Confession of Faith

Introduction

Redeemed in Faith Reformed Church stands firmly in the stream of historic, confessional Christianity, joyfully proclaiming the sovereign, God-centered gospel recovered during the Protestant Reformation. We are driven by the love of Christ to worship the Triune God in spirit and in truth, to walk in unity as the body of Christ, and to boldly declare the crucified and risen Savior to a lost and dying world.

As a member of the Reformed Episcopal Baptist Communion, we are united with our sister churches in the shared conviction that biblical truth must shape every aspect of life, doctrine, and worship. To that end, we joyfully affirm the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as our official doctrinal standard. Alongside the historic Baptist Catechism, it provides a faithful summary of the essential teachings of Holy Scripture and serves as a guiding foundation for our preaching, discipleship, and ecclesiastical order under the episcopal oversight of the Communion.

What We Believe

I. The Scriptures

The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience.

II. God

There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of himself, all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.

III. The Trinity

God is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.

IV. Providence

God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any wise to be author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

V. Election

Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life — not because of foreseen merit in them, but of his mere mercy in Christ — in consequence of which choice they are called, justified and glorified.

VI. The Fall of Man

God originally created man in His own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.

VII. The Mediator

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled the Law, suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose hand He ever liveth to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest and King of the Church, and Sovereign of the Universe.

VIII. Regeneration

Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who quickeneth the dead in trespasses and sins enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.

IX. Repentance

Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein a person being, by the Holy Spirit, made sensible of the manifold evil of his sin, humbleth himself for it, with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrence, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please Him in all things.

X. Faith

Saving faith is the belief, on God’s authority, of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving graces, and leads to a life of holiness.

XI. Justification

Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners, who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made; not for anything wrought in them or done by them; but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith.

XII. Sanctification

Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified, by God’s word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in cordial obedience to all Christ’s commands.

XIII. Perseverance of the Saints

Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

XIV. The Church

The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all his true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to his commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or churches; and to each of these churches he hath given needful authority for administering that order, discipline and worship which he hath appointed. The regular officers of a Church are Bishops, or Elders, and Deacons.

XV. Baptism

Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of his giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life. It is prerequisite to church fellowship, and to participation in the Lord’s Supper.

XVI. The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with the elements of bread and wine, and to be observed by his churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate his death, to confirm the faith and other graces of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge and renewal of their communion with him, and of their church fellowship.

XVII. The Lord’s Day

The Lord’s Day is a Christian institution for regular observance, and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, resting from worldly employments and amusements, works of necessity and mercy only excepted.

XVIII. Liberty of Conscience

God alone is Lord of the conscience; and He hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in anything contrary to His word, or not contained in it. Civil magistrates being ordained of God, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

XIX. The Resurrection

The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God — the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked to be reserved under darkness to the judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised.

XX. The Judgment

God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when every one shall receive according to his deeds; the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life.

Statement of Theological Distinctives

The Statement of Theological Distinctives reflects what distinguishes Redeemed in Faith Reformed Church from other churches that would affirm the same basic doctrines. These distinctives shape the way that the church is led and the direction the church is headed. We do not expect all members to embrace all aspects of these distinctives, but members should expect that the distinctives will be maintained in all ministry environments, and members may not teach contrary to them. While all members of Redeemed in Faith Reformed Church must affirm the Congregational Statement of Faith, elders, deacons, and all who teach within the church must also adhere to The Statement of Theological Distinctives.

Defined by the Bible

We are committed to being defined by the Bible alone.

Biblical Theology

We seek to derive our theology strictly from the Bible, and we believe that such a theology is thoroughly God-centered and man humbling. Such a theology is in line with that recovered by the great Reformers of the 16th century, preached by the Puritans, and summarized by the 1689 London Baptist Confession.

Biblical Preaching

We are committed to preaching which is pervasively biblical, unashamedly doctrinal, intensely pastoral, and unmistakably Christ-centered.

Biblical Church Growth

We are committed to developing spiritually mature disciples who know the Word, live the Word, and spread the Word. Such disciples are only developed through strong biblical teaching and loving accountability.

Biblical Worship

We are committed to God-centered worship, which is marked by simplicity and passion, composed of expository and doctrinal preaching, public reading of the Scriptures, prayer, the sacraments, and singing. see Regulative Principle Concerning Corporate Worship

Biblical Families

We are committed to developing godly families by intentionally training men to lead their families in the ways of the Lord and by avoiding a multiplicity of church programs that either by structure or time constraints tend to keep families apart.

Biblical Leadership

We are led by a group of godly men (known biblically as elders) who are chosen by a spiritually mature congregation and are accountable to such.

Biblical Evangelism

We are committed to an evangelistic approach that proclaims the biblical gospel of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, which relies on God to regenerate and convert the sinner not shallow salesmanship or psychological manipulation. We realize that such unbiblical (manipulative) approaches may result in numerical success but not necessarily in true Holy Spirit regenerated converts.