The basic creed of Reformed churches, as most familiarly known, is called the Apostles' Creed. It has received this title because of its great antiquity; it dates from very early times in the Church, a half century or so from the last writings of the New Testament.

I BELIEVE IN GOD the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth.

I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended into Hades*. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, the holy catholic church**, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen

*We have replaced the word hell because we believe it to be more Biblically sound.
**The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

WE BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

AND IN ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

AND WE BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets; and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

The Westminster Confession of Faith (With Scripture Proofs) Offsite at CRTA
The Westminster Larger Catechism (With Scripture Proofs) Offsite at CRTA
The Westminster Shorter Catechism (With Scripture Proofs) Offsite at CRTA

While we are in basic agreement with a number of the classic confessional and catechistic documents of the Reformation era (e.g., the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dordtrecht), we have chosen to adopt the Westminster Standards (the confession of faith, the larger and shorter catechisms) as our confessional standard.  These documents, while not binding on the conscience of an individual believer serve to act as a safeguard and boundary to protect the church against the incursion of error and heresy.

1. It means to affirm the great "sola's" (Latin for "only") of the Reformation.  Look here for a children's song.

    

   1. Sola Scriptura...Scripture Alone
   2. Sola Gratia...Grace Alone
   3. Sola Fide...Faith Alone
   4. Soli Christo...Christ Alone
   5. Soli Deo Gloria...To the Glory of God Alone
   6. See the Solas summarized by the Cambridge Declaration of 1996

    

2. It means to affirm and promote a profoundly high view of the sovereignty of God.

    

   1. It rejects the extremes of Deism and Fatalism and sees God as actively involved in His creation, governing and overseeing all the affairs of men.  cf. Psalm 115:3; Job 34:14-15; 37:6-13; Daniel 4:35.

    

3. It means to affirm the doctrines of grace...to see God as the author of salvation from beginning to end.

    

   1. The acrostic TULIP is the most familiar way of delineating the doctrines of Grace.  While this acrostic is well known, there are more helpful means of defining and articulating what it is we mean by the "doctrines of grace."  A brief summary statement of each of these five doctrines follows.

       

      1. Total depravity

          

         1. By "total depravity" what we are to understand is that man is utterly lacking in his ability to (in and of himself) respond to the good news of salvation through Christ alone.  That is why some describe this first doctrine as "total inability."  It does not mean that human beings are as wicked or evil as they could possibly be; it simply says to us that every faculty of man's being has been horribly affected and "deadened" by sin in the fall of Adam.  The whole man - his mind, his heart, and especially, his will - has been so affected by the fall that he is in a state of utter and complete inability to comply with God's commandments.  cf. Romans 1:18-32; 3:10-18; 5:12-19; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 2:13

          

      2. Unconditional election

          

         1. "Unconditional election" (a doctrine often misunderstood and misrepresented) teaches us that a gracious and loving God has "out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of His own will, chosen from the whole human race...a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ...  Those chosen were neither better nor more deserving than the others..." (Canons of Dortrecht, first main point of doctrine, article 7).  God's election unto salvation is unconditional in that it is not predicated on anything we do (not even our "choosing") or anything we are.  It finds its basis in our sovereign God's mere good pleasure.  When properly understood, this glorious doctrine strikes a death blow to all human pride as well as the pervasive sense of self-sufficiency, characteristic of mankind.  cf. John 15:16; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:29-30; 9:10-13, 16; Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; II Thessalonians 2:13; II Timothy 1:9

          

      3. Limited atonement

          

         1. The third doctrine of grace, "Limited Atonement", while fitting nicely into the TULIP acrostic, is less than helpful because of its "limitations."  If not properly explained, it can easily lead one to conclude that God is limited, that He can only save some.  Thus, terms like "particular redemption" or efficacious atonement" are better descriptions of what this doctrine actually entails.  Very simply, limited atonement or particular redemption teaches us that Christ's atonement, the redemptive nature of His death on the cross, was for a particular people.  It was for the elect of God and only for the elect.  It was "limited" in that sense and in no other.  cf. Isaiah 53:11; Matthew 20:28; John 6:37-39; Hebrews 9:28

          

      4. Irresistible grace

          

         1. "Irresistible Grace" has been referred to by some as "effectual call" or "efficacious grace," that is, it effects or accomplishes God's desired end.  It is the doctrine that teaches us that God, through the agency of regeneration, replaces our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, thus causing the elect of God to be perfectly willing and desirous of receiving Christ unto salvation.  Irresistible grace does not suggest either raw determinism or God forcing us to believe in Him against our will.  Rather, this doctrine teaches us that salvation is all of grace, the grace of God applied to unregenerate men and women resulting in a change of their "want to."  As God gives this grace to sinners, they willingly choose to believe and receive (John 1:12).  However, without the application of this grace, none would choose to believe.  cf. John 1:12-13; 5:25; 6:45; Acts 16:14; Romans 3:21-26

          

      5. Perseverance of the saints

          

         1. The final doctrine of grace (Perseverance of the Saints) is one of the most precious and freeing truths in all of Scripture.  It gives assurance to the child of God that God is indeed able to save from first to last, from beginning to end.  C. H. Spurgeon, in refuting those who argued that one can never be absolutely sure of his or her final destination, once said, "I grant that my atonement, or bridge to heaven is more narrow than yours.  However, yours only goes half way across the chasm and mine goes all the way.  In our scheme, the sinner must furnish the other half."  Perseverance of the Saints (sometimes called "preservation" of the saints) teaches us that the child of God will persevere, he will be preserved in his faith because it is God who has begun that good work and He will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).  Once again, salvation is seen to be entirely of God, from first to last.  cf. Psalms 37:28; Isaiah 45:17; Matthew 10:22; John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; 17:9-18; Hebrews 7:25; I John 2:19, 25

