WHAT WE BELIEVE
The friends and families of Christ Church Sanford believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ is sufficient in all ways to reconcile us to God and give us eternal life. The gospel of Jesus Christ can be summarized as the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. We embrace the gospel through faith by God’s grace.
Another way to express our statement of faith in simple terms is through the five "Solas" of the protestant reformation. We believe in “Scripture Alone,” “Christ Alone,” “Grace Alone,” “Faith Alone,” and “God’s Glory Alone.”
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Scripture Alone - We believe the Scriptures as contained in the Old and New Testaments to be the only source of written divine revelation, which alone reveals what God requires of us and what we are required to do to honor God. The Bible sufficiently provides everything we need to love and honor God.
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Christ Alone - We believe that our salvation is accomplished through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His sinless life, substitutionary atonement, and resurrection from the dead are sufficient for our reconciliation to God.
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Grace Alone - We believe that we are rescued from God's wrath by God’s grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin, opening our eyes to the person and work of Jesus, and giving us the faith we need to believe on Him for salvation.
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Faith Alone - We believe that justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. As we place our faith in the life and work of Jesus, His righteousness is imputed to us as the only possible satisfaction of God's perfect justice. We understand faith to include at least three commitments in our lives. We must repent of our sins, believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and begin a new obedience to Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
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God’s Glory Alone - We believe that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, that all things are for the Glory of God. God gets the glory and we get the joy!
More specifically, Christ Church Sanford is a mission church supported by the Central Carolina Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We believe that reformed theology (as developed in the protestant reformation) is most consistent with Biblical teaching and we will be covenantal in our understanding of God’s relationship with his people. We will also hold to the Westminster standards as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Shorter and Larger Catechisms.