Discover Our Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God, inerrant, verbally inspired, and infallible in its original state. The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

We believe there is but one living and true God, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone, and not by any work of man or other means(Ephesians 2:8-9.) As such, we reject the idea that saving Grace is in any way imparted through the sacrament of baptism or the Lord’s supper (holy communion.)

or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Savior.

is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God.

is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.

is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.

We believe in the importance of the local church, which is made up of believers who gather for worship, fellowship, and teaching, and to pursue the ordinances of the church(baptism and communion.) We believe in the responsibility of the church to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, preaching the gospel to all nations. We believe the gathering of believers in a local, physical church for corporate worship and instruction is God’s will for believers(Hebrews 10:25-24). When a person trusts Christ for salvation, he or she is made a member of the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:27) and believers who do not participate in the church gathered hinder the body of Christ from functioning in its full integrity. Therefore, at least one parent from each family must commit to regular church attendance and involvement and in the pursuit of personal, spiritual maturity. We believe the first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance, as commanded in scripture (Exodus 20:8.) It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

We believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing in the space of six days. We believe the triune God alone has existed from eternity past and in His wisdom decided to create the universe from nothing. God spoke and it came into existence. Humanity did not evolve from lower life forms, but was created by God.

Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God's creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.

We believe because God has ordained marriage and defined it as the covenant relationship between a man, a woman, and Himself. 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. (Gen.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. (1Cor.6:18, 7:2-5; Heb 13:4.)We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage between a man and a woman. As such, TSA will only recognize marriages between a biological man and a biological woman. We also believe that any form of sexual immorality(including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1Cor 6:9-10.)

We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen 1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex is rejection of the image of God within the person.

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including fertilized embryo’s, pre-born babies in all stages of development, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Ps 139:13-18; Job 14:5.)

TSA’s Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our core beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of TSA’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, however, our Board of Directors is TSA’s final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.