关于圣经

我们相信上帝已经把圣经当做祂所默示的、无谬的、无误的和活泼的启示性话语赐给我们。我们相信圣经字句上和整体上的默示性，因此委身于于圣经的完全可靠性和首要地位。圣经是上帝与我们息息相关的、深刻渊博的、极为个人性的交流，并且邀请我们与祂亲密地相交。圣经包括旧约和新约共六十六卷书。它们是所有基督徒生活、实践和教义所需要的完全充分的、权威性的和规范性的标准和指导，并且对于我们荣耀上帝是有益的，有助于我们在效法基督方面的成长，这正是我们的生命目的。

圣经完全地揭示了上帝是谁、祂的位格、品性、应许、诫命，以及旨意——为要拯救一群子民，成为祂自己的产业。圣经揭示了我们是谁——我们按照上帝的形象被造，需要对上帝负责，曾犯罪悖逆上帝，被上帝审判和公正地定罪，后来被耶稣基督赎回，被圣灵更新而改变。圣经揭示了我们在每一个方面的全部的生活状况的意义——这些状况包括这一生所有的祝福、各种的苦难和艰辛、撒旦、其祂人的影响等等。圣经也揭示了基督徒生活和教会事工的本质，显示了其中用来表达基督形象的内容、功能和目标。

关于三一神

我们相信上帝是独一的，并且永远存在于三个同等神圣的位格当中：圣父、圣子、圣灵，祂们彼此认识、喜爱并归荣耀给对方。祂们在本质、属性和完美方面永远是平等的，在祂们彼此的关系中又永远是独特且可以区分的，并且在祂们与创造以及与救赎的行动和过程的特定关系中，也是可以区分的。祂们同等地配得我们的敬拜、爱戴和顺服。这一位真实而永活的上帝在祂的慈爱和圣洁上都是无限完美的。三位一体的上帝，在充满深情的主权之下，维持并统治着万事万物，在万事互相效力之中达成祂永恒的美好的目的，就是要为祂自己拯救一群子民——使祂荣耀的恩典得着颂赞。

关于圣父：我们相信作为圣父的上帝，在祂的整个宇宙中，为着祂自己的荣耀，用护理万物的情怀、圣洁的正义和拯救性的怜悯，来施行统治。在祂圣洁的爱中，父神是全能的、全爱的、全知的、全智的。那些在耶稣基督里被救赎的人会天父收纳为祂的儿女。

关于圣子

我们相信我们主耶稣基督的神性，祂是上帝永恒的儿子，借着童贞女怀孕，谦卑地成为人的样式，永远地成为完全的人，并且没有停止过作完全的神。我们确信祂用主动的爱和完美的智慧，度过了无罪的一生。祂在十字架上被人钉死，因着祂的流血和死亡，为我们的罪成了替代性的、交换式的赎罪祭。三天之后，祂从死人中以身体复活，拥有不可毁灭的生命。此后祂向门徒显现并指导祂们有四十天之久，然后祂升天，现今坐在父亲的右边，为信徒代求，并以君王的身份统治所有的受造，并且在祂的教会里和透过祂的教会作工。祂将会亲自带着能力荣耀地归来，为要审判活人和死人，并让那些热切期盼祂的人得以复活，有不朽坏的身体和祂完美的形象。

关于圣灵

我们相信圣灵是神，由圣父与圣子所差派，已经来到世界，为要启示并荣耀基督，并使罪人知罪和吸引罪人归入基督。从信徒获得重生的那一刻起，祂就居住在信徒的里面（包括个人和团体的层面），为要作祂们的帮助者。因着圣灵的工作，信徒得到更新、成圣，并被收纳进入神的家中。圣灵赋予信徒新的生命，将祂们放入基督的身体之中，更新祂们，赋予祂们能力活出基督般的生命，并印了他们，直到最后得赎的日子。祂是所有可蒙悦纳的敬拜和事奉之力量的源泉，因为祂用各样的恩赐来装备神的子民进入服侍。祂也提供了神的子民在爱中理解和应用上帝真理的能力。

