STATEMENT OF FAITH
• Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational fellowship, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only their overemphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the body of Christ.
• We believe that the only true basis of Christian fellowship is His (Agape) love, which is greater than any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians
• We believe worship of God should be spiritual; therefore, we remain flexible so the Holy Spirit may direct our worship.
• We believe worship of God should be inspirational; therefore, we give a great place to music in our worship.
• We believe worship of God should be intelligent; therefore, in our services, we emphasize Bible teaching so God may instruct us how He would be worshiped.
• We believe worship of God is fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the greatest evidence that we are truly worshiping Him.
• We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, in the original autographs, is the inspired, infallible Word of God, a complete and final written revelation of God.
• We believe in one personal, transcendent, and holy God, the creator of all, Who is eternal and Who manifests Himself in three separate Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe that Jesus Christ, though fully God became a man for the suffering of death, that He is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.
• After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation and opportunity shared by all believers today.
• We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a
child of God.
• We believe in the person and work of the Holy Spirit who indwells, seals, and empowers every believer, baptizing them into the Body of Christ. We further believe that the Holy Spirit will come upon any believer who asks in faith, enabling him/her to preach the Gospel in power. We also believe all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We believe that love is more important than all the gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
• We believe Jesus Christ is the head of the Body, His church, and that church government should he simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We desire to be led by the Holy Spirit in all the functions and directions of the ministry of the church.
• We await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and we believe that the Second Coming of Christ with His saints to rule the earth will be personal, pre-millenial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship, participation in adult baptism by immersion and Holy Communion.
• We seek to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to the individual’s life, leading
each person to a greater maturity in Christ.
• We reject: 1) the belief that true Christians can be demon possessed, 2) “5-point Calvinism” (i.e. a fatalistic Calvinistic view that leaves no room for free will: specifically, we reject the belief that Christ’s atonement was limited; instead, we believe that He died for all people, and we reject the assertion that God’s wooing grace cannot be resisted or that He has elected some people to go to hell; instead, we believe that anyone who wills
to come to Christ may do so), 3) “positive confession” (the faith movement belief that God can be commanded to heal or work miracles according to man’s will), 4) human prophecy that supercedes the Scriptures, 5) the incorporation of humanistic and secular psychology and philosophy into Biblical teaching and 6) the over-emphasis of the spiritual gifts, experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of Biblical teaching.
• In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer and the teaching of the Word of God. We teach both expositorally and topically. We do not allow speaking in tongues loudly during services, nor prophecy while a Bible study is in progress because we do not believe that the Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself. We have specific “after-glow services” and believers’ meetings for the exercise of these gifts
in a Biblical context.
• Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational fellowship, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only their overemphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the body of Christ.
• We believe that the only true basis of Christian fellowship is His (Agape) love, which is greater than any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians
• We believe worship of God should be spiritual; therefore, we remain flexible so the Holy Spirit may direct our worship.
• We believe worship of God should be inspirational; therefore, we give a great place to music in our worship.
• We believe worship of God should be intelligent; therefore, in our services, we emphasize Bible teaching so God may instruct us how He would be worshiped.
• We believe worship of God is fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the greatest evidence that we are truly worshiping Him.
• We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, in the original autographs, is the inspired, infallible Word of God, a complete and final written revelation of God.
• We believe in one personal, transcendent, and holy God, the creator of all, Who is eternal and Who manifests Himself in three separate Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe that Jesus Christ, though fully God became a man for the suffering of death, that He is the promised Messiah, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.
• After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation and opportunity shared by all believers today.
• We believe that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit, all his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a
child of God.
• We believe in the person and work of the Holy Spirit who indwells, seals, and empowers every believer, baptizing them into the Body of Christ. We further believe that the Holy Spirit will come upon any believer who asks in faith, enabling him/her to preach the Gospel in power. We also believe all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We believe that love is more important than all the gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
• We believe Jesus Christ is the head of the Body, His church, and that church government should he simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy. We desire to be led by the Holy Spirit in all the functions and directions of the ministry of the church.
• We await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church, and we believe that the Second Coming of Christ with His saints to rule the earth will be personal, pre-millenial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship, participation in adult baptism by immersion and Holy Communion.
• We seek to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to the individual’s life, leading
each person to a greater maturity in Christ.
• We reject: 1) the belief that true Christians can be demon possessed, 2) “5-point Calvinism” (i.e. a fatalistic Calvinistic view that leaves no room for free will: specifically, we reject the belief that Christ’s atonement was limited; instead, we believe that He died for all people, and we reject the assertion that God’s wooing grace cannot be resisted or that He has elected some people to go to hell; instead, we believe that anyone who wills
to come to Christ may do so), 3) “positive confession” (the faith movement belief that God can be commanded to heal or work miracles according to man’s will), 4) human prophecy that supercedes the Scriptures, 5) the incorporation of humanistic and secular psychology and philosophy into Biblical teaching and 6) the over-emphasis of the spiritual gifts, experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of Biblical teaching.
• In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer and the teaching of the Word of God. We teach both expositorally and topically. We do not allow speaking in tongues loudly during services, nor prophecy while a Bible study is in progress because we do not believe that the Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself. We have specific “after-glow services” and believers’ meetings for the exercise of these gifts
in a Biblical context.