First and foremost, we are committed to the Word of God and the Mission of Jesus. Our beliefs distinguish us as a church and inform what we teach as we strive to see Christ exalted in every heart and home in West Michigan and beyond.
We are an independent, non-denominational, evangelical church that aligns with Reformation theology and holds to Baptist distinctives. You can learn more about our specific beliefs on this page, or you can learn about the history of Grace at the link below.
The following Doctrinal Statement contains Grace Community Church's core beliefs based on foundational truths taught in the Bible. Our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.
Expanded versions of these statements are available by request from the church office.
The Bible is the written Word of God and the essential and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. The Bible leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and must not be added to or changed. It is given by God, fully and verbally inspired, authoritative, and the normative rule and guide to life. It is totally sufficient and without error for the full life of faith and living.
Deuteronomy 4:1–2; 2 Samuel 22:31; Proverbs 30:5–6; Matthew 5:17–20; Luke 1:1–4; John 3:31–36; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:14–17; Titus 1:2; 2 Peter 1:16–21, 3:15–16; Revelation 22:18–19
There is one living and true God who has revealed Himself as, “I AM,” who eternally exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal, and co-eternal. He is infinite, glorious, almighty, and perfect in holiness, truth, and love.
Genesis 1:1-2; Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6-8; Matthew 3:13-17, 28:18-20; John 1:1-5, 14:26, 17:1-5; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6
God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His Word and for His glory, He created the universe and everything in it from nothing. Through the same Word, He daily sustains all His creation. He is the Sovereign and rightful ruler of all that exists. His plans and purposes cannot be stopped. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together for good to those who love Him, and, in His wonderful grace, gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our sins. He made us for relationship with Himself and created all things to exist for his glory.
Genesis 1-2; Psalm 19; Isaiah 14:26-27, 40:9-31; John 3:16-21; Romans 11:33-36; Hebrews 1:3
Jesus Christ is the only begotten, eternal Son of God. He is the Word made flesh, fully God and fully man. Through Him all things were created and hold together. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life and is our perfect sacrifice. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world. By His death in our place, He revealed God’s love, upheld God’s justice, removed our guilt, and reconciled to God everyone who believes. He rose bodily from the grave on the third day, victorious over sin, death and the powers of darkness and ascended into heaven. Now seated at God’s right hand, He intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all. He will come again to judge the living and the dead and make all things new.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; John 1:1-5, 14-18, 10:22-30, 19-20; Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Galatians 4:4-8; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:15-23, 2:9-10; Hebrews 1; 1 Peter 4:5
The Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of life. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation of the Gospel, He works to bring people to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit unites believers to Jesus in faith, brings about this new birth, and dwells within those who believe. As our abiding helper, the Spirit effectually calls, indwells, baptizes, seals, empowers, sanctifies, fills, guides, teaches, and equips all believers for service and witness. He is to be respected, honored, and worshiped as God the Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.
Genesis 1:2, 41:38; Exodus 31:3; 1 Samuel 16:13; Matthew 28:18-19; Luke 12:11-12; John 3:5-8, 7:37-39, 14:15-31, 16:4-15; Acts 1:4-5; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Titus 3:5
God created mankind—male (man) and female (woman)—in His image and for His glory to be in relationship with Him. Therefore every person has immeasurable value and dignity before God and deserves honor, respect, and protection regardless of ethnicity, age, ability, or cognition. God crowned mankind with glory, and honor, gave them dominion over all creation, and called them very good. Tempted by Satan, Adam and Eve rebelled against God and fell into sin and darkness. Mankind became separated from God, received a sinful nature, and became objects of God’s wrath. All people are now slaves to sin and have no hope of eternal life without God’s act of salvation in Jesus Christ. In Christ, our purpose of glorifying God is renewed as we are remade into the image of the Son.
Genesis 1:26-31, 3, 5:1-2; Psalm 8:4-6; Romans 3:21-26, 5:12-14; Ephesians 2:1-3; James 2:10, 3:9
The Gospel is the good news of God revealed in the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ His Son. The Gospel makes this joyful, amazing, and loving assertion: Jesus fulfilled all righteousness in His life, saved sinners from judgment by His death, and gave life abundantly and eternally through his resurrection for all who believe in Him.
John 1:11-13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; 1 Timothy 1:15-17
God acted before creation in choosing some people to be saved solely based on His good and sovereign choice. Everyone who is appointed to eternal life responds to the message of the Gospel by turning from sin and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6:35-40; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:3-10; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:8-9
Responding to the Gospel is grounded in God freely choosing those who will receive salvation. This unconditional election by God effectually saves those who, by His grace, turn away from their sin and to Jesus in faith, declaring with their mouth that Jesus is Lord. We joyfully proclaim the Gospel to all people, longing that they would come to Jesus and be saved.
Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:44-49; John 6:44, 65, 16:8; Acts 1:6-11, 2:37-41, 13:48; Romans 5:10, 10:9-10, 14-15; Ephesians 1:18
Salvation is the free gift of God provided by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. Those who God appointed for salvation will turn from sin, trust in Jesus for salvation, be declared righteous by God, and receive the gift of eternal life. They are a new creation in Christ, empowered, filled, and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 3:21-26, 5, 8:29-30, 9:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Galatians 3:23-29; Ephesians 1:13-14, 2:1-10
Everyone who is in Christ is a new creation and is sanctified, or set apart, by, and for God. Sanctification is an ongoing process of those in Christ being conformed to His image, through the power of the Holy Spirit, and completed when finally in the presence of God. Rather than living for themselves, God’s purposes for sanctifying His people are that they would live for Him, in a committed relationship with Him, and make Him known to those around them. All believers will struggle with sin in this life, but the Holy Spirit leads and empowers His people as they grow in knowledge and maturity, learning to live for Jesus in a way that honors Him.
