Grace For Rushden
What We Believe
1. We believe in the one true and living God. He exists in three Persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. We believe God is the perfect, righteous, holy, loving, merciful, patient, gracious creator and sustainer of all things.
3. We believe in the sufficiency of scripture. That means God has revealed everything we need to be saved and live correctly in the Bible (the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament, which is the Word of God).
4. We believe in the infallibility of scripture. That means the Bible can not contain any errors because God inspires it, and God cannot make errors. The Bible's authority comes from its author and not from men's opinions.
5. We believe God made our first father, Adam, innocent, holy and good and made him head of the human race. That means his obedience and disobedience to God's commands would affect all his offspring.
6. We believe when Adam sinned, he became guilty and brought upon himself and us condemnation and sinful nature. Now we rebel against God by nature and deserve to be punished by Him.
7. We believe as fallen people, we don't have the power to know God, love Him, keep His laws, believe the Gospel, repent of sin or trust in Christ.
8. We believe God chose many people to receive eternal life before the foundation of the world. God did this by his free and sovereign grace. This election did not depend on human faith, decision, works or merit.
9. We believe God loved lost sinners so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to live a perfect life and die on the cross for the elect. He satisfied God's anger at us (propitiation), brought us away from sin back to God (redemption), made right our wrongs (atonement), and declared us righteous in God's eyes (justification).
10. We believe when God raised Jesus from the dead, this confirmed that God accepts the justifying and saving work of His Son.
11. We believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, is both God and man, and lived perfectly under the Law of Moses.
12. We believe Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father in Heaven and is crowned in glory. He intercedes on behalf of His people and rules over all things for our sake.
13. We believe the Holy Spirit has come to glorify Christ and apply His salvation work. He causes the elect to be born again, from dead in sin to spiritual life. They hear God's call through His Word, receive the desire and ability to repent, and believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.
14. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells all believers, assures us of salvation and makes us more like Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers us in worship, service and mission.
15. We believe the elect are justified before God because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. We receive this by faith alone.
16. We believe everyone who is effectually called, born again and justified will persevere in holiness and enter into the joys of heaven.
17. We believe baptism by immersion is necessary after repentance and faith in Jesus to be a Church member.
18. We believe the Lord's Supper is a privilege only for baptised believers in good standing to receive under the local Church's oversight.
19. We believe the local Church is under Christ’s authority alone. We show unity as the body of Christ with other churches through mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between churches only exists where they are faithful to the Gospel.
20. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to judge all people and raise the dead.
21. We believe the righteous will be glorified and enjoy everlasting life, but the wicked endure eternal punishment.
22. We believe it is the local Church's responsibility and privilege to obey Christ's Commission. So we go to all the world and preach the Gospel to everyone. We disciple and baptise believers, placing them in local churches.
The fullest expression of what we believe and teach is found in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689.