Doctrinal Statement
Article I—The Scriptures
EBCTS believes that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
EBCTS understands “inspired by God” to mean that the entire Bible was written as the Holy Spirit moved holy men of God to record the very words of Scripture. While God used human authors, the words themselves are fully and completely His.
EBCTS affirms that God’s inspiration extends equally to every part of Scripture—whether historical, poetical, doctrinal, or prophetical.
EBCTS also maintains that this inspired Word has been divinely preserved throughout history, free from error or contradiction.
EBCTS believes that all of Scripture centers upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.
EBCTS further holds that no passage of Scripture is properly understood until it leads to a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ.
EBCTS believes that all Scripture has been given for practical instruction to guide believers in their daily walk with God.
Article II—The Triune God
The Trinity
EBCTS believes there is one true and living God, revealed in both the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible. He alone is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all things. He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
EBCTS holds that God eternally exists in three persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three are one in essence, equal in power and glory, and each is worthy of the same honor, worship, and obedience.
God the Father
EBCTS believes that God the Father sovereignly rules over all creation and personally governs the universe.
EBCTS holds that God the Father has ordained the course of human history according to His gracious and eternal purposes as revealed in the Scriptures.
EBCTS affirms that God is Father to all who come to Him through personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Redeemer.
God the Son
EBCTS confesses that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God—uncreated, coequal, and coeternal with the Father in essence and nature.
EBCTS believes that Christ was active in creation and continues to sustain all things by His power.
EBCTS affirms that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and therefore free from the sin nature inherited from Adam.
EBCTS believes that Jesus perfectly revealed and accomplished the will of the Father. Though fully God, He took upon Himself full humanity, yet remained completely without sin.
EBCTS holds that through His substitutionary death on the cross, Jesus Christ provided redemption for all mankind.
EBCTS further affirms that on the third day after His crucifixion, Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, appeared to His disciples, and forty days later ascended into heaven, where He now sits exalted at the right hand of God.
EBCTS believes that Jesus Christ presently serves as the only Mediator between God and humanity.
EBCTS holds that Jesus Christ will one day return bodily to earth in power and glory to judge the world and complete His redemptive mission.
EBCTS believes that every person owes their full allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
God the Holy Spirit
EBCTS believes that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and is fully God.
EBCTS holds that the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Scripture and continues to illuminate believers so they may understand divine truth.
EBCTS affirms that He calls individuals to salvation and is the agent of regeneration. At the moment of new birth, He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ.
EBCTS teaches that since the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit indwells every believer permanently. Once He has taken residence within, He will never leave the believer, regardless of merit.
EBCTS believes that the Holy Spirit actively works in the life of every Christian in various ways.
EBCTS further holds that the Holy Spirit seals each believer until the day of final redemption.
Article III — The Nature and Condition of Man
EBCTS believes that mankind was originally created in Adam in the image and likeness of God.
EBCTS holds that Adam fell through sin, and as a result, humanity lost its spiritual life and became dead in trespasses and sins. This fallen nature has been passed on to all people except Jesus Christ, who was virgin-born. Because of this, humanity is spiritually dead and unable to restore fellowship with God apart from divine grace.
Article IV — Salvation
EBCTS believes that salvation is by the grace of God alone, completely apart from human works or merit. No ordinance or religious act, including baptism, contributes to salvation in any degree.
EBCTS holds that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.
EBCTS affirms that while salvation is available to all, it becomes effective only for those who, through faith, accept the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Redemption is accomplished solely through His shed blood, by which He became our substitute, bearing our sin and curse so that we might live.
EBCTS believes that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born again by the Spirit of God.
Article V — Eternal Security
EBCTS believes that all true believers are kept secure by God’s saving grace until the day of redemption and for all eternity.
EBCTS affirms that while God disciplines His children when they sin, this divine chastening is given in love and never jeopardizes the believer’s eternal security. Sin may break fellowship with God, but not relationship. Upon repentance and confession, fellowship is restored.
EBCTS holds that Jesus Christ will ultimately present every believer faultless before the throne of God, and none shall be lost from the care of the Triune God.
EBCTS further believes that every believer may have full assurance of salvation from the very moment they trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
Article VI—The Church
ATS holds that all believers from the Day of Pentecost until the Rapture of the Church prior to the Tribulation of the last days are members of the Church, the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ. Having begun at Pentecost and not before, the Church is wholly separate from and distinct from Israel.
ATS holds all believers of this present age, whether Jew or Gentile, are baptized by the Spirit into the Body of Christ.
Article VII—The Ordinances
ATS holds that there are two and only two ordinances for the Church, these being water baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism serves as a sign that a person who is already saved through the blood of Christ alone is identifying himself with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life which He alone can grant. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial, looking back to the cross of Jesus Christ and the blood which He shed upon that cross, and is anticipatory, looking forward to the return of Jesus at His coming again.