We are a Confessional Church
The Elders of Crossroads Church affirm both the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Holy Bible that is the Word of God. We consider confessions invaluable for equipping the saints and teaching the Essential Doctrines of the Christian Faith as revealed in Holy Scriptures that are our only standard and authority, and rule of faith. The Holy Bible is the inspired Word of God and is the basis for any statement of faith.
Crossroads Church subscribes to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 and 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. For brevity a weblink to these documents:
At times, when necessary, the Elders will provide clarity on specific issues as needed for deeper study. It is the Word of God alone that governs the church, her worship, polity and all things therein and as such, the doctrines of God and His redemptive narrative. Therefore, the essence of all that scripture teaches as essential is found in our confession as expressly and certainly clarified as to avoid indifference or confusion about matters of the Christian faith.
Holy Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient, certain, and infallible standard of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. The full scriptural canon, Genesis – Revelation, is absolute and necessary because God’s former ways of revealing His will to his people have now ceased. The Holy Scriptures are objective, inspired, inerrant in the original documents, infallible, and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:15-17). The Holy Bible is God’s written revelation to man, given to us by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:7-14).
We teach that there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, but there is only one true interpretation. The true meaning of scripture can only be found under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 7:17; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20). Scripture interprets scripture. Therefore, all scripture supports all interpretations of any given passage. The understanding of scripture cannot start with human wisdom, rather a central dependence on God Himself, through His Word and Spirit (Proverbs 3:5-6; 2 Peter 1:20; Acts 15:15).
God
We teach that there is only one true and living God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4). He is infinite, all-knowing, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, and eternally existing in three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (John 4:24; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
God the Father. God, the Father is the first Person of the Trinity, orders and disposes of all things according to His purpose and grace (Psalm 145:8-9; 1 Corinthians 8:6). He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1-31; Ephesians 3:9). As He is the Father to all men (Ephesians 4:6), He is the spiritual Father to only believers in His Son, Jesus (Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians 6:18).
He has decreed for His glory and will, all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11). He upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and events (1 Chronicles 29:11). His sovereignty is neither the author nor approver of sin (Habakkuk 1:13; John 8:38-47). In His grace, He has chosen from eternity past those whom He would have as His own (Ephesians 1:4-6). He saves from sin those who come to Him through Jesus Christ, as they are his adopted (John 1:12; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Hebrews 12:5-9).
God the Son. We teach that Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity and possesses all the divine excellencies with the Father. The Father and Son are One (John 10:30; 14:9).
We teach that God the Father created according to His own will, through His Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things continue in existence and operation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:2).
In His incarnation, Christ fully possessed His Divine nature and attributes (Colossians 2:9; Luke 5:18-26; John 16:30). However, Jesus did not always express the glories of His majesty, by concealing them in His humanity (Matthew 17:2; Mark 13:32; Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35) and thus born of a woman (Galatians 4:4-5), so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the divine, and the human, were joined together in one person, without confusion, change, division, or separation. As result, Jesus is God and man, being the Christ, the mediator between God and man.
With His human nature, Jesus acts in submission to the Father (John 4:34; 5:19, 30; 6:38) by the power of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 42:1; Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:1, 14).
We teach that Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through the shedding of His blood and sacrificial death on the cross and that His death was voluntary, substitutionary, and propitiatory (John 10:15; Romans 3:24-25, 5:8; 1 Peter 2:24).
Jesus Christ’s death gives the believer freedom from the penalty of death, the power of temptation, and one day the very presence of sin. Based on the death of Jesus – a believer is declared righteous before God, and given eternal life, and adopted into the family of God (Romans 3:25; 5:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18).
We teach that Jesus Christ is now at the right hand of the Father, where He now mediates as our Advocate and High Priest (Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:38-39; Acts 2:30-31; Romans 4:25; 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1). Also, that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God has accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Jesus’ resurrection is the very promise for all believers’ future bodily resurrection, as Jesus Christ is the first fruits (John 5:26-29; 14:19; Romans 1:4; 4:25; 6:5-10; 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23; Colossians 1:18). Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, Mediator between God and man.
God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, eternal, underived, possessing all the attributes of personality and deity, including intellect (1 Corinthians 2:10-13), emotions (Ephesians 4:30), will (1 Corinthians 12:11), eternality (Hebrews 9:14), omnipresence (Psalm 139:7-10), omniscience (Isaiah 40:13-14), omnipotence (Romans 15:13), and truthfulness (John 16:13). He is co-equal with the Father and the Son. (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
The work of the Holy Spirit is to execute the divine will with relation to all mankind. The Holy Spirit was involved with creation (Genesis 1:2), the incarnation (Matthew 1:18), the written revelation (2 Peter 1:20-21), and the work of salvation (John 3:5-7).
The Holy Spirit came from the Father, from the promise of Christ (John 14:16-17; 15:26), at Pentecost. He initiated the building of the Body of Christ, which is the church (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Spirits’ Divine activity is to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ and transforming believers into the image of Christ (John 16:7-9; Acts 1:5; Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:6 Ephesians 1:13).
