Statement of Faith

"And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace."

~Luke 1:76-79

God                                                          

1. We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory. 

The Bible 

2. We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition 

3. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed. 

Jesus Christ 

4. We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate. 

The Work of Christ 

5. We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit

6. We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church 

7. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head.  The true church is made manifest in each local church whose membership should be composed only of believers.  At Dayspring Christian School, we expect our families to be active participants in a local church that recognizes Jesus as Lord and Savior and serves Him according to the Scriptures.

Christian Living 

8. We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially.  In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed. 

Christ’s Return 

9. We believe in the personal and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ at a time known only to God.

Response and Eternal Destiny 

10. We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

Marriage

11. We believe that marriage is always to be between one man and one woman only. It is not permissible for a man to have more than one wife at the same time or a woman to have more than one husband at the same time, nor for a couple to live together as husband and wife outside the covenant of marriage.  Homosexual unions and same-sex marriages, even if sanctioned by the civil authorities, are aberrations of God’s law and thus ungodly and not permissible.

Children

12. We believe that children belong to God who has given the responsibility and authority for their education to their parents and that it is their responsibility to protect this parental right.

 

This Statement of Faith is adapted from EFCA (http://go.efca.org/resources/document/efca-statement-faith)