Confession of Faith

Preamble

By confessing our faith, we want to glorify God and proclaim his love. Our knowledge is partial and our confession a human, limited response to the eternal Word of God. We adhere to the Symbol of the Apostles and the Confession of Nicea-Constantinople (4th century). We recognize the value of the great confessions of faith of the Reformation, of which we are heirs. And we affirm in our own terms, joyfully and thankfully, what we firmly believe.

God

We believe in the sovereign God, eternally alive: one only God in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as he is revealed in the Bible.

God the Father

The Father is the origin of all things and all has been created by his will. Holy, beyond all that human thought can fathom, he revealed himself to mankind and called them to walk according to his justice. Through Israël, the covenant people, which he redeemed from slavery and led by the law and the prophets, he prepared the coming of his Son, in whom he has made known his will to save all people by grace.

God the Son

Jesus- Christ is the only, eternal Son of the Father. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, he became human without ceasing to be God. Through his life, his teachings and his miracles he revealed the love of the Father and called to the new life of the Kingdom of God. Rejected by men, he suffered, he was condemned, he the only just; by his death on the cross, he carried away the debt of our sin. His bodily resurrection manifested his triumph over the powers of evil and death. Glorified by his ascension to the Father, he continues his work as mediator by interceding for us. He will come, at the moment determined by the Father, to gather his Church, to judge the living and the death, and to establish his eternal reign, to which all those who belong to him will be associated.

God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit realizes the work of salvation of Christ in the present. He leads into repentance and gives birth into new life to those who receive him. He unites all believers to form one body. Through his ministry and his gifts he works in the individual and in the Church; he illumines, he instructs, he leads to growth, he qualifies for service and witness.

The Bible

The Bible is the Word of God. Through his Spirit, God has led the authors of the biblical books into all truth. As a consequence, the Holy Scripture, the Old and the New Testaments, is the only divinely established authority, to which the Church submits herself entirely. The assistance of the Spirit is indispensable to study, understand and put into practice the Word of God.

The human being

Man and woman have been created in God’s image to live in fellowship with him and be associated to his works. Seduced by Satan, they rejected God’s authority and, separated from him, fell under the power of evil. All creation suffers the consequences, but God continues to watch over creation. Faithful to his covenant with Noah, he extends his goodness to all. However, the one who refuses salvation in Jesus-Christ remains under God’s judgment.

Salvation

Salvation is a gift of God, established by the sacrifice of Christ and received by faith. Forgiven, reconciled to God, the believer enters into a new relationship with him. By the presence of the Holy Spirit, she participates in the divine nature. From henceforth, she can live of the life of Christ and march according to God’s will, in the hope of the resurrection. The fullness of his salvation will be manifested at the advent of Jesus-Christ, for all eternity.

The Church

The universal Church is composed by all those who, through the ages and among all people, have been redeemed by Jesus-Christ. She finds his visible expression in local Churches, which gather those who confess his name. Sign of the Kingdom, she is called to proclaim the Word of God, to make and equip disciples of Christ, to baptize them and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Her mission is to glorify God, especially through fellowship, worship, hospitality and the service of one’s neighbor.

Confession of faith of FREE – Fédération Romande d’Eglises Evangéliques