Here is what we believe…
This is and excerpt taken from the tenents of our faith from First Presbyterian Church of Tacoma where we are members. To read in its entirety please visit: First Presbyterian Church Tacoma
The purpose of life. The great purpose toward which each human life is drawn is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
The authority for our lives. We glorify God by recognizing and receiving His authoritative self-revelation, both in the infallible Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and also in the incarnation of God the Son.
The trinity. With Christians everywhere, we worship the only true God–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–who is both one essence and three persons.
The incarnation. Jesus Christ is both truly God and truly human. The divinity of the Son is in no way impaired, limited, or changed by His gracious act of assuming a human nature, and that His true humanity is in no way undermined by His continued divinity. The risen Jesus, who was sent from the Father, has now ascended to the Father in His resurrected body and remains truly human.
The Holy Spirit. We are able to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and God only through the work of the Holy Spirit.
The problem of sin. The present disordered state of the world, in which we and all things are subject to misery and to evil, is not God’s doing, but is rather a result of humanity’s free, sinful rebellion against God’s will. No part of human life is untouched by sin. Our desires are no longer trustworthy guides to goodness, and what seems natural to us no longer corresponds to God’s design.
The solution. Jesus offered Himself on the cross in order to free us from slavery to death and sin. Jesus takes our place both in bearing the weight of condemnation against our sin on the cross and in offering to God the perfect obedience that humanity owes to Him but is no longer able to give. In union with Christ through the power of the Spirit we are brought into right relation with the Father, who receives us as His adopted children. Jesus Christ is the only Way to this adoption, the sole path by which sinners become children of God.
The benefits of salvation. Through His regenerating and sanctifying work, the Holy Spirit grants us faith and enables holiness, so that we may be witnesses of God’s gracious presence to those who are lost. In Christ, we are adopted into the family of God and find our new identity as brothers and sisters of one another, since we now share one Father.
The church. Within the covenant community of the church, God’s grace is extended through the preaching of the Word, the administration of the Sacraments, and the faithful practice of mutual discipline. The ministries of the church reflect the three-fold office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king–reflected in the church’s ordered ministries of teaching elders, deacons, and ruling elders.
Holiness. Jesus teaches us that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. There is no part of human life that is off limits to the sanctifying claims of God. Progress in holiness is an expected response of gratitude to the grace of God, which is initiated, sustained, and fulfilled by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit
Moral guidance. As we practice the discipline of regular self- examination and confession, we are especially guided by the Ten Commandments. Most of the commandments are expressed in a prohibition, ‘you shall not’, but behind each prohibition, we find a ‘grand positive’ calling us to freedom and to new life. Among the many vital and life affirming truths expressed in the Ten Commandments, we find two of them to be especially relevant for the culture in which we live today. We encourage you to find the others on the ECO website:
#5 You shall not kill. This command calls us to eradicate a spirit of anger, resentment, callousness, violence, or bitterness, and instead cultivate a spirit of gentleness, kindness, peace, and love; recognize and honor the image of God in every human being from conception to natural death.
#6 You shall not commit adultery. This command calls us to maintain chastity in thought and deed, being faithful within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman as established by God at the creation or embracing a celibate life as established by Jesus in the new covenant.
Sol Deo Gloria