Our Beliefs
What We Believe
At Bridgeway, we are rooted in Scripture and look to God’s word to provide us with the core beliefs we embody as a church.
The Essentials
We pray these essentials unify us in love of our Savior!
The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are God’s revelation of Himself to mankind; His Word to us. They were written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit and are therefore entirely true and without error in the original writings. They are the supreme and final authority for Christian beliefs and living. The focus of all Scripture is the person and work of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 12:6;
Psalm 119:89, 105, 160; Proverbs 30:5;
Romans 15:4
There is only one living and true God, who is the Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer and Ruler of the universe. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal being, all-knowing and all-powerful. To Him we owe our highest love, respect, and obedience. He is infinitely perfect in every way and eternally exists as three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (in a relationship known as the Trinity). Each fully possesses the nature, attributes, and perfections of the Deity.
Genesis 1:1, 1:26-27, and 2:7; Psalm 19:1-3 and 90:2;
Isaiah 6:1-3, 40:12-28, and Isaiah 45:5-7;
Jeremiah 10:10; Matthew 28:19; Acts 17:24-25;
Romans 1:20 and 11:33-36; 2 Corinthians 13:14;
1 John 3:20
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who has existed from the beginning with God and is God. He was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in human form and without sin. He is fully God and fully human in one person. He is the only person who lived a sinless life of perfect obedience to the law of God. He died for our sins on a cross, was buried, and was raised on the third day with a glorified body. He is now in heaven where He rules over the Universe and prays for His people. He will one day return visibly to Earth. Only through faith in Him may a person receive salvation from sin and be reconciled to God.
John 1:1-5, 14; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 24:14-43;
Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8;
2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:15-22 and 2:9;
Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3 and 7:25;
1 Peter 2:21-24
The Holy Spirit is a full and equal part of the Trinity. He helps people understand their need for Jesus Christ and lives inside every believer of Jesus from the moment they are saved. The Holy Spirit acts in many ways, including giving of spiritual gifts, empowering the life of every believer, revealing spiritual truth, convicting of sin, and drawing the lost to Christ. We must continually yield to the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the power of sin and to transform us into the likeness of Christ. The Holy Spirit enables the ministries of the church and fuels the spiritual growth of every believer.
John 14:16-17, 26 and 16:13; Acts 1:8;
1 Corinthians 1:8, 2:12, and 3:16;
2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:16-17, 22-23
God created mankind – man and woman – in His own image and for His glory as the crowning work of His creation. However, mankind sinned against God, incurring not only physical death but also spiritual death which is separation from God. This spiritual death has fallen upon the entire human race, except for Jesus Christ, with the result that every person is born with a sinful nature that rebels against God and is therefore under His condemnation.
Genesis 1:26-28 and 3; Psalm 8:3-8, 14:1-3, and 51:5;
Isaiah 53:6 and 59:2; Jeremiah 17:9;
Romans 3:23, 5:12, 5:19, and 6:23; Galatians 3:22;
Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 1:21-32
The incredibly good news found in the Bible is that those who turn from their sin and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior become spiritually new people. They are declared “pardoned” of their sin and receive the gift of eternal life. This salvation is acquired through faith alone, apart from any good or religious works, and is based entirely on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as their substitute. Christ’s resurrection demonstrated God’s full acceptance of His death as payment for all sin and foreshadows the final resurrection of all believers.
John 3:16, 3:18, 3:36, and 14:6;
Romans 4:25, 5:1, 5:6-9, 6:5-11, 6:23, and 8:1;
2 Corinthians 5:17 and 5:21; Galatians 3:26;
Ephesians 2:8-9; Colossians 1:13-14; Titus 3:5
The born-again believer treasures and keeps the commandments of Jesus. He or she receives the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot lose salvation. God makes us holy in every way and keeps us blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
John 14:21; Ephesians 1:13-14;
1 Thessalonians 3:13 and 5:23-24; Jude 24
There is one universal Church made up of “every nation, tribe, people, and language.” Its members have trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and He is Head of the Church, which is His body. The local church operates under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and is an autonomous congregation of baptized believers who gather voluntarily for worship, spiritual growth, service, fellowship, and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The congregation grows as each member serves the body using the spiritual gifts given to them by the Holy Spirit, resulting in maturity, unity, and glory to God. Christ has commissioned the Church and its individual members to spread the Gospel throughout the world.
