Statement of Faith - Crossway Bible Church SA

We believe in and expectantly await the glorious, visible, personal, return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed hope of His return has vital bearing on the personal life, service, and mission of the believer. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost. The lost will be raised to judgment and experience eternal wrath in hell. The saved will be raised to eternal joy in the new heaven and new earth in the manifested presence of God (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:11-21:8).

We believe it is the aim, duty, and privilege of every believer and local church fellowship to glorify God by responding as active participants in the Great Commission call of Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 1:5; Acts 15:40-16:5).

We believe that Christian baptism is a public declaration of the believer’s salvation in Christ, identifying with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection symbolized by immersion in water. The Lord’s Supper is the united commemoration by believers of Christ’s death until He comes and should be preceded by a careful self- examination (Acts 2:41; Romans 6:3-6; 1 Corinthians 11:20-29).

We believe that upon placing one’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, the believer is made part of the Body of Christ, the one universal Church, of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The Scriptures command believers to gather locally in order to devote themselves to worship, prayer, teaching of the Word, fellowship, the ordinances of baptism and communion, service to the local body through the development and use of talents and spiritual gifts, and outreach to the world to make disciples. Wherever God’s people meet regularly in obedience to this command, there is the local expression of the Church under the watchful care of a plurality of elders. A church’s members are to work together in love and unity, intent on the ultimate purpose of glorifying Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:15-16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 12:12-13, 14:26; Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:42-46, 14:23; Titus 1:5; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; Matthew 28:18-20).

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as the substitutionary atonement in our place, and that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ. Before Creation, God chose those who would be saved and granted this unearned grace solely based on His sovereign good pleasure. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross was the sole and complete payment for sins, fully satisfying God’s righteous wrath, for each person that turns from sin in repentance and places his/her faith in Christ alone by gracealone. At salvation each person is made a new creation by the Holy Spirit, declared righteous before God, and secured as an adopted child of God forever. Genuine faith continues in obedience and love for Jesus Christ with a life eager to glorify God and persevere to the end (1 Corinthians 12:13, 15:3; Isaiah 53:4-10; Acts 4:12, 26:16-18; Romans 1:18, 3:21-26, 8:29-30, 37-39; Ephesians 1:5, 2:8-9; 1 Peter 3:18, Hebrews 3:14, 7:27; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Titus 3:5; John 14:15; James 2:14-26).

We believe that marriage is the joining of one naturally-born man and one naturally-born woman for life. Marriage was created by God and is a holy and divinely established covenant between man and woman to be a representation of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church. We believe that God created sexual intimacy to be enjoyed exclusively between one man and one woman who are married to one another. We believe that any form of deviation from this—such as homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pornography, prostitution, pedophilia, premarital sexual intimacy, cross dressing, sexting, any wrongful attempt to change one’s gender, or disagreement with one’s biological gender—is sinful and offensive to God. We also believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:24, 19:5, 13, 26:8-10; Leviticus 18:1-30; Matthew 15:19, 19:3-9; Mark 10:7-9; Romans 1:18-32, 7:2; 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, 6:9-20, 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4; 1 John 1:9).

We believe that God created mankind—male and female—in His own image and likeness, free of sin, to glorify Himself and enjoy His fellowship. Tempted by Satan, but in the sovereign plan of God, man freely chose to disobey God, bringing sin, death and condemnation to all mankind. All human beings, therefore, are totally depraved by nature and by choice. Alienated from God without defense or excuse, and subject to God’s righteous wrath, all of mankind is in desperate need of the Savior (Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-6; Ecclesiastes 7:29; John 3:36; Romans 1:18-20, 32, 3:10-19, 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Revelation 13:8).

We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ during this age. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. At salvation, He imparts new spiritual life to the believer, bringing that person into union with Christ and the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit sanctifies, seals, fills, guides, instructs, comforts, equips, empowers, intercedes, permanently indwells at salvation, and bestows spiritual gifts to the believer for Christ-like living and service (John 14:15-25, 16:7-15; Titus 3:5-6; Ephesians 2:18-22; 4:30; Romans 8:1-27; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 12:3-11; Galatians 5:16-26; Hebrews 2:1-4; Acts 1:8, 9:31).

We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son, moved by love in accordance with the will of the Father, took on human flesh. Conceived through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the virgin Mary. He, being fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life and sacrificially shed His blood and died on the cross in our place accomplishing redemption for all who place their faith in Him. He arose visibly and bodily from the dead three days later and ascended into heaven, where, at the Father’s right hand, He is now Head of His Body the Church, the only Savior and Mediator between God and man, and will return to earth in power and glory to consummate His redemptive mission (Matthew 1:20: 28:5-10; Luke 1:31-35; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 3:16; John 1:1, 14, 18, 14:6-11, 15:9, 12-13; Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:2; Luke 24:50-51, Colossians 1:18; Acts 1:10-11, 2:33; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3).

We believe God the Father created all things in six days for His glory according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ. He justly, powerfully, directly, and lovingly deals with all He has made, exercising sovereign headship over all creation, providence, and redemption (Revelation 4:11; Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 1:2-3; Genesis 1:1-2:3, Exodus 20:11, 31:17, John 1:3; Matthew 10:28-31).

We believe in the one living and true God, eternally existing in perfect unity as three equally and fully divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead, while executing distinct but complementary roles in redemptive history, has precisely the same nature, attributes, and being, and is equally worthy of the same glory and honor and obedience (Matthew 28:19-20; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17; Jude 20-21; Deuteronomy 6:4, Romans 3:30; John 1:1-4, 17:5; Acts 5:3-4).

The Scriptures We believe the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments to be the full record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. Different men, while writing according to their own styles and personalities, were supernaturally moved along by the Holy Spirit to record God’s very words, inerrant in the original writings. Therefore, those applying themselves to study its literal, historical-grammatical context can accurately understand God’s Word. Scripture is fully trustworthy as our final and sufficient authority for all of life (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).