Our Beliefs

Covenant Affirmations
A brief form

The Evangelical Covenant Church of America has its roots in historical Christianity, as it emerged in the Protestant Reformation, in the biblical instruction of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, and in the great spiritual awakenings of the nineteenth century.

            We are an apostolic church. We confess the historic faith of the Apostles. We believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, our Savior and Lord. We accept the Holy Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as “the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine and conduct.”

            We are a Reformation church. We stand in the mainstream of the sixteenth-century Protestant movement, which insisted on justification by grace alone through faith alone.

            We are an evangelical church. We were born out of the revival movement that touched all of Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and came to flower for us in nineteenth and twentieth century America.

            Appreciating this classical Christian heritage and hungering for an ever more vital experience of new life in Christ, Covenanters affirm a number of evangelical emphases. Among these are:

            The centrality of the Scriptures, the Old and New Testaments, as the authoritative Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. We believe it is essential to the life of the Church that it is a company of people who want, above all else, that the powerful and living Word of God shape their lives. The alternative is clear. Not to be shaped by the Word is to be shaped by the world.           

            The necessity of the new birth for entrance into God’s Kingdom, and the importance of continuing growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ for sound spiritual health. Jesus said, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). He also said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32).

            The Church as a fellowship of believers, characterized by mutual participation in and sharing of new life in Christ. Membership is by confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It is open to all believers. Considerations of class or race, education or pedigree, wealth or prestige do not enter. Uniformity in creedal details is not expected. What is required is that one be “born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). 

            The ministry of the Holy Spirit, who with the Father and the Son calls the Church into being, empowers its witness, guides its mission, and supplies the gifts needed by the Church and its members to exalt Christ.

            The reality of freedom in Christ, who delivers us from the power of sin and moves us by His grace into a whole new experience of obedience and life. This freedom creates a church climate which allows for differences of opinion in matters of interpretation, doctrine, and practice within the context of biblical guidelines and historical Christianity. Such freedom “is to be distinguished from individualism that disregards the centrality of the Word of God and the mutual responsibility and disciplines of the spiritual community” (Preamble to the Covenant Church Constitution).

            Affirmations like these are not to be taken as creedal statements. They are rather to be understood as true and valid descriptions of what Covenanters believe and cherish as they continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of God, awaiting that day when “the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

A fuller exposition of these affirmations is available in the Church Office  

CENTRAL TRUTHS OF THE REFORMATION

            We affirm the following truths because they are central to the teaching of the Bible.

1. Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)

We believe the Bible to be the only inspired and infallible Word of God, authoritative in doctrine and conduct. The Supreme Judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be none other than the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

2. Solus Christus (Christ Alone)

We believe that our salvation is accomplished by the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father. The work of Christ is unique and complete. There is no other mediator between God and man, and there is nothing that can be added to improve the effectiveness of this work.

3. Sola Fide (Faith Alone)

We believe that salvation is through faith alone. Faith being the sole means by which all the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work are applied to the sinner. Saving faith is accepting, receiving and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification and eternal life. Although authentic faith will always be accompanied by repentance and obedience, these add nothing to the efficacy of that faith, but only increase our confidence in the efficacy of God’s work in our lives.

4. Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

We believe that because of Adam’s sin all humanity is by nature sinful, spiritually dead and under God’s wrath and completely unable to stand before Him, and thus our salvation is by grace alone. The Holy Spirit awakens us from sin and death, enlightens our minds, opens our hearts, renews our wills, and draws us to faith in Christ. We are entirely God’s workmanship.

5. Sola Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)

We believe that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, it is for God’s glory that we must glorify Him always. We must live our entire lives before the face of God, under the authority of God and for His glory alone. God will not share His glory with another.