Statement of Faith
Grace Presbyterian Church
Davison, Michigan
We believe that the sixty-six canonical books of the Bible comprise the inspired word of God; that these Scriptures are our only reliable guide to religious and moral truth; that one part of the Bible is as true and relevant as every other; and that the reading, study and contemplation of the Scriptures are indispensable disciplines of the Christian life.
We believe that there is but one God who exists eternally in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; that He is the Creator of all that exists apart from Himself; and that He is the absolute Lord of history, controlling all events with the result that His perfect will is realized. This God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; He is holy and glorious, gracious and merciful, just and wise. To know Him is the greatest good in human life. To please Him should be the highest aspiration and deepest desire of every human being.
We believe that our earliest human ancestors were created in the image of God; that they lived in personal fellowship with their Maker and possessed the potential to live forever on the Earth; that by a single act of deliberate disobedience they fell from their privileged standing with God, had His image in them distorted, and became alienated from Him. This fallen condition was passed to succeeding generations with the result that, apart from the saving grace of God, all people everywhere are sinners, living in time in free and willful rebellion against God, and subject to the fullness of His wrath in that eternity that transcends time. Sin is so pervasive in human nature that there is nothing the lost will do, wish to do or can do to save themselves.
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ anticipated by Old Testament Prophets; that He is the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, who out of love for the elect of God became flesh; that He lived a sinless life and fulfilled the primary purpose for His life by dying on the cross; that His death was a sacrifice made by God Himself and the single act that would forever satisfy His justice and secure eternal redemption for those who come to Him in repentance and faith. We believe that death could not hold the holy Son of God; that Jesus rose literally and bodily from the grave, returned to that Glory from whence He came and today sits at the right hand of God the Father. We believe that He is the sole Mediator between God and people, and the only Way by which God the Father can be known.
We believe that the redeemed are saved by faith in Christ and by faith alone; that the faith that saves is the unsought gift of God; and that the salvation it seals, being the unilateral work of God, is both sure and permanent.
We believe that out of the mass of lost humanity God has always kept for Himself a people, bound to Him by a covenant of His own gracious imposition; that while the form of that people has changed from age to age—from the families of Adam and Noah, Abraham and Jacob, to the nation of Israel and the Kingdom of David—and while certain requirements and provisions of that Covenant have changed along with those forms, it has been since the Fall one unbroken line of those saved by grace expressed in faith. We believe that since the dawn of fallen human history this covenant line has consisted only of believers but that certain of its benefits and protections extend to their children.
We believe that the most recent and final reconfiguration of this Covenant People of God is the Church of Jesus Christ, which He loves, for which He gave Himself and which He is in the process of building; that like the families, nation and kingdom that preceded it in time, it exists in two forms: the pure and ideal (the invisible Church), and the temporal and tainted (the visible Church); that every part of the visible Church is flawed, either in its faith or the exercise of its faith; that it is the will of God that every believer commit himself to that Church, adding his joys to its worship, his gifts to its ministries, his knowledge to its teaching, his experience to its fellowship, his heart and voice to its prayers, and yielding his life to its standards and his needs to the loving care of its people. We believe that the chief purposes of the Church are the worship of God, the teaching of His word, and the development of a godly maturity and mutuality among its people,
We believe that every Christian is called to holy living; that this personal holiness should express itself in every aspect of human life; and that while the immediate results of holy living is the joy of being holy and its witness in the world, its ultimate end is the glory of God.
We believe that while particular believers are called and gifted by God to serve as evangelists, every Christian is called to live a life of quiet goodness and moral integrity in the world, and to always be prepared to give a response that honors his Savior when inquiry is made regarding his faith, character or behavior.
We believe that, at the end of time, Christ will return to receive His own forever unto Himself; that there will be a final Judgment in which all people will stand before God and in which they will be held accountable, not to their standards but His; and that the consequences of this judgment will be eternal happiness for the redeemed and eternal destruction for the lost.
