But to fully understand what that means, we must answer the questions, Who is Jesus Christ?, What must we believe about him?, and What is this “gospel”?

For this reason, we embrace biblical and historic Christianity as expressed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and as summarized in the creeds of the early church (Apostles’ and Nicene) and the Second London Confession (1689). As part of a contemporary and broader movement of gospel-centered missional churches, we also affirm The Gospel Coalition’s Confessional Statement.

For a helpful Q&A format of our core beliefs (with readings and videos), see the New City Catechism.

Through these confessional standards, we not only bring clarity to the convictions we hold but also demonstrate our common heritage with the church throughout the ages (2 Tim 1:13).

Summary of Basic Beliefs

The following is a summary of our most basic Christian teachings. For a more detailed look of doctrinal beliefs, see the links provided above.

• God’s Nature: The Trinity | There is one God, eternally existing as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, and is sovereignly bringing about his purposes to redeem his people and restore creation. Because of God, life has meaning and purpose. 
• God’s Revelation: The Bible | God has revealed himself through creation, through Jesus, and through the Scriptures. The Scriptures (the Bible) are the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which contain everything we need to know about having a right relationship with God and our fellow human beings and is the authoritative basis for all our beliefs. We are called to submit to, study, and joyfully obey the authoritative Word of God.
• God’s Creation: Mankind | God created men and women in his image. We are created, dependent beings, and recognize that men and women are created to complement one another through their distinct roles in the family and church. Because every human is created in the image of God, everyone deserves our dignity, honor, love, and respect, not because of who they are or what they do, but by sheer virtue of being human.
• God’s Judgment: The Fall | We are all sinners by nature and by choice. In our quest for independence and the centrality of self, all people begin their lives alienated from God in sin, and in this condition are without hope and under judgment. The just penalty for our sins is death; apart from God’s loving, gracious, and saving intervention, we are under the wrath of God.
• God’s Plan: Redemption | From all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation. God does the work of choosing and saving those who put their faith in Jesus in a way that mysteriously neither diminishes human responsibility nor marginalizes the importance and power of prayer and evangelism. We are called to repent and believe.
• God’s News: The Gospel | The gospel is the center of our historic faith and the main message of the Bible. It is the good news that Jesus lived, died, and rose so that, by faith in him, we can be reconciled with God. This gospel is not only the means by which people are saved, but also the truth and power by which are enabled to joyfully do what is pleasing to God and to grow in his likeness. The salvation offered in this gospel message is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; no ordinance, ritual, work, or any other activity on the part of man is required in order to be saved. Both Christians and non-Christians need this gospel.
• God’s Son: Jesus Christ, the Redeemer | Jesus is the promised Messiah of the Scriptures, fully God and fully man. On the cross he accomplished redemption for sinners by standing in our place, absorbing God’s just wrath, and bearing our full penalty of our sins. By letting the cross crush him and rising from the grave, he broke the power of sin and death. His resurrection and ascension brings a living hope that one day all sin and evil will be destroyed. Jesus is the only way to salvation.
• God’s Work: Justification | Jesus’ sinless life and atoning sacrifice is credited to all who trust in him as full payment for their sins, putting them in right standing with God. He is the sole Mediator able to restore the broken relationship (and resulting alienation) between God and people. We are motivated towards obedience because of the gift of justification.
• God’s Spirit: The Holy Spirit | The Holy Spirit is actively working before, during, and after salvation. He is present with and in followers of Christ, working in unison with the Word of God to guide them in all truth. He is the power that instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living, service, and mission.
• God’s Reign: The Kingdom of God | The Kingdom of God is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in all of creation, and will be fully realized in the new heaven and new earth. We take part in advancing the Kingdom of God by living as salt and light in our world—for the glory of God and the good of others.
• God’s People: The Church | God continues his work on earth through the church. The church is the heart of Christian community. It functions as our adoptive spiritual family and is the primary means by which we experience his grace through relationship. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. God wants all members of his worldwide Church to be active in a local church which meets regularly to worship God, serve each other, and be a life-giving presence in their local community and world.
• God’s Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper | We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
• God’s New Creation: The Restoration of All Things| God will physically resurrect all people at the return of Jesus Christ for either an eternity in hell or an eternity in the new heaven and new earth. God will renew creation and his people will joyfully live forever in the new heaven and new earth.
• On Humble Orthodoxy | We hold these truths in humble conviction and believe them to be fully taught and validated by Scripture. We also affirm the ecumenical creeds of the early church (Apostles’ and Nicene) along with the Second London Confession of 1689. While these are unavoidably imperfect documents still subordinate to Scripture, we believe they serve as helpful and reliable summaries of biblical, historic Christian teachings.
• On Church Partnerships and Associations | Participating in formal associations and partnerships with like-minded churches, rather than being a source of division or exclusion, is a thoroughly biblical means of being tangibly connected to the global historic church. It allows us to leverage combined resources for the health of our churches, success in our mission to multiply disciples, and accountability to God’s Word. KXC is in association with the Pacific Church Network of baptistic churches and is a full member of the Acts 29 Global Church Planting Network.