We believe in the one true God who has revealed Himself to be triune. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct and coeternal persons of the same undivided divine essence. Some of the attributes of God are all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere, holy, just, faithful, good, merciful, gracious, love. God’s word reveals these and many other things about God and through that word we know that God desires to have a positive relationship with every person including you.
We believe that God created all things as described in the Holy Scriptures. Creation was perfect when it was created. There was no death, suffering, or sin in the world when it was created by God.
Sin is a serious thing! Sin is what separates us from God. Since the fall into sin by Adam and Eve the world has been corrupted by sin, and every person has been born dead in that sin. Every person stands guilty before God because of the sin they were born with, “Original sin,” as well as the sins that they personally commit.
The second person of the Trinity aka the Son of God, took on human nature and flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus is both divine and human. Through Jesus’s perfect life, suffering, death on a cross, and resurrection He has paid the price for all the sins of the world and has defeated sin, death, and the devil.
No one can stand before God and be justified by their powers, merits, or works. It is only through the gift that is given by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection that one can have salvation. It is the faith or trust [which is not our work but God’s work see Holy Spirit] in the promises given in Christ that connects a person to the benefits of Christ’s dead and resurrection. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ! Without faith in Jesus no person is saved.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Christ and continues to make us holy through out our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has promised to be present where the Word of God is preached and administered through the sacraments. Where God’s Word is the Holy Spirit is also there and through that Word He makes believers holy.
Faith comes by means. Faith comes by hearing through the preaching of the word which is done publicly in the church by the pastor which is a divinely established office. Faith also comes through the sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are administered publicly in the church by the pastor. These are things that the Holy Spirit uses to create and strengthen people’s faith in Jesus.
We believe that once an individual has saving faith in Christ that faith is bound to yield good fruit or good works. These works grow out of saving faith, they do not earn one’s salvation nor do they keep one’s salvation. These good works are wide ranging from sharing the gospel with others to caring for the poor to being a faithful spouse to being a good father, mother and friend. All of the good works before God that we do are a result of His saving work in our lives. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we strive to live out God’s will aka His law while never trusting in our works as the reason we are saved and loved by God.
The Church is the body of Christ which is all people who have saving faith in Jesus Christ. Who is in the Church can only be seen with 100% certainty by God, but the Church exists where the Gospel is being proclaimed and the Sacraments are being correctly administered. Individuals can be associated with the Church [being a member] yet because of their unbelief they are not part of the Church.
Baptism is water combined with the Word of God which brings forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal life. Baptism is one of the ways in which God applies His grace to people. Baptism is a work of God not a work of man. Because of what the scriptures say baptism is, a gift of grace from God which creates faith and gives the forgiveness of sins, children should be baptized!
Information Concerning Baptism
The Lord’s Supper is another way in which God delivers His grace to His people. When we receive the Lord’s Supper we are receiving bread and wine as well as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. By receiving the body and blood of Jesus in faith we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation. We also believe that the act of receiving the Lord’s Supper is an act of confession of unity with those whom we are receiving the Lord’s Supper with. We ask that everyone who communes at Peace also shares our beliefs both on the Lord’s Supper and broader doctrinal matters. We ask that all visitors speak with a pastor before communing at Peace for your own protection as the scriptures also speak about the danger of receiving the Lord’s Supper inappropriately.
Unlike some other confessions of Christianity, we do not believe marriage to be sacramental in nature. We do confess that marriage has been instituted by God as a foundational institution in which society is built upon. We confess that marriage is to be a lifelong relationship between one man and one woman. All sexual activity outside of the marriage relationship of one man and one woman is sinful and counter to the will of God. All sin including sexual sin can only be forgiven through the work of Christ of which one receives in repentance and faith/trust in Jesus.
Christ has promised that He will return again in the same way that He left (Acts 1:11). When Christ returns all people will be resurrected from the dead and He will judge both the living and the dead. Those who have faith in the person and work of Christ will be raised to eternal life with Christ and those who have rejected Christ will be raised to eternal damnation.