We enthusiastically embrace the sovereignty of God’s grace in saving sinners.
We affirm God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, not on the basis of foreseen faith but unconditionally, according to his sovereign good pleasure and will. We believe through the work of the Holy Spirit, God will draw the elect to faith in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, graciously and effectually overcoming their stubborn resistance to the gospel so they will believe most assuredly and willingly. We also believe that these, the elect of God whom he gave to the Son, will persevere in belief and godly behavior and be kept secure in their salvation by grace through faith. We believe that God’s sovereignty in this salvation neither diminishes the responsibility of people to believe in Christ, nor marginalizes the necessity and power of prayer and evangelism, but rather reinforces and establishes them as the ordained means by which God accomplishes his ordained ends. (John 1:12–13; 6:37–44; 10:25–30; Acts 13:48; 16:30–31; Romans 3:1–4:25; 8:1–17, 31–39; 9:1–23; 10:8–10; Ephesians 1:4–5; 2:8–10; Philippians 2:12–13; Titus 3:3–7; 1 John 1:7,9)
**See the section below for more on how the gospel is the power of God that saves from the penalty, power, and presence of sin.