What We Believe
We are a community of people brought together by our belief in the Gospel
The doctrinal statement below reflects our leadership and teaching ministries and what Chelten members believe.
What is the gospel?
It’s the good news that God the Father cares so much for us who live in a sinful world that he sent his son Jesus Christ to be the solution for all of humanity’s needs so that his Spirit would live in us forever.
Trinity
We believe in one God, existing eternally in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deut 6:4; Matt 3:16-17)
God the Father
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, who is infinite in divinity and sovereignty, and who loves and redeems (Ps 135:6; Isa 44:24; 1 Cor 8:6; 1 John 4:8).
Jesus Christ
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the eternally begotten Son of the Father, who is of one essence with the Father, was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and is truly God and truly human, like us in all respects, except sin, and that his two natures are united in one person (Matt 1:18; John 1:1, 14; Phil 2:5–8; Heb 2:17; 4:15).
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ lived a holy life and accomplished redemption through the shedding of his blood in death on the cross as an atoning and substitutionary sacrifice for sins (Rom 3:24–25; Heb 7:26; 1 Pet 3:18; 1 John 4:10).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who ascended into heaven, and who intercedes for us there as high priest and advocate and who will return bodily to this earth to set up his kingdom (Acts 1:9–11; Rom 8:34; 2 Tim 4:1; Heb 7:23–25).
Holy Spirit
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified (John 6:63; 15:26; Rom 8:11; 2 Cor 3:8, 17).
We believe that the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets, baptizes believers into the body of Christ, seals them for the day of redemption, indwells them, and empowers them for holy living (Acts 1:16; Rom 15:13; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:30).
Bible
We believe that the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired word of God, inerrant in the original writings, and that they are of supreme and final authority in matters of faith and practice (Ps 119:160; 2 Tim 3:16–17; 2 Pet 3:15–16).
Humanity
We believe that human beings were created in the image of God and that they sinned, thereby incurring the wrath of God, and that as a result all are sinners, separated from God, and are unable to save themselves (Gen 1:27; Rom 1:18; 3:23; 5:12; Eph 2:1–3).
We believe in the bodily resurrection of all human beings: eternal life for the redeemed and eternal punishment for the unredeemed (Matt 25:46; John 5:28–29; Rom 6:5; 2 Thess 1:9).
Salvation
We believe that salvation is received by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not by works of merit, and those who believe are born again by the Holy Spirit and become children of God (John 1:12–13; Eph 2:8–9; Titus 3:5).
Church
We believe in and celebrate two sacraments ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ which are to be received by believers: baptism with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, which is a public profession of faith in Christ, and the Lord’s Supper, which is a participation with Christ and a remembrance of his death until he returns (Matt 26:26–29; 28:19; Acts 8:36–39; Rom 6:3–4, 8; 1 Cor 10:16–17; 11:23–34).
We believe in one, holy, universal, and apostolic church. We believe that a local church is a body of believers who covenant together for the regular proclamation of word and sacrament, discipleship, and the spread of the gospel (Matt 28:19; Acts 2:42–47; Eph 2:19–21; 5:25–27; Heb 10:24–25; 12:28).
We agree that the Nicene Creed expresses the essential truths of what all Christians believe everywhere (Nicene Creed).
