About · Christ Reformed Fellowship

What We Believe

We hold to the historic Reformed Baptist faith, confessing Scripture alone as our supreme authority, and the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith as our faithful summary of its teaching.

Our Foundation

Built on the whole counsel of God.

We are a confessional Reformed Baptist church. This means we do not merely believe the Bible in some vague, general sense: we have articulated what we believe the Bible teaches in a precise and tested confession of faith.

Our secondary standard — the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689) — stands in the great tradition of the Reformed confessions, sharing the theological convictions of the Westminster Standards while articulating a distinctly Baptist understanding of the church and the sacraments. It was produced by a gathering of Particular Baptist elders who refused to compromise their convictions.

Anyone pursuing membership at Christ Reformed Fellowship will be asked to affirm this confession. It serves as a gift and a guard to protect both the congregation and the individual from the endless drift of theological novelty.

Read the 1689 Confession →
The Second London Baptist Confession (1689)
32 chapters of carefully reasoned, biblically grounded doctrine — from Scripture and God to the last judgment. Produced by Particular Baptist elders in England and adopted widely among Reformed Baptists ever since. Among the most precise and comprehensive confessions in the Baptist tradition.
The Baptist Catechism (Keach's Catechism)
A question-and-answer summary of the 1689 Confession, adapted for memorization and instruction. Used to catechize both children and new members in the foundational truths of the Christian faith.
Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)
All confessions are subordinate to the Word of God. The 1689 is authoritative in our congregation because it faithfully summarizes what Scripture teaches. Where any confession errs, Scripture is supreme.
The Five Solas
Scripture Alone. Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Christ Alone. Glory to God Alone. These are the load-bearing walls of the Reformation, recovered from Scripture and confessed against the errors of every age.

Core Beliefs

Below are the foundational doctrines we hold and defend; these are drawn from Scripture and summarized in the 1689 Confession. Anyone pursuing membership and baptism at Christ Reformed Fellowship must agree with these beliefs. Tap any heading to expand.

The Holy Scripture is the Word of God — true, authoritative, and sufficient for all matters of faith and life. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments were written by human authors under the supernatural inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that Scripture in its original manuscripts is without error in all that it affirms.

Scripture speaks with God’s authority while also reflecting the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of these human authors. In its original manuscripts, the Scriptures are truth without any mixture of error. The Scripture speaks with absolute authority over every area of thought, life, church order, family, and civil government. The whole counsel of God is either expressly set down in Scripture or may by good and necessary consequence be deduced from it.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 · 2 Peter 1:20–21 · Psalm 19:7–11 · 1689 Confession, Chapter 1

We believe there is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love. In the unity of the Godhead there are three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father. Yet each is truly Deity. One God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — is the foundation of Christian faith and life.

Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:36–39 · Isaiah 45:5 · Mark 12:29 · Genesis 1:1 · Deuteronomy 33:27 · Romans 16:26 · Isaiah 40:28 · John 1:1; 8:58 · Exodus 3:14 · Hebrews 9:14

God the Father

We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power, and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.

Luke 10:21–22 · Matthew 23:9 · John 3:16; 6:27 · Romans 1:7 · 1 Timothy 1:1–2; 2:5–6 · 1 Peter 1:3 · Revelation 1:6

God the Son

We believe in Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.

Matthew 1:18–25 · Luke 1:26–38 · John 1:1; 20:28 · Romans 9:5 · John 8:46 · 2 Corinthians 5:21 · 1 Peter 2:21–23 · John 20:30–31 · Matthew 20:28 · Ephesians 1:4 · Acts 1:11 · Romans 5:6–8; 6:9–10 · Hebrews 7:25; 9:28 · 1 Timothy 3:16

God the Holy Spirit

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who came forth from the Father and the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is our abiding helper, teacher, and guide.

John 14:16–17, 26; 15:26–27; 16:9–14 · Romans 8:9 · 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19 · Galatians 5:22–26
1689 Confession, Chapters 2–3

Jesus Christ is God the Son — the eternal second Person of the Trinity — who took on human flesh in the virgin birth. He is truly and fully God, and truly and fully man: two natures in one Person, without confusion, change, division, or separation. He lived a sinless life, died as a substitutionary atonement for the sins of His people, rose bodily from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and now reigns as Prophet, Priest, and King over all creation.