Matthew 5:13-16, 28:19-20; Romans 6:1-22, 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:11; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18, 5:15, 5:17, 7:1; Galatians 5:16-25; Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 10:10, 10:14; 1 Peter 1:14-16, 4:1-2
All who are saved and are followers of Jesus, from all times and places make up the Church. It exists to worship and glorify God and make disciples of all people. A local church is an assembly of believers who are committed to one another, as one body, for worship, Bible teaching, fellowship, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, giving, evangelism, and service. The head of the Church is Jesus Christ. The local church is led by elders who equip and serve the members to grow in Christian maturity by exercising servant-leadership through prayer and the ministry of the Word.
Matthew 16:15-19, 28:16-20; John 4:21-24; Acts 1:8-9, 2:42-47, 6:1-4, 14:21-23, 15:1-30; Ephesians 4:4-16; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:15-18; 1 Timothy 3:1-15; Titus 1:5-9; Hebrews 13:7,17; 1 Peter 4:7-11, 5:1-5
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two ordinances prescribed in the New Testament for followers of Jesus. Baptism is a visual and symbolic demonstration of a person’s union with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. It is the believer’s immersion in water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is a joyful response of obedience done once by all who have repented of sin and placed their faith in Jesus. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial to be celebrated in unity with other believers, in remembrance of Christ’s sacrificial death and in anticipation of His return. The elements of the bread and the cup are an illustration and reminder of the giving of Christ’s body and the shedding of His blood on behalf of believers. It is to be repeated regularly throughout a Christian’s life as a sign of ongoing union and identification with Christ as Lord.
Matthew 3:6, 3:16, 26:26-29, 28:19; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20; Acts 2:37-38, 2:41, 8:12, 8:35-38, 10:47-48, 22:16; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 10:21, 11:17-34; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 2:8-9
Jesus Christ will physically, visibly, personally and gloriously return in the same way he ascended, where He will judge the living and the dead. All those found not believing in Jesus will be condemned to eternal punishment and separation along with Satan and all the enemies of Jesus. Jesus will then fulfill His Kingdom in the new heaven and earth where all the believing will live with joy in God’s presence forever.
Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:6-11; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Philippians 3:20-21; Hebrews 9:27-28; 2 Peter 3:11-13; Revelation 21
The following theological distinctives help further distinguish Grace Community Church from other congregations. While other Gospel-centered churches likely share many of our core beliefs, these distinctives describe our position on areas in which we may or may not differ from other ministries, while significantly impacting our teaching and ministry.
We are committed to expositional preaching. David Helm calls it “empowered preaching that rightfully submits the shape and emphasis of the sermon to the shape and emphasis of a biblical text.” In other words, the main point of the passage of Scripture is the main point of the sermon which is then applied toward the goal of life transformation.
Acts 6:2; 2 Corinthians 2:17; Galatians 6:6; 2 Timothy 4:2
The New Testament makes it clear that the model for leadership in the local church is to be led by a plurality of elders. The elders are called to keep watch over and shepherd the church, teach sound doctrine, exercise spiritual oversight, and set an example of faithful Christian living. No person wields sole authority of the church, rather the elders serve and submit to one another and the headship of Jesus as the overshepherd of the flock.
Acts 20:28; Titus 1:9; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 1:21, 5:2-3
Belief and profession precede baptism. Baptism is the symbolic and external conformity to the inward reality of new life in Christ. Therefore, we believe it to be fitting that only those who have confessed belief in Jesus Christ alone for salvation are to practice this ordinance in obedience and conformity to the will of God.
Matthew 16:16; Acts 2:38, 8:26-40, 9:9-18, 10:17-48
Scripture teaches that men and women are created equal in worth and value yet with distinction of form and function. These forms and functions are complementary to one another in roles and responsibilities within the home and the church. Upon this basis the Bible forbids women to teach or exercise authority over men in the church and therefore the office of pastor/elder is reserved for men. We believe that this promotes the greatest human flourishing because it patterns after the created order as God intended.
Genesis 1:27-31, 2:7, 2:22-24; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 5:23-25; 1 Timothy 2:12-14
Christians are exhorted to pursue all the spiritual gifts before the revelation of Jesus Christ and we believe the gifts of the Spirit are still available for use in the church today. However, some gifts occur rarely and most occasionally in places where the Gospel is being preached for the first time or in times of revival.
Acts 2, 8, 10, 19; 1 Corinthians 1:7, 14:1
The Bible teaches us that we are dead in our sins and unable to save ourselves. It teaches us that we have suppressed the truth and that there is not one who seeks God. We believe that God must first give us the desire and ability to receive by faith the grace of God through the message of the Gospel. We see this as the sovereignty of God at work in the grace of new creation.
John 6:44; Romans 1:18-20; Ephesians 2:1, 2:8-9, 2:13; 1 John 5:1
Learn more about our...
Encounter God | Train the Found | Seek the Lost