Triune: The Christian understanding of God as three persons united in one essence.

Providence: The power God uses to see to it that everything happens in order to bring about his loving, wise purposes.

We believe in one God who eternally exists in three equally divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good. God the Father is the creator of all things, visible and invisible, sustaining and providentially ruling over creation in an active relationship of love. Through God the Son, whom we know as Jesus Christ, God redeems a people for himself and restores his creation. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, God is present to us, making us more into the image of Jesus Christ. All of this is done “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6).

We have a high view of God’s sovereignty, a belief that “nothing happens in this world without God’s orderly arrangement.” But we don’t believe God uses that power carelessly. Instead, we emphasize God’s loving providence, which explains that God makes all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28). God’s sovereignty is exercised as God sustains heaven and earth and all creatures and in the particular way that God “gathers, protects, and cares for the church through Word and Spirit. This, God has done since the beginning of the world and will do to the end.

Revelation: The ways that God makes himself known to us.

Early Christians said that God revealed himself to us through two “books”: the book of nature and the book of Scripture. We know God through the world God created, including our own selves: The universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder … God’s eternal power and divinity. The book of nature shows us God as Creator, but it is not sufficient to know God as Redeemer.

Additionally, as a result of sin, we cannot even see God rightly in creation. Only with the spectacles of Scripture are we able to see God’s glory revealed in creation. The Bible brings specificity to God’s self-revelation that’s not available in creation. In Scripture, God reveals himself in the person of Jesus Christ, who is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). What we learn of God through Scripture is sufficient to provide us with what we need in this life, for God’s glory, and for our salvation.

The Bible: the Word of God.

We believe the Bible—the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments—was not composed by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:21). Because God is their true author, the words of Scripture are holy and divine. We trust the words of the Bible “above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God. One of the defining characteristics of the Reformation was its insistence on Sola Scriptura, or the belief that everything we need for salvation and a life of faith is available in Scripture. Reformed Christians sometimes say the Bible is the only rule of faith and life.

Shalom: Hebrew for “peace,” a description of God’s design for creation as one of wholeness, harmony, justice, and life-giving peace.

We believe that “God created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing” and gave “all creatures their being, form, and appearance. The book of Genesis affirms the original goodness of God’s creation; after each piece of creation, the narrative notes that “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1). In the creation narrative, God creates humans on the sixth and final day of bringing things into being. Although we are part of creation, we are unique in that God formed humans “in his image and likeness—good, just, and holy. No other creature bears the image of God. Humans were also given a specific role, to tend and keep the rest of creation. God’s intention for creation was that everything lives together in harmony. God longs for humans to truly know God their creator, love him with all their heart and live with him in eternal happiness for his praise and glory.

Atonement: reconciliation with God, from whom sin divides us.

Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, came to earth to reconcile us with God. Jesus became human and lived a life without sin. Then he sacrificed his life in our name. By suffering death on the cross, Jesus took the punishment our sins deserved. His death is the only and entirely complete sacrifice and satisfaction for sins; it is of infinite value and worth, more than sufficient to atone for the sins of the whole world. Three days after Jesus died, he rose from the dead. Through his resurrection, Jesus conquered death so that anyone who believes in him can join him in everlasting life.

Total depravity: the belief that, because of the fall, human nature is deeply corrupted by sin.

Original sin: belief that since the fall of humanity into sin, all humans have inherited a sinful nature.

Human beings started out with the ability to follow God’s will perfectly. God sculpted us in his own image, as mirrors of God’s goodness, justice, and holiness. But we chose to turn away from God. Our disobedience so poisoned our nature that all of us are wired from birth to be sinners . And the sin of humans caused all of creation to be subjected to futility and put in bondage to decay (Romans 8:20, 21). All of the perfection of God’s original creation has been undone as a result of humanity’s rebellion against God. We’re broken, and it’s impossible for us to fix ourselves. No matter how hard we try to do the right thing, sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Without God’s grace, we are neither willing nor able to return to God. God’s justice demands that our sin be punished. But only someone who is both “a true and righteous human, and also true God” could ever pay the price for the sins of humanity.

Justification: to be made right in the eyes of God.

Even in our best moments, our actions are stained with sin. Yet out of sheer grace, God gives us the righteousness of Christ. Christ wipes our record clean. It’s as if we have never sinned. All we have to do is accept his gift of salvation with a believing heart. In other words, we are justified by faith, not by anything we’ve done. Our righteousness is in Jesus. We couldn’t live a perfect life ourselves, so he lived a perfect life for us. Faith is the “instrument by which we embrace Christ.” It keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits.

Unconditional election: belief that God has chosen people to save in advance and prepares their hearts to receive the gift of salvation; God offers this gift to people not based on their merit but as an act of undeserved grace.

We’re so trapped in sin that we cannot find our way back to God on our own. As Christ says, No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me (John 6:44). God gives us the faith to accept salvation as an act of undeserved grace. We receive this gift without any consideration of the things we’ve done. Our merits and strength have nothing to do with it. You cannot lose the gift of salvation Faith in Christ isn’t a gift God will take away from you. God preserves the seed of our faith in times of doubt. And no matter how badly we sin, salvation in Jesus covers us. “God’s plan cannot be changed; God’s promise cannot fail; the calling according to God’s purpose cannot be revoked” (Canons of Dort, Main Point 2, Article 8). If God has chosen to give you the gift of salvation through Christ, you cannot lose your salvation. Even though you might stumble in your faith and make mistakes, the Holy Spirit’s seal on your heart can’t be invalidated or wiped out.

Sanctification: belief that those who are justified by faith in Jesus are continually being made more holy through the work of the Holy Spirit. Christ’s blood doesn’t just redeem us for what we’ve done in the past.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit, true faith in Jesus reshapes our hearts to better match the heart of Jesus. This continual process of being made more holy is called sanctification. It is impossible for holy faith to be unfruitful. After all, we aren’t talking about an empty faith. We’re talking about what Scripture calls “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). This faith moves people to do by themselves the works that God has commanded in the Word. Becoming more like Jesus doesn’t mean we can be our own salvation. We still sin. And even a tiny speck of human selfishness, corruption, jealousy, or pride would disqualify a work from being worthy of salvation in God’s eyes.

The Christian church is a gathering of persons chosen in Christ through the Holy Spirit to profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in order to embody God’s intentions for the world. Scripture calls the church “the body of Christ’ and calls Christ our head. The church is faithful in its call when “it participates in mission, in calling all persons to life in Christ, and in proclaiming God’s promise and commands to all the world.

Sacraments: practices instituted by Christ as signs and seals of God’s promises in the gospel.

Sacraments are visible, holy signs and seals instituted by Jesus to help us understand the promise of the gospel and to seal its promise in us. They allow us to experience with our external senses what we hear in God’s Word and feel the Spirit do in our hearts. In this way, the sacraments help us focus on the truth at the heart of our faith: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation. There are two sacraments in the Reformed church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.