top of page

Distinctives are less about making distinctions and more being upfront about who you are.  
You don't have to agree but you'll never doubt where we stand.

We believe that baptism should only be performed for those who make a credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ.  If you aren't there yet, that's ok, you are welcome to join us.  We'd love to walk you through what it means to have faith in Christ, and a personal, saving relationship with Jesus.  
 

What is "Theologically Reformed"?

There are long and short answers to this question.  In a nutshell, we believe that God is sovereign over everything - there is nothing outside his authority. This is comforting for Christians because it means he can and will accomplish all that he has set out to do - namely save people who put their faith in Jesus Christ. Below are some helpful categories that shape our theological position. 

Five Solas
We believe that salvation has always been and always will be by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone.  The basic tenets are called the Five Solas (Sola means “only”).  You can find more on this subject below.

Doctrines of Grace
We believe God is sovereign even over our salvation.  These biblical truths are summarized in what are called the Doctrines of Grace.  You can find more on this subject below.

Confessional
Our Statement of Faith essentially functions as our confession. We believe that the other Reformed Confessions of Faith provide invaluable tools for understanding God's word, but do not replace Scripture.  God has used faithful men over the centuries to teach us and help us better understand his word and the Christian Faith.  The Reformed Confessions inform much of our teaching, but membership in Covenant Grace Church requires agreement with our statement of faith.  In that sense we are confessional.  

Elder Led and Self-Governed
We believe that the local church is self-governing and under no other ecclesiastical authority except the Lord Jesus Himself.  This basically means we are an independent church that answers to God and not a governing body or denomination.  The EFCA exists to support independent local churches, not rule them. We are elder led with congregational rule (meaning elders are affirmed by the members to lead the church).

Regulative Principle
We believe God has ordained how he wants his people to worship him.  In that sense, Scripture "regulates" how our gathered worship is to be conducted.  We do the things God has commanded (as opposed to doing anything he hasn't explicitly forbidden).

Complementarian
We believe God made men and women equal in value and dignity - equally in his image - but distinct nonetheless; each having unique gifts and callings in the home, church, and society -- aligned with their nature.  We believe the office of elder is reserved for men, and to only those called by God.  We also believe the husband is the head of his wife (and family) as Christ is the head of the church, and he is to lead and love as Christ does -- sacrificially.   

While membership and participation at Covenant Grace does not require one to hold all these views, these are the teaching positions of the church.  (Note, where this is overlap with the essentials, our distinctives are essential).

TOTAL DEPRAVITY

The first man, Adam, sinned, and his transgression and guilt were immediately imputed to all mankind (Christ excepted). By this one act of disobedience, he became morally polluted in every part of his being—mind, affections, body, and will. By this sin, death entered the world, and Adam’s fellowship with God was broken.

Adam’s guilt and corruption were transmitted to his natural offspring at the moment of conception. In turn, each of his children’s children inherited this same radical fallenness. Subsequently, it has been passed down to each generation to the present day. Adam’s perverse nature has spread to the whole of every person. Apart from grace, our minds are darkened by sin, unable to understand the truth. Our hearts are defiled, unable to love the truth. Our bodies are dying, progressing to physical death. Our wills are dead, unable to choose the good. Moral inability to please God plagues every person from their entrance into the world. In their unregenerate state, no one seeks after God. No one is capable of doing good. All are under the curse of the law, which is eternal death.

Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone

Sola scriptura, sometimes referred to as the formal principle of the Reformation, is the belief that “only Scripture, because it is God’s inspired Word, is our inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church” (God’s Word Alone, 23). Notice, the basis of sola scriptura is Scripture’s inspired nature. As Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed-out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). That cannot be said of church tradition, councils, or church leaders, as important as they all may be. While Scripture may have many human authors, it has one divine author. The Holy Spirit, Peter tells us, carried along the biblical authors so that what they said, God himself said (2 Pet. 1:21), down to the very words.

​

For that reason, Scripture is also inerrant, inerrancy being a corollary of inspiration. Inerrancy means that Scripture is true, without error, in all that it asserts. As the Holy Spirit carried along the biblical authors, he ensured that their human words reflected his own holy character. Hence Scripture is truth because God himself is truth. It is, after all, God’s Word. Inerrancy is essential not only because it provides warrant for our assurance, giving us every reason to believe Scripture is trustworthy, but inerrancy also distinguishes Scripture from all other fallible authorities. Scripture alone is our infallible, inerrant authority.

​

Last, sola scriptura means that only Scripture is our sufficient authority. Not only does Paul say all Scripture is God-breathed, but on that basis, Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Or as the Belgic Confession says so well, “We believe that those Holy Scriptures fully contain the will of God, and that whatsoever man ought to believe unto salvation is sufficiently taught therein.”

Sola Scriptura teaches us, in the end, that all other authorities in the Christian life serve underneath Scripture, while Scripture alone rules over other authorities, for it alone is God’s inspired, inerrant, and sufficient word.

TOTAL DEPRAVITY

The first man, Adam, sinned, and his transgression and guilt were immediately imputed to all mankind (Christ excepted). By this one act of disobedience, he became morally polluted in every part of his being—mind, affections, body, and will. By this sin, death entered the world, and Adam’s fellowship with God was broken.

Adam’s guilt and corruption were transmitted to his natural offspring at the moment of conception. In turn, each of his children’s children inherited this same radical fallenness. Subsequently, it has been passed down to each generation to the present day. Adam’s perverse nature has spread to the whole of every person. Apart from grace, our minds are darkened by sin, unable to understand the truth. Our hearts are defiled, unable to love the truth. Our bodies are dying, progressing to physical death. Our wills are dead, unable to choose the good. Moral inability to please God plagues every person from their entrance into the world. In their unregenerate state, no one seeks after God. No one is capable of doing good. All are under the curse of the law, which is eternal death.

bottom of page