Gateway Bible Church

ph 2:10). We are Committed to the Cross of Christ:

We believe that the Incarnation and its culmination, the Cross, are the heart and soul of Christianity (1 Cor 1:18-25, 2:2). There Christ displayed the glory of God both for our salvation (2 Cor 4:6) and our imitation (2 Cor 3:18). It is no understatement to say that “I learn everything I need to know about God, man, how to live, and what to expect in eternity, by looking at the cross.” Therefore, we attempt to integrate the cross into every facet of Christian living and teaching. We are big on the basics, what Paul called “sound doctrine” (Tit 1:9). We are Committed to the Word of God:

Our sovereign God has graciously revealed Himself to us through the breathing out of His Word, the Bible. We believe that since He has created us with the capacity to know Who He is and what He has done through the pages of His Word that we should be faithful to preach it, teach it and apply it with confidence, vigor and passion. Therefore, we affirm that the Scriptures are sufficient for life and godliness. We are Committed to Expository Preaching/Teaching:

God has not given us His Word to use how we see fit, but to be our guide, help, light and counsel. We don’t come to it attempting to affirm our ideas; we come away from it having been filled with His ideas. We must come to it humbly, seeking all that God wants to say to us through His Word. To that end we recognize that the only kind of preaching/teaching that is faithful to God’s Word is Expository Preaching/Teaching, in that it exposes, explains, illustrates and applies what God is saying in His Word. We are Committed to Pursuing Humility:

Together with the Reformers, Luther and Calvin, and the great pivotal Christian minds of the last 2,000 years, we believe that all men are dead in sin (Eph 2:1). We believe that God is holy, that men cannot meet God’s standards, nor will they want to, unless God initiates a relationship with them (Matt. 11:27 16:17, Rom. 9:18, John 5:21). Therefore, it follows that salvation belongs to God (Rev 7:10), not to men. God reconciles us to Himself through His work not ours. In fact, God has designed salvation to transfer all boasting from self to the cross of Christ (Rom 3:27, Gal 6:14). When internalized these truths provoke lives of growing humility and gratitude. To the degree that we grow in humility God sends grace. We are Committed to Growth in Christ:

God has called the church to maintain a climate where growth in Christlikeness (aka Progressive Sanctification) is taking place. As sinners we sin, yet God has called us to lay aside those sinful habits, be renewed in the spirit of our minds and be clothed anew in the righteousness of Christ. This is an ongoing process that will only end with God calling us home. Therefore, applying Scripture and embracing the ever present power of the Gospel is central to becoming more like Jesus. We are Committed to the Local Church:

The Christian life is more than me and my Bible. It is corporate. It is a life shared with a body of people. That is because the local church exists to display the life of the Trinity (God’s glory) in a fallen world, and the Trinity is a social community. God saves families and individuals to join them to a local church (1Cor 12:13). That is because God accomplishes all of His purposes through the local church (Rev 2, 3). Therefore, Christians not committed to a local church are a contradiction in terms. Because of these truths, we honor membership, practice church discipline, and submit to biblical church government. We are Committed to Biblical Manhood and Womanhood:

Although men and women are equal in value, God created them with different functions in the family and Church (1Cor 11:2-15, 14:32-35, 1Peter 3:1-7). He did this to display His passion for the servant leadership and joyful submission to authority that characterize the social dimensions of the Trinity. Recognizing and submitting to this truth is an important key to healthy families and vibrant local churches. Practically, this means God calls men to love their wives by leading them and to lead their wives by loving them (Eph 5:25ff). It also means that God calls wives to submit to their husbands and respect them (Eph 5:22-24, 33). Last, it means that God has given the task of public preaching and teaching to men (1Tim 2:11-15). It also means He limits the office of Eldership to men (1 Tim 3:1-7). Otherwise, men and women are equal in function. We are Committed to the Great Commission:

We evangelize because we believe that God glorifies His mercy, grace, and love through the conversion of needy sinners. We also evangelize because as Paul wrote, “the love of God controls us” (2 Cor. 5:14). We evangelize because we believe these terrible words, (Heb 10:27) “it is appointed for men to die once then comes judgment.” At the judgment God will separate all men into two groups— those that go to “a lake of fire” (Rev 21:14) and those who go to Heaven, a place of “joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Pet 1:8). All of life is preparation for one of these destinations. We evangelize because on the Day of Judgment no one will enter Heaven except through specific faith in Christ and His atoning work. We are Committed to Investing in the Next Generation:

God has called us to impart a legacy of joy and satisfaction in Christ and His Gospel to the Next Generation. We endeavor to impart the good news about God’s character and commandments to each succeeding generation so that they will in turn be confident in Who God is and What He has done, see the world through the lens of His providence, love to be obedient to His commandments and be carefully sensitive toward sin (Psalm 78:5-8). Therefore, it is our desire to “commend” his works to the Next Generation in relevant Christ adoring, Gospel centered and Scripture saturated ways.