Statement of Faith
Faithful Narrow Path Ministry
The following Statement of Faith summarizes the biblical convictions that guide the teaching and ministry of Faithful Narrow Path Ministry. We stand within the historic, orthodox Christian faith and affirm the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments as the final and sufficient authority for faith, doctrine, and Christian living.
The Holy Scriptures
We believe the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is the inspired, inerrant, authoritative, and sufficient Word of God.
Holy Scripture is God’s written revelation and the final authority for faith, doctrine, worship, and Christian living. No later writing, tradition, revelation, experience, or prophetic claim may supersede, add to, or possess equal authority with the Scriptures.
We therefore seek to test every doctrine, tradition, practice, and theological conclusion by the written Word of God.
The Triune God
We believe there is one true and living God, infinite, eternal, holy, sovereign, and unchanging, who eternally exists in three distinct Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Each Person is fully God, equal in divine nature, glory, and majesty, while personally distinct. God sovereignly accomplishes all things according to His eternal wisdom, holy character, and perfect purposes.
Jesus Christ
We believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, fully God and fully man.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, perfectly fulfilled the Law, and willingly died on the cross as the once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice for sin.
Through His death, Christ bore the judgment due to sinners and accomplished redemption for His people. He was bodily raised from the dead, ascended to the Father’s right hand, presently intercedes for His people, and will personally, visibly, and gloriously return.
Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and humanity and the only way of salvation.
The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is fully God and sovereignly applies the saving work of Christ to His people.
He convicts concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment; gives spiritual life to those who are dead in sin; effectually calls sinners to Christ; grants faith and repentance; indwells every believer; illuminates the Scriptures; sanctifies God’s people; empowers obedience and Christian witness; and preserves believers until the day of redemption.
No sinner comes to Christ apart from the gracious work of the Holy Spirit.
Humanity and Sin
We believe humanity was created in the image of God and therefore possesses inherent dignity and value.
Through Adam’s fall, sin entered the world, bringing guilt, corruption, spiritual death, and separation from God. All humanity is fallen in Adam, and every person is a sinner by nature and by choice.
Because of sin, humanity is spiritually dead and unable to reconcile itself to God, produce its own spiritual life, or come savingly to Christ apart from God’s sovereign grace.
Salvation therefore does not begin with human merit, wisdom, or initiative, but with the mercy and grace of God.
Salvation
We believe salvation is entirely the work of God’s sovereign grace and is received through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Before the foundation of the world, God graciously purposed the redemption of His people in Christ according to His own will and not because of any foreseen merit or worthiness in them.
In time, the Holy Spirit effectually calls and regenerates those whom God saves, granting them repentance and faith so that they freely and willingly come to Christ.
All who repent and believe the gospel are united to Christ, forgiven of their sins, justified by faith alone, reconciled to God, adopted into His family, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and progressively sanctified throughout the Christian life.
Christ’s atoning work is complete, sufficient, and once for all. Salvation is God’s work from beginning to end so that no sinner may boast before Him.
Those whom God truly saves He preserves by His grace. Genuine believers will persevere in faith to the end, not because of their own strength, but because Christ keeps His people and the Holy Spirit seals them for the day of redemption.
The final completion of salvation awaits the bodily resurrection and glorification of believers at Christ’s return.
The Church
We believe the universal Church is the body and bride of Christ, composed of all who have been born again and united to Christ through faith.
The local church exists to worship and glorify God, proclaim the gospel, make disciples, faithfully teach the whole counsel of God, equip and encourage believers, practice biblical fellowship and accountability, and observe the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as instituted by Christ.
Christ alone is the supreme Head of His Church, and Scripture governs the Church’s doctrine and practice.
We encourage every believer to become an active part of a faithful local church where they can worship, grow, serve, receive biblical teaching, and live in Christian community.
The Christian Life
We believe every believer is called to pursue holiness in dependence upon the Holy Spirit and in obedience to the Word of God.
Good works contribute nothing to our justification and can never earn acceptance with God. They are, however, the fruit and evidence of genuine saving faith and the work of God’s grace within His people.
Christians are called to love God, love their neighbor, obey Christ, proclaim the gospel, serve one another, pursue holiness, resist sin, grow in grace, and live as faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Sanctification is progressive in this life and will be completed when believers are glorified in the presence of Christ.
Future Hope
We believe in the personal, visible, and glorious return of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous, the final judgment, the eternal blessing of God’s redeemed people in the new heavens and new earth, and the eternal punishment of those who remain outside of Christ.
God will bring His redemptive purposes to their appointed completion, and Christ will reign forever in righteousness and glory.
Our Commitment to Biblical Interpretation
We are committed to interpreting Scripture according to its historical, grammatical, literary, and canonical context.
We seek first to understand each passage according to its historical setting, original audience, literary context, and authorial intent before drawing theological conclusions or personal applications.
We believe Scripture interprets Scripture. Clearer passages should guide our understanding of more difficult passages, and individual texts must be understood within the whole counsel of God and the progressive unfolding of His redemptive plan from Genesis to Revelation.
We distinguish between what the biblical text explicitly teaches, what it clearly implies, theological conclusions legitimately drawn from the whole counsel of Scripture, and matters of personal opinion or speculation.
We seek to derive our theology from Scripture rather than impose a theological system upon it. At the same time, we recognize that the truths of Scripture form a coherent whole because their ultimate Author is God.
Our desire is not to promote novelty, speculation, personal agendas, or denominational loyalty above Scripture, but to faithfully proclaim the historic Christian faith revealed in the Word of God and centered on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Commitment
We recognize that faithful Christians may differ on secondary doctrines while remaining united in the essential truths of the Christian faith.
We therefore seek to approach God’s Word with humility, conviction, charity, and a teachable spirit. Where Scripture speaks clearly, we seek to stand firmly. Where Scripture allows legitimate disagreement, we seek to extend grace without compromising biblical truth.
Our desire is not merely to win arguments, but to faithfully understand, proclaim, obey, and live out the truth of Scripture for the glory of God, the building up of His Church, and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria
To God Alone Be the Glory.
