What do Presbyterians Believe?
Today you will find a wide diversity of beliefs from one church to another, even in Presbyterian circles and particularly between differing denominations.
At Village Chapel, which is a congregation within the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) denomination, we continue to hold to the historic statements of faith rooted in the Reformation era of the 1500’s and 1600’s, which were themselves a return to the Word of God (the Bible). We may update the old English used then, but the content, or doctrinal truth, remains the same as has been taught in the church from the beginning.
What follows is a brief statement of that faith. For a fuller explanation one can refer to the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger & Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly.
The Bible is the Word of God, perfectly inspired by Him, inerrant (without error), and the only infallible (perfect & authoritative) rule of faith and life (what we are to believe and how we are to live).
There is one God, eternal and self-existing in three persons (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit) who are to be equally loved, honored, worshipped, adored, and obeyed.
The heavens and the earth were created by God and for His glory. All creation is His and He gives life to all, has the sovereign right to govern, bless, judge, and to call each life back before His eternal throne and into His visible presence.
Man was given life by God to glorify Him but Adam & Eve disobeyed God and fell under God’s curse. We, as Adam & Eve’s descendants live under that same curse, with all the consequences of it (a corrupt nature & life of sin & guilt, pains of this present life, eventual death and God’s judgment).
Jesus Christ is the only mediator between the holy God and sinful man, Himself being the only begotten Son of God who became man by the virgin Mary, lived in perfect obedience to the law of God, was crucified, buried and bodily rose from death on the third day. These He accomplished to save and restore His people.
The sovereign God, for no other reason than His own unfathomable love and mercy, has chosen lost sinners from every nation to be redeemed (saved from His wrath and renewed in their relationship with Him) by the regenerating power of His Holy Spirit and through the atoning death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Those sinners whom the Spirit regenerates come to believe in Christ as the Savior by the Word of God, are born again, become sons of God, enjoy fellowship with Him in this life through the indwelling of His Spirit in them, and will persevere to the end and be received by Him into His heavenly kingdom.
In this present life the believer in Christ is to live by faith according to the Word of God, their goal being to glorify, honor, love, serve, and obey Him.
In this life the believer is called by God in his or her personal life, and with other believers in the church, to worship Him, to grow in knowledge and obedient commitment to His Word, to love and care for one another, and to bear testimony to all the world the great Gospel of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ.
At death the Christian’s soul passes immediately into the presence of God, there to dwell eternally in His heavenly kingdom. The soul of the unbeliever is eternally separated from God and falls under His condemnation.
Jesus Christ, now ascended to heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father, will one day return to earth, visibly and bodily, to bring an end to human history as we know it, and to issue the final pronouncement of redemption or condemnation upon all who have lived. The inheritance of heaven will be eternal for all who in this life have truly called upon, believed in, and followed Christ. The judgment of condemnation will also be eternal for all who in this life have not come to true faith in the only Savior between God and man, Jesus Christ.
If we may be of assistance to you in any way please do not hesitate to call the church office at (252) 633-2005. If you are seeking a church home please consider Village Chapel.
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