Doctrine

The five foundations of Faith are informed by what we believe. We always remember that mankind is created and, consequently, mankind owes his fundamental allegiance to the only Creator. God the Creator determines what we are to believe about Himself and about how we are to live.

The doctrine (or, body of teaching) at Faith can be understood in three steps.

1. We are orthodox.

To say that our beliefs are orthodox is to say that we believe those things that the Christian church has always believed. These include the triune nature of God, the oneness of God, the humanity and divinity of Jesus in one person, the Holy Spirit, and the created nature and sinfulness of humanity. Excellent summary statements of our orthodox beliefs are captured by historic documents like The Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.

2. We are Protestant.

To say that our beliefs are Protestant is to say that we affirm the theological realignment that took place in Europe during the Sixteenth Century, commonly called the Protestant Reformation. Because this involved a variety of languages, touched many nations, and encompassed more than a century, it can be difficult summarizing what it means to be “Protestant.” One way is to affirm five mottos that grew out of this period; these mottos summarize beliefs concerning the centrality of the Bible, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and the glory of God. These have been popularly known as The Five Solas, which we affirm wholeheartedly.

3. We are Reformed.

To say that our beliefs are Reformed is to say that we affirm five theological commitments that were valuable to certain congregations of the Protestant Reformation. During the Reformation, these congregations were distinguished from Lutheran congregations on the one side and, later, Anabaptist congregations on the other side. Due to the influence of John Calvin, these were sometimes called Reformed congregations, sometimes Calvinist congregations. There are  five theological emphases that highlight our Reformed beliefs:

• Doctrine of God (God is eternally sovereign in all things and over all things)
• Doctrine of soteriology, salvation (the priority of grace in Christian conversion)
• Biblical theology (the role of biblical covenants in unifying Scripture and the story of redemption)
• Doctrine of sanctification (the three uses of the moral law)
• Doctrine of ecclesiology, the church (the importance of the two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Table)

There are numerous historic statements that summarize these Reformed commitments. As a church, we specifically affirm the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, and the Westminster Shorter Catechism. For parents, there is also an introductory catechism for smaller children called, First Catechism.

See also: Five Foundations