This is where we will share with you all you need to know about our theology and philosophy of ministry. Our name communicates all you need to know about our theological distinctives and the practical principles lived out in our church. We are:
Christ-centered Theology. We believe that Christ is the heart and locus of all divine revelation. All Scripture points to Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy Son of God, who is the object of our worship and whom we proclaim as Lord and Savior. For this reason, we believe the best method to proclaim Christ in all Scripture is through expository preaching. This means that the elders will teach about Christ through the Bible verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, and one book at a time (i.e., Lectio Continua). The preacher will show how Scripture is relevant to all aspects of life because Christ is Lord over all. Indeed, Christ’s lordship permeates all areas of church life and ministry, and our members are expected to conform to the image of the Son by living a holy life, humbly submitting themselves to Him according to His Word.
Covenant Theology. We are committed to biblical fidelity because we believe God revealed Himself in His Word and communicated all He required to humanity. In biblical theology, God reveals Himself by way of covenants, wherein He sovereignly initiates and condescends to relay His divine will to His people throughout the ages via various administrations of the same overarching covenant with Christ as the sole substance of them all. This is called the Covenant of Grace. Since the fall of humanity’s federal head, Adam, God was pleased to establish the Covenant of Grace through which salvation unto eternal life was promised through faith alone in Christ alone, who is the Head of the Church, to the glory of God alone.
Therefore, we believe those who genuinely profess Christ as Lord and Savior are members of the Covenant of Grace. The New Testament assumes and expects all covenant members to be active participants in local churches submitting themselves to a biblically qualified plurality of male elders and other members of Christ's body represented in the local church. We believe that active participation necessitates covenanting with a defined group of Christians in the same geographical location, whereby they gather regularly and physically on the Lord’s Day and hold each other accountable to live holy lives, giving sacrificially of themselves, exercising their gifts, loving, and serving one another, edifying, encouraging, and building each other up as they all seek to conform their lives to God’s Word to magnify His Holy Name.
Reformed Theology. We are committed to the historical understanding of the Protestant Reformation, which emphasized the sovereignty of God over all creation, including monergistic salvation. Indeed, the Doctrines of Grace, or as they are commonly called, Calvinism, after the Reformer and father of Protestant theology, John Calvin, stand at the heart of Reformed Theology. Calvinism is the title behind a set of biblical doctrines concerning salvation, emphasizing God’s sovereign grace and power on the one hand and human depravity and inability on the other.
However, Reformed Theology is much more than Calvinism. Reformed Theology highlights the catholicity of our faith, uniting us with all the saints from the apostolic era until today. In other words, the creedal and confessional understanding of the Christian faith is imperative to maintain a Christian orthodoxy that provides solidarity with past Christian generations and continuity with future ones. Indeed, the Reformed confessional standards provide stability for our ancient faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints. For this reason, in addition to Calvinism, historic confessionalism permeates our theology and ministry, affecting every aspect of church governance, worship, service, and congregational life.
Accordingly, Reformed Baptist confessionalism has far-reaching implications for our theology, polity, and practice. Our theological framework is derived from Scripture and is best articulated in the following creeds, confessions, and theological position statements. All of these converge to provide clarity by articulating our beliefs on various biblical doctrines and their applications to this ministry and several critical contemporary issues related to Christian theology and life. This way, you will understand some of our fundamental presuppositions and working assumptions. These presuppositions can be summarised in the following key terms: Evangelical; Confessional; Liturgical; Complementarian; and Gospel-centered. We now turn to explore each of these.
First, we believe the Bible to be God’s Word written down by divinely inspired men; thus, it is infallible and inerrant. Indeed, we are deeply committed to biblical fidelity because we believe God revealed Himself in His Word and communicated all He required to humanity. Therefore, Scripture, rightly interpreted, possesses supreme authority over all people, and it alone can bind people's consciences. No person, private or public institution, theological statement, creed, or council can supersede the authority of Scripture or demand allegiance or compliance to what contradicts it. Finally, it is essential to note that all professing believers must submit themselves, without reservation, to no higher authority than the divinely inspired Word of God, which must comprehensively govern the lives of every Christian. Consequently, this church’s ultimate constitution and rule of faith and practice are derived from Scripture alone.
