What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Calvary Chapel Ann Arbor 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 inspiration of Scripture; it is God-breathed.  The Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is the only infallible, inerrant and authoritative Word of God [2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21; Gal. 1:11-12].

We believe in one God eternally existing in three distinct persons:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit; they are of one essence [Deut. 6:4; Mt. 3:16-17, 28:19; Jn. 10:30].  We believe that God is the personal, transcendent, and sovereign Creator of all things [Gen. 1:1-2, 1:26; Isa. 40:28, 44:24], and that He is perfectly holy, just and loving [Rev. 4:8; Num. 14:18; Jn. 3:16].

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human [Jn. 1:1-3, 1:14; Col. 2:9; 1 Tim. 2:5], that He was born of a virgin [Mt. 1:21-23], lived a sinless life [2 Cor. 5:21], provided for the payment for our sins by His substitutionary death on the cross [2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 3:24-25, 1 Pet. 1:18-19], was raised bodily from death [1 Cor. 15:3-4], ascended to the right hand of the Father [Mk. 16:19; Jn. 20:17; Acts 1:9], and ever lives, making intercession for us [Heb. 7:24-25].
We believe in the personal, visible, and premillennial return of Jesus Christ to the earth [Acts 1:11; Rev. 19:11-16; Rev. 20:1-10].  We live in light of an “anytime” gathering (rapture) of believers prior to a tribulation period [1 Thes. 4:15-18; Mt. 25:13; 2 Thes. 2:6-8; Dan. 9:27] and purpose to make the most out of each day.

We believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are valid for today [1 Cor. 12], but must be exercised within Scriptural guidelines [1 Cor. 14].  We as believers are to covet the best gifts [1 Cor. 12:31], seeking to exercise them in love so that the whole Body of Christ might be edified [1 Cor. 12:7; 1 Cor. 13; 1 Cor. 14:4-5].  We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and that without love the exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless [1 Cor. 13:1-2].

We believe that all people are, by nature, tainted by sin and separated from God [Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23], but that forgiveness is made possible by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ [Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 2:8-9].  Salvation is a free gift; it is unearned [Eph. 2:8-9].  Faith in Christ is humanity’s one and only hope of salvation [Acts 4:12].  When a person receives Jesus Christ as his/her personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is born again [Jn. 3:3, 3:16; Eph. 2:4-5], sealed by the Holy Spirit [Eph. 1:13], forgiven of all sin [Eph. 1:7], and becomes a child of God [Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:5], destined to spend eternity with the Lord [Mt. 25:45-46; Jn. 3:16].  Those who reject Christ their entire lives are destined to spend eternity apart from the Lord [Mt. 25:45-46].

The Church is meant to be the visible body of Christ, sent into the world to glorify God and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that church leadership begins in the home [1 Tim. 3:5].  We also believe that a husband is called to be head of the home, and as such, must be willing to sacrificially lay down his life for his wife [Eph. 5:23, 5:25]. Church elders must be men of character who serve and lead well in the home [1 Tim. 2:12, 3:1-7].  A Calvary Chapel senior pastor is merely a head elder.

We believe that the only true basis of Christian fellowship is Christ’s agape love, which is greater than any differences we possess and without which we have no right to claim ourselves Christians [Jn. 13:35; Col. 3:14-15].

We believe that God made humanity male and female, complementary and special [Gen. 1:27, 2:18]. We believe that the gender assigned biologically in the womb cannot inherently be changed. We believe that marriage is designed for one biological male and one biological female [Gen. 2:24; Mt. 19:4-5]. We are to love and respect everyone, but we cannot in good conscience affirm transgender procedures or same-sex marriages.