What We Believe
Calvary Chapel Churches have been formed as a fellowship of believers under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is know Christ and be conformed to His image by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as such; only to their over-emphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the Body of Christ.
We believe the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ's (Agape) love, which is greater than differences we possess, and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.
#1
WE BELIEVE worship of God should be spiritual. Therefore, we remain flexible and yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit to direct our worship.
#2
WE BELIEVE worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give great place to music in our worship.
#3
WE BELIEVE worship of God should be intelligent. Therefore, our services are designed with great emphasis upon the teaching of the Word of God that He might instruct us how He should be worshipped.
#4
WE BELIEVE worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have been truly worshipping Him.
#5
WE BELIEVE in all the fundamental doctrines of orthodox evangelical Christianity.
#6
WE BELIEVE in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is the inspired, infallible Word of God.
#7
WE BELIEVE in the trinity – one God eternally existent in three separate persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
#8
WE BELIEVE that God the Father is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.
#9
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human, that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the cross, was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.
#10
WE BELIEVE that after Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to be His witnesses in the entire world, a responsibility shared by all believers today.
#11
WE BELIEVE that all people are by nature separated from God and responsible for their own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit. All his/her sins are forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God destined to spend eternity with the Lord.
#12
WE BELIEVE in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless.
#13
WE AWAIT the pre-tribulation rapture of the church and we believe that the second coming of Christ with His saints to rule on earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. This motivates us to holy living, heartfelt worship, committed service, diligent study of God’s Word, regular fellowship, and participation in adult baptism by immersion and Holy Communion.
#14
WE BELIEVE that church government should be simplistic rather than a complex bureaucracy, and we depend on the Holy Spirit to lead, rather than on fleshly promotion.
#15
WE SEEK to teach the Word of God in such a way that its message can be applied to an individual’s life, leading that person to greater maturity in Christ.
#16
WE REJECT: (1) The belief that true Christians can be demon possessed. (2) “Five point Calvinism” (i.e., a fatalistic Calvinistic view that leaves no room for free will. Specifically, we reject the belief that Jesus’ atonement was limited, instead we believe that He died for all people, and we reject the assertion that God’s wooing grace cannot be resisted or that He has elected some people to go to hell. Instead, we believe that anyone who wills to come to Christ may do so). (3) “Positive confession” (the faith movement belief that God can be commanded to heal or work miracles according to man’s will). (4) Human prophecy that supersedes the Scripture. (5) The incorporation of humanistic and secular psychology and philosophy into biblical teaching, (6) the over-emphasis of spiritual gifts or experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of Biblical teaching.
#17
IN OUR SERVICES, we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. We teach both expositionally and topically. We do not allow speaking in tongues loudly during services or prophecy while a Bible study is in progress because we do not believe that the Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself.