What We Believe

LEADING people to Christ,
BUILDING people up in faith,
EQUIPPING all for service,
SENDING all to serve,
in obedience to Christ’s command.

Statement of Faith

    • Section 1.1. There is one God (Deut. 6:4), Creator of all things (Rev. 4:11), who is infinitely perfect (Matt. 5:48), existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).

    • Section 1.2.Jesus Christ is the true God and true man (Phil. 2:6-11). He was sent by the Father (John 20:21), conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin, Mary (Luke 1:34-38). He died on the cross, the Just for the unjust (1 Pet. 3:18), as a substitutionary sacrifice (Heb. 2:9), and all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood (Rom. 5:9). He rose from the dead according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4). He is now at the right hand of the Majesty on high as our great High Priest (Heb. 8:1). He will come again to establish His Kingdom of righteousness and peace (Isa. 9:6-7).

    • Section 1.3.The Holy Spirit is a divine person (John 14:16-18), sent to indwell, guide, teach, gift, empower, and bear His fruit in every believer (John 16:13; 1 Cor. 12:4, 11; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:22-23). He convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:7-11).

    • Section 1.4. The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for our salvation. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice (2 Pet. 1:20-21; 2 Tim. 3:15-17).

    • Section 1.5.Man and woman, created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27), fell through disobedience, incurring both physical and spiritual death (Rom. 6:23). Therefore, everyone is born with a sinful nature (Rom. 5:12), is separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18), and can be saved only through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:25).

    • Section 1.6. Salvation has been provided through Jesus Christ for all people (1 John 2:2). Those who repent and believe in Him are justified by grace through faith (Rom. 3:21-24), born again of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-7), delivered from the dominion of darkness, transferred into the Kingdom of God’s Son (Col. 1:13), granted the gift of eternal life, and adopted as the children of God (Rom. 8:14-16; John 1:12).

    • Section 1.7.It is the will of God that each believer should be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sanctified wholly,¹ being separated from sin and the world and fully dedicated to the will of God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service.² This is both a crisis and a progressive experience wrought in the life of the believer subsequent to conversion.³ (¹1 Thessalonians 5:23, ²Acts 1:8, ³Romans 6:1–14)

    • Section 1.8.Provision is made in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ for the healing of the whole person (Isa. 53:4-5; Matt. 8:16-17). Prayer for the sick and anointing with oil are taught in the Scriptures (James 5:13-16) as privileges for the Church in this present age (Acts 4:30).

    • Section 1.9.The Church consists of all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, are redeemed through His blood, and are born again by the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Head of His Body (Eph. 1:22-23, Col. 1:18), the Church, which has been commissioned by Him to go into all the world making disciples of all peoples (Matt.
      24:14, 28:19-20). The local church is a body of believers in Christ (Eph. 5:30) who are called to love (1 Thess. 3:12) and joined together for the worship of God, edification through the Word of God, prayer, fellowship, proclamation of the gospel through word and deed (Luke 4:18-19), and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:41-47).

    • Section 1.10.There will be a bodily resurrection of all people (Acts 24:15). Our Lord Jesus Christ will judge with perfect justice (Acts 17:31, John 5:28-30) as the unrepentant and unbelieving are raised to the conscious anguish of eternal separation from God (Rev. 20:15, 21:8, 2 Thess. 1:9), and repentant believers are raised (John 6:40) to the unending joy of eternal life with God (Ps. 16:11, Rev. 21:1-4).

    • Section 1.11. The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent⁴ and will be personal, visible, and premillennial.⁵ This is the believer’s blessed hope and is a vital truth which is an incentive to holy living and faithful service.⁶ (⁴Hebrews 10:37, ⁵Luke 21:27, ⁶Titus 2:11–14)

The Fourfold Gospel

  • Alliance founder Dr. A. B. Simpson articulated the core “theology” of The Alliance. As we seek to know Jesus personally, being one with Him, He will reveal Himself as our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King. Simpson called this theology the Fourfold Gospel, the Christological summary on which the spiritual DNA of The Christian and Missionary Alliance is built.

CMA DNA

    • Lost people matter to God. He wants them found.

    • Prayer is the primary work of God’s people.

    • Everything we have belongs to God. We are His stewards.

    • Knowing and obeying God’s Word is fundamental to all true success.

    • Completing the Great Commission will require the mobilization of every fully devoted disciple.

    • Without the Holy Spirit’s empowerment, we can accomplish nothing.

    • Achieving God’s purposes means taking faith-filled risks. This always involves change.