What We Believe

These six statements reflect our foundational Reformed convictions, as contained in our creeds and confessions, that bear witness to God’s grace in Jesus Christ.  These statements are scripturally based and a summary of the Essential Tenets and Reformed Distinctives adopted by the Presbytery of San Diego.

1)     Authority of Scripture

We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s uniquely revealed and written Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are the church’s first and final authority in all areas of faith and life including, but not limited to, theological doctrine, mission, church order, character, and ethical behavior.

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NKJV)

2)     God

We worship the one only living and true God who is revealed in the Bible and who is the source of all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness.  We confess the mystery of the holy Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  God is the sovereign ruler of all creation, working all things according to the counsel of his omnipotent and righteous will.

“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”  Revelation 4:11 (NKJV)

3)     Humanity and Sin

We believe human beings were created in God’s own image in true righteousness and holiness, but because of our rebellion against God, we are separated from God’s abundant and eternal life.

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.   Ephesians 2:1-3 (NKJV)

4)     Jesus Christ – Incarnation of the Eternal Word

We believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal Son of God uniquely entered human history and became a real human being. He is truly the Word of God (John 1:1-3)—that is, the perfect and culminating expression of God’s mind and heart, of God’s will and character— present in the intimate fellowship of the Holy Trinity from eternity and fully engaged with the Father in the work of creation and redemption. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and draws us to Jesus to reconcile us to God. The significance of this is: in Christ we are dealing with God himself; in Christ we have a human being who truly represents us. Jesus Christ is God’s only Mediator between God and humankind and God’s unique agent for the salvation of the world. Jesus is the perfect expression of what humanity was designed to be. In his complete obedience, he became the representative Human Being, a second Adam, modeling for us human life and offering to God on our behalf human life that is rightly in God’s image—reflecting God’s glory in a wholly submitted life of steadfast love and righteousness. This same Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, as attested in scripture, is to be the center of the Christian Church’s proclamation, worship, discipleship, and mission.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.  For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.   Colossians 1:15-20 (NKJV)

5)      Jesus Atoning Work

We believe Jesus’ death on the Cross was the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. In this act of obedience to God’s will and love for humankind, Jesus acted as the divine agent for the salvation of the world. In his death he perfectly fulfilled the office of High Priest and was also the perfect sacrifice for sins—“the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29)  On the sole basis of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, sinners may now be reconciled to a holy God and set free from their bondage to sin and death to live for God in holiness and joy.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:2 (NKJV)

6)     Salvation by Grace through Faith

We believe salvation is God’s gracious work through Jesus Christ to reclaim humankind and all creation from sin and its consequences. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace received by faith. Christ’s righteousness and atonement are the sole basis for human salvation. Faith in Christ is the only instrument by which this righteousness is received by individual believers, resulting in their justification. Justification is the righteousness of Christ imputed to a sinful woman or man through faith alone in Christ. Their faith appropriates Christ’s atonement, resulting in their sins atoned for and forgiven and God reckoning them to be righteous. God has given us “the forgiveness of sins, everlasting righteousness and salvation out of sheer grace solely for the sake of Christ’s saving work.”

Faith is “certain knowledge” and “wholehearted trust,” that is created in us by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. In faith we accept, receive, and rest “upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.”

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.  Gal 2:16 (NKJV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)