What we believe
What is the gospel?
The gospel is God’s narrative of His redeeming work; in creation, through the fall, leading to our rescue and ultimately the restoration of all things back to Himself. This story begins and ends with God Himself, without a beginning or an end; eternal and perfect in every conceivable and inconceivable way. Triune; three in one, Father, Son, and Spirit existing in perfect community with each other. Out of His desire for much to be made of Himself and out of His great love, He created everything out of nothing, culminating in creatures formed in His own image; humanity. We were designed for personal relationship with Him, and that is exactly what Adam and Eve had. They saw God face to face and walked with Him in the garden until they did the one thing God instructed them not to do; bringing imperfection into a perfect system, which cannot exist together. So now a perfect world was no longer perfect and a perfect relationship with God was no longer possible. The only solution was for perfection to come into imperfection and rescue what He made flawless. Enter Jesus into our story; fully God, homooúsios, with all of His Godness, but at the same time fully man. The imperfection that Adam brought into all creation could only be solved by God Himself. Jesus lived as God with us being without any imperfection in His life. He ultimately became the very imperfection, that brings about death in us, dying Himself. He conquered death by raising Himself through the power of the Spirit, and now gives His imperfect creatures His perfection. Jesus serves as the “bridge-man” for us. This is how an imperfect person can now have the ability to stand before a perfect God, because we get Gods perfection in the work of Jesus. The story doesn't end there, but gets a new beginning when Jesus returns and finally restores all creation back to its original perfect state of being. No longer will faith be needed, because we will once again see God face to face and walk with Him as Adam did in the garden. We believe that the Gospel is the declarative good news for all humanity that God is actively engaged in His creation. It is infinitely deep so it can bear the weight of being the main thing we look to.
Salvation
We believe that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
We believe that, due to death through sin, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless born again; that salvation is only by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ; and that all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ through faith are declared righteous by God and become children of God.
We believe the Scriptures teach that regeneration, or the new birth, is that act of God by which the Holy Spirit imparts a new nature and a new spiritual life, which was dead before, and the person becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus. The mind is given a holy disposition and a new desire to serve God, the dominion of sin is broken, and the heart is transformed from a love of sin and self to a love of holiness and God.
Sovereignty of God in Salvation
The salvation of humanity is fundamentally the work of God. Before the foundation of the world, God elected His people, setting His affection and grace upon them. In love God predestined His people for adoption. Faith is a gift of grace that is given by the mercy and pleasure of God, so that no one may boast. Apart from the intervention of God, humanity cannot choose of his own accord to worship God and pursue righteousness. God’s sovereignty in salvation is comprehensive: from first to last, all of salvation is the work of God.
Sin
We believe that sin has fractured all things, leaving the world in desperate need for salvation.
Through the temptation of Satan, humanity transgressed the command of God and fell from their original holiness and righteousness. Now the entire human race inherits a corrupt nature that is opposed to God and His law. Therefore, all humans are under condemnation. This depravity is radical and pervasive. It extends to the mind, will, body and affections. Unregenerate humanity lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity with God, hostile toward and hateful of God.
THE SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE
We recognize and rest upon the necessity of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit for all life and ministry.The Holy Spirit is fully God, equal with the Father and Son, whose primary ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He also convicts unbelievers of their need for Christ and imparts spiritual life through regeneration (the new birth). The Spirit permanently indwells, graciously sanctifies, lovingly leads, and empowers all who are brought to faith in Christ so they might live in obedience to the inerrant Scriptures. The model for our reliance upon the Spirit and our experience of His indwelling and empowering presence is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who was filled with the Spirit and entirely dependent upon His power for the performance of miracles, the preaching of the kingdom of God, and all other dimensions of His earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit, who indwelt and empowered Christ in like manner, indwells and empowers all who belong to Christ through spiritual gifts. He has bestowed spiritual gifts for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ. Although there are different understandings of the nature and function of these gifts, we recognize they are divine provisions central to spiritual growth and effective ministry and are to be eagerly desired, faithfully developed, and lovingly exercised according to biblical guidelines.
MEN AND WOMEN
We are deeply committed to the fundamental spiritual and moral equality and complementarity of men and women.We believe that we are made in the image of God, both male and female. Both men and women are together created in the divine image and are therefore equal before God as persons, possessing the same moral dignity and value, and have equal access to God through faith in Christ. Men and women are together the recipients of spiritual gifts designed to empower them for ministry in the local church and beyond. Therefore both men and women are to be encouraged, equipped, and empowered to utilize their gifting in ministry, in service to the body of Christ, and through teaching in ways that are consistent with the Word of God. Both husbands and wives are responsible to God for spiritual nurture and vitality in the home, but God has given to the man primary responsibility to lead his wife and family in accordance with the servant-leadership and sacrificial love characterized by Jesus Christ. This principle of male headship should not be confused with, nor give any hint of, domineering control. Rather it is to be the loving, tender, and nurturing care of a godly man who is himself under the kind and gentle authority of Jesus Christ. The elders of our church have been granted authority under the headship of Jesus Christ to provide oversight of the church. The office of elder is restricted to men.
MISSIONAL CHURCH
Life together church embraces a missionary understanding of the local church and its role as the primary means by which God chooses to establish his kingdom on earth.The church has a clear biblical mandate to look beyond its own community to the neighborhood, the nation, and the world as a whole; thus mission is not an optional program in the church but an essential element in the identity of the church. We are called to make Christ known through the Gospel and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to bring His lordship to bear on every dimension of life. The primary way we fulfill this mission is through the equipping of the saints for ministry in our local church and seeking to make Jesus known in our local communities. Our aim is that Jesus Christ would be more fully formed in each person through the ministry of Life Together church and that God would empower us to share the good news of Jesus Christ in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and families, sharing in and celebrating His redemptive work together. We also believe we are responsible neither to retreat from our culture nor to conform to it, but with humility, through the Spirit and the truth of the gospel, to engage it boldly as we seek its transformation and submission to the lordship of Christ.
