We Believe

We at Waypoint Church affirm a congregational statement of faith that provides our members with a written guide to our core beliefs about Scripture, God, humanity, salvation, life as a Christian, and the end of all things. We believe it is important that all our members understand the core doctrines and practices that form the foundation of Christ-like living in the world. Our statement is divided into four key sections: God and His Word, Humanity and Salvation, Life as a Christian, and The Last Things.

God and His Word
As a Christian church, we believe in the triune God and we believe that this God has spoken through His Word, the Bible. The first five articles of our statement of faith address our beliefs on these issues.

I. The Word of God
We believe that the 66 books of the Bible are the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31-32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32)

II. The Trinity
We believe that there is one living and true God, eternally existing in three persons; that these are equal in every divine perfection and therefore worthy of worship, and that they execute distinct but harmonious offices in the work of creation, providence and redemption.

(Genesis 1:1,26; John 1:1,3; Matthew 28:19; John 4:24; Ephesians 4:5-6)

III. God the Father
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows and sovereignly governs all that has and shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully with the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

(John 4:24; Luke 10:21-22; Matthew 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Romans 5:8; 2 Timothy 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:3; Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 1:6)

IV. Jesus Christ
We believe in Jesus Christ, who is the Eternal Word of God made flesh and who dwelt among men. He is God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. We believe in His sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death on the cross, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.

(Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 2 Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30-31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11;Romans 5:6-8; 6:9-10; 2 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; 2 Timothy 3:16)

V. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the eternal Holy Spirit who was sent from the Father and Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is an abiding helper, teacher and guide.

(John 14:16-17,26; 15:26; John 16:7-14; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26)


Humanity and Salvation
Humanity stands as the pinnacle of God’s creation. However, human sin has created a need for salvation, a need that extends to every person in history. Our gracious God has made provision for this profound need.


VI. Mankind
We believe that man was created by God in His own image; that through the original sin of Adam and Eve, all human beings are born under condemnation, and inherit a sinful nature, in consequence of which they have incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death which is separation from God; that they, being dead in trespasses and sins, are unable to help or save themselves.

(Genesis 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:10-19)


VII. Salvation
We believe that God’s work of salvation is entirely of His own free grace and mercy, given to us sinners not based on anything we have done or will do,but solely on what God in Jesus Christ has done for us. We believe that God’s plan of salvation involves the following:

Election: Before the foundation of the world, according to the counsel of His own will and for His own glory, God chose in Christ those whom He purposed to save, out of His mere free grace and love, not upon any cause moving Him.
(Ephesians 1:3-14; Deuteronomy 7:6-8; Romans 8:29-30; Romans 9)

Regeneration: Regeneration is a sovereign and gracious work of God’s Spirit, by which He supernaturally brings sinners out of their natural state of sin and death to salvation in Jesus Christ. The result is that a sinner’s mind becomes enlightened spiritually to understand the things of God, a sinner’s heart of stone is replaced with a heart of flesh, and a sinner’s will is renewed so that one is able to freely embrace the grace offered in the Gospel.
(John 3:1-15; Ezekiel 36:26-27; 1 Peter 1:3)

Faith and Repentance: Saving faith is a gift of God’s grace, by which we personally and freely accept, receive and believe upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation through the gospel.
(Hebrews 10:39; John 1:12; Is. 26:3-4; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16)

Repentance is also a gift of God’s grace, by which sinners acknowledge and reject their sin and turn to God, resolving to pursue a new life of fellowship and obedience.
(Acts 11:18; Acts 2:37-38; Joel 2:12; Jeremiah 3:22; 31:18-19; Ezekiel 36:31; 2 Corinthians 7:11; Isaiah 1:16-17)

Justification: Justification is an act of God’s grace, in which He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, based only on the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
(Romans 3:24-25; 4:6-8; 2 Corinthians 5:19,21; Romans 5:17-19; Galatians 2:16; Philippians 3:9)

Sanctification: Sanctification is a work of God’s grace, by which we are renewed progressively in the entire person after the image of God through the Word and Spirit dwelling in us. We are enabled to die to sin and live to righteousness.
(2 Thessalonians 2:13; Ephesians. 4:23-24; Philippians 1:6; Romans 6:4,6; Romans 8:1)

Perseverance and Glorification: All those truly redeemed because of God’s grace, Christ’s intercession, and the Holy Spirit and the Word of God abiding in them, are preserved by the power of God and supplied with every spiritual blessing in Christ, and therefore will persevere in faith to the end and be saved.
(Jeremiah 31:3; Hebrews 7:25; John 14:16; 10:28-29; 1 Peter 1:5; Ephesians 1:3, 13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:8-9; Colossians 1:21-23)

Glorification: the final stage of salvation, is a supernatural work by which God finally consummates what He began in regeneration--our complete physical and spiritual renewal to be perfectly and permanently conformed to Christ, no longer to experience sin and death.(Romans 8:28-30; 1 John 3:2;Colossians 3:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:10-12; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Corinthians 4:17)

Life as a Christian
We believe that the Christian life properly lived should take place in the context of the church (universal and local) and in the observance of the ordinances.

VIII. The Church
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized on a credible profession of faith, and associated for worship, teaching, service, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the task of giving the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

(Ephesians 2:19-22; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:19-21; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:23-25; Colossians 1:15-18)

IX. The Ordinances
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion of the believer in water into the name of the triune God. We believe that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and carried out until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

The Last Things
We believe that history is moving toward a conclusion, one in which the hope of God’s people will be made complete.

X. The Last Things
We believe in the personal and visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth in power and glory and the establishment of His eternal kingdom. We believe in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, the eternal blessedness of the righteous and the endless suffering of the wicked.

(Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Phil. 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15)