Crossway Core Beliefs

Bible

We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God.

• That the 66 books of the Old and New Testament were inspired by the Spirit of God
• That the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct · 2 Timothy 3:16

God

We believe in one God, Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Jesus Christ

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of our Lord Jesus Christ

• In His eternal existence, with the Father in pre-incarnate glory
• In His work of creation, in His virgin-birth, sinless life, substitutionary death and bodily resurrection
• In His triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry, and personal return

The Holy Spirit

We believe in the absolute and essential deity, and in the personality of the Holy Spirit

• Who convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment
• Who regenerates, indwells, seals, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ
• Who baptizes believers at conversion into the Body of Christ and bestows upon them His gifts sovereignly as He wills and fills those yielded to Him

Mankind

We believe that Adam was divinely created in the image of God

• That by the sin of disobedience he fell from that state
• That all his posterity inherited spiritual depravity and defilement
• That all men therefore are guilty before God and condemned to physical and spiritual death

Salvation

We believe that salvation is by the grace of God

• That by the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a propitiatory death
• That justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient gospel work of the Lord Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and bodily resurrection
• That those who place faith in the gospel work of Jesus Christ, free of any reliance upon any personal or physical effort, shall be divinely preserved and ultimately perfected in the image of the Lord
• That the opportunity for free salvation is offered to absolutely everyone, everywhere

the church

We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ, consisting of all those who have placed faith in the gospel work of Jesus Christ, responsible for perpetuating the mission and message of Jesus Christ until His return. This is accomplished as local congregations fulfil the following responsibilities:

• Gathering--the physical assembly of the church provides the opportunity for spiritual edification and education of the saints
• Going--intentional outreach with acts of charity and gospel evangelism

ORDINANCES

We believe that our Lord commanded the Church to fulfil two ordinances which are symbolic only, not sacramental, or contributing to salvation. They are:

• Water baptism, which symbolizes our faith in the gospel-work of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection
• Communion, or the Lord's Supper, a solemn commemoration which symbolizes the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sin