What is a confession of belief?

The church is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). A good confession of belief seeks to summarize one or more essential biblical doctrines. A confession of belief is not a replacement of the Bible, but an explanation of what one believes the Bible teaches. One theologian states, “while every Christian professes to believe the Bible, the real question is this: What does an individual Christian or a Christian church believe the Bible teaches?

The Bible itself legitimizes the use of confessions of faith/belief. One of the most well-known in the Old Testament was the shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear ,O Israel: the LORD our God: the LORD is one.” The New Testament contains confessions the church utilized in its first years: 1 Timothy 1:15; most commentators believe 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 is a creedal summary, along with Philippians 2:5-10 and 1 Timothy 3:16.

A church holding to a well-known creed or confession of faith publicly links itself with the historic church and confirms it is not wandering down heretical paths. The way to serve those inside and outside the church is to clarify and confess what the church believes the Bible teaches.

On Sunday mornings we regularly use The Apostles’ Creed which summarizes orthodox (accepted, biblical, historical) Christianity and the Christology Statement which summarizes the person and work of Jesus.

Our full confessional statement can be read here.