New Life Church What does New Life Believe?
There are three ways to answer that question: where we stand
theologically, what our doctrinal statement signifies, and how we
approach the personal and corporate Christian life.
First, in terms of our theological
convictions, we generally hold to classic evangelical
Christian declarations such as the
Nicene Creed and the
Westminster Confession of Faith. In plain language, that means
New Life Church is on the more theologically conservative side of
the Church spectrum: we believe in the fundamentals of historic
Christianity, including the Trinity, the presence of sin in our
world, and the reality of a never-ending life that follows this one.
However, we also recognize that many dedicated Christians sincerely
disagree about many matters of doctrine and teaching (such as on
spiritual gifts, on the question of free will vs. predestination, or
on end times issues), and we don’t want those disagreements to
affect our acceptance of and care for other genuine believers. For
that reason, second, New Life Church’s doctrinal statement
is very brief. It outlines three truths which we believe separate
between those who are Christians and those who are not: (1) that
Jesus Christ was and is uniquely both God and Man, the fullness of
deity in human flesh; (2) that salvation is possible only by faith
in the blood of Jesus Christ, the substitute for our sin, and this
salvation is a gift from God, totally of grace and totally apart
from any human deeds or efforts; and (3) that all other doctrinal
positions of this church should be discussed and decided on the
basis of the Word of God and in genuine Christian love for each
other. No one can become part of New Life Church without agreeing to
those three points.
But to lots of folks, descriptions like those first two answers can
seem vague and pointless. That’s why there’s a third
answer to the question, “What does New Life Church believe?”:
our practical approach. We believe that the
Christian life should be one of joy and fulfillment as we grow
toward the purpose God has planted in us. And we believe that
belonging together as a church should help each other toward that
purpose, should provide everything necessary for authentic spiritual
growth. Since our goal is to see each member experience an on-going
transformation, we believe we truly need each other for that
transformation to happen in our lives.