Christ will return visibly and bodily to judge the living and the dead. His Lordship is not merely spiritual — it extends over every nation, family, and institution on earth. Christ is King over every king, and Lord over every lord.

John 1:1–14 · Philippians 2:5–11 · Hebrews 1:1–4 · 1689 Confession, Chapter 8

We believe that man was created by God in His own image; that he sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God; that as a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice and therefore under condemnation. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures, delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life.

After the fall, God did not abandon His creation. He entered into a Covenant of Grace — promising salvation through the seed of the woman, through Abraham's offspring, through David's line — fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new and better covenant. All the covenants of the Old Testament are administered expressions of this one Covenant of Grace.

As Reformed Baptists, we affirm that the new covenant is distinct in its administration from the Mosaic and Abrahamic covenants. Membership in the new covenant community is marked by regeneration and personal faith — not natural descent. Baptism is therefore administered to professing believers, as the sign of the new covenant applied to those who have been born again by the Spirit of God.

Genesis 1:26; 2:17; 3; 5:2 · Psalm 51:7 · Proverbs 28:13 · Ecclesiastes 2:11 · Jeremiah 17:9 · John 1:13; 3:14, 16; 5:24, 30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26 · Romans 3:19; 5:19; 8:1; 9:22 · 2 Corinthians 5:17 · 2 Thessalonians 1:9 · James 1:14 · 1 John 1:9 · Revelation 19:3, 20; 20:10, 14, 15; 21:18 · 1689 Confession, Chapter 7

We believe that before the foundation of the world, God chose a people for Himself in Christ — not on the basis of foreseen faith or human merit, but according to His sovereign grace and good pleasure alone. All whom the Father has given to the Son will come to Him, and all who come to Him He will never cast out.

God is sovereign in salvation; He ordained to raise the spiritually dead through the resurrecting voice of His Spirit, bringing them to salvation in Christ. The Shepherd calls and the sheep hear His voice and obey.

Genesis 45:5–8; 50:20 · Exodus 4:11, 21; 7:3–5 · Judges 9:23 · Psalm 33:10–11, 15 · Proverbs 21:1 · Isaiah 46:9–10 · John 3:1–21; 6:37–44; 9:3; 10:28–29; 12:37–43; 17:2, 9 · Acts 2:23; 4:26–28; 13:28 · Romans 8:28–32; 9:1–33 · Ephesians 1:3–14; 2:8–9 · Philippians 2:13 · Colossians 1:3–5 · 2 Timothy 1:9 · 1 Peter 1:2; 2:8–9 · Revelation 17:17 · 1689 Confession, Chapter 3

Sinners are justified before God — declared righteous — solely on the basis of the perfect obedience and atoning death of Christ, received through faith alone. This faith is itself a gift of God, not produced by the natural will of man.

We are not justified by works, by cooperation with grace, by the sacraments, or by any human contribution whatsoever. Justification is entirely God's act, entirely Christ's merit, entirely received by faith.

Romans 3:21–26 · Galatians 2:16 · Ephesians 2:8–9 · 1689 Confession, Chapter 11

Baptism is the ordinance of the new covenant, instituted by Christ, to be administered to those who have personally professed repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We baptize believers because the new covenant is a covenant of regenerate members, sealed by the Spirit and confessed by faith.

We baptize normatively by immersion, following the practice of the early church, as a visible picture of death to self and resurrection to new life in Christ.

Matthew 28:19 · Acts 2:38 · Romans 6:3–5 · 1689 Confession, Chapter 29

The Oneness of the Church

We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ, baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the task of making disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God, and teaching them to obey all Christ commanded.

God founded His church in the promise of the Messiah given to Adam, which has continued throughout the ages until this day. When Christ came, one church was not taken away and another set up, but the same church was continued only in those who inherited the promises.

