What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Wilde Lake Church, based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.

We believe in the one true, holy and living God, Eternal Spirit, who is Creator, Sovereign and Preserver of all things visible and invisible. He is infinite in power, wisdom, justice, goodness and love, and rules with gracious regard for the well-being and salvation of humanity, to the glory of His name. We believe the one God reveals Himself as the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinct but inseparable, eternally one in essence and power.

We believe in Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, in whom the divine and human natures are perfectly and inseparably united. He is the eternal Word made flesh, the only begotten Son and the Father, born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. As ministering Servant, He lived, suffered and died on the cross. He was buried, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven to be of the Father, from where He will return. He is eternal Savior and Mediator, who intercedes for us, and by Him all humanity will be judged.

We believe in the Holy Spirit who proceeds from and is one in being with the Father and the Son. He convinces the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He leads humanity through faithful response to the gospel into the fellowship of the Church. He comforts, sustains and empowers the faithful to live like Christ in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24).

We believe the Holy Bible—Old and New Testaments—reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice. We believe the Bible as contained in the Old and New Testaments is infallible, as inspired by the Holy Spirit. Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not to be made an article of faith, nor is it to be taught as essential to salvation.

We believe humanity is fallen from righteousness and, apart from the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, is destitute of holiness and inclined to evil. Except a person be born again, they cannot see the Kingdom of God. In their own strength, without divine grace, a person cannot do good works pleasing and acceptable to God. We believe, however, a person influenced and empowered by the Holy Spirit is responsible in freedom to choose to live in love and obedience to the glory of God.

We believe God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. The offering of Christ freely made on the cross is the perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, redeeming humanity from all sin, so that nothing more than the acceptance of this gift is required to be saved.

We believe in modeling the holy, biblical example, as put forth by Jesus Christ in his own immersion Baptism. It is an outward symbol of an inward commitment, to be engaged at the earliest possible opportunity following salvation. It is an acknowledgement of the death and burial of one's old self, followed by the resurrection to new life in Christ. Baptism is not about achieving perfection, but it should accompany an earnest adoption of life change and the rejection of sin.

We believe sanctification is the work of God's grace through the Word and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in their thoughts, words and acts and are enabled to live in accordance with God's will and to strive for holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

We believe the Sacraments (Baptism and Holy Communion), ordained by Christ, are symbols and pledges of the Christian's profession and of God's love toward us. They are means of grace by which God works invisibly in us, quickening, strengthening and confirming our faith in Him.

We believe all people stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day. We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the wicked to endless condemnation and the righteous to life eternal.