Our Creeds and Confessions

Third Church holds three creeds in common with most other Christian churches.

• The Apostles Creed  elegantly expresses our faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• The Nicene Creed  boldly emphasizes the biblical message that Jesus is truly, fully God.
• The Athanasian Creed affirms the biblical teaching that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, but in such a way that there is only one God. It then goes on to confess that Jesus Christ is at the same time fully God and fully Human.

There are also three confessions that Third Church shares with other churches of the Reformed faith. These distinguish its teachings from that of other denominations.

• The Belgic Confession summarizes what the Bible teaches about itself, our fall into sin, Christ, salvation, the church, civil government, and our Lord's return.
• The Heidelberg Catechism emphasizes that our rescue from sin is a free, unearned gift of God through Jesus Christ. Responding to that gift, we show our gratitude to God by living in faith and obedience to our Lord.
• The Canons of Dort assert that we cannot save ourselves because sin has affected every part of our nature. We cannot even come to faith by ourselves. God must break through our stubborn rejection. God takes the initiative, choosing us in Christ without consideration of any good in us, not even foreseen faith. God's Spirit alone can work in us the miracle of saving faith that gives us new life in Christ.

The contemporary testimony Our World Belongs To God reasserts the claim of our Lord over every area of life. Being Jesus' disciples means that we serve God everywhere, all the time.