What We Believe
People who visit a church have a right to know what they can expect to hear from the pulpit and in the classroom. To say, “We believe the Bible” is not enough. The question that needs to be answered is, “What do you believe the Bible teaches?”
At Atonement, we have an extensive confession of faith that answers that question. It is the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is an historic confession produced nearly 400 years ago. The Westminster Confession of Faith expresses the Protestant faith and incorporates the best of the great creeds of Christendom that preceded it. It underscores a high view of Scripture, a high view of God in his sovereign majesty and power, and a high view of Christ and the Gospel of grace.
Here are five brief, but important, points affirmed in the Westminster Confession of Faith:
At Atonement, we have an extensive confession of faith that answers that question. It is the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is an historic confession produced nearly 400 years ago. The Westminster Confession of Faith expresses the Protestant faith and incorporates the best of the great creeds of Christendom that preceded it. It underscores a high view of Scripture, a high view of God in his sovereign majesty and power, and a high view of Christ and the Gospel of grace.
Here are five brief, but important, points affirmed in the Westminster Confession of Faith:
- The Bible is God’s inspired and infallible Word, our authority for life and worship as a church and as individuals.
- God is our Creator and absolutely sovereign over all that He has made. There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity).
- Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and fully man, and is the only Savior and Lord of mankind. His death on the cross was the required and sufficient payment for the sins of all who believe in Him. He died and rose bodily on the third day. He will return in glory to raise the dead, judge the world, and establish a new heaven and earth.
- The Holy Spirit gives us new hearts to believe the Gospel, and dwells within each believer to empower holy living and bear testimony to our new identity as children of the living God through Jesus Christ.
- Salvation is by God’s grace alone, given freely through faith in Christ and based entirely on what God has done for us in Christ – not on anything we have done.