17 Main Street
Pepperell, MA 01463
(978) 433-6360
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 192
Pepperell, MA 01463
Constitution
This church shall be known as Pepperell Christian Fellowship.
Pepperell Christian Fellowship (i.e., ‘the Church’) shall be organized as an independent local church in accordance with the principles of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, as defined in our Statement of Faith.
The Church shall be incorporated pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Church shall be registered with the United States IRS as a tax-exempt organization under the Internal Revenue Code, 501(c)3.
We exist to be a Jesus-centered community in Pepperell, speaking gospel words and doing gospel works to display the worth of God to the world.
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, complete in the 66 books of the Bible, to be the only inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God’s will for salvation and all that God requires us to believe and do, and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak.
We believe in One God, Creator and Sustainer of all things, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that they are equal in every divine perfection and that they perform distinct but harmonious roles in the work of creation and redemption and are equally worthy of all glory and honor.
We believe in God the Father, the sovereign, eternal, personal Spirit, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, unchanging, perfect in holiness, wisdom, justice and love. We believe He compassionately and wisely involves Himself in the lives of people. We believe He hears and answers prayer. We believe that He saves from sin and spiritual death all who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son and has the same nature, attributes and perfection as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We believe He is true God and true Man, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. We believe that in the Incarnation He surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. We also believe in His sinless life, His substitutionary atonement by His shed blood, His bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, His priestly intercession on behalf of His people, and His personal, visible, bodily return from heaven at the end of the age.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, His divine personhood and His work in regeneration, sanctification, and preservation. He is equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature. His ministry is to convict of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness. We believe He is the author of the Holy Scriptures. He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony. He is the life-giving agent of the new birth, and His indwelling presence within the believer is the very presence of God within us. He seals, empowers, guides, comforts, teaches, and sanctifies the believer.
We believe God created humankind, male and female, in the image of God, for the purposes of glorifying Him, enjoying fellowship with Him, and exercising dominion over His created order. Created free from sin, Adam voluntarily disobeyed God and fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all humankind is now of a sinful nature, and sins, not by constraint, but by choice, and is therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse, resulting in both spiritual and physical death. We believe that those who are born again by the Holy Spirit, who repent of sin, and who turn to Jesus Christ as Savior are reconciled to God and restored to true fellowship with Him.
We believe in salvation through Jesus Christ alone. This salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, was purchased through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, by the shedding of His blood on the cross, and is received through faith apart from any human merit, works or ritual. This free gift is available to any person who will repent of sin and trust in Jesus Christ. We believe that all who truly trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, have a right standing before God and eternal life with Him, and grow in faith and obedience.
We believe that the church is the spiritual body of Christ, of which Christ is the head. The church universal is composed of all persons throughout time who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. This body finds expression in local assemblies whose members have named Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and have associated themselves for the purpose of glorifying God through worship, instruction in the Bible, administering the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, evangelism, Christian service, and the building up and fellowship of believers. We believe God gives unique and spiritual gifts to each member of the body of Christ. We also believe it is biblical for local assemblies of the true church to cooperate with each other for the purposes of mutual edification and furthering the gospel.
We believe that baptism is an outward sign of the inward reality of the conversion and new life of a believer. It is an ordinance commanded by Scripture and is a command to be obeyed after one has received the free gift of salvation.
We believe that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper is a remembrance and proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His death on the cross. The observance of this ordinance should not be taken lightly; individuals should examine themselves so they do not take the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. We observe the Lord’s Supper in order to express our full acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and our unity as believers.
We believe the supreme task of all believers is to glorify God in their lives by enjoying him forever. We believe a desire to be obedient to the Word of God will be found in every believer, and that through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God. Though there will be struggles and setbacks, the believer will progressively become more like the Lord Jesus Christ, yearning for full maturity in Christ. The believer will also face opposition from Satan who is a created, spiritual being opposed to God. We believe that Satan was defeated at the cross of Christ and doomed to receive eternal judgment from God.
