Independent

Faithway is not part of a denomination. Our church governs itself under Christ, and our members make decisions together.

Fundamental

We hold to the fundamentals of the faith: the Bible is without error, Jesus is God and was born of a virgin, He died in our place for our sins, He rose bodily from the grave, and He is coming again.

Baptist

We hold to the historic Baptist beliefs below, like believer's baptism by immersion, a saved church membership, and the Bible as our only final authority.

The Bible

The Bible is God's Word. Holy men of God wrote it as the Holy Spirit moved them, so it is perfect, without error, and completely trustworthy. All 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are complete, with nothing to add or take away. We believe God has preserved His Word for English-speaking people in the King James Bible (1611), which is the Bible we preach and teach from. It is our final authority for what we believe and how we live.

More Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Psalm 12:6-7

The One True God

There is one true God, holy and sovereign. He exists eternally as three distinct and equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God knows all things, has all power, and is present everywhere.

More Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4; John 4:24; Matthew 3:16-17; 1 John 3:20; Genesis 18:14; Matthew 28:20

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He became a man without ceasing to be God, so He is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, was buried, and rose again bodily on the third day. He is now in Heaven at the right hand of God the Father.

More Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 1:23; Hebrews 4:15; John 3:16

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a person, not just a force, and He is fully God, equal with the Father and the Son. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. In every believer, He seals, guides, teaches, empowers, and helps us live for God.

More Scripture: Acts 5:3-4; Ephesians 1:13-14; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:14, 16, 26-27; 1 John 2:27; 1 Corinthians 6:11

Creation

We take the Genesis account of creation literally. God created everything in six literal days, in a recent creation. Living things reproduce 'after their kind,' and we reject the idea that life evolved from one kind into another.

More Scripture: Genesis 1-2; Mark 10:6

Man and Sin

God created mankind in His image, perfect and without sin. But man chose to sin, and that brought both spiritual and physical death. Since then, every person is born a sinner, under the just judgment of a holy God, and unable to save himself.

More Scripture: Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 8:2; John 3:18, 36

Salvation

Salvation is a free gift of God's grace. Jesus paid the full price for our sins through His death, burial, and resurrection. A person is saved the moment he trusts Christ by faith, not by his own good works. God then makes him a new creation and gives him eternal life.

More Scripture: John 3; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5:17

Eternal Security

Once a person is truly saved, he is saved forever. Salvation is kept by God's power, not our own, so a true believer can never lose it.

More Scripture: John 10:29; John 17; 1 Peter 1:5

Christ's Return

Jesus could come back at any moment. He will return personally and bodily to catch up all believers, both living and dead, to meet Him in the air. This happens before the Tribulation and before His thousand-year reign on earth (pre-tribulational and pre-millennial).

More Scripture: John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

The Church

The church is a local, visible group of baptized believers, with Christ as its head. It observes two ordinances, believer's baptism and the Lord's Table, and continues in sound doctrine, fellowship, and prayer. It has two offices: pastor (also called bishop or elder) and deacon.

More Scripture: Acts 2:42; Ephesians 5:23; 1 Timothy 3:1-13

Marriage

God designed marriage as the joining of one man and one woman. His gift of intimacy belongs only within that marriage. Anything else goes against God's design and is sin. Every sin can be forgiven through Jesus Christ, and everyone is welcome to hear the gospel at Faithway.

More Scripture: Leviticus 18; Romans 1:26-29; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; Hebrews 13:4

The Bible Has the Final Word

This list doesn't cover everything we believe. The Bible itself is the only final source of our faith. We do believe these statements accurately reflect what the Bible teaches, and every member of Faithway agrees to them.

Christ is preeminent.

Jesus Christ is our Saviour, Lord, and Master, and the head of the church.

Colossians 1:18

The Bible is our final authority.

Scripture alone, not tradition or a denomination, is our rule for faith and practice.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Every believer can come to God directly.

Every Christian can read and understand the Bible and pray to God through Jesus Christ, with no other go-between.

1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 4:16; 1 Peter 2:9

Two ordinances.

Baptism by immersion after salvation, and the Lord's Table in remembrance of Christ's death. Neither one saves us. Both are acts of obedience.

Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

A saved, baptized membership.

Church members are people who have been born again and then baptized by immersion.

Acts 2:41

An independent local church.

Faithway governs itself. No denomination or outside group controls it, and members make decisions together by vote.

Acts 6:3-5; Acts 15:22; Colossians 1:18

Separation of church and state.

The government should not control the church, and the church should not run the government.

Matthew 22:21

Reaching the world.

We give to missions and share the gospel, here in Elk Grove and around the world.

Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8