What we believe
At Redemption Church we gladly confess our faith in the words of the three ancient creeds, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the Jerusalem Declaration. You can read more about all of this below.
Christian
We at Redemption Church are Christians. We understand ourselves to be a local expression of the one universal Church founded by Jesus Christ and his apostles. We gladly confess our faith, along with other Christians, in the words of the three ancient creeds of the Church.
Reformed
At Redemption Church we are reformed, which means that we stand in the great tradition of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. We believe that certain core doctrines, taught by Jesus and the apostles, were recaptured at the time of the Reformation; in particular, doctrines that had to do with the gospel and the nature of our salvation. Some of these doctrines have been called The Five Solas of the Reformation.
sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)
solus Christus (Christ alone)
sola fide (faith alone)
sola gratia (grace alone)
soli Deo gloria (to the glory of God alone)
Here is a helpful summary of these five doctrines:
“Sola scriptura is the belief that because Scripture is God’s inspired Word, it is the only inerrant, sufficient, and final authority for the church. Solus Christus is the assertion that Christ alone is the basis on which the ungodly are justified in God’s sight. Sola fide maintains that the believer receives the redemption Christ has accomplished only through faith. Sola gratia proclaims that all of our salvation, from beginning to end, is by grace and grace alone. Because of these things, the Reformers held fast to the phrase soli Deo gloria, that only God receives glory for our salvation.”[1]
We also firmly believe that the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church, which come to us from the English Reformation, are a trustworthy, succinct, and meaningful expression of reformed Christianity. The Thirty-Nine Articles are our doctrinal standard as Anglicans.
Evangelical
Bishop J.C. Ryle in his book Knots Untied helpfully clarifies the distinctive emphases of ‘Evangelical Religion’. To quote him:
“The first leading feature in Evangelical Religion is the absolute supremacy it assigns to Holy Scripture as the only rule of faith and practice, the only test of truth, and the only judge of controversy.
The second leading feature in the Evangelical faith is the depth and prominence it assigns to the doctrine of human sinfulness and corruption.
The third leading feature of the Evangelical faith is the paramount importance it attaches to the work and office of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the nature of the salvation He has produced for man.
The fourth leading feature in the Evangelical faith is the high place it assigns to the inward work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man.
The fifth and last leading feature in the Evangelical faith is the importance it attaches to the outward and visible work of the Holy Spirit in the life of man.”[2]
Anglican
As Anglicans, we see ourselves as standing in the theological and confessional tradition of the English Reformation. As was mentioned above, we take the Thirty-Nine Articles to be our confessional statement.
We also rejoice in the fellowship that we enjoy with fellow Anglicans around the globe through GAFCON. With our Anglican brothers and sisters around the globe, we are happy to express our faith in the words of the Jerusalem Declaration.
[1] Barrett, M. (n.d.). The Five Solas. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-five-solas/#:~:text=The%20five%20solas%20of%20the,(glory%20to%20God%20alone).
[2] Ryle, J. C. (1874). Knots Untied (10th ed., pp. 7-10). William Hunt & Company.