[quote:7cef9fb420][i:7cef9fb420]Originally posted by sastark[/i:7cef9fb420]
Thanks Brett!
Very interesing. I could not find anything on there web page that said anything about being "reformed". Maybe I missed it?
But, hey, I'll take your word for it!
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Yes, they don't advertise it as they try to get alot of ex-pentecostals/charasmatics. We would not have gone if we would have known it was charasmatic.
Anyway, the sunday school was a class on apologetics, and a very good one at that. The worship was more modern, but not much Charasmatic. The sermon was almost 1.5 hours, and I would say the Pastor hit on all 5 points pretty well. If I remember correctly, his explanation of election was extrememly well done. I spoke to several people afterwords, and they were all Calvinist. It was interesting to say the least.
Here are some hints that they are Calvinist:
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About humanity
We believe that humankind is God's unique creation. God created male and female in His own image with a potential for goodness and godliness. When they sinned, physical and spiritual death entered the human race resulting in separation and alienation from God. [b:7cef9fb420]We believe that mankind is totally depraved in his sin in the sense that sin now affects every part of mankind's constitution[/b:7cef9fb420]. We believe that in Adam the entire race fell, therefore all persons are now born with a sinful nature, are sinners by choice and therefore[b:7cef9fb420] spiritually dead, totally unable to please God[/b:7cef9fb420]. Consequently, [b:7cef9fb420]each human being is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit (being born again) in order to enter the kingdom of God.[/b:7cef9fb420]
The Gospel
We believe that the Gospel entrusted to the Church is, in the first instance, God's Gospel (Mark 1:14; and Rom. 1:1). God is its author, and He reveals it to us in and by His Word. Its authority and truth rest on Him. We believe that the Gospel is the saving power of God in that the Gospel effects salvation to everyone who believes, without distinction (Rom. 1:16). [b:7cef9fb420]This efficacy of the Gospel is by the power of God Himself (1 Cor. 1:18). We affirm that the Gospel diagnoses the universal human condition as one of sinful rebellion against God, which, if unchanged, will lead each person to eternal loss under God's condemnation.[/b:7cef9fb420]
Salvation
We believe that the atonement of Christ by which, in His obedience, He offered a perfect sacrifice, propitiating the Father by [b:7cef9fb420]paying for our sins and satisfying divine justice on our behalf according to God's eternal plan, is an essential element of the Gospel.[/b:7cef9fb420] We believe that Christ's saving work included both His life and death on our behalf (Gal. 3:13). We declare that faith in the perfect obedience of Christ by which He fulfilled all the demands of the Law of God on our behalf is essential to the Gospel. We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. [b:7cef9fb420]It is entirely an act of the grace of God and not dependent on human effort.[/b:7cef9fb420]
We believe that the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, is essential to the Gospel (Rom. 2:28; 4:5; Gal. 2:16). We believe that the [b:7cef9fb420]doctrine of imputation[/b:7cef9fb420](reckoning or counting) both of our sins to Christ and of His righteousness to us, whereby our sins are fully forgiven and we are fully accepted, is [b:7cef9fb420]essential to the biblical Gospel[/b:7cef9fb420] (2 Cor. 5:19-21). We deny that we are justified by the righteousness of Christ infused into us or by any righteousness that is thought to inhere within us. We believe that the righteousness of Christ by which we are justified is properly His own, which He achieved apart from us, in and by His perfect obedience. This righteousness is counted, reckoned, or imputed to us by the forensic (that is legal) declaration of God, as the sole ground of our justification. We deny that any works we perform at any stage of our existence add to the merit of Christ or earn for us any merit that contributes in any way to the ground of our justification (Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).
We believe that a person becomes a child of God by placing their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. In doing so their sins are forgiven, once for all, and they become a new creation in Christ. We believe that saving faith includes mental acceptance of the Gospel, acknowledgment of our own sin and need, and personal trust and reliance upon Christ and His work. We believe that, while all believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are in the process of being made holy and conformed to the image of Christ, those consequences of justification are not its ground. God declares us just, remits our sins, and adopts us as His children, by His grace alone, and through faith alone, because of Christ alone, while we are still sinners (Rom. 4:5). We believe that saving faith results in sanctification, the transformation of life in growing conformity to Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification means ongoing repentance, a life of turning from sin to serve Jesus Christ in grateful reliance on Him as one's Lord and Master (Gal 5:22-25; Rom. 8:4, 13-14).
We believe that each believer is sealed and secured as a result of their position in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the evidence of salvation should be a desire to love and serve God, the manifestation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, a passion for sharing the gospel, and good works. We believe that nothing can be added or taken away from the finished work of Christ on the cross.[/quote:7cef9fb420]
I agree, calvinism is a bit cloaked, but you should get it from the SOF.
Anyway, I would have other issues with the church, but it is encouraging.
[Edited on 6-17-2004 by raderag]