We believe in the personal, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to judge all people and renew His creation. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved and the lost. The saved will rise to eternal life in the new creation, and the lost will rise to eternal condemnation and conscious punishment in Hell. God will be fully present with His people in His new creation, and there will be no sin, no death, and no crying or pain.
Pepperell Christian Fellowship is governed according to a form of church government known as “Elder-led congregational government.”
Elders are called to shepherd the members and the members are to submit to the spiritual authority of the elders. At the same time, God holds the membership of the Church finally accountable for who is received into the Church’s membership and who is excluded from it, for matters of church discipline, and for the doctrine that is upheld and taught. The membership of the Church appoints Boards and Officers and can remove those Boards and Officers when necessary, according to the procedure in Section 4 of the Bylaws.
The vote of the membership of the Church at a properly called meeting, as provided in the Bylaws, shall be required to affect the following actions:
The Board of Elders leads the Church and exercises its God-given authority through teaching the Word, guarding sound doctrine, and shepherding the flock, and is accountable to God for this work. In all Church matters other than those on which the membership votes, the Board of Elders shall be the final authority.
The Board of Deacons, under the authority and oversight of the Board of Elders, is responsible for performing services of advising, administration and implementation as described in the Bylaws.
The Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer and Clerk shall conduct their duties as described in the Bylaws.
The membership of this Church shall consist of persons who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, give evidence of regeneration through a life consistent with their profession and with the views of faith, doctrine, and practice of this Church, have been baptized as believers, have accepted the PCF Membership Covenant, and have been accepted into membership according to the Bylaws of this Church.
An All-Church Gathering is a meeting of the members of Pepperell Christian Fellowship. The All-Church Gathering shall be moderated by the President or by his designate. A quorum of 20 members is required to act on any business. Any items requiring action must be posted in a public space in the church building two weeks prior to the meeting and announced at two Sunday services prior to the meeting. Only items appearing in the posting may be voted on during an All-Church Gathering.
The Elders may call an All-Church Gathering for action or informational purposes at any time.
The Deacons may call an All-Church Gathering for action or informational purposes on matters of finance or physical oversight at any time.
Any ten members of Pepperell Christian Fellowship may call an All-Church Gathering to act on items described in the Bylaws. The ten members must submit the request for the meeting and the item or items requiring action to the Clerk, who will notify the Elders and Deacons, schedule the meeting, post the action item(s) in a public space within the church building two weeks prior to the meeting, and ensure that the meeting is announced at two Sunday services prior to the meeting.
The Annual Meeting is an All-Church Gathering, held at the end of each fiscal year for the approval of the church budget for the coming year. A quorum of 20 voting members is required to act on any business.
The budget shall be approved by a simple majority vote of those present.
A notice announcing the Annual Meeting must be set by the Board of Elders and posted in a public space in the church building two weeks prior to the meeting and announced during the Sunday service at two services prior to the meeting. Any additional items requiring action must be listed on the notice for the meeting and announced in the services. Only items appearing in the posting may be voted on during an Annual Meeting.
Church meetings shall be conducted according to The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (4th Edition), Alice Sturgis, 2001.
All votes at church meetings are of those present. Voting by proxy is prohibited.
The President shall be selected by the Elders from among the current non-staff Elders. The President may serve until the end of his term on the Board of Elders.
In addition to his duties as a member of the Board of Elders, the President shall:
The President shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. The President shall be dismissed upon removal from membership of the Church.
The Treasurer shall be a member of the Church nominated by the Board of Elders and confirmed by the membership. The Treasurer shall serve a term of two years. There is no limit on the number of consecutive terms the Treasurer may serve.
The confirmation of the membership is expressed by a majority vote at a properly called All-Church Gathering.
The Treasurer shall serve on the Board of Deacons. The duties of the Treasurer shall include the following (the Treasurer may perform these duties himself/herself or designate others to perform them under their supervision):
The Treasurer shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. The Treasurer shall be dismissed upon removal from membership of the Church.
The Assistant Treasurer shall be a member of the Church nominated by the Board of Elders and confirmed by the membership. The Assistant Treasurer shall serve a term of two years. There is no limit on the number of consecutive terms the Assistant Treasurer may serve.
