Our Beliefs

We are a Christian, Evangelical, Reformed, Credobaptist church.

We are Christian. We are followers of Jesus Christ, holding to historic Christian orthodoxy as enshrined in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. For the purposes of our confession, we have adopted the Nicene Creed (also called the Nicene-Constantinople Creed of A.D. 325, 381) as a clear and essential statement of Christian orthodoxy, and we ask every covenant member to stand in full agreement with it:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And [we believe] in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us humans and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried; and the third day He rose again, in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son;* who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified; who has spoken through the prophets.

[We believe] in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

In addition to the Nicene Creed, Christ Our Hope has adopted The Gospel Coalition Confessional Statement as a statement of our foundational doctrines.

We are Evangelical. This term is derived from the Greek New Testament word for “good news” or “gospel.” We recognize that the use of the word evangelical has evolved over the years; we use it solely to identify ourselves as a church that affirms the inspiration and authority of Scripture, the lost and sinful condition of humanity, and the absolute necessity of personal faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. We unashamedly love, embrace, and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ’s perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection, which, when applied by faith to the believer, grants forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and fellowship with God.

We are Reformed. The word Reformed means different things to different people and groups. In describing ourselves as Reformed, we are emphasizing our belief that God saves sinners from beginning to end. We believe that He chose the redeemed in Christ before the foundation of the world, not on the basis of foreseen faith but unconditionally and in accordance with His sovereign good pleasure and will (Eph 1:3–14; 2:4–10; 3:14–18; 1 Cor 1:20–30).

We believe that God can soften even the hardest of hearts and save the worst of sinners according to His plan. His Holy Spirit will draw His people to faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, graciously and effectually overcoming their stubborn resistance to the gospel so that they will most assuredly and willingly believe (Rom 2:4, 2 Cor 4:6). While we believe, teach, and preach that this Reformed view of salvation is the best approach to understanding and organizing the Scriptures, we hold these truths graciously and with winsome humility. We welcome into covenant membership those who have disagreements at certain points, while maintaining that clarity is a kindness in this matter, since these beliefs are central to our theology, philosophy, and practice.

We are Credobaptist. We only baptize individuals who have made a credible profession of faith in the Lord Jesus (credo meaning “I believe” in Latin). However, we consider the practice of baptism to be a secondary issue on which good, Bible-believing, Christ-loving people may disagree. While we teach, preach, and practice believer’s baptism, we want to be gracious and charitable toward thoughtful Christians who hold a robust, biblically informed, covenantal view of paedobaptism (infant baptism), and we invite them to pursue covenant membership with us.