Revelation 7:9; Ephesians 5:23;
Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-47 and 20:28;
Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:19-22, 3:20-21, and 4:11-16;
Colossians 3:12-17
The Lord Jesus Christ has given the Church two ordinances, which are acts of obedience: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. All who have received Christ as Lord and Savior are commanded to be baptized by immersion in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Baptism is a symbol of our faith in the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ, and a testimony to our death to sin which is the burial of the old life and newness of life in Jesus Christ. Likewise, believers shall regularly partake of the Lord’s Supper (sometimes called Communion) as a remembrance of our Redeemer Jesus until he returns at the Second Coming. It is a symbol of our faith in Christ as we participate in the taking of the bread and drinking of the fruit of the vine as we meditate on the sacrifice of His body and blood for our sin. It is a testimony of our fellowship with Him and our unity as the body of Christ.
Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42;
1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Colossians 2:12;
Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
At God’s appointed time, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly to the Earth and establish His kingdom. There will be a bodily resurrection of believers and unbelievers. At the final judgment, believers, in their resurrected bodies, will live in God’s glorious presence as they worship and serve Him forever. Unbelievers will be eternally separated from God in a place of everlasting punishment because of their rejection of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:3; Acts 1:6-11;
1 Corinthians 15:20-26; Philippians 3:20-21;
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Hebrews 9:27-28;
2 Peter 3:7-13; Revelation 20-22
The Bible teaches that every Christian has direct access to God through prayer and the reading of Scripture. Every believer is also equally empowered by Holy Spirit and called to serve God, regardless of their age, education, or vocation. Our desire is to encourage each other to discover and develop our spiritual gifts and then find a place to use them in ministry.
Hebrews 4:14-16; Revelation 1:5-6; 1 Peter 2:9
God is the source of all blessings whether temporal or spiritual. All that we have and are is because of Him and what has been done for us through the work of Jesus Christ. As a result, every Christian has spiritual responsibility to use their time, talent, and material possessions for the glory of God and the good of others. According to Scripture, we should give of those things
willingly, cheerfully, and consistently.
Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Deuteronomy 8:18;
Malachi 3:8-12; Matthew 6:1-4, 19-21;
Luke 12:16-21, 16:1-13;
Acts 2:44-47, 5:1-11, 17:24-25, 20:35;
Romans 6:6-22, 12:1-12; 2 Corinthians 8-9, 12:15;
Philippians 4:10-19; 1 Peter 1:18-19
The Non-Essentials
We understand the importance of these issues, but pray that the difference of beliefs in our culture do not divide us but that we can grow together in love as we look to Jesus for help!
The topic of spiritual gifts has caused much division throughout church history. Some believe that all of the gifts we see in the New Testament should still be practiced today, while others believe that those gifts ended with the early church.
We believe that this issue should not divide us as a church OR create confusion for the unchurched in our midst. We also believe that there is never a moment when the Spirit of God would work contrary to the Word of God. We also believe that God still does miracles, answers prayers, and empowers us to do good works. Therefore, we will seek to exercise ANY expression of worship or spiritual gifting in accordance with Paul’s guidance in 1 Corinthians 14:1-33.
We believe that God chooses us AND that at the same time we are responsible for responding to God’s call of salvation. We also believe that salvation is by grace alone and there is nothing we do to deserve it. As a result, we also believe that anyone who truly accepts Christ as their lord and savior can never lose that salvation.
We believe that God is the author, architect, and artisan of the creation; His handiwork is evident to all that might look (The heavens declare the Glory of God, Psalms 19:1). The Bible states that He, as the sole eternal object or being who exist outside of and beyond our universe, spoke it into existence (ex nihilo ) out of nothing (Gen.1). We further believe, that as the apex of His creative work, God created human beings in His likeness and for His glory (Gen. 1:27). We were created as moral creatures with the capacity and yearning for a relationship with Him.
While there are notable differences in the beliefs on secondary creation issues (like the age of the universe), the belief that God is the sole agent of the creation event is fundamental to our views.
There are many different views on this issue, even in our own church. Some would describe themselves as pre-millennial, others are amillennial, and there are various other views as well. We believe that there will be a literal return of Jesus, a literal rapture, and a literal final judgement. How and when this will happen has been a source of debate throughout the history of the church. We believe the details are in God’s hands and we must trust Him to bring it to fulfillment in His timing and His way. Our responsibility is to be ready for His return and to be about the business of kingdom in the meantime.
Men and women are both created by God as equal partners in His creation. They are both equal in dignity, value, essence, and gifting but have been given distinct roles in the church. We believe the Bible allows an openness to women leading and serving in any kind of ministry with the exception of the role of elder. (1 Timothy 2:12, 3:1-7)