- We believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original documents, infallible and authoritative.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious, substitutionary, and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule as Head of the Church and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord.
- We believe in the essential and present ministry of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, with equality across racial, gender, and class differences.
- We believe in the personal, bodily, and glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service, and energetic mission.
Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality
We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen. 1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person.
We believe that the term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Gen 2:18-25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb 13:4).
We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including but not limited to adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual behavior, polygamy, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10).
We believe that God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11).
We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31). Demeaning, harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accordance with Scripture.
Statement on the Dignity and Sanctity of Human Life
We believe all persons are created in the image of God giving them intrinsic dignity regardless of ethnicity or gender. Christians, through the local church, are then called to serve the needs of the poor and marginalized by building a culture of dignity through sharing the gospel, and providing for basic material needs while preventing the damage to human dignity that comes through paternalism.
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. A failure to do so would be a sin.
Statement on Final Authority
This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of ECAP’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy and discipline, our board of trustees is ECAP’s final interpretative authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.