The confirmation of the membership is expressed by a majority vote at a properly called All-Church Gathering
The Assistant Treasurer shall serve on the Board of Deacons. The duties of the Assistant Treasurer shall include:
The Assistant Treasurer shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. The Assistant Treasurer shall be dismissed upon removal from membership of the Church.
The Clerk shall be a member of the Church nominated by the Board of Elders and confirmed by the membership. The Clerk shall serve a term of two years. There is no limit on the number of consecutive terms the Clerk may serve.
The confirmation of the membership is expressed by a majority vote at a properly called All-Church Gathering.
Duties of the Clerk are:
The Clerk shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. The Clerk shall be dismissed upon removal from membership of the Church.
An Elder shall be a man meeting the Scriptural guidelines put forward in Matthew 23:11; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; and 1 Peter 5:1-4.
An Elder shall be in agreement with The Gospel Coalition Confessional Statement as found in Appendix A.
An Elder shall be a member of the Church nominated by the Board of Elders and confirmed by the membership. With the exception of Staff Elders (see By Laws Section 3 Pastoral Staff), an Elder shall serve a term of three years. There is no limit to the total number of terms an Elder may serve, but an Elder may serve at most two consecutive terms. After serving two consecutive terms, the former Elder may not be nominated to serve as an Elder for one year.
The confirmation of the membership is expressed by a majority vote at a properly called All-Church Gathering.
The Elders are responsible as the Board of Directors for the corporation, and thus have oversight responsibility for all other Boards and Officers of the corporation. In all Church matters other than those on which the entire membership votes, the Elders, acting on behalf of the membership of the Church, shall have final authority. The Elders will have overall responsibility for leading the Church and will exercise particular responsibility for the spiritual oversight and direction of the Church. These responsibilities include oversight in the areas of:
The Elders will be directly responsible for:
The Elders shall be equal in authority with one another but may be specialized in function.
An Elder may be dismissed for the following reasons:
An Elder shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. An Elder shall be dismissed upon removal from the membership of the Church.
The Deacons shall be nominated on the basis of the Scriptural guidelines as put forward in 1 Timothy 3:8-13.
A Deacon will be a member of the Church nominated by the Board of Elders and confirmed by the membership. A Deacon shall serve a term of three years. There is no limit to the total number of terms a Deacon may serve, but a Deacon may serve at most two consecutive terms. After serving two consecutive terms, the former Deacon may not be nominated to serve as a Deacon for one year.
The Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer shall serve as members of the Board of Deacons during the term that they hold their office.
Deacons shall report to and assist the Board of Elders by exercising oversight of the physical needs of the Church. Their responsibilities shall include:
A Deacon shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. A Deacon shall be dismissed upon removal from membership of the Church.
Pastoral staff are those who, in response to God’s call, have devoted their vocational lives to the ministry of the Word and prayer in the service of the Church of Christ.
A Pastor shall be a man meeting the Scriptural guidelines put forward in Matthew 23:11; 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9; and 1 Peter 5:1-4, and who has been called by God to serve in vocational ministry at Pepperell Christian Fellowship.
A Pastor shall be called following a unanimous vote of the Board of Elders and confirmation by the membership.
The confirmation of the membership is expressed by a majority vote at a properly called All-Church Gathering.
The confirmation of the membership also brings the Pastor into the membership of the Church.
A Pastor shall serve a term without limit.
A Pastor shall serve based on his job description, which shall be set at the time of his calling. This job description may be changed by mutual agreement between the Pastor and the Board of Elders.
A Staff Elder is a member of the pastoral staff who serves as an Elder. The Church Membership may designate a member of the pastoral staff as a Staff Elder by a majority vote at an All-Church Gathering. A Staff Elder shall serve as an Elder as long as he holds his pastoral staff position. Not all members of the pastoral staff will necessarily be Staff Elders.
A Pastor shall be dismissed according to the process outlined below in Section 4 of the Bylaws. A Pastor shall be dismissed upon removal from membership of the Church.