This statement has been adopted to be used as a standard, not for the judgment of others, but for the training and edification of the people of God committed to the prosperity of Grace Presbyterian Church. May God be pleased and glorified with its use!
We believe that there is but one God who exists eternally in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; that He is the Creator of all that exists apart from Himself; and that He is the absolute Lord of history, controlling all events with the result that His perfect will is realized. This God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; He is holy and glorious, gracious and merciful, just and wise. To know Him is the greatest good in human life. To please Him should be the highest aspiration and deepest desire of every human being.
We believe that our earliest human ancestors were created in the image of God; that they lived in personal fellowship with their Maker and possessed the potential to live forever on the Earth; that by a single act of deliberate disobedience they fell from their privileged standing with God, had His image in them distorted, and became alienated from Him. This fallen condition was passed to succeeding generations with the result that, apart from the saving grace of God, all people everywhere are sinners, living in time in free and willful rebellion against God, and subject to the fullness of His wrath in that eternity that transcends time. Sin is so pervasive in human nature that there is nothing the lost will do, wish to do or can do to save themselves.
We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ anticipated by Old Testament Prophets; that He is the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, who out of love for the elect of God became flesh; that He lived a sinless life and fulfilled the primary purpose for His life by dying on the cross; that His death was a sacrifice made by God Himself and the single act that would forever satisfy His justice and secure eternal redemption for those who come to Him in repentance and faith. We believe that death could not hold the holy Son of God; that Jesus rose literally and bodily from the grave, returned to that Glory from whence He came and today sits at the right hand of God the Father. We believe that He is the sole Mediator between God and people, and the only Way by which God the Father can be known.
We believe that the redeemed are saved by faith in Christ and by faith alone; that the faith that saves is the unsought gift of God; and that the salvation it seals, being the unilateral work of God, is both sure and permanent.
We believe that out of the mass of lost humanity God has always kept for Himself a people, bound to Him by a covenant of His own gracious imposition; that while the form of that people has changed from age to age—from the families of Adam and Noah, Abraham and Jacob, to the nation of Israel and the Kingdom of David—and while certain requirements and provisions of that Covenant have changed along with those forms, it has been since the Fall one unbroken line of those saved by grace expressed in faith. We believe that since the dawn of fallen human history this covenant line has consisted only of believers but that certain of its benefits and protections extend to their children.
We believe that the most recent and final reconfiguration of this Covenant People of God is the Church of Jesus Christ, which He loves, for which He gave Himself and which He is in the process of building; that like the families, nation and kingdom that preceded it in time, it exists in two forms: the pure and ideal (the invisible Church), and the temporal and tainted (the visible Church); that every part of the visible Church is flawed, either in its faith or the exercise of its faith; that it is the will of God that every believer commit himself to that Church, adding his joys to its worship, his gifts to its ministries, his knowledge to its teaching, his experience to its fellowship, his heart and voice to its prayers, and yielding his life to its standards and his needs to the loving care of its people. We believe that the chief purposes of the Church are the worship of God, the teaching of His word, and the development of a godly maturity and mutuality among its people,
We believe that every Christian is called to holy living; that this personal holiness should express itself in every aspect of human life; and that while the immediate results of holy living is the joy of being holy and its witness in the world, its ultimate end is the glory of God.
We believe that while particular believers are called and gifted by God to serve as evangelists, every Christian is called to live a life of quiet goodness and moral integrity in the world, and to always be prepared to give a response that honors his Savior when inquiry is made regarding his faith, character or behavior.
We believe that, at the end of time, Christ will return to receive His own forever unto Himself; that there will be a final Judgment in which all people will stand before God and in which they will be held accountable, not to their standards but His; and that the consequences of this judgment will be eternal happiness for the redeemed and eternal destruction for the lost.
This statement has been adopted to be used as a standard, not for the judgment of others, but for the training and edification of the people of God committed to the prosperity of Grace Presbyterian Church. May God be pleased and glorified with its use!