What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Washington Avenue Christian Church based on the foundational truths taught in the Bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

A belief in one eternally existing God who is three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He is the creator of all that exists, both visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy of all glory and praise.  God is perfect in love, power, holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom,  justice, and mercy. He is unchangeable and therefore is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

A belief in one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

A belief in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament as the inspired Word of God and inerrant in the original writing, and that they are the supreme and final authority in faith and life.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12-13)

A belief that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit, that he was born of a virgin named Mary, and that he was a descendant of the lineage of David.
(John 1:1-2, 14; Luke 1:35)

A belief that man was created in the image of God; that he sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death which is separation from fellowship with God; that all human beings are ultimately sinners, “falling short” of God’s glory. Since man reflects God’s image, all of life, at every age and stage, is sacred.
(Genesis 1:26-27; Romans 3:22-23, 5:12)

A belief that baptism is an integrated part of our salvation process (faith, confession, repentance, baptism, new life). It marks the end of our previous life and the beginning of a new creation in Christ. It is a picture of His burial and resurrection. Baptism is a cleansing, spiritual act to which we freely submit, an outward symbol of an inward commitment, not a legalistic work of salvation. It is a doorway through which the Holy Spirit enters our life.
(John 3:5-8; Romans 8:9-11; Romans 8:14-17; Romans 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38-41; Mark 16:16; Romans 10:10; 1 John 3:24; Ephesians 2:8-9)

A belief in that blessed hope - the personal and imminent return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:12

A belief in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust; the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost.
(Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; John 11:25-26; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13; Luke 23:43; Philippians 1:23, 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

A belief in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord and His ascension into Heaven, and that He is there at the right hand of God as our High Priest and Advocate.
(Acts 1:9-10; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:35; 1 John 2:1-2; 1 Peter 1:3-5)

A belief in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, and that marriage is a spiritual and covenantal union that precedes and supersedes any governmental structure or definition for marriage.
(Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5)

A belief in God as absolute and sole creator of the universe and that creation was by divine decree.
(Genesis 1:1-2:25)