The process of dismissal shall be the same for all Officers, members of Boards, and Pastoral Staff. Where a grievance exists either due to adherence to, or propagation of, beliefs contrary to the beliefs of the Church as set forth in Article 4 of the PCF Constitution and the public position Statements of the Church, or to alleged conduct on his or her part unfitting the role in which he or she serves, that grievance may be brought before the Board of Elders by any two members in good standing. If the Board of Elders, after thorough investigation and consideration, believes the grievance to be true and substantial, then the Officer, Board member, or Pastoral Staff may be removed from office upon the recommendation of the Board of Elders when supported by a closed ballot of a majority of those members of the Church present and voting at a properly called All-Church Gathering where at least one third of the members are present.
The membership of this Church shall consist of persons who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, give evidence of regeneration through a life consistent with their profession and with the views of faith, doctrine and practice of this Church, have been baptized as a believer, have accepted the PCF Membership Covenant and have been accepted into membership according to the Bylaws of this Church.
The Christian life is an incredible adventure. It is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and failures. Church membership expresses our desire to live this adventure together with other Christian brothers and sisters as part of a loving, welcoming, Jesus-centered community. It also expresses our desire to say to more and more people, ‘Come join us on this adventure!’
Being a Jesus-centered community is an awesome privilege and a demanding commitment. By entering into a membership community with one another, we are pursuing both the joy and the sacrifice of being involved in each other’s lives. We do this for the sake of our own souls and also because we believe that the more deeply we love each other the more we will advance our mission of displaying the worth of God to the world. We don’t believe true membership tidies things up – on the contrary, it makes things messier as we really invest in each other’s lives. But that’s the kind of messiness the Bible urges us to enter into with each other.
Church membership is our effort to honor and live out four truths about the church taught in the New Testament. First, the New Testament affirms that a local church is a defined body of believers. Second, the New Testament affirms that Christians should be deeply involved in each other’s lives for mutual encouragement and exhortation. Third, the New Testament affirms that the leaders of a local church are accountable to God to shepherd well the people in their care, and that those within the church should submit to their leaders as those leaders submit to God and obey his will. Finally, the New Testament affirms that local churches should make important decisions together as a church.
At PCF, we are seeking to live ‘from the gospel and for the gospel.’ That means the foundation for our lives of Christian obedience is God’s free grace shown us at the cross of Jesus, who died as our substitute and bore God’s judgment for our sin. We don’t obey Jesus in order to earn God’s favor, because God has already forgiven us at the cross! Instead, we obey Jesus in order to promote the spread of the gospel and the glory of God. This is the spirit in which we approach the significant promises we make to one another in this Membership Covenant. Because we’re sinners, we don’t pretend we’ll always perfectly fulfill these promises, but nonetheless we make these promises with hope, because we are forgiven, justified sinners now filled with God’s Spirit.
We ask all members of PCF to affirm the following:
In the presence of God and relying on his help, I solemnly and joyfully enter into this membership covenant with the other members of PCF as one body in Christ.
PCF commits to appoint Elders who meet the biblical qualifications of the office. PCF Elders will be men who joyfully shepherd, nurture, and watch over the souls of all the members of PCF as under-shepherds of Christ while setting an example in life and godliness. They will teach the Bible and sound doctrine and guard against doctrinal error. On the last day, at the return of Christ, the Elders of PCF will give an account to Jesus himself for the way they have cared for the souls of those under their charge.
PCF commits to appoint Deacons who meet the biblical qualifications of the office. PCF Deacons will be men and women who are ‘of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.’ They will seek to meet the practical and material needs of PCF and will serve as examples of glad-hearted, sacrificial service for the rest of the PCF members, all of whom are called to serve one another as Christ served us.
The PCF membership community commits to be a body of believers where each one of us cares for the others. We recognize that we cannot know every PCF member with the same level of intimacy. Nonetheless, in ways appropriate to our individual relationships within the membership community, we will love one another, admonish one another, encourage one another, and pray for one another. We will weep when others weep and rejoice when they rejoice. When necessary, we will exercise loving discipline in order to rescue members who willfully persist in sin. When we make decisions together as a church we will do so prayerfully, seeking the glory of God and the good of all concerned.
