SCPC Theological Identity

Many people have asked what we at Spring Cypress Presbyterian Church believe.  Sometimes the questions are asked these ways: 

• What are our theological distinctives? 
• What does it mean to be Presbyterian?
• What does it mean to say we are reformed? 

While this document may not answer every question of this nature, we do want to help members, visitors and inquirers to learn more about our church.

While we do not insist that every member share this precise set of theological convictions, it is our goal to be characterized by the following terms:


WE ARE BIBLICAL

To say that we are biblical means that we take our stand with all those who are holding to the ‘essentials’ of the Christian faith: 

• the existence of the Triune God
• the deity of Jesus
• the virgin birth
• the substitutionary atonement of Christ
• the physical resurrection of Christ
• the certainty of the return of Christ
• the infallibility & authority of the Bible

We joyfully affirm our unity with those from every tradition and denomination who hold to these ‘essentials,’ including those true believers in Christ who, for whatever reasons, find themselves members of denominations or churches with which we might have theological disagreements.


WE ARE EVANGELICAL

This means that we take seriously the Great Commission, which states, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”  We believe that the gospel of Jesus is a general ‘call’ for all to believe, and that God sovereignly leads individuals to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  The mission and work of the church is to cheerfully and lovingly extend the gospel invitation to everyone who will hear its message.  We invite all, without distinction, to drink freely of the Water of Life and to live eternally.  In this way, we seek to grow the kingdom of God and fulfill the Lord’s command to His church to “make disciples of all men.”


WE ARE REFORMED

The word “reformed” can be defined in two ways: 

1)  It is a reference to our historical link to the Reformation of the 16th century and intends to describe us as the heirs of that tradition which comes from Luther, Calvin, Knox and other reformers. 

2)  Secondly, the word “reformed” is used most commonly to refer to certain theological distinctives which have marked reformation believers, particularly those in the Calvinist tradition.  We hold to the 5 Solas of the Reformation.

These distinctives can be summarized by our glad affirmation of the responsibility of every person to repent and believe, and that it is God who, by His sovereign electing grace, draws men and women, dead in their sin, to faith in His Son.  By this faith alone are God’s people justified and adopted into the family of God as Sons of our Heavenly Father (Romans 8:15 & Galatians 4:4-7).

• Reformed distinctives include:
•  the sovereignty of God in His creation
•  the election of believers
•  the overwhelming & amazing grace of God
•  the corrupting and destructive nature of Sin
•  the efficacy of Christ’s death for believers by grace; the safeguarding of all those for whose eternal life Christ died

WE ARE CONFESSIONAL

This means that we have a written confession of faith which we believe to be a good and accurate summary of the Bible’s teaching.  Our confession consists of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms.  These documents are not without flaw; yet we believe they do contain carefully worded summaries of the Bible’s content. 

The Westminster Confession was commissioned by the English Parliament in 1643 and adopted by Scotland as its formal theology.  It is by all considerations one of the greatest summaries of what the bible teaches and is very much worth reading!

All pastors and elders in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) must hold the Westminster standards.   It is important to note that every church has a confession, formal or informal, even though some claim they have “no confession but Christ” or “no creed but the Bible.”  Every church summarizes its convictions in some form in order to distinguish its members from those who are not believers or those who do not believe in their church’s distinctions.


WE ARE COVENANTAL

To say it simply, being covenantal means that God enters into relationships with his people and adopts us into His family.

It also means that we see a unifying principle in the Bible that there is one covenant of grace that God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and, finally, most importantly, in Jesus Christ.  The covenant is a pledge or bond of loyalty which God made to His people through each of the above named persons.  Since there is a unity of the covenants , we know that this means that there is one way of salvation in both Old and New Testaments—that is, by faith alone in Jesus Christ. 


WE ARE KINGDOM CENTERED

We believe that the Kingdom of God is not only a future hope but is also a present reality.  We believe that the ascension of Jesus Christ means that He is presently reigning from Heaven and, therefore, we are called upon to honor and obey Him in every area of our personal lives and to plant the banner of Christ’s Kingdom rule in every area of human endeavor.  Christ’s present heavenly reign is at the heart of our mission as a church.


WE ARE PRESBYTERIAN

This word refers to our form of governance.  We believe that the most clear biblical pattern is for churches to be governed by presbyters (elders) who rule jointly in what are called “church courts”: sessions, presbyteries, and the General Assembly.

It is important to know that these distinctives are good ones; that is to say, it is profitable and health-producing for Christians to believe these things.  We believe that as we come to appreciate them, we will grow to love and honor the Lord Jesus more fully and understand more richly what it means to live by grace.

Nevertheless, acceptance of all these distinctives is not required for membership in our church.  One can join and be a participating member of our church without holding to any but the evangelical distinctive.  Ruling and teaching elders and deacons, however, must hold to all these distinctives; and while there is room for exceptions to be taken, to be ordained as an elder or deacon in the PCA means that one can affirm that these descriptive terms apply to him.

In the Reformation era, Martin Luther had a sponsor whose name was Frederick of Saxony.  Frederick was a prince and a 16th century entrepreneur who funded many of Luther’s projects.  He was a man of warm heart and deep conviction.  On his coach, