What We Believe
Eastern Heights Christian Church is committed to the principles of our Christian church heritage in the Restoration Movement, as expressed by phrases like these:
Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent.
In essentials, unity; in opinions, liberty; and in all things, love.
We are not the only Christians, but we are Christians only.
No creed but Christ.
These key biblical principles are not intended as a test of fellowship, but are simply meant to affirm our belief in key issues of biblical doctrine. We offer this document as a theological framework to help unify our faith community under the authority of Christ and His Word, and to advance our efforts to communicate the gospel to the world.
We believe in one God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit
(Matthew 5:16, 45; 6:1, 4, 8, 9; James 1: 17; John 1: 1; 14:9; Genesis 1:2; John 4:24; 14:16-20; 2 Peter 1:21). We believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of all things visible and invisible (Genesis 1: 1; Acts 17:24-28; Hebrews 11:3)
We believe in Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son, our one and only Savior (John 1:14; 1 John 4:9; John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:18) Who was born both fully human and fully divine, conceived of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life (Matthew 21:11; John 19:19; John 1:14; Romans 5:15-17; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 1:1; Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26-38; 1 Peter 1:22)
Who suffered and was crucified (Luke 23:1-46)
Who died and was buried, and Who rose again bodily from the dead on the third day (Luke 23:44 - 24:8; John 20:24-29; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8),
Who ascended into Heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father (Luke 22:69; Acts 1:1-9; Colossians 3:1),
And Who will return to earth to judge both the living and the dead (Matthew 24:36-42; John 14:1-3; Acts 1: 10-11; 10:39-42; 1 Peter 4:5).
We believe in the Holy Spirit, Who is a personal and active part of the triune God (John 16:5-15; Acts 1:7-8; Romans 8:26-27),
And Who indwells every Christian (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2 Timothy 1:14).
We believe in the Bible—God's Holy Word. We believe God inspired the original writings of the Scripture, and therefore the Bible is completely trustworthy in all its parts (Mark 12:36; John 14:26; 16:12-15; Acts 1:16; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:14-16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
We accept the Bible as the final authority for all matters of faith and practice (Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 5:18; 24:35; Romans 15:4; Hebrews 4:12).
We believe that people created by God willfully sin against God and are consequently lost and without hope apart from Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12; Romans 3:23).
We believe that salvation—the forgiveness of sins—cannot be earned, but is given to us only through the blood of Jesus Christ and by God’s grace (Matthew 26:28; Romans 5:1-11, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 10:19-22; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; 1 John 1:7).
We believe that we must respond to God by admitting our sin and our need for God’s grace (Romans 3:23; Titus 3:3-7),
Believing and confessing the truth about Jesus (Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9, 10),
Turning away from sin (repenting—Luke 24:45-47; Acts 3:19, 17:30),
Trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord (Romans 10:11-13, Philippians 2:11),
And being baptized (immersed) into Christ (Acts 2:38; Romans 6:1-4
We believe in the church of Jesus Christ, consisting of all Christians everywhere (Matthew 16:13-18; Acts 2:14-47, Ephesians 1:22, 23).
We believe in the church’s mission: making disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all of Jesus’ commands (Matthew 28:18-20).
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person (Genesis 1:26-27).
We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18-25).
We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4).
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, beastiality, incest and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matthew 15:18-20; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Eastern Heights Christian Church.