What We believe

The Authority of God’s Word and the Centrality of Christ

Central and foremost at ARC we believe that God has spoken in an
inspired, inerrant word, the Bible. Scripture alone is our ultimate authority
both for what we believe and how we live. Jesus Christ, the God-man is
revealed in all of Scripture. He alone is our only comfort in life and in
death. Christ’s preeminence in Scripture, and his role as the only mediator
between God and humanity lead us to worship in a way which places him
at the center of all that we do.

The Necessity and Sufficiency of God’s Grace

Because of the death-dealing effects of sin, there is no spiritual life left in
humanity. We are therefore wholly dependent upon the grace of God to
bring us into communion with his beloved Son, in whom all spiritual
blessings are found. It is God who draws near to us and calls us to himself.

The Spirit’s Gift of Faith

We believe that God’s Spirit works faith in all those whom the Father gave
to the Son. Faith in Christ, and not our own good works, is the only means
by which we are justified in God’s sight.

The Righteousness of Christ

Though we are justified by faith in Christ alone, faith itself is not what
justifies us. The perfect obedience of Jesus Christ, credited to us and
received by faith alone, justifies us. Likewise, Christ’s substitutionary
sacrifice on the cross for the sins of his people is the only atonement to be
found for the guilt and the punishment due for sin.

The Glory of God

Having been freed from the tyranny and dominion of sin through Jesus
Christ, we now seek to live for the glory of God in all of life by his Spirit’s
presence and in reliance on his Word.

The Necessity of Community

In the Bible, Christians are connected to a community of believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ who love God and his Word, pray and worship together
regularly, take care to watch over each other’s needs, and together
demonstrate the forgiveness and love of Christ to one another and the
unbelieving world. When God saves us by his grace, he also adds us to the
Church, his people, the body of Christ. The Church, then, is not something
additional or optional—it is at the very heart of God’s purposes. Jesus
came to create a people who would model what it means to live under his
love and rule. If you are interested in learning more about church
membership, please talk to any of the pastors or elders.

The Confession of Faith

The above-mentioned truths are just a few of a comprehensive system
understanding the Bible’s teaching to which we subscribe, commonly
known as Reformed theology. A more complete description of this system
is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith and in its Larger and
Shorter Catechisms.