关于人性—创造：我们相信上帝以祂的形象创造了亚当和夏娃，有男有女，宣称祂们“非常好”，并赋予祂们作为上帝的形象的承载者的一切能力。上帝创造了人类，为要反射和享受祂的荣耀。祂们受造时就有了物质和非物质的成分，有物质层面的身体和属灵层面的灵魂，这些品质是联合的，并且不可分割地相互依存着。祂们受造时就有良知，能够分辨善恶，也能够在智慧中互动、思考、选择和感受。祂们被设计且受委托来爱上帝和爱彼此，来与上帝保持神圣和忠诚的交通，并生活在彼此相爱与互补的关系当中。祂们也被设计且受委托来做上帝忠心的仆人和管家，来照顾和治理上帝的创造，并在整个受造界中工作和施行统治。

关于人性——堕落

我们相信，由于自愿犯罪而背叛上帝，亚当和夏娃从最初受造时的良善、无罪和无辜的状态中堕落了。祂们变得任性和乖谬，常常得罪上帝和得罪彼此。犯罪后祂们在灵性上立即死亡，并开始了身体层面的死亡。从此，祂们及其所有后代中上帝的形象被扭曲，人类本性的各个方面（身体上、关系上、精神上、意志上和情感上）都已经堕落和败坏。虽然人类在所是和所为的各个层面都败坏了，由于上帝的普遍恩典，上帝的形象并没有被彻底根除，罪恶也没有获得完全的统治，人世间依然存在着诸多的美好。所有的人都拥有真正的尊严、明哲与扭曲共存其内的良心，以及思想、行动和感受方面的能力。所有人类都与上帝分离而且疏远，因而在灵性上是死的——直到上帝自己仁慈的干预。所有人的最高需求是与上帝和好，所有人的唯一希望就是在基督里接受上帝那不配得的恩典。只有上帝才能拯救和带领罪人归向祂自己。

关于救恩——救赎

我们相信唯独恩典和唯独信心。救恩是上帝白白的礼物，是借着着对主耶稣基督的信心而得到的。救恩是完全由上帝的主权性的恩典来计划、完成和施行的。它无论在整体上还是部分上，都不是由人的意志或行为来计划或完成的。我们相信救恩完全是上帝的工作，使得祂的子民从罪的刑罚、权势和最终的同在中被拯救出来，与此同时，又将耶稣基督的公义以及被收纳到神家中所带来的一切好处，归给祂的子民。这个救赎彻底推翻了黑暗的统治，创造了一群神的子民，让他们进入拥有光明、真理和爱的基督身体当中。

我们相信救恩只能是通过耶稣基督而获得，在天下人间没有赐下任何其它的名可以让我们可以得救。基督自愿地取了人的形象，如同我们一样凡事受过试探，却在本性、言语或行为上都没有犯罪。祂以个人的顺从尊重了神的律法，并且透过祂的死，为我们的罪成了充分的替代性的赎罪祭。耶稣已经从死里复活，在天上立定宝座，为着祂的信徒兼祭司，成了适合的、慈怜的、全备的救主和中保。

我们相信所有与救恩相关的祝福都是上帝白白的礼物，并且其中每一部分都是与基督联合所带来的结果。我们这些曾经被公正地定罪的人，现在在基督里得着宽恕和称义，是因着基督为担当我们的过犯而死，为我们的称义而复活，而且祂的公义被归算到我们的身上。我们这些曾经死在罪恶过犯中的人，现在在基督里领受了圣灵，得到了重生以及永远的生命。我们这些曾经以魔鬼为父亲和主人的人，现在在基督里被父神收纳到祂的家中，成了神国的子民和仆人。我们这些曾经与上帝疏远的人，现在在基督里已经永远地与上帝和好了。这些以及更多的礼物都是上帝藉着圣灵而赐下的，也是我们藉着信心来领受的。

我们相信，通过祂的道成肉身、生平、死亡、复活及升天，耶稣基督充当了我们的代表和替代者。祂如此行，为的是让我们在祂里面可以成为神的义。在十字架上，祂除去了罪，借着祂的牺牲平息了上帝的忿怒，并且透过担当我们罪的所有刑罚，使所有相信的人都与上帝和好了。通过祂的复活，基督耶稣被祂的父神所印证，打破了死亡的权势，击败了曾经掌死权的撒但，并为祂的全体子民带来了永生。透过祂的升天，耶稣基督已经永远被尊为主，并在为我们预备与祂同住的地方。借着祂的再来，耶稣基督将会擦去所有的眼泪，除去一切的罪恶和苦难，将会建立祂永远的、充满了爱、喜乐与平安的国度，并使祂圣洁的新娘成为完全。

