What We Believe

There is one God who eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 3:16-17). This is called the Trinity, and each member of the Trinity is identical in nature and attributes, worthy of the same worship, honor, glory, and praise. The entire Christian faith is based on the confession of God’s Trinitarian nature (Matthew 28:18-20).

• God the Father - In the beginning, God the Father created the world from nothing alongside God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and it was good (Genesis 1:1-31; Psalm 24:1, John 1:1-3; Hebrews 11:3). He continues to uphold and govern His creation as the only sovereign and wise King (Colossians 1:17; Romans 11:33-36). God the Father is perfect in His wisdom, power, and love, knowing all things and setting His sovereign plan in place before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:7-10; Revelation 13:8).
• God the Son - Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16; John 3:16). With the Father and the Holy Spirit, He created all things and holds all things together (Colossians 1:15-20). He is fully God (John 1:1-3) yet became fully man to save us (John 1:14; Hebrews 1:1-3). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and was crucified in our place (Colossians 2:9-15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus’ dead body was buried in a borrowed tomb, but that same body rose again to new life on the third day, proving His eternal victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). He ascended into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of the Father, still fully God and fully man. From there, He presently reigns as King and High Priest until the day He comes again with glory to judge the living and the dead (Hebrews 4:14-16). His kingdom will have no end (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, 50-57).
• God the Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is sent from the Father and the Son, and is worshipped and glorified alongside them as God (John 15:26-27). He has spoken through the prophets and apostles to reveal the gospel to us (1 Peter 1:10-12). The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (John 16:7-11), facilitates new birth into resurrected life (John 3:5-7; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Gal. 3:2), brings about our union with Christ and adoption to sonship (Romans 8:1-17), and lives within those who follow Him (Acts 2:38; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:19). He continues to guide us toward maturity (Galatians 5:16-25), help us discern and apply God’s truth (John 16:13-15), gift us for service (1 Corinthians 12:4-11), and pray for us in our weakness (Romans 8:26).

God has chosen to reveal Himself in several ways: His people, His Spirit, His creation (Psalm 8; Romans 1:20), His Son the incarnate Word (Hebrews 1:1-2), and His written Word (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is the inspired Word of God, without error in their original writings (2 Peter 1:20-21) and eternal in their efficacy (Isaiah 40:6-8). God’s Word is our first and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. As we interpret and apply Scripture, we are shaped (Hebrews 4:12) and given everything we need for life and godliness (Romans 10:14-17; 2 Peter 1:3).

All people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27-30). Each human life is sacred and worthy of dignity.

• Gender - God created mankind male and female. Both men and women enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ. Each person’s gender is an immutable and intrinsic aspect of their God-given nature. To live within that identity is a necessary feature of a person’s discipleship to Christ (Genesis 1:27).
• Singleness - Because each person is made in the image of God, singleness is a valid and holy pursuit and expression of devotion to Jesus for those who choose a lifestyle of singleness and chastity due to necessity, the ending of a marriage, or calling and gifting (1 Corinthians 7:1-16).
• Marriage - For those who choose to marry, marriage is a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4-6). God created marriage to reflect His love for His church (Ephesians 5:21-33) and to fill the earth with life (Genesis 1:28).
• Sex - Inside the covenant of biblical marriage, sex is a beautiful gift created by God to bring life through pleasure, bonding, and procreation. Any sexual activity outside of this covenant is sin (Genesis 2:20-25; Ephesians 5:31-32; Hebrews 13:4).
• Tier 2 Distinctive: Complementarianism - God created mankind male and female to complement each other (Genesis 2:18). Men and women are equal in worth, but not identical in role. As it pertains to the church, women can and should lead in any role except of elder or Senior Minister (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1).

Mankind was created good, but quickly believed the lie of the enemy and fell into sin (Genesis 3). All people have rebelled against God (Romans 3:9-24), therefore creation is under a curse of sin, decay, and death (Romans 8:18-25). Because of the corruption of mankind and the fracturing of God’s created order, all of us are dead in our sins apart from Christ, desperately in need of rescue and unable to save ourselves (Ephesians 2:1-3).

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-10). There is nothing we can do to save ourselves. God put a plan in motion before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-10) to reconcile us to himself through Jesus, before we even knew we needed Him (Romans 5:1-11). Through the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and promised return of Jesus, God has made salvation available to all who surrender to Christ as Lord (Acts 2:39; Romans 10:9). We receive salvation by placing our faith in Jesus, repenting of our sin, confessing Him as Lord of our lives, being baptized, and living a life of allegiance and obedience to Jesus as King. In salvation, we are united with Christ (Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 2:20; 3:26-29) and receive forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14), the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and the promise of eternal life (Ephesians 4:30) in God’s new creation.

Tier 2 Distinctive: Baptism - We practice baptism by immersion upon placing faith in Jesus. For more on this distinctive, visit the Baptism page.

We are part of the worldwide Church. The is one Church under the headship of Christ, sent as His body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) to worship and serve God by carrying on the ministry of Jesus. We desire to follow the example of those who have gone before us (Acts 2:14-47) in handing down and contending for the faith that has been entrusted to all of God’s holy people (Jude 1:3). As a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:9), we are sent into the world (John 20:21) to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), love God, and love our neighbors (Matthew 22:37-39). We join with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the ages in affirming the Apostles’, Nicene, and Chalcedonian creeds as distilled representations of Scripture’s clear teaching. In doing so, we unite ourselves to the global church across denominational lines to partner with our sister churches for the advance of the gospel and the glory of God in all the earth (Isaiah 49:6; Habakkuk 2:14; Romans 10:13-15; 1 Timothy 2:3-4).

• Tier 2 Distinctive: Our Heritage - We gladly unite with the Stone-Campbell tradition (also called the Restoration Movement, or Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ). This movement began on the frontier of the United States in the early 19^th century following the Second Great Awakening and the Cane Ridge Revival, after which Plainfield Christian Church was born in 1829. We carry on the Stone-Campbell heritage of praying for and working toward the unity of God’s church, the restoration of God’s truth, and the revival and conversion of God’s world.
• Tier 2 Distinctive: Communion - We receive communion weekly in our worship services in fulfillment of Jesus’ command (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
• Tier 2 Distinctive: Eldership - We are an elder-led church, as articulated in our membership guidelines and laid out in Scripture (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9; 1 Peter 5:1-5). The elders are primarily responsible for high-level guidance and protection of the church, as well as direct oversight of the Senior Minister. Under the authority of the elders, the staff oversees and undertakes the day-to-day responsibilities of the organizational and ministerial life of the church.

Jesus will return in glory to judge the living and the dead (Acts 1:11; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5). Death seals the eternal destiny of each person. Upon Christ’s return all will be raised (Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), and those who have not submitted to Christ as Lord will be separated from him in eternal punishment (2 Thessalonians 1:5-12; Revelation 20:7-15). Those who have loved Jesus faithfully will be with Him for eternity in the new creation (Romans 8:10-11; Revelation 21:1-8). He will make all things new, and we will reign with him in glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:12-58), serving and worshipping Him forever (Revelation 22:1-7).