We believe:
- the Scriptures are verbally inspired by God and are without error in the
original writings, and that their teaching and authority are absolute, supreme
and final.
- in the Trinity of the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit.Beliefs of Congregational Church of Salem, CT
- in the personality of God; in the personality and the deity of Jesus Christ,
begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, that He is true God and
true man; in the personality of the Holy Spirit Who in the present convicts men
of their sin, righteousness, and judgment, sanctifies all who believe, baptizing
them in the body of Christ, indwells all who believe, intercedes for them.
- in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that His body was raised from the dead
according to the Scripture, and that He ascended into heaven and sits at the
right hand of God as the believer's High Priest and Advocate
- in the sinfulness of man - that all human beings are born with a sinful
nature, are totally depraved and need a Savior from sin.
- concerning the atonement - that Jesus Christ became the sinner's sacrifice
before God and died as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world
- in the necessity of the new birth, that salvation is by grace through faith
and not of works: saving faith will maintain good works in the life of the
believer
- in the literal resurrection of the body, both of the just and of the unjust in
the everlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishment of the
lost in the reality and the personality of Satan in the evangelization of the
world - the
supreme mission of the Church in this age is to preach the Gospel to every
creature.
- in the second coming of Christ according to the Scriptures
- that Baptism is an identification with, and the testimony of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We also believe that the Lord's supper is the commemoration of His death
to be practiced until He comes again and the privilege of all believers, and
should always be preceded by self examination. These we believe to be the two
sacraments of the Church.