CHRIST THE KING CHURCH THEOLOGICAL VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT CHRIST THE KING CHURCH EXISTS TO HELP PEOPLE KNOW, LOVE, AND OBEY JESUS AS LORD OVER ALL OF LIFE OUR MISSION Christ the King Church exists to help people KNOW, LOVE, and OBEY Jesus as LORD over all of LIFE. ​ OUR CORE IDENTITIES WORSHIPERS We are worshipers who are committed to LOVING Christ, cultivating joyful affection for Him, repenting of the depths of our sin, experiencing the fullness of his grace, and walking in the power and victory of the Holy Spirit. ​ LEARNERS We are learners who are committed to KNOWING Christ, becoming more like Him as we behold Him in his Word, submitting to the authority of Scripture, learning and applying theology to life, and speaking the truth in love to one another. FAMILY We are a family of brothers and sisters in Christ; individual members united in one body; with equal dignity and worth as image bearers of God; striving for unity, diversity, and maturity; enjoying the safety and love of the gospel even through conflict; and submitting to the care of biblically qualified elders. SERVANTS We are servants who are committed to OBEYING Christ by doing good works; loving our neighbors in the home, church, workplace, and community; pursuing deeds of love, justice, and mercy; and partnering with like-minded organizations for the good of our city. WITNESSES We are witnesses who are committed to OBEYING Christ by proclaiming the gospel; speaking with culturally intelligible language; joyfully extending hospitality to doubters and skeptics; trusting God to give faith to those who hear; raising up mature disciples to advance the gospel; and supporting local and global church planting. OUR STATEMENT OF FAITH PURPOSE The purpose of this Statement of Faith1 is two-fold. The first purpose is to provide a unifying framework and teaching foundation for the elders of Christ the King Church. All ​ ​ elders of CTK must be in agreement with these doctrines (although exceptions may be allowed for minor differences over secondary doctrines). The second purpose is to provide a theological compass for the members of Christ the King Church. While all ​ ​ members may not always agree with every point of doctrine contained in this statement, all members of CTK must at least agree that these are the doctrines they will be taught. This statement is not intended to exhaustively represent all the beliefs of Christ the King Church. While we believe that the gospel is the most important thing, it is not the only important ​ ​ ​ ​ thing. The doctrines of the gospel are at the core of the Christian faith, while other doctrines have value for our growth in Christ and the health of the church. Those doctrines which are essential to the gospel and the Christian faith are primary, or “closed handed” doctrines. All true Christians should readily affirm these truths. Those doctrines which are not essential for salvation but are nonetheless valuable for Christian growth and church health are secondary, or “open handed” doctrines. Faithful Christians may not always agree on these doctrines. In a tract on Christian unity, one theologian put it this way: “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.”2 This statement includes both primary and secondary doctrines in order to set forth the pure gospel of Jesus Christ as well as the additional beliefs that shape our life as a church body. For example, as a baptist church, we believe and practice “believer’s baptism” and have thus included it in this statement of faith. Despite our disagreement with other Christians and churches who practice infant baptism, we still have sincere love and respect for them and have learned much from them. Nevertheless, a church needs clarity on its own beliefs and practices to maintain unity and health.3 The spirit of this document is to provide guardrails, not handcuffs. Inevitably, churches that value diversity will have members that disagree on secondary doctrines. But we believe it is wise for churches to plainly set forth what they believe and practice, in both primary and secondary matters, to give a clear direction for the church. 1This statement of faith is adapted primarily from the Gospel Coalition statement of faith and other sources. 2Written by German Lutheran theologian Rupertus Meldenius in 1627. 3Further explanation of both primary and secondary doctrines can be found in our Membership Booklet in the “family” section. May the reading of this statement edify you and draw your heart closer to Christ. PREAMBLE Our mission statement says that “Christ the King Church exists to help people know, love, and obey Jesus as Lord over all of life.” What this means is that the Christian life is a unity -- knowing, loving, and obeying Jesus are all ultimately different ways of describing the life of Christian discipleship. To know Jesus is to love Him. To love Jesus is to obey Him. The good news of the gospel is that through faith in Jesus Christ this life has been given to us freely and abundantly. By grace, God draws us near and leads us into true knowledge of Him, deep and joyful affection for Him, and sincere obedience to Him. Theological statements such as this emphasize knowledge, and for good reason. We must know God in order to love and obey Him. But it is also true that apart from loving God and obeying God, one cannot truly know God. Therefore, a correct knowledge of God includes love for Him and obedience to Him. Our aim as a church is to disciple the whole person. THE TRIUNE GOD We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace. Isaiah 46:9-10; Hebrews 1:3; Titus 2:11-14; Revelation 7:10; Isaiah 45:5; John 1:18; Colossians 2:9; John 5:18; Acts 5:3-4; John 16:13-15; Psalm 18:30; Hebrews 11:3 REVELATION God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel. Romans 1:19-20; John 1:1; John 14:9; Genesis 1:3, 12:1; Matthew 3:17; 2 Peter 1:20-21, 3:15-16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Acts 1:16; Hebrews 3:7; Luke 1:1-4; James 1:21; Psalm 19:7, 119:160; John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:19; Luke 16:31; John 20:21; James 1:22; Proverbs 30:5-6; Romans 11:33; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Luke 8:21; Hebrews 10:23; Revelation 1:3; 1 Peter 1:8; John 17:6 THE FALL We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself. Genesis 1:27; Genesis 3; Romans 3:23, 6:23; Romans 5:1-11; 1 John 2:2; Revelation 20:11 GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them—all to the praise of his glorious grace.