The Holy Spirit is the sovereign Agent in regeneration, as He baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). He also indwells, sanctifies, instructs, empowers believers for service, and seals them unto the day of redemption (Romans 8:9; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Ephesians 1:13). Every believer has the presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation, and it is the duty of the believer (those who have been born of the Spirit) to be filled with (controlled) the Spirit (John 16:13; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18; 1 john 2:20, 27).
The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to the church for the purpose and benefit of the church and the glory of God. Gifts given are to exalt Christ and the message of the Gospel (John 16:13-14, Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
We teach, in this respect, that God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the bestowing of all His gifts for the perfecting of the saints today, and that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles in the beginning days of the church were to point to and authenticate the apostles as revealers of divine truth and were never intended to be characteristic of the lives of believers (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:8-10; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:7-12; Hebrews 2:1-4).
Man
We teach that man was directly created by God in His image and likeness. God’s intention in creation was that man should glorify God, enjoy God’s fellowship, live his life in the will of God, and by this accomplish God’s purpose for man in the world (Isaiah 43:7; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11).
Man incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death through the sin of Adam. Man became subject to the wrath of God and became inherently corrupt and utterly incapable of choosing or doing that which is acceptable to God apart from divine grace. Man is now hopeless and lost due to the corrupted nature of humanity that began at Adam. We teach that all men are in Adam, a nature defined by sin, transmitted to all men of all ages, Jesus Christ being the only exception. Therefore, all men are sinners by nature, by choice, and by divine declaration (Psalm 14:1-3; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9-18, 23, 5:10-12).
Salvation
We teach that salvation is wholly of God by grace based on the redemption of Jesus Christ, the merit of His shed blood, and not based on human merit or works (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
Regeneration is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit by which the divine nature and divine life are given (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:5). This regeneration is dependent on the Spirit of God and the Word of God (John 5:24). When a sinner repents, as enabled by the Holy Spirit, they can now respond with faith. Genuine regenerations are manifested by fruits worthy of repentance as demonstrated in righteous attitudes and conduct.
Good works are the proper evidence and fruit of regeneration (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10) and will be experienced to the extent that the believer submits to the control of the Holy Spirit in his life through faithful obedience to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:17-21; Philippians 2:12b; Colossians 3:16; 2 Peter 1:4-10). This obedience transforms the believer more into the image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
We teach that sovereign election does not contradict or negate the responsibility of man to repent and trust Christ as Savior and Lord (Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11; John 3:18-19, 36; 5:40; Romans 9:22-23; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; Revelation 22:17). Nevertheless, since sovereign grace includes the means of receiving the gift of salvation as well as the gift itself, sovereign election will result in what God determines. All whom the Father calls to Himself will come in faith, and all who come in faith the Father will receive (John 6:37-40, 44; Acts 13:48; James 4:8).
In our Salvation, we receive separation from our sin and the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5), justification before God (Romans 8:33), progressive sanctification (Acts 20:32; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11), security till the end (John 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 5:9-10; 8:1, 31-39; 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 7:25; 13:5; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 2:4), all by God’s power.
The Church
Those who are born again (saved) are immediately placed by the Holy Spirit into one united spiritual Body, the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). We are the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:23-32; Revelation 19:7-8) as Jesus Christ is the head of His church (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; Colossians 1:18).
This Body of Christ began on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-21, 38-47) and will be completed at the coming of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
The establishment and continuity of local churches are taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:23, 27; 20:17, 28; Galatians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1) and that the members of the one spiritual Body are directed to associate themselves together in local assemblies (1 Corinthians 11:18-20; Hebrews 10:25).
The church is to glorify God (Ephesians 3:21) by building itself up in the faith (Ephesians 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Timothy 2:2, 15; 3:16-17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42) and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8; 2:42). We teach the calling of all saints to the work of service (1 Corinthians 15:58; Ephesians 4:12; Revelation 22:12). We teach the need of the church to cooperate with God as He accomplishes His purpose in the world. To that end, He gives the church spiritual gifts. He gives men chosen to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:7-12), and He also gives unique and special spiritual abilities to each member of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-31; 1 Peter 4:10-11).
Ordinances
Two ordinances have been committed to the local church: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:38-42).
Baptism. Christian baptism by immersion (Acts 8:36-39) is the solemn and beautiful testimony of a believer showing forth his faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and his union with Him in death to sin and resurrection to a new life (Romans 6:1-11). It is also a sign of fellowship and identification with the visible Body of Christ (Acts 2:41-42). As the work of the Holy Spirit baptizes believers into the family of God, we are commanded to be baptized by immersion, as it is tethered to our obedience and conscience (Acts 2:41; Acts 8:35-39; Acts 16:30-34; 1 Peter 3:21)
The Lord’s Supper. is the commemoration and proclamation of His death until He comes and should be always preceded by self-examination in the context of the church community (1 Corinthians 11:28-32). We also teach that, whereas the elements of Communion are only representative of the flesh and blood of Christ, participation in the Lord’s Supper is nevertheless an actual communion with the risen Christ, who indwells every believer, and so is present, fellowshipping with His people as part of a believer’s divine sanctification. (1 Corinthians 10:16).