The doctrinal statement of ECA, reaffirmed annually by its Board, faculty, and staff, provides a
summary of Biblical doctrine that is consistent with evangelical Christianity. The statement
accordingly reaffirms salient features of traditional Christian creeds, thereby identifying ECA not
only with the Scriptures but also with historic Christianity itself. The statement also defines the
Biblical perspective which informs an ECA education. These doctrines of the church cast light on
the study of nature and man, as well as on man's culture.
WE BELIEVE in one sovereign God, eternally existing in three persons: the everlasting Father,
His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life; and we
believe that God created the Heavens and the earth out of nothing by His spoken word, and for
His own glory.
[Genesis 1:1, Matthew 28:19, Isaiah 46:9, Colossians 2:9, I Corinthians 8:6]
WE BELIEVE that God has revealed Himself and His truth in the created order, in the Scriptures,
and supremely in Jesus Christ; and that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are
verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing, so that they are fully trustworthy and
of supreme and final authority in all they say.
[Hebrews 1:1-2, II Timothy 3:16-17, John 10:30, John 20:31]
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, was
true God and true man, existing in one person and without sin; and we believe in the resurrection
of the crucified body of our Lord, in His ascension into heaven, and in His present life there for us
as Lord of all, High Priest, and Advocate.
[Luke 1:34-35, Philippians 2:5-11, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 4:14-15, John 1:14]
WE BELIEVE that God directly created Adam and Eve, the historical parents of the entire human
race; and that they were created in His own image, distinct from all other living creatures, and in
a state of original righteousness.
[Genesis 1:27, 2:25, Mark 10:6]
WE BELIEVE that our first parents sinned by rebelling against God’s revealed will and thereby
incurred both physical and spiritual death, and that as a result all human beings are born with a sinful nature that leads them to sin in thought, word, and deed.
[Genesis 3:6-7, Ephesians 2:1-3, Romans 5:22]
WE BELIEVE in the existence of Satan, sin, and evil powers, and that all these have been
defeated by God in the cross of Christ.
[Ephesians 6:12, I Peter 5:8, Colossians 2:14-15]
WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a
representative and substitutionary sacrifice, triumphing over all evil; and that all who believe by
faith upon Him are justified by His shed blood and forgiven of all their sins.
[Romans 5:1,8; I Corinthians 15:3-4, I John 4:10]
WE BELIEVE that all who receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born again of the Holy
Spirit and thereby become children of God and are enabled to offer spiritual worship acceptable
to God.
[John 3:5-6, John 4:23-24, Romans 8:15-16, I Peter 2:5]
WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit indwells and gives life to believers, enables them to
understand the Scriptures, empowers them for Godly living, and equips them for service and
witness.
[John 14:15-26, Ephesians 4:11-12, John 16:4-13]
WE BELIEVE that the one, holy, universal Church is the body of Christ and is composed of the
communities of Christ’s people. The task of Christ’s people in this world is to be God’s redeemed
community, embodying His love by worshipping God with confession, prayer, and praise; by
proclaiming the Gospel of God’s redemptive love through our Lord Jesus Christ to the ends of the
earth by word and deed; by caring for all of God’s creation and actively seeking the good of
everyone, especially the poor and needy.
[Galatians 2:10, I Timothy 5:8, I Corinthians 10:17, I Corinthians 12:4-31]
WE BELIEVE in the blessed hope that Jesus Christ will soon return to this earth, personally,
visibly, and unexpectedly, in power and great glory, to gather His elect, to raise the dead, to judge
the nations, and to bring His Kingdom to fulfillment.
[Titus 2:13, I Thessalonians 4:16-17, Matthew 25:31-32, Revelation 21:1-3]
WE BELIEVE in the bodily resurrection of the just and unjust, the everlasting punishment of the
lost, and the everlasting security of the saved.
[Revelation 20:11-13, Matthew 25:34,41,46, I Thessalonians 4:16, Hebrews 9:27, Romans 2:16]
WE BELIEVE that the term marriage has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture (Genesis 2:18–25). We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other.
[1 Corinthians 6:18, 7:2–5; Hebrews 13:4]
WE BELIEVE that God’s command is that there be no sexual intimacy outside of or apart from marriage between a man and a woman.
WE BELIEVE that God wonderfully foreordained and immutably created each person as either male or female in conformity with their biological sex. These two distinct yet complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God
[Genesis 1:26–27]