Becoming more like Jesus happens best in Christian community. I want to live the Christian life together with my brothers and sisters at PCF, encouraging them and being encouraged by them. Because of this, I commit, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of God’s Word, to pursue personal holiness and Christ-like behavior, even when this life of discipleship requires personal sacrifice. I know that this is the path to full and lasting joy, so I will seek to increasingly surrender every area of my life to Jesus, obeying the teachings of the Bible, so that God’s worth will be displayed in my life. When I fail, I will repent, trust the amazing promise of the gospel for forgiveness, and seek again to follow Jesus. I will speak gospel words, as God provides opportunities, to those in my life who don’t know Jesus.
I commit myself wholeheartedly to the PCF membership community. I will faithfully participate in PCF’s weekly, gathered worship and will meet regularly with other believers for biblical encouragement, prayer, and fellowship. I will pray for my brothers and sisters at PCF and will give of my time, money and giftedness in Christ-like service to them. I will submit to the discipline of the Lord as it is lovingly and redemptively administered to me through the members of PCF. I will respect, pray for, and follow the leaders God has given PCF as they follow Christ. If I move from this area and am no longer able to be a member of PCF, I will become a member of another church where I can carry out the spirit of this membership commitment.
May God help us on this adventure as we wait together for our glorious future home, the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells! ‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’
Any qualified adult (18 years old or older) who has regularly attended PCF for at least six months may request admission to the membership of the Church. He or she must complete the PCF Membership Class and meet with the PCF Elders (or those designated by the Elders) in order to share his or her testimony of conversion and current experience as a Christian. There are limited exceptions to this process. By appointing a new pastor, the congregation recognizes the pastor and his spouse as PCF members. Pastoral residents and their spouses may become members prior to having been at the church for six months.
The Elders shall be responsible for determining a person’s qualifications for membership.
Upon the recommendation of the Elders and a majority vote at a properly called All Church Gathering, a person shall be accepted into the membership of the Church.
Any member who is not in the midst of a discipline process (see By Laws Section 5.F Discipline) at the time may terminate his or her membership by requesting in writing to the Elders that he or she be removed from the membership of the Church. Those who are under the Matthew 18.15-17 discipline process may not terminate their membership, so that, if it proves necessary, the church may obey the instructions of Jesus in Matthew 18 and the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5.
A person shall be removed from membership by recommendation of the Board of Elders and following discipline as described in the Bylaws.
The decision to remove a person from membership by the recommendation of the Board of Elders is expressed by a 2/3 vote at a properly called All Church Gathering.
The person facing removal from membership is prohibited from voting on any matter at the All Church Gathering.
Church discipline shall be handled according to the instruction given by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17. Private, patient, repeated, loving attempts to exhort and restore a wayward member will be made over a period of time. If these attempts are disregarded and repentance is not evident, the Elders will bring the need for public discipline before the members of the Church. If removal from membership is necessary, in keeping with the Apostle Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 5.1-13, it will be done in hopes of repentance on the part of the erring member and his or her eventual restoration back into Church membership.
Any amendments and modifications to the Statement of Faith in Article 4 of this Constitution shall require the unanimous approval of the Board of Elders and a 3/4 vote of those present at a properly called All Church Gathering (with a quorum of one third of voting members present).
Any other amendments and modifications to this Constitution and Bylaws shall require the unanimous approval of the Board of Elders and a majority vote of those present at a properly called All Church Gathering (with a quorum of one third of voting members present).
Should the corporation dissolve, all assets will be donated to a non-profit Christian organization(s) as recommended by the Board of Elders.
Retrieved here on September 12, 2023.
1. The Tri-une God We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.
2. Revelation God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.
3. Creation of Humanity We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God. The distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption and must not be sidelined by appeals to cultural developments.
4. The Fall We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
5. The Plan of God We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them—all to the praise of his glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
6. The Gospel We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is: “Christ died for our sins . . . [and] was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).
7. The Redemption of Christ We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
8. The Justification of Sinners We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We believe that a zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.
9. The Power of the Holy Spirit We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the other Paraclete, is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
10. The Kingdom of God We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.
11. God’s New People We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.
12. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
13. The Restoration of All Things We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.
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