Pristine Grace Statement of Faith

    I have been entrusted with the solemn and joyful calling to proclaim, promote, and preserve the truth of God. What follows is not the platform of an institution, but the settled confession of my own heart and conscience before God. These are the doctrines I believe, love, and desire to publish.

The Five Solas of the Reformation:

1. Scripture alone. I do not bow to the writings of men to govern doctrine or practice. I cannot affirm every line of historic confessions written by sincere yet sinful men. No denominational code regulates my conscience. I look only to “the Word of Truth,” the inspired Old and New Testament Scriptures, as the sole foundation and rule for all that I believe and teach. “Thus saith the Lord,” taken in its proper context, governs my convictions, values, preaching, and life.

2. Christ alone. There is but one Savior, one Sacrifice for sins, one Substitute for sinners, one Mediator, one God Man, one Law Keeper, one Door, one Way to God, one Truth, one Life, one Righteousness, one blood that pardons sin, and one Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That Name is Jesus Christ the Lord. I confess His person as both the Son of God and the Son of Man. I proclaim His finished redemption of all those given to Him by the Father in the everlasting covenant of peace. And I declare His exaltation, the risen, reigning Lord who accomplishes His will throughout creation and who will come again to gather His people to Himself and to judge the wicked by the standard of His own righteousness.

3. Grace alone. The sovereign grace of God, not the will or works of the sinner, is the cause of salvation. All who are saved were chosen in grace, justified by grace, sanctified by grace, redeemed in grace, called by grace, preserved by grace, and shall be glorified by grace. “For by grace ye are saved” (Ephesians 2:5). My testimony echoes that of the apostle Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor 15:10). It was grace that wrote my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, grace that sent the Savior, grace that delivered the gospel, and grace that enabled me to receive Him. It is grace that keeps me “looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

4. Faith alone. The distinguishing mark of regeneration by the Spirit of God is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This faith, sovereignly bestowed in God’s election, is the sole assurance of present and final salvation. He is my hope, confidence, life, and joy. His gospel is my message, His glory my aim, His blood my atonement, His righteousness my covering, love for Him my motive for service, and His people my family. The full assurance of faith and liberty of conscience granted by the Holy Spirit to all God’s elect (Heb. 10:22) cannot arise from measured introspection or works, even those ordained for us to walk in (Eph. 2:10). Many outward fruits may be counterfeited, but true assurance rests only in God’s gift of indestructible faith in Christ’s person and finished work.

5. The Glory of God alone. Salvation does not rest upon any righteousness found in me, not even my faith. It stands solely upon God’s eternal purpose from before the foundation of the world to redeem a people in Christ from sin, death, and deserved wrath. The redemption of God’s elect in Christ is the highest display of His sovereign purpose in history (Isa. 46:9,10; Col. 1:25-27). The final judgment of fallen angels and unrepentant mankind is likewise executed unto the glory of God alone (Col 1:16-17; Jude 4).

The Five Points of Dordrecht:

1. Total Inability. All mankind, Christ alone excepted, is conceived in iniquity and possesses no native ability to believe the gospel or obey God with a pure heart. Humanity is wholly inclined toward evil by nature unless and until God sovereignly performs the miracle of regeneration apart from the will of man.

2. Unconditional Election. Before time itself, God chose a definite people in Christ unto eternal life, not on the basis of foreseen faith or human choice, but according to His sovereign pleasure. God will infallibly bring every one of these elect to final salvation apart from any condition fulfilled by them to obtain or maintain it.

3. Limited Atonement. Eternal redemption was fully accomplished for God’s elect in Christ’s finished atonement. These, and these alone, are delivered from the condemnation common to fallen humanity. He saved His people from their sins (Mat. 1:21). No others will ever experience redemption except those for whom salvation was secured in Christ’s person and work. This doctrine is better described as Particular Redemption, for the atonement is not deficient in power or purpose, but perfectly effective for all whom God intended to save.

4. Irresistible Grace. Every person chosen in Christ will certainly be brought to faith through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. When God grants saving grace, it cannot finally be resisted. The grace of God in Christ triumphs unfailingly in all His elect.

5. Preservation of the Saints. All whom God grants saving faith He will preserve in grace, belief, and obedience unto the end. No elect sinner can finally fall away from regeneration or from reliance upon Christ’s finished work. God keeps His own forever.

Core Doctrines of Historic Sovereign Grace Christianity

    I uncompromisingly affirm the great doctrines of the being of God (Theology), the Holy Trinity, Christ (Christology), the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology), salvation by grace through faith alone (Soteriology), the infallibility and inerrancy of the Old and New Testament Scriptures in their original writings, the absolute nature of revealed truth as the standard of faith (Epistemology), the necessity of sound hermeneutics in interpreting the unified whole of Scripture, the nature of the people of God (Ecclesiology) as both the invisible company of all the elect throughout history and the visible local assemblies worshiping according to New Testament apostolic practice (Acts 2:41-42), and the consummation of the kingdom at Christ’s glorious return (Eschatology).

Christianity is to be Experienced and Enjoyed!

    Faith in Christ crucified is not mere intellectual exercise, but a living reality to be known in humility and joy. Many have learned to speak fluently of doctrine while remaining strangers to its inward power. They possess little true knowledge of the things they profess. They know nothing of genuine repentance or living faith. Their confession is shallow, concerned more with appearance than with the Savior. The gospel becomes a plaything where the Spirit has not engraved it upon the heart. It is absolutely necessary that a sinner be born again unto newness of life by the Holy Spirit.