我们相信，上帝所重生的人会立刻成为上帝的儿女，祂们在基督的赎罪工作中单单靠着信心，就得以在祂的眼中被称为义，并被带入祂的家庭当中。信徒是靠着上帝的能力，藉着在恩典之下的信心而蒙神的保守，其安全的保障完全不靠任何人的作为。作为基督的身体的我们，将会面对面地看见基督，并且我们将要与祂以及彼此，永远地生活在一起。

关于成圣

我们相信成圣是一个过程。在这个过程中，每一个信徒及信徒整体因着与罪恶分离及与基督联合，会越来越多地效法耶稣基督的样式。成圣有过去、现在和未来三个层面。首先，信徒在基督里“被拣选，是圣洁和蒙爱的”，在与基督的联合里分别为圣归于神，因着重生而成为新造的人，这是地位上或确定性的成圣。其次，信徒在祂们的新生命中开始走向成熟，在每天的生活当中借着恩典中的长进而越来越成为耶稣基督的样式。这个过程是依靠圣灵的力量、藉着上帝的圣言、在圣徒的相交中、通过不断地运用上帝所指定的蒙恩之道而达成的。在这个过程中每一个肢体都参与促成整个身体的成长，直等到满有耶稣基督长成的身量。这是渐进性的成圣。第三，当基督为教会而再次降临之时，成圣的工作就得以最终完成（也就是信徒的得荣），信徒将彻底地从罪的存在中被分别出来。这是终极的成圣。过去的确定性的成圣，以及未来终极的成圣，为今生处于渐进性成圣过程中的信徒—这个过程因着失败和痛苦而成为漫长与艰辛的朝圣之旅—提供了铁锚般的盼望与鼓励。

关于教会

我们相信教会，即基督的身体，由所有那些活着的和死去的信徒所组成，祂们因着圣灵的大能而与基督并彼此联合。每一个真正的信徒都受过圣灵的洗礼，从而进入耶稣基督的身体，因此他们在基督里彼此联合，他们的合一和相爱跨越了社会、经济和种族的界限。我们相信地方教会是上帝今天工作的主要工具和处境。每一个信徒都应该成为当地教会的积极成员。正是在教会这样的处境当中，信徒们通过敬拜、团契、门徒训练、管家身份和大使身份（传福音）的实践而相互鼓励、装备和授权，为要效法耶稣基督的样式。信徒个体的成圣，不是一个自我改良的个人项目，而是作为基督身体当中的一位有建设性的、多结果子的成员所参与的团体项目。我们相信每个信徒都是救赎主手中的器皿，这既是我们的特权，也是我们的责任。这要求我们有意识地参与到祂人的生命当中，包括学会在爱中宣讲并活出真理、学习谦卑、学会宽恕和给与，这样我们就能够在合一与成熟中不断长成元首耶稣基督的身量。教会的真正使命是因着信徒（包括个人与整体）持续地活出大诫命和大使命而给上帝带来荣耀。我们相信洗礼和圣餐是主耶稣自己所设立的。这些圣礼等于我们宣誓要顺服这位曾经被钉十字架而现今已复活的耶稣基督，也宣告了我们期待祂的再来以及万事万物的最终结局。

关于永恒的状态和万物的复兴：我们相信主耶稣基督会亲自以荣耀的方式再来成全他自己的国度。我们相信义的和不义的将来都会复活—不义的人将会受审判和会在地狱里接受永恒的有意识的刑罚，而义人则是在义人的永恒居所，也就是新天新地之中，并在那位坐宝座的和羔羊的面前，蒙受永恒的福祉。在那一天，因着基督的顺从、受苦和得胜，教会将无瑕疵地被呈献在上帝的面前，所有的罪都将被清除，其极坏的影响也将会永远地消失。上帝将成为一切的一切，祂的子民将极为喜乐地与祂同在，而这一切事情的成就，都是为了让祂荣耀的恩典得着颂赞。

About the Bible

We believe that God has given the Bible as His inspired, infallible, inerrant, and living revelatory Word. We affirm the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible and are therefore committed to the complete trustworthiness and primacy of Scripture. The Bible is God’s relevant, profound, deeply personal communication to us that invites us to intimate fellowship with Him. The Scriptures consist of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. They are the totally sufficient, authoritative, and normative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine, and are profitable for glorifying God through growth in likeness to Christ which is our life purpose.

