Our "core" beliefs are those truths which find expression in the following historic creeds:  The Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Chalcedonian Definition.  Below, you will find further explanations of the core beliefs contained within those creeds, as well as Biblical convictions that distinguish us, but in no way contradict the truths contained in those historic creeds.

We also adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message, which can be read in its entirety here

John 3:16–18:  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 5:8: God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 6:23: The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We hold to "Sola Scriptura," which maintains that scripture is the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. This does not minimize the importance of creeds, councils, and church leadership, but maintains that the scriptures are the only infallible source of authority.   The 1689 London Baptist Confession expresses it this way:

"The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed."

We believe that scripture is inspired, inerrant, authoritative, sufficient, necessary, and clear:


We believe the Scriptures are inspired - all scripture is God-breathed, because the Holy Spirit supernaturally influenced and directed the biblical authors as they composed their writings in such a way that what they wrote is exactly what God intended them to write.
Key Scriptures: Matthew 19:4-5; John 10:35; Acts 4:24-26; 1 Corinthians 2:10-12; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21.

We believe the Scriptures are inerrant - the God-breathed Scriptures are wholly true in all things that they assert in the original autographs and therefore function with the authority of God’s own words.
Key Scriptures: Numbers 23:19; Psalms 12:6; 18:30; 19:8; Proverbs 30:5; John 10:35; 14:26; 16:13; 17:17; Hebrews 6:18.

We believe the Scriptures are authoritative - as the inspired word of God, the Bible possesses the right to command what Christians are to believe, do, and be, and to prohibit what Christians are not to be, do, and believe.
Key Scriptures: Deuteronomy 30:15-18; Matthew 5:17-18; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 4:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:14; 2 Peter 3:15-16.

We believe the Scriptures are sufficient - they provide everything that people need to be saved, and everything that Christians need to please God fully.
Key Scriptures: Deuteronomy 4:2; Psalm 19:7-11; Proverbs 30:6; Matthew 4:4; Romans 10:13-17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 2:1-3; Revelation 22:18-19.

We believe the Scriptures are necessary - the scriptures are essential for knowing the way of salvation, progression in holiness, and for discerning God’s will.
Key Scriptures: Deuteronomy 4:2; Psalm 19:7-11; Proverbs 30:6; Matthew 4:4; Romans 10:13-17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 2:1-3; Revelation 22:18-19.

We believe that scripture is clear - scripture is written in such a  way that it can be understood.  All that is needed to understand scripture is the normal acquired ability to read texts or understand oral communication. This does not mean scripture is always easy to understand, nor does it mean we shouldn’t rely on the local church, pastors, teachers, etc to aid our proper understanding of scripture.
Key Scriptures: Deuteronomy 29:29; 30:11-14; 31:9-13; Nehemiah 8; Acts 17:10-12; Romans 4:22-24; 10:6-10; 15:4; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; 10:6-11; 1 Timothy 4:13; 1 Peter 2:1-3.

We believe in the canonicity of the 66 books contained in the protestant Bible. The word “canon” means “list.”  The biblical canon is the list of the books that God wanted to be included in his inspired, authoritative Word.
Key Scriptures: Luke 24:44; 2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 3:15-16; Revelation 22:18.

*For additional statements on inerrancy, see The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy.

The Son of God is the second person of the trinity, equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  In the incarnation, He took on human nature and became the God-man, one person with two natures. The Son is worthy of worship, obedience, trust, and service. Jesus, the Son of God, holds three offices: prophet, priest, and king.  As Prophet, he reveals God and His ways. As Priest, He mediates between God and His people. As King, He rules over creation, including humanity. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus atones for our sin.  He absorbs the punishment we deserve, removes our guilt, redeems us from our bondage to sin, reconciles us to God, and defeats sin, death, and Satan. The resurrection of Jesus displays the deity of the Son of God. The resurrection marks the Father’s satisfaction with the Son’s completed work. His resurrection fulfilled the promise that the Holy One would not see corruption but would be vindicated for His obedience to the Father’s will.When he ascended back to heaven, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father. The Father granted him all authority to rule over all creation. The exalted Christ, along with the Father, pours out the Holy Spirit. The exalted Christ is the head of the church which is his body.

We believe there is only one God, who exists eternally in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is referred to as the Trinity. Each person is fully God, sharing one divine nature, equal in essence, glory, and power.  The three persons are distinct in their roles and relations, however they still operate inseparably in all their works. The triune God has both communicable attributes (those he communicates, or shares) and incommunicable attributes (those he does not communicate or share).God’s incommunicable attributes include His independence, omniscience, immutability, eternality, omnipresence, simplicity, and spirituality. God’s communicable attributes include wisdom, truthfulness, faithfulness, love, goodness, mercy, patience, holiness, jealousy, wrath, righteousness, and power. God calls his image bearers to reflect his character by reflecting these attributes.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, equal in nature, power, and glory with the Father and the Son and to be worshiped together with them.  He is a divine person, not a power, force, or influence. While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together inseparably, their roles in creation, redemption, and consummation are distinct. The Spirit’s work is particularly associated with speaking, the application of salvation and indwelling the people of God.Promised in prophets for those in the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the church by Jesus Christ through the power of his resurrection. The Spirit now brings believers into communion with the Father and the Son through the new birth, fills the believer with the love of God, works holiness in the lives of believers, empowers Christians to proclaim the good news of Jesus, bestows gifts on individual believers for the good of the church, and convinces people of the truth of the gospel. Believers ought to seek to be continually filled with the Spirit in order to love others through our words and deeds, seeking to build up the church through the gifts Jesus Christ gives to his Church through the Spirit.

