What We Believe
Core Doctrines of Christianity
We affirm true Christian faith and practice, and are committed to working alongside believers who affirm these Core Doctrines:
- The incarnation of Jesus Christ
- The gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
- The inerrancy and infallibility of the 66 book canon of the Holy Bible
- The triune nature of God revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit
- The great commandments to love God and to love people
- The great commission to make disciples
- The future return of Jesus to establish His eternal kingdom
Historic Confession of Faith
We affirm the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 as one of the foundational and historic confessions of the true Christian faith, which unifies us with the historic Church. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake, He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy universal and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen
Modern Commitment to Evangelism
We affirm the Lausanne Covenant of 1974 as the modern Church’s unified commitment to the Great Commission.
To download a PDF of the Lausanne Covenant, click here.
To learn more about the Lausanne Movement, click here.
Practical Doctrinal Guide for Leaders
The ROCK affirms the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) as its practical doctrinal guide for leadership. While we recognize Christian liberty and the diversity of interpretation in many areas of theology and practice, we also acknowledge that even non-essentials often shape how organizations function. For this reason, the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) serves as our standard for leadership decisions. Our leaders are not required to be Baptist, but they must affirm that Baptist theology is a faithful and acceptable expression of Christian orthodoxy.
To download a PDF of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, click here.
To learn more about the Baptist Faith and Message, click here.