What We Believe
We
have fundamental beliefs which we feel are given directly from God's Word: (Individual Christian Churches and Churches of Christ may differ from one another on matters not specifically addressed by Scripture. Therefore, the statements that follow are descriptive, not creedal—designed to help people understand the positions held by Westside Christian Church.)
1. God is one being in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. He is the source of all creation (Genesis
1:1; John
1:1-2), which He sustains (Colossians
1:17) and is in the process of redeeming us (Romans
8:19-22). God the Father loves us and desires that
we have fellowship with Him as His children (I
John 1:3).
2. We believe that Jesus
Christ is God's One and Only Son.
He is the Word become flesh (John
1:14), and He now holds all authority in heaven
and on earth (Matthew
28:18). He is Savior and Lord. He made human
salvation possible through His life, death on the cross, and resurrection. He
ascended into heaven where He is now our high priest and advocate. He is head
of the Church.
3. The Holy Spirit works actively in the world, seeking to glorify
Jesus. The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin, righteousness, and judgment to
come (John
16:5-11). The Holy Spirit indwells believers
individually and corporately in the Church. The Holy Spirit develops within the
Christian a pure heart which results in Christ-like character expressed in
private and public conduct and action.
4. The Bible, the Old and New Testament Scriptures, is the uniquely
inspired Word of God (2
Timothy 3:14-17; 2
Peter 1:16-21). The Bible is the rule of faith and practice
for Christians. We affirm that Scripture is the infallible, authoritative
revelation from God by which we know God’s will and Christ’s authority. We seek
to assert what the Scriptures clearly assert and allow freedom in other cases.
We seek to understand divine intent, and we seek to apply its teaching to the
contemporary church and culture.
5. Human beings were created by God to walk in fellowship with Him.
However, all (except Jesus) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans
3:23) and must rely on God’s grace and
forgiveness. Every human from the moment of life is made in the image of God (imago
deo), a person to be nurtured, protected, and developed.
6. Salvation is by God alone through Jesus Christ alone. One accepts
Christ as Savior through a conversion process that includes faith, repentance,
confession, and baptism (Acts
2:38, 8:12, 10:47-48, Romans
10:9, etc.).
7. In baptism a believer is immersed, crucified and buried with
Christ (Romans
6:3-4), receives forgiveness of sin and the gift
of the Holy Spirit (Acts
2:38), is resurrected (Colossians
2:12) and clothed with Christ (Galatians
3:27), and becomes saved (1
Peter 3:21) because of God’s free gift of grace
received by faith.
8. We are only known as
"Christians". While this name may seem generic to some, we believe it
to be important. Because we follow Christ and Christ alone and because the
Bible says that “there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved”
(Acts 4:12); we proudly wear His name alone.
9. The Church is the body of Christ on earth, the community of
believers throughout the world. Upon surrender to Christ, a person is added to
the Church. In addition, the priesthood of all believers means each Christian
is called to be a serving minister (1
Peter 2:9-
10). The Church’s mission is the Great
Commission (Matthew
28:18-20).
11. The Lord’s Supper is the celebration of the New Covenant, in which
the Christian community remembers Christ and celebrates the covenantal
relationship they have with Him and with each other. Congregations in this
fellowship typically celebrate the Lord’s Supper at least weekly (1
Corinthians 11:17-34; Acts
20:7).
12. The Final Coming of Jesus is a time when Christ will personally
come again as Savior and Judge of the world. At that time there will be the
bodily resurrection of the dead believers to eternal life with God and
unbelievers to eternal judgment. We believe in a literal Heaven for the saved
and Hell for the condemned. Sin
will be no more and believers will live in fellowship with God forever (I
Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Revelation
20:11-15).
13. We believe that marriage is a gift from God that consists of the union
between a man and a woman (Gen. 2:21-25, 3:16-17; Matt. 19:1-12).