The Bible uses many words for sin. Many are expressions that view sin as a failure or a “falling short” of a standard. In this sense, sin is a failure to keep God’s law (“lawlessness,” 1 John 3:4), a lack of God’s righteousness (Rom. 1:18), an absence of reverence for God (Rom. 1:18; Jude 15), a refusal to know (Eph. 4:18), and, most notably, a “coming short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Thus, sin is the quality of any human action that causes it to fail to glorify the Lord fully. More specifically, the biblical descriptions of sin can be further defined as a failure to glorify God and a rebellion against him (1 John 3:4; Rom. 1:18; 3:23; Eph. 4:18); as an offense against God and a violation of his law (Gen. 39:9; Ps. 51:4; Rom. 8:7; 1 John 3:4); as a willful act and a present state of human existence (Ezek. 18:4; Matt. 7:17); as personal and social (Josh. 7; Isa. 1:2–4; 10:1–4; Jer. 5:12, 28–29); as involving commission (a deed done), omission (a deed left undone), and imperfection (a deed done with wrong motives; Matt. 22:37); as a rouge element in creation (Gen. 1:31); as a failure to image the Creator to the world (Jer. 2:11–12; Rom. 1:23; 3:23; 8:20–22; 1 Cor. 1:18–25); as including guilt and pollution (Mark 7:21–23; Rom. 1:18; cf. 3:19–20; Eph. 2:3); as including thoughts (Exod. 20:17; Matt. 5:22, 28), words, (Isa. 6:5; James 3:1–18) and actions (Gal. 5:19–21); as deceit (Jer. 17:9; Heb. 3:12–13); and as having a beginning in history and an end in the future (1 Cor. 15:55–57).

The church is the new covenant people of God. The word church can be used to refer both to all believers, both living and dead (universal church), and to individual local gatherings of believers (local church). The church has its roots in the promises made to God’s people in the Old Testament, particularly that God would bless the world through Abraham’s offspring. While there is continuity between the Old Testament people of God and the church, the church is the community of Jesus, new at Pentecost. As such, the church is the fulfillment of God’s promise to the prophets that he would make a new and better covenant with his people and write his law on their hearts. The mission of the church is the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20): to go out into the world with the authority of the risen Christ and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to follow Jesus until he returns, all to the glory of God.

Most of the time in the NT the “church” refers to the local church, the gathered community of God’s people who are covenanted together to worship the triune God, love one another, and witness to the world (Acts 14:23; 16:5). This designation is the main usage of the term “church”; the Bible emphasizes the church as a local group of identifiable believers committed to Christ and each other, working together to glorify God and to serve his mission.
The local church is the primary center of fellowship and worship, and the chief means God uses for evangelism, disciple-making, and ministry. The local church is where the Word is taught and preached (2 Tim. 3:16–4:2). The local church is where the ordinances are practiced in baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 28:18–20; 1 Cor. 11:23–26).
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Baptism is a human act by which faith in God’s provision of salvation is expressed. It is not salvific but testifies to salvation already experienced. We believe scripture prescribes baptism by immersion.  Baptism by immersion vividly portrays new believers’ identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ (Rom 6:3-5; Gal 3:26-28).

The Lord’s Supper, was instituted by Jesus to commemorate his death, to symbolize the New Covenant, to point to the fellowship of a redeemed people gathered at his table, and to anticipate the messianic banquet yet to come. At the Supper, Christ is present spiritually in a special way but is not present physically. There is a true spiritual communion that takes place between the Lord and his church as it is celebrated. When Jesus says “This is my body,” and “this is my blood,” the word “is” retains a symbolic (and not literal) meaning, but at the same time there is a true “sharing” in Christ that takes place.

Death, which is a penalty for sin, is the cessation of the functioning of the human body and its temporary separation from the human soul. Death is not the end of existence, as the disembodied person continues to exist in the intermediate state until the resurrection. At their death, Christians enter immediately into the presence of Christ in heaven and exist there as disembodied believers.  At their death, non-Christians are plunged immediately into the torment of separation from God, while awaiting their final judgment.

Jesus Christ will return suddenly bodily, and triumphantly to the world in the future to judge the living and the dead. Though God has determined the time of the second coming, human beings cannot know it.  This will bring about the final judgment, carried out personally by Jesus Christ. Those who trust in Jesus Christ alone will be raised to eternal reward and re embodied. This is their glorification. Those who have not trusted in Jesus Christ will be raised to eternal punishment. (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15)

In addition to our core beliefs, held by orthodox Christians everywhere, we also hold beliefs that, while rooted in our interpretation of scripture, our not held by all orthodox Christians everywhere. Complete agreement with these beliefs is not required for membership, but it should be recognized that the leadership of the church will preach, teach, and counsel from a theological perspective based on these beliefs.

A theological distinction of Hope City Church is continuationism; we believe that all spiritual gifts seen in the New Testament— including those of prophecy, healing, and speaking in tongues—did not cease with the death of the apostles but continue for consistent and well-ordered use in the Church for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. Our practice is guided by and under the authority of the Word of God to be exercised in the manner of humility worthy of our calling as Christ followers.