Westminster is an evangelical church in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition. As such, we subscribe to the historic confessions of faith. The Apostles' Creed is perhaps the oldest and simplest statement of "mere Christianity," a faith statement that Christians across denominational lines have agreed upon throughout the centuries and across the continents. A slightly longer statement of faith is the Nicene Creed, also a statement expressing the heart of Biblical Christianity. Westminster is a part of the Presbyterian Church in America, a growing evangelical denomination. You can view our denomination's Beliefs for more specifics on our theological commitments. Listed below are the essentials.
ABOUT THE BIBLE
The Bible is the divinely inspired word of God, without error in the original writings, and the only infallible rule for what we believe and do.
ABOUT GOD
There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three are one God equal in power and glory.
ABOUT JESUS CHRIST
The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, born of the virgin Mary having both human and divine natures. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross was as a sinless substitute for sinners and that by taking the sinner’s penalty He established reconciliation between God and all sinners who receive the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead and ascended into heaven where He was glorified with the glory that was His before all time and makes intercession for His people. The Lord Jesus Christ will return literally and bodily in power and glory.
ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
He is the third Person of the Trinity possessing all the attributes of God, and with the Father and the Son to be worshipped and glorified. We recognize His sovereign activity in creation, the incarnation, in written revelation and in the work of salvation. It is He who regenerates the unconverted sinner, applies the saving work of Christ to the elect, assures them of their salvation, conforms the believer to the image of Christ, and empowers the believer for service. He also serves as a restrainer of evil in the world.
ABOUT MANKIND
Mankind was directly and immediately created by God in His image and likeness male and female for the purpose of glorifying God, enjoying fellowship with God and living his life in the will of God. Mankind was created sinless and as a free moral agent. Adam disobeyed God, thus losing his state of innocence; incurring the penalty of physical and spiritual death; and an inner corruption which was passed on to all his progeny who are sinners both by nature and by choice. So pervasive is this sinfulness that apart from divine grace he is incapable of choosing or doing that which is savingly acceptable to God therefore he is totally, utterly, and helplessly lost. Man’s salvation is thereby wholly of God’s grace through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
ABOUT SALVATION
Salvation is a gift of God’s free grace received by faith. In salvation God pardons our sins and declares us righteous by virtue of Jesus Christ’s perfect obedience of the Law and sacrificial death on the cross. Saving faith is a gift from God through which a person believes the Scriptures, turns from sin and receives and rests upon Christ alone for salvation. This salvation results in love for Christ that in turn produces good works. Good works do not in any way merit or add to salvation, but rather are the evidence of a true and living faith. Although a believer may sin and sin grievously and incur temporal judgement he can never lose his salvation because those who are truly saved are eternally saved.
ABOUT ETERNITY
At death, although our bodies return to dust, our souls which are immortal, remain alive. The souls of the righteous remain in God’s presence in bliss, but the souls of the wicked are separated from God and are in torment. When Jesus returns, our bodies will be raised and He will judge all persons, living and dead, condemning the unsaved to everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and acquitting His own people welcoming them into the eternal joy of their Lord.
MORE ABOUT OUR DENOMINATION
Click here to learn more about the Presybterian Church in America: PCA.