          

4. It means to be creedal...to affirm the great creeds of the historic, orthodox church.

    

   1. The history of God's people is replete with "creeds" (statements of belief) from the earliest of times.  The Shema of Israel as recorded in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is but one OT example.  I Timothy 3:16 is a prime illustration of a NT creedal affirmation.  Romans 10:9-10 underscores the importance of creedal and confessional statements.  By affirming the great creeds of our faith we are effectively joining the confessional statements.  By affirming the great creeds of our faith we are effectively joining the venerable communion of saints, ritually confessing our solidarity with the Church of all ages.

       

      1. The Apostles' Creed (see above)
      2. The Nicene Creed (see also above)
      3. The Definition of Chalcedon (see also above)

       

5. It means to be confessional...to affirm one or more of the great confessions of the historic orthodox church.

    

   1. While it is undeniably true that the Bible is entirely sufficient for the whole of life, we must, nonetheless, acknowledge that problems arise when people begin to discuss what they believe is or is not included in the teaching of Scripture.  Thus, it is simply not enough to say, "I believe in the Bible."  Confessions of faith, catechisms and the like, give definition to our understanding of what the Scriptures teach.  A confessional standard is helpful in at least the following ways:

       

      1. A confession allows us to express our faith with precision.  We are not at the mercy or the vagaries of subjective and individualized readings of the Bible.
      2. A confession allows us to defend a particular faith.  It is very hard to defend a faith that is not agreed upon beforehand.
      3. A confession allows us to establish an objective basis for doctrinal unity.
      4. A confession organizes and systematizes what will and will not be taught to our children.
      5. A confession allows us to standardize what will be the doctrinal basis for our decisions.  Without this safeguard, every individual's private view of Scripture becomes the legitimate source for Christian behavior.  The Bible teaches otherwise (II Peter 1:20-21).
      6. A confession serves to act as a yardstick by which to measure the leaders for the Church.  Churches without a confessional standard must rely on an intuitive process instead of an objective format when selecting Pastors, Elders and Deacons.  Churches without a confessional standard often have later found themselves regrettably surprised by what their leaders really believed.  A confession of faith informs the Church in advance as to what its leaders will teach.

          

         1. The Westminster Standards
            1. The Westminster Confession of Faith (see link above)
            2. The Westminster Longer Catechism (see link above)
            3. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (see link above)

             

         2. The London Baptist Confession of Faith

          

         3. The Three Forms of Unity
            1. The Belgic Confession of Faith
            2. The Heidelberg Catechism
            3. The Canons of Dortrecht

             

6. It means to be covenantal...to affirm the great covenants of Scripture and see those covenants as the means by which God interacts with and accomplishes His purposes in His creation, with mankind.  The Scriptures contain numerous examples of God "covenanting" with man, establishing and ordaining a variety of covenants.  Having said that, the Reformed tradition perceives all of these covenants as falling under three broad covenants.  They are:

    

   1. The Covenant of Redemption - The Covenant of Redemption is that pre-Creation "agreement among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in which the Son agreed to become a man, be our representative, obey the demands of the covenant of works on our behalf, and pay the penalty for sin, which we deserved."  (Wayne Grudem) cf. John 3:16; Romans 5:18-19; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 2:14-18; John 14:16-17, 26; Acts 2:33

    

   2. The Covenant of Works - The Covenant of Works is that pre-Fall agreement between the Lord God and Adam in which Adam was promised blessing and life upon obedience to the terms of the covenant and cursing and death should he disobey the terms of the covenant.  "The requirements of the (covenantal) relationship are clearly defined in the commands that God gave to Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28-30; cf 2:15) and in the direct command to Adam, 'You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die' (Gen. 2:16-17)."  (Wayne Grudem)  The Covenant of Works ceased to be in effect after the fall.  cf. Hosea 6:7

    

   3. The Covenant of Grace - The Covenant of Grace is that covenant by which a gracious and loving God works out the amazing plan of redemption in which sinful and rebellious people may once again be restored to communion and fellowship with Him.  This covenant is made possible only through the passive and active obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is entitled a "covenant of grace" because it is predicated entirely on grace - that is, God's unmerited favor toward those whom He redeems.  cf. Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:33; 32:38-40; II Corinthians 6:16; I Peter 2:9-10

    

7. It means to take seriously the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20...to affirm the primacy of mission and understand that mission.

 

8. It means to have a distinctly Christian worldview that permeates all of life.

    

   1. Some elements of a Christian worldview:

       

      1. An affirmation of the sovereignty of God
      2. An affirmation of the sufficiency and relevance of God's Word for all of life
      3. An affirmation of the necessity of absolutes
      4. An eternal rather than merely a temporal perspective
      5. The rightful division of authority (spheres of authority)
      6. The sanctity of life
      7. The priority of vocation/calling

       

   2. Questions to help develop a distinctly Christian worldview

       

      1.  Why is there something rather than nothing?
      2. How do you explain human nature?
      3. What happens to a person at death?
      4. How do you determine what is right and what is wrong?
      5. How do you know what you know?
      6. What is the meaning of history?

For further reading, an excellent treatment on what it means to be reformed can be found here.