1 Corinthians 7:14 · Ephesians 2 · Acts 1:8 · Ephesians 5:19–21 · Acts 2:42 · Hebrews 10:23–25 · John 10:16 · Matthew 28:16–20 · Romans 11

The Regulative Principle of Worship

We hold to the Regulative Principle of Worship — that God is to be worshiped only in the ways He has prescribed in Scripture. We do not add human inventions to His worship. We receive His gifts as He has given them: the Word preached, the Psalms and hymns sung, the Table spread, and the benediction pronounced.

Leviticus 10 · Matthew 16:18 · 1 Timothy 3:15 · Acts 2:42 · 1689 Confession, Chapters 25–30

The Ordinances of the Church

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe in Christian baptism administered in water into the name of the triune God. We believe in the Lord’s Supper as instituted by Christ for commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:18–20 · Romans 6:3–5 · 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

We believe God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.

Matthew 16:27 · Mark 14:62 · John 14:3 · Acts 1:11 · 1 Corinthians 4:5 · 1 Corinthians 15 · Philippians 3:20 · 1 Thessalonians 4:15 · 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10 · 2 Timothy 4:1 · Titus 2:13 · Revelation 20:4–6, 11–15 · Psalm 72 · Isaiah 65 · Matthew 28:18–20 · 1689 Confession, Chapters 31–32

Several of the doctrinal statements on this page are adapted, with gratitude, from the published confession of Refuge Church, Utah. We have edited and rearranged this material to express our own convictions as Christ Reformed Fellowship.

Who We Are

Our Theological Distinctives

Beyond the foundational doctrines shared by all orthodox Christians, these are the particular theological commitments that shape who we are as a congregation.

Reformed Baptist
We are Baptists in our ecclesiology and sacramentology — holding to believers' baptism by immersion and a regenerate church membership. We are Reformed in our soteriology, our hermeneutic, and our worldview — standing on the doctrines of grace and the sovereignty of God over all things. The 1689 Confession is our confession, not a curiosity.
Postmillennial
We believe the Great Commission will succeed — not merely in the salvation of individuals, but in the discipleship of nations. Christ's kingdom advances through the preaching of the gospel and the transformation of every sphere of life under His Lordship. The saints will take possession of the earth, and Christ will return after the millennium. History is not going backward. The future belongs to Christ.
Theonomic
God's moral law — including the general equity of the civil case laws — remains the standard for all human societies. The law of God is not the enemy of freedom; it is its foundation. Christ's crown rights extend to the civil realm, and no institution may ultimately defy His rule without consequence.
Psalm-Singing
We sing Psalms and Hymns for our worship. We prioritize theologically rich, true, and beautiful songs in our worship.
Family Integrated
God's covenant concern runs through households. We keep families together in worship rather than separating children into age-graded programs. We equip fathers to lead in the home, mothers to disciple their children, and whole families to grow in the fear of the Lord together.
Biblical Anthropology & Gender Roles
We believe that God created men and women in the image of God and therefore absolutely equal in dignity, worth, and value. We also believe that men and women are divinely designed to be different and thus to occupy different — yet complementary — roles within the Church and the home, specifically in the areas of teaching and authority. Because of this, only men may serve as Elders at Christ Reformed Fellowship. We affirm a Christlike father-rule within the home, often referred to as biblical patriarchy.
Cultural & Theological Maximalism
It is helpful to establish the minimum doctrinal standard one must affirm to be within the stream of the universal Christian Church. However, we are not interested in stopping there. Our aim is to open the Bible, study it with the fear of God and serious effort, believe everything we find there, and then aim to see every area of our lives conformed to it by grace and through faith. This means we preach, teach, counsel, and lead applicationally; we want you to know how to obey all that Christ commands in His Word. At CRF, expect to have the Scriptures applied to every part of what it means to be human — your emotional, mental, spiritual, social, political, relational, and physical self.
Expository Preaching
We preach through books of the Bible, text by text, allowing the structure and emphasis of Scripture to set the agenda for our pulpit. The preached Word is the primary means by which God builds His church, transforms His people, and advances His kingdom — and we treat it as such.

Interested in membership at Christ Reformed Fellowship? We'd love to walk you through our confession and welcome you into covenant life with us.

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