The Bible is complete in its revelation of Who God is, His person, character, promises, commandments, and will for the salvation of a people for His own possession. The Bible reveals who we are: created in God’s image, accountable to God, fallen into sin against God, judged and justly condemned by God, redeemed by Jesus Christ, and transformed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible reveals the meaning of our total life situation in each and all its aspects – all the blessings of this life, the variety of sufferings and hardships, Satan, the influence of other human beings, etc. The Bible also reveals the nature of the Christian life and the ministries of the Church, showing the content, the functions, and the goals that express the image of Christ.

About the Triune God

We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Who know, love, and glorify one another. They are forever equal in nature, attributes, and perfection, yet forever distinct in Their relations to one another and distinct in Their particular relationships both to the creation and to the actions and processes of redemption. They are equally worthy of our worship, love, and obedience. This One true and living God is infinitely perfect both in His love and in His holiness. The Triune God, in affectionate sovereignty, sustains and rules over all things, providentially bringing about His eternal good purpose to redeem a people for Himself – to the praise of the glory of His grace.

About God the Father

We believe that God, as the Father, reigns over His entire universe with providential care, holy justice, and saving mercy, to His own glory. In His holy love, the Father is all-powerful, all-loving, all-knowing, and all-wise. He is fatherly in attitude toward all men, but Father, indeed, to those who have been made children of God through salvation in Christ.

About God the Son, Jesus Christ

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, Who humbled Himself by taking on the form of a man by means of His virgin birth, becoming forever both fully human without ceasing to be fully God. We affirm that He lived a sinless life of active love and perfect wisdom. He died by crucifixion on the cross, by His shed blood and death making a vicarious, substitutionary atonement for our sins. After three days, He was resurrected bodily from the dead, unto an indestructible life. After appearing to His disciples and instructing them for forty days, He ascended to heaven. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for believers, reigning as King over all creation, and working in and through His Church. He will personally return in power and glory to judge the living and the dead, and to raise to immortality those who eagerly await Him, perfecting them in His image.

About God the Holy Spirit

We believe that God the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ, and to convict and draw sinners to Christ. From the moment of spiritual birth, He indwells believers, individually and corporately, as their Helper. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family. He imparts new life to believers, placing them into the Body of Christ, transforming and empowering them for Christlike living, and sealing them until the day of redemption. He is the source of power for all acceptable worship and ministry as He imparts a diversity of enabling gifts that equip God’s people for service. He provides the power to understand and apply God’s truth in love.

About Humanity-Creation

We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, male and female, and declared them “very good,” granting them all the capacities of image bearers. God created them to reflect and to enjoy His glory. They were created material and immaterial, physical body and spiritual soul, these qualities united and inseparably interdependent. They were created with a conscience able to discern good and evil; with the capacity to relate, think, choose, and feel in all the fruitfulness of wisdom. They were designed and commissioned to love God and one another, living in holy and devoted fellowship with God, and in loving, complementary relationship with each other. They were designed and commissioned to care for and govern His creation, working in and ruling over all creation as God’s faithful servants and stewards.

About Humanity – Fall

We believe that because of voluntary sin against God, Adam and Eve fell from the actively good, sinless, and innocent state in which they were first created. They became self-willed, perverse, and transgressive against God and each other. Immediately they died spiritually and also began to die physically. Consequently, for them and all their progeny, the image of God was distorted and their nature depraved and corrupted in every aspect of their being (spiritually, socially, mentally, volitionally, and emotionally). While human beings are corrupted in every aspect of their being and functioning, because of God’s common grace the image of God has not been totally eradicated, and evil is not given full reign. God preserves and enables many common goods. All people have true dignity, a conscience in which clarity coexists with distortion, and many powers of mind, action, and feeling. All humanity is separated and alienated from God and thus spiritually dead – until God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to God; and the only hope of all human beings is to receive the undeserved grace of God in Christ. God alone can rescue us and restore sinners to Himself.

