Creator and are of infinite worth.
- That our world is under the sway of sin as a result of a historical and a personal human rebellion against God, so that suffering, death and separation from God are the experience of humankind; and that without the intervention of God's grace, this will be the eternal state of all persons.
- That Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, through his virgin birth, sinless life, sacrificial death on the Cross, and glorious resurrection and ascension, graciously offers new life to all who receive him by faith.
- That the Holy Spirit, indwelling believers, gives them a desire and an ability to follow biblical standards of conduct in their personal lives and in society.
- That the Christian faith is lived in the community of the church, where worship and witness are embodied through the spiritual gifts of its members.
- That Jesus Christ will return to this world, bring an end to history as we know it, inaugurate the final judgment, and welcome believers into his eternal kingdom.