What We Believe

The center of everything we do at Grace United is the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is the truth around which we orient our values, our preaching, our songs, our actions and interactions.

In addition to the Good News, we hold to essential theology, derived from The Bible. Many churches have large, complex statements of faith. Tragically, these often serve to divide believers instead of uniting them as Jesus desired (See: John 13:34-35 & 17:20-23). As such, the Elders of Grace United keep our statement of faith simple and ancient, using the most ancient creed of Christianity to unite around - the "Apostles Creed".

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
 
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

We also celebrate two ordinances as instituted by Jesus:
The Lord’s Supper (aka: communion/eucharist) and baptism.

Because of our commitment to unity (see our Core Values), we allow our members to lovingly and respectfully disagree on any non-essential issue, while standing firm to the key essentials of the Gospel. So, we will be unmovable on the statements in the Apostles’ Creed, but allow loving and respectful disagreements on other issues.

The following are expounded explanations of some of the key terms in the Apostles Creed to clarify what we believe further.

The Good News (or Gospel) is the royal announcement by God that Jesus of Nazareth accomplished what was necessary for our salvation through His life, death, and resurrection. God offers this salvation freely - by grace through faith – to anyone who will accept it.

To accept the Good News is to embrace the salvation of God.
To reject the Good News is to embrace the condemnation of God.

(Reference: 1 Corinthians 15:3-6; Mark 1:15, Romans 1:16, John 3:16-18)

For the Christian, belief is more than merely intellectually agreeing to a creed. It is a life-altering loyalty (trust) in the reality of the Gospel—a loyalty which reorients a person’s worldview, self-identity, values, and habits. True belief displays itself through radical obedience (works) to Jesus’s commands.

(Reference: John 3:16-18; John 14:15-24; James 2:19-20)

God is the uncreated Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three are coequal, coeternal, and are one God.

(Reference: Genesis 1:1,26-27,3:22; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

God the Father is the first person of the Trinity who sits enthroned as King of creation, ordering and directing all things to His purpose, pleasure, and grace. He created the universe and all that is within it (seen and unseen). He graciously involves Himself in the affairs of men, hears and answers prayer, and rescues us from the sin and death which comes from our rebellious choices.

(Reference: Matthew 6:9; John 5:19-24; Ephesians 1:3-6)

Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, who was born miraculously to an unmarried virgin, as prophesy had foretold. As such, He is God-with-us, the God-man, fully God and fully man. By becoming man, He eliminated the distance of our natures; by living sinlessly and dying, He paid the debt of our sins; and by His resurrection, He destroys even death itself. We believe that He is seated at God’s right hand, serving as Lord of the Universe. He will return to earth to institute a new kingdom without death or sin.

(Reference: John 1:14-18; 1 Corinthians 15; Hebrews 2:17-18;
Romans 3:24-26; Revelation 20:11-15; Colossians 2:9-10)

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, who executes the will of God in the world of men. He lives in each Christian from the moment of salvation. He is present in the world to make people aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He provides Christians with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer spiritual gifts when they are saved. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily.

(Reference: 1 Cor. 12:12-13; Eph 1:13-14, 2:10, 4:5; John 3:1-8; John 15:16, 16:4-15; Galatians 5:16-25)

The Bible is God's Word to us. The Bible was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs about living. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without error.

(Reference: 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 119:1-5, 160, 12:6; Proverbs 30:5, Isa 55:11)

The universal Church is the worldwide collection of believers. Local churches are communities of believers who God brings together to carry one another’s burdens, equip one another to live faithfully, and lead individuals into belief and maturity. Together, all the saints (past, present, and future) share their gifts together and share in God’s salvation, an eternal family covenantal relationship the ancients called the communion of saints.

(Reference: Heb. 10:23-25; Acts 2:41-47; 4:1-16; 1Cor 12-14; Matt. 16:13-28; Eph. 2:10, 19-22; John 1:12-13; Revelation 21:22-27)

Salvation is God's free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin's penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.

(Reference: John 3:16-18, 14:6, Romans 5:1, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-10)

We believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected in the body, the firstfruits of a coming eternal resurrection. The afterlife is not merely a spiritual existence, but is a re-making of the world as it was before the Fall—a restoration of Creation. The next great event of human history will be the blessed return of Jesus Christ to initiate the new and eternal paradise. We will live, work, and commune together in the new, sinless, everlasting life.

(Reference: 1Cor. 15:23-38; John 20:27; Rev. 20: 12-13, 21;Matt. 27:52; Dan. 12:2; 1Thess. 4:16)

The Lord’s Supper (also known as Communion, or the Eucharist) is a memorial to remember Jesus’ sacrifice. On the night that He was betrayed, Jesus was celebrating a Passover feast meal, in which each portion of the meal is a reminder of God freeing the Jews from their Exodus. Jesus took two of those symbolic foods and gave them a new meaning: the unleavened bread is to remember His body being broken for our sins; the wine is to remind us of the blood He shed for us. It both reminds us of His sacrifice and serves as an opportunity to jointly express our fellowship with one another, adopted into His family by His sacrifice. We celebrate the Lord’s Supper with an open communion for anyone who shares our faith in Christ.
 
(Reference: Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

Christian baptism was also ordained by Jesus as an essential first step for those who wish to be His disciple. (A disciple is a student-follower, who both learns from and models his life after the teachings of Jesus.) Like the Lord’s Supper, in baptism Jesus took a common Jewish rite and gave it new meaning. Jewish baptism was a ritual washing to cleanse oneself in preparation for entering a holy place. In celebrating Christian baptism, a believer both (1) makes a public proclamation of the internal change in which their old self has died, and (2) participates in a sacred and ancient rite which links us with millions of other believers throughout history as part of a new, holy people. For more details on baptism, read our baptismal handbook at this link.
 
(Reference: 1 Corinthians 12:13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Matthew 10:32;
Romans 6:3-11; 1Peter 3:12; Acts 22:16; Colossians 2:12; Luke 3:16)