t each personally distinct from the other. God is the creator of everything. Doctrine of Sin. Everyone, regardless of race, gender, social class, or intellectual ability, is created in God’s image and for communion with God. But because of sin, that communion was broken and all of humanity was separated from God, the source of all life. Because of the fall, everyone deserves God’s judgment. Doctrine of Salvation. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and God gives salvation and eternal life to those who trust in him. Salvation cannot be earned through personal goodness or human effort. It is a gift that is received by repentance and faith in Christ and his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. Doctrine of Christ. Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary — he was God in human flesh. He lived a sinless human life, yet willingly took upon himself our sins by dying in our place and on our behalf. He rose bodily, victorious over death. He ascended to Heaven and is at the right hand of the Father as the believer’s advocate and mediator. Some day, he will return to consummate history and to fulfill the eternal plan of God. Doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, convicts the world of sin and gives new life to those who trust in Jesus. He indwells all believers and is available to empower them to lead Christ-like lives. The Spirit gives them spiritual gifts with which to serve fellow believers and reach out to a lost and needy world. Doctrine of Judgment. At the final judgment, unbelievers will be separated from God into condemnation. Believers will be received into God’s loving presence. Doctrine of the Church. All believers are members of the body of Christ, the one true church universal. Spiritual unity is to be expressed among Christians by acceptance and love of one another across ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, national, generational, gender, and denominational lines. The local church is a group of believers who gather for worship, prayer, instruction, encouragement, mutual accountability, community with each other, and as a witness to the world.
