WHAT WE BELIEVE
At Tab, we have a saying- “we major on the majors (tenants of the Christian faith) and minor on the minors”.
As a non-denominational community, this is an important tenet of who we are. Major beliefs are those that the Bible is clear about. On less clear issues, we allow people to come to their own conclusions on the matter.
Tab Church Theology
In regards to our major beliefs, the foundations of our theology are:
1. We believe in a Trinitarian God. The Father: The Originator and Planner The Son: Redeemer, Revealer, Ruler The Holy Spirit: Counselor/Comforter, One Who Empowers, Transforms
2. We believe that all people are created to bring glory to God by worshiping Him, loving others, caring for the planet. We, all people, are sinful at conception and born estranged from God, and in need of reconciliation with God.
3. We believe that salvation comes through Jesus Christ, alone, and His redemptive work on the cross.
4. We believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. It is the final authority for our faith and practice.
5. We believe that Jesus called each person to the Great Commission, to establish strategic relationships with non-believers to be the light-bearers of His Gospel in this world.
Statement of Beliefs
1. We believe in the Trinity: One God eternally existing in three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. We believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, Who by His word and for His glory, created everything both seen and unseen, Whose plans and purposes cannot be thwarted, Who is faithful to every promise, and Who works all things together for His good. Because of His unfathomable grace and love, He predestined His Church to be holy and blameless in accordance with His pleasure and will. We believe that the Father gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, for mankind’s redemption, that He continually concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of man, hears and answers prayers, saves from sin and death all those who come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ and Who continually blesses His children with every spiritual blessing.
3. We believe in Jesus Christ, God the Son, as the redeemer of mankind and the only mediator between the Father and humanity. We believe that He is co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, yet begotten by the Father. We affirm His full deity as God and we affirm His full humanity in that though He is God, through the incarnation, He became a human being born of a virgin. We believe in the Son's perfection and that His shed blood and substitutionary death on the cross paid the redemptive price for our sins. We believe that He was buried, rose bodily and ascended into heaven at the right hand of the Father, where He currently intercedes for all believers. We eagerly wait for that day when He will return in bodily form as King and Judge to claim His own and to vindicate Himself by setting all things in order.
4. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, equal in deity to the Father and the Son, co-eternal with Them and worthy of worship. He seals and indwells the believer at conversion, enabling him to grow into the likeness of Christ, filling the Christian with power to live a godly life.
5. We believe that people are created by God in His image for the express purpose of glorifying and loving Him. However, because of man’s disobedience (sin), the entire human race is alienated from God and in need of reconciliation to Him.
6. We believe that a person’s reconciliation to God comes only by God’s grace and through faith. It was earned by Christ's death on the cross, which is totally sufficient to cover all sins. Those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord, repent of their sin and believe in His name, are spiritually born as children of God.
7. We believe that all Christians are members of the body of Christ, the one true Church universal. Spiritual unity is to be expressed among Christians by acceptance and love of one another across ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, national, generational, and denominational lines. The local church is a congregation of Christians who gather in a specific geographical location for the purpose of worship, prayer, instruction, encouragement, mutual accountability, and community with one another. In it, believers invest time, talents, energy, and resources. Through it, they are mutually edified, moving toward full maturity in Christ and are equipped to fulfill the Great Commission (the worldwide proclamation of the gospel).
8. We believe in eternal salvation for all who have been reconciled to God through His Son and in eternal punishment for all who reject His gift of salvation.
9. We believe that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, inerrant as originally given, and infallible as God's final authority for our faith and practice.