However, many false teachers, cults, and religions claim that they derive their teaching from the Bible. For this reason, confessional standards and theological positions are imperative for local churches. Indeed, it is what separates us from such groups. Consequently, it is critical for Bible-believing Christians to know how to interpret God’s word and apply it rightly. This is why CCRBC joins a multitude of other faithful Evangelical churches and entities in subscribing to The Chicago Statement of Biblical Inerrancy and The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics. These two statements form the foundation of our interpretation and application of the Word of God and, together with other theological positions we hold, are consistent with our confessional standards. In other words, we subscribe to theological positions that converge to form a unified framework because each doctrinal statement has been carefully selected to reflect a holistic, coherent, consistent, relevant, and practical understanding of the Reformed Christian faith.
Second, as a confessional Reformed Baptist church, in addition to the Apostles’, Nicene, Athanasian, and Chalcedonian Creeds, we subscribe to our historic confession of faith, called the 2nd London Baptist Confession or The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689 LBCF), which we believe most clearly and succinctly articulates the primary doctrines taught in Scripture. Also, since our church is a Canadian National Baptist Convention member and a North American Mission Board church plant, we subscribe to the Baptist Faith & Message.
Hence, we affirm these Baptist confessions as it accurately articulates our theological convictions. Additionally, we honor other Reformation-era confessions, namely, the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity. Indeed, we often use them as teaching material, frequently referring to them during our liturgy as a part of the catechism and encouraging all members to benefit from the richness of the Reformed tradition, notwithstanding our theological differences on a few secondary and tertiary points of doctrine.
Third, as a Reformed congregation, we affirm the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation: “Sola Scriptura” (Scripture Alone); “Sola Gratia” (Grace Alone); “Sola Fide” (Faith Alone); “Solus Christus” (Christ Alone); and “Soli Deo Gloria” (To the Glory of God Alone). This, too, has practical implications for church ministry. For this reason, we join the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals in affirming The Cambridge Declaration. To learn more about the Five Solas, click here. In keeping with the spirit of this declaration and following our doctrinal standards that teach the Regulative Principle of Worship, we have opted to apply a historic Reformation liturgy, adding theological depth and beauty often lost in fellow Evangelical churches. Check out our liturgy here.
Fourth, we believe God created humanity, male and female, with equal worth and dignity, and those masculine and feminine identities are affixed to each since birth with biblically defined roles. Indeed, we believe families, churches, and societies thrive when men and women submit to their God-ordained complementary roles at home and church. Correspondingly, the man is called to live out his role as the servant-leader and head of his wife while she voluntarily and humbly submits to his leadership. This is biblical manhood and womanhood. For this reason, we unapologetically affirm the Danvers Statement.
Additionally, we believe that the church’s theological retreat and our society’s great confusion over gender identity and sexuality stem from biblical illiteracy and a pervasive succumbing to the sinful rebellion against God’s design. Accordingly, we must stand firm with many other faithful Evangelicals on the biblical view of gender identity and sexuality as per the Nashville Statement. Indeed, these statements succinctly and accurately express the biblical understanding of complementarianism, gender roles, identity, and sexuality.
Fifth, we believe the gospel is the ultimate solution to all social ailments. We do not diminish the reality of human evil, resulting in societal injustices, but we distance ourselves from theologies and ideologies that undermine the power of the gospel. Indeed, God’s Law revealed in the Ten Commandments, and the general equity thereof forms the basis of biblical justice, which cannot be equated with the worldly proclamation of “social justice.” We also reject the so-called “theonomic” understanding of God’s Law as well as the social gospel of Liberal churches because ultimate justice and righteousness will be established in the new heaven and earth at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Instead, we believe the church’s primary role is to seek to convert and disciple the ungodly through the proclamation of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ because the ultimate root of all injustice is sin, and the only cure for sin is the gospel.
Nevertheless, we dare not deny the church’s prophetic role in proclaiming the Word to civil magistrates and defending the most vulnerable among us. Yet, good works cannot overshadow our primary calling. Therefore, the church must not waver from its mission, which includes discipling the nations and teaching them all Christ’s commandments, eventually leading to overturning unjust decrees and all ungodly legislation (e.g., abortion). For this reason, we are committed to the faithful preaching of the whole counsel of the Triune God to the glory of His Name. Finally, in light of all that was mentioned, we subscribe to The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel.