Statement OF faith
by Chuck Smith
Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to 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 any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians.
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.
We believe worship of God should be inspirational. Therefore, we give great place to music in our worship.
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.
We believe worship of God should be fruitful. Therefore, we look for His love in our lives as the supreme manifestation that we have truly been worshipping Him.
We believe in all the basic doctrines of historic Christianity.
We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, that the Bible, Old and New Testaments are the inspired, infallible Word of God.
We believe that God is eternally existent in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe that God is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things.
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 substitutionary death on the cross, was bodily raised from the dead, ascended back to the right hand of the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us.
We believe in the personal, visible, and pre-millennial second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth. He will return with His saints and set up a kingdom of which there will be no end.
After Jesus ascended to Heaven, He poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His command to preach the Gospel to the entire world, an obligation shared by all believers today.
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.
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.
The Good News...
...How To Become Born Again...
First, realize that we are all sinners. The Bible tells us,
“There is none righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10) We have all broken the Law of God, and we deserve nothing but God’s judgment and wrath.
Second, realize that God loves you and that He sent His Son to die for you. We all deserve to die for our sins, but Christ died in our place:
“Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God.” (I Peter 3:18)
Third, repent of your sins. Repentance involves a willingness to leave sin behind and to turn your life over to Jesus Christ as Lord of your life.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Fourth, come by faith and trust Christ. Salvation, the Bible tells us, is a free gift, but we must respond and make that gift our own:
“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
How do we accept this gift? By a simple act of faith in which you say “yes” to Christ. If you have never accepted Christ into your life, we invite you to do it right now before another minute passes. Simply tell God that you know you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your sins. Tell Him that you believe Jesus Christ died for you and that you want to give your life to Him right now and follow Him as Lord for the rest of your life.
If you have done that, then God has forgiven all your sins, and you can accept by faith now that you are a new creation in Christ;
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
If you have put your trust in Jesus Christ and asked Him to be your Savior, then let us know. We would love to pray with you, talk with you, get you more information - do whatever we can to help you to know Jesus in a more personal way!