About Us

God is infinitely above us, his thoughts beyond ours, “his paths beyond all tracing out” (Rom 11:33). He is by far the most important person in the universe. We exist for him, not vice versa. Worship is not primarily to comfort us but to magnify him. Yet amazingly, God has arranged that what glorifies him benefits us. Only as we lose ourselves in admiring and serving him do we discover true life and stumble upon real joy. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Rom 11:36).

Some people view God and Satan as equally matched in an arm-wrestling contest. At times Satan wins, and bad things happen; on other days God wins, and good things occur. But the Bible teaches that nothing ever takes place apart from God’s holy plan. Sorrow, pain, joy, pleasure — all are ordained by God for our good and his glory. “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” (Lam 3:38). “...I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things” (Isa 45:7). “The Lord works out everything for his own ends, even the wicked...” (Prov 16:4). Yet amazingly, because he is infinitely powerful and good, God accomplishes his own ends in a manner totally without sin and without forcing his creatures to act against their wills.

The Old Testament (the first half of the Bible) largely tells of creation, mankind's fall into sin, and God’s dealings with the nation of Israel. But these are told to lay the foundation for the New Testament story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, the Old Testament is a book about Jesus. A faithful handling of any Old Testament passage will always point in some way to him. True, God loves the Jewish people and hints at future plans for them as a race. But Jews are saved and always have been only as they are “grafted into” Christ, and Gentiles are included in the promise that “all those who believe are children of Abraham” (Rom 11:24, Gal 3:7).

For centuries following the earliest years of Christianity, the church seriously drifted from core biblical doctrines. By the medieval period, Europe languished in deep spiritual darkness. Biblical knowledge decreased even as pomp in public worship increased. As in our day, “spirituality” was high, but knowledge of God’s Word was low. But a remarkable return to scriptural roots was born in the 16th century under Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others. This return came to be called the Reformation. The Reformation’s major scriptural rediscoveries were summarized by five core tenets which capture well the message of salvation:

“Scripture alone” teaches us God’s way of salvation. The Bible’s every word is God-breathed. It alone (as opposed to any man or any church) is the final authority on all matters it addresses. Only there can we learn what God requires of us for salvation.

“Christ alone,” as God’s unique Son could bear our sins as our substitute. Only through him can anyone approach God acceptably.

“Faith alone” is how we receive this salvation — not through faith plus any shred of human merit. We must abandon every other plan of self-salvation in favor of totally depending on Christ’s work on the cross.

God’s “grace alone” provides salvation from start to finish, both Christ’s accomplishment of salvation and the Holy Spirit’s applying it to us. Nothing in ourselves can commend us to him.

“Glory to God alone” for our salvation — for we contribute nothing.

Throughout redemptive history, God has been gathering a people to himself. This community is called “Israel” in the Old Testament and “the church” in the New Testament (Deut 7:6, Isa 49:6, 1 Pet 2:9). God’s plan from the beginning has been to redeem sinners from every tribe, tongue, nation, and race through the blood of Jesus Christ (Gal 3:28, Rev 7:9). In the Bible, God accomplishes this purpose through a series of promises or “covenants” which shapes the basic structure of the whole Bible. Interpreting Scripture through this lens is known as covenant theology.

Because the whole Bible is a single story, covenant theology emphasizes that God deals with his people throughout history in fundamentally the same way. Thus, covenant theology helps us to

• Appreciate the grand and glorious unity of Scripture.

• Rejoice in one plan of salvation for one people of God.

• Exalt Christ as Savior of all who believe in him.

Some biblical doctrines are explicit in Scripture: the bodily resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 15:4), the divine authorship of the Bible (2 Tim 3:16), and the virgin birth of Christ (Luke 1:34-35), for instance. Other doctrines are taught implicitly. Nowhere does the Bible say, “God exists as one being in three persons.” Thus, the historic Christian understanding of the Trinity must (to some degree) be grounded in implicit reasoning.

Similarly, much of what Scripture says about church membership is “between the lines.” While there is no single text that requires Christians to officially join a church, we believe the Bible implicitly teaches that every Christian should be a member of a local church, and every local church should practice meaningful church membership.