WHO WE ARE
Covenant Community Church is a protestant, non-denominational church. We are protestant in our confession of the five proclamations of the Protestant Reformation: sola scriptura (Scripture above all other authorities for faith and practice), sola gratia (salvation by grace alone), sola fide (justification by faith alone), soli Deo gloria (for the glory of God alone), and solo Christo (by Christ's work alone are we saved).
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Scripture
We believe the Bible alone (the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is the Word of God. It is "God-breathed" and therefore verbally inspired and completely without error (historically, scientifically, morally, and spiritually) and is the final authority on all issues pertaining to life and faith.
God
We believe in one infinitely perfect, holy, eternal and unchanging God, who is the Creator and sovereign Sustainer of the universe. This one God is Triune, existing eternally and simultaneously as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three persons in the Godhead share equally and completely the one divine nature, and are therefore the same God, coequal in power and glory.
Person of Christ
We believe that Lord Jesus Christ is both true God (the second Person of the Trinity) and true man (the Incarnate Son of God). We also believe in the great events surrounding His life and ministry, including: His eternal preexistence, His virgin birth, His attesting miracles, His sinless life, His sacrificial death on the cross, His glorious bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and His return in power and glory.
Person of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity, coequal with the Father and the Son. We also believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in salvation, a ministry which includes anointing and glorifying Christ, convicting men of their sin through the Word, bringing about regeneration of the lost so as to make them willing to believe (faith) and empowering them for godly living.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
We believe that all of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament are available for the church today. We believe that Christians should seek to minister in these gifts for the edification of the church. We do not believe that there are any good arguments for the theological position known as cessationism: the belief that the spiritual gifts were only for the early church and therefore ceased after the first century.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
We believe that there is an infilling of the Holy Spirit that is subsequent to (occurring after) salvation and available for all believers today as exemplified in the book of Acts. Though we believe that a Christian receives the fullness of the Godhead when converted (Father, Son, and HS) we also believe that there is a second blessing of the Holy Spirit that empowers the believer for greater service. We do not believe that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a necessary condition for salvation. We do not believe that believers who have not experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit are in any way inferior to those who have.
Man
We believe God created man in His image as a rational and moral being, endued with knowledge, righteousness and holiness for His own Glory. Human beings are therefore the crown of God's creation (possessing inherent dignity and moral worth), and thus distinct in kind from all other life on earth. Adam and Eve, the first human beings, rebelled against God by disobeying His commandment. This rebellion was an attempt by man to be autonomous or independent from God. As a result of Adams sin, all of mankind fell from their original state, and the image of God in man is now distorted and this sinful nature is passed on to all their progeny. Because of original sin (which includes both corruption and guilt), unregenerate human beings are incapable of pleasing or commending themselves to God, and apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit they are unable and unwilling to repent and believe.
Redemption
We believe God has acted sovereignly to restore men who have been separated from Himself as a result of Adams original transgression. He sent His Son, born of a virgin, attested by miracles and by a sinless life, to bear the full penalty for sin. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died a vicarious death, thus satisfying the Father's just wrath against sin. This atoning work was to purchase those who are in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the World. This is the gospel of reconciliation with God. We believe that the atoning death of Christ, both God's love and God's justice are fully manifested in Christ. We believe that the sins of man were imputed to Christ, and that Christs righteousness, by perfectly fulfilling the law of God, has been graciously imputed to all believers. Therefore, redemption (faith and repentance) is solely a work of God's grace, received exclusively through faith (which is a gift from God) in Jesus Christ, and never by any works or human merit.
Justification
We believe justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Justification is a judicial act of God's grace wherein He declares, (not infuses) a person righteous in His sight because of the imputed righteousness of Christ. The individual who is thus legally restored has a right standing with God and all his sin has been forgiven.
The Church
We believe the Church is the spiritual body of Jesus Christ (its Founder, Head, and Shepherd) and that it encompasses all true believers, past and present, both Old and New Testament saints (commonly referred to as the universal or invisible church.) The function of the visible church is to carry out the Lord's will (found in the Bible alone) through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church has three distinguishing marks that are central to this purpose; (1) The faithful preaching of the Word (this includes discipling the nations also known as the Cultural Mandate), (2) The administration of the sacraments (Baptism and the Lords Supper), and (3) Church discipline. The preaching of the grace of God includes both the preaching of the law (which reveals sin) and the preaching of the Gospel (which provides the remedy for sin.) Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation belong to the Church and are, thus, true Israel (i.e. the people of God.) This community of believers is made up of people who are neither perfect nor sinless, but by the work of the Holy Spirit, their lives are conformed more and more to the image of Christ.
Future Things
We believe the Lord Jesus Christ will return to this earth, personally, bodily, and visibly in power and glory. At this time, His Kingdom will be fully manifested on earth and will never end. As the sovereign Lord, He will resurrect and judge all humanity. Those who have received Him by faith will go to eternal blessings; and those who have not, to eternal condemnation.
(statement of faith adopted from thenicenecouncil.com)
As a church we espouse the first two ecumenical Christian creeds:
The Nicene Creed
(A.D. 325; revised at Constantinople A.D. 381)
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father (and the son) who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic (universal) and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Chalcedonian Creed
(A.D. 451)
We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.
