God's Initiative
We believe that God is at work to accomplish deliverance and
healing, redemption and restoration in a world dominated by
sin. From the beginning, God's purpose has been to create for
Himself a people, to dwell among them and to bless them. Creation
and all of humanity are without hope of salvation except through
God's love and grace. God's love is fully demonstrated in the
life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
God's Plan
Throughout history, God has acted mightily to deliver people
from bondage and draw them into a covenant relationship. Through
the prophets God prepared the way of salvation until finally
God reconciled the world to Himself by the atoning blood of
Jesus. As people place their trust in Christ, they are saved
by grace through faith, not of their own doing, but as a gift
of God. God forgives them, delivers them from sin's bondage,
makes them new creatures in Christ, empowers them by the Holy
Spirit and seals them for eternal life. When sin and death are
finally abolished and the redeemed are gathered in the new heaven
and the new earth, God will have completed the plan of salvation.
Humanity's Response
Though Jesus entered a world ruled by sin, He chose not to submit
to its allure and broke its domination. Through His obedient
life, His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection,
Christ triumphed over Satan and the powers of sin and death,
opening the way for all people to follow. Convicted by the Holy
Spirit, people turn from sin, entrust their lives to God, confess
Jesus Christ as Lord and join the family of God. All who receive
Christ are born again, and have peace with God, and are called
to love one another and live at peace with their neighbor. Those
whom God is saving no longer live for themselves for they have
been set free from sin and called to newness of life.
Exodus 6:1-8; Exodus 15:2; Exodus 20:2; Psalm 68:19-20; Isaiah
43:1; Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 10:45; John 1:12; John 3:1-21; John
13:34-35; John 16:8-11; Romans 3:24-26; Romans 5:8; Romans 12-21;
Romans 8:18-25; Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 1:18; II Corinthians
5:14-21; Ephesians 1:5-10; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 2:8-9;
Colosians 1:13-14; Colosians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14-18; Hebrews 4:12;
Hebrews 5:7-9; Hebrews 9:15-28; Hebrews 11:6; I John 4:7-11; Revelation
5:9-10; Revelation 21:1-4.