About Salvation – Redemption

We believe that salvation is the gift of God by grace alone and is received through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is wholly conceived, accomplished, and applied by God’s sovereign grace. It is not, in whole or in part, conceived or accomplished by human will or works. We believe that salvation refers comprehensively to the entire work of God that redeems His people from the penalty, power, and eventual presence of sin while imputing to His people the righteousness of Jesus Christ and all the benefits of adoption into His family. This salvation overthrows the dominion of darkness and creates a new people who enter Christ’s Body of light, truth, and love.

We affirm that salvation is only through Christ, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Christ voluntarily took upon Himself the form of a man, was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin in nature, word, or deed. He honored the Divine Law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins. Jesus, having risen bodily from the dead, is now enthroned in Heaven serving as the suitable, compassionate, all-sufficient Savior and the Mediator for His believer-priests.

We believe that all the blessings of salvation are free gifts of God, and that each is a glorious facet of union with Christ. In Christ, persons once justly condemned are now forgiven and justified because Christ died bearing our sins, because He was raised for our justification, and because God imputes to His people the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In Christ, persons once dead in trespasses and sins are now made spiritually alive in the new birth, receive the Holy Spirit, and receive eternal life. In Christ, persons whose father and master was the devil are now adopted by God the Father into His family, and become citizens and servants in God’s kingdom. In Christ, persons who were estranged from God are now reconciled forever. God gives all these gifts, and more, by the Holy Spirit, and we receive all these gifts by faith.

We believe that by His incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. On the cross He canceled sin, satisfied by His sacrifice the wrath of God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all who believe. We believe that by His resurrection, Christ Jesus was vindicated by His Father, broke the power of death, defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all His people. We believe that by His ascension, Jesus Christ has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with Him. We believe that at His return, Jesus Christ will wipe away all tears, will remove all sin and suffering, will establish forever His kingdom of love, joy and peace, and will perfect His holy Bride. We believe that all whom God regenerates are made at once children of God, justified in His sight through faith alone in Christ’s atoning work, and brought into His family. We believe that believers are kept by the power of God through faith in a state of grace, and are eternally secure apart from any human works. We believe that we who are Christ’s Body will see Him face to face, and that we will live with Him and with one another forever.

About Sanctification

We believe that sanctification is the process by which believers, each one and all together – as set apart from sin and united in Christ – are increasingly conformed to the image of Christ. Sanctification has past, present, and future aspects. First, believers are “chosen, holy and beloved” in Christ, set apart for God in union with Christ, and are actually made new by regeneration (positional or definitive sanctification). Second, believers begin to mature in their new life, set apart day-by-day through growth in grace into the likeness of Christ. This process (progressive sanctification) takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, in the communion of the saints, by the continual use of God’s appointed means of growth in grace, each member contributing to the growth of the whole unto maturity in Christ. Third, believers will be set apart from the very presence of sin when sanctification is completed (glorification) at the coming of Christ for the Church. Definitive sanctification in the past and glorification in the future provide anchors that sustain hope and bring encouragement amidst the failures and sufferings that make progressive sanctification a long and arduous pilgrimage.

About the Church

We believe that the Church, the Body of Christ, is composed of all persons living and dead who have been joined to Christ and one another by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every true believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ and thus united in Christ to one another in unity and love across social, economic, and ethnic lines. We affirm that the local church is God’s primary instrument and context for His work today; that every believer should be an active member in a local assembly; and that the Christian community is the context where believers are mutually encouraged, equipped, and empowered to conform to the image of Christ through worship, fellowship, discipleship, stewardship, and ambassadorship (evangelism). The sanctification of an individual is not a personal self-improvement project, but is the formation of a constructive, fruitful member of the Body of Christ. We believe it is every believer’s privilege and obligation to be an instrument in the Redeemer’s hands. This requires an intentional involvement in the lives of others: learning to speak and to live the truth in love, learning humility, and learning to forgive and to give, so that we all grow in unity and maturity into Christ Who is the Head. The true mission of the Church is to bring God glory, as believers (individually and corporately) live consistent with the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus Himself. They are our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of His return and of the consummation of all things.

About the Eternal State and the Restoration of All Things

We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ when His kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust – the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of Him Who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the eternal home of righteousness. On that day, the Church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering, and triumph of Christ; all sin will be purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all, His people will be enthralled with Him, and everything will be done to the praise of His glorious grace.