In Trinity Fellowship Churches, and at Redemption Hill Church, we are united by our common Confession of Faith—one that is Reformed, Christocentric, Continuationist, Complementarian, and Baptistic. Such beliefs summarize for us what the Bible teaches and, as such, are the definition of “sound doctrine” and what our elders affirm, teach, and defend.
Our Confessional of Faith is Reformed
Being Reformed, we uphold a doctrine of Scripture, God, Man, Christ, and Salvation consistent with the magisterial Reformers as summarized in their teaching and writing. As a testimony to this, our confession took as its starting point the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (Second London Confession of Faith). This was then changed at various points to be more fully in line with our understandings (e.g., “Of the Church,” “Of Marriage,” “Of Man” and “Of the Empowering Spirit” was added). Yet, the Reformed heart of the 1689 Confession remains intact.
Our Confession of Faith is Christocentric
Being Christocentric, we see Christ as central to God’s plan of redemption, the Bible, our churches, our message, and our lives. Thus, we “preach Jesus Christ and him crucified,” lift up the name of Jesus as the only path of salvation, recognize that the Old Testament bears witness to him in all of its writings, see a right understanding of Jesus Christ as essential to interpreting the Old and New Testaments, and delight in him as the very centerpiece of God’s “good news,” the gospel that offers salvation freely to all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. To be a Christian is to be in the deepest way possible “in Christ,” and to be a member of the Church is to be a living member of “the body of Christ.”
Our Confession of Faith is Continuationist
Being Continuationist, we affirm that we now live “in the last days” defined by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on “all flesh.” Along with all Reformed Christians, we affirm the necessity of the Spirit’s work in regeneration and sanctification. Yet, as Continuationists, we also believe all the New Testament gifts are available throughout the Church age. Further, these are not just to be believed in but earnestly desired for the building up of the people of God. Such gifts are manifestations of God’s power for the revelation of his glory and the great blessing of his Church—and draw the lost into the kingdom of God. Being both Christocentric and Continuationist, we seek to be robustly trinitarian.
Our Confession of Faith Complementarian
Being Complementarian, we affirm only two genders in God’s created order for humanity, male and female, both made “in the image of God.” These two genders possess differing but complementary roles in the family and in the church. In the family, the husband is the head and called to sacrificially love and honor his wife. The wife is a suitable helper and called to love and submit to him. The two are called to energetically support each other. In the church, elders are to be male, and Scripture says a woman is not “to teach or to exercise authority over a man.” On deacons and gender, see BCO-2.5. Gender roles are never to be used as a basis for affirming any kind of superiority or inferiority but are to be a picture of a unity-in-diversity and diversity-in-unity that glorifies our Creator and becomes a vivid display of the Church and her Savior.
Our Confession of Faith is Baptistic
Being Baptistic, we affirm that all who “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” should be baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” by immersion in water. Baptism is not required for salvation but is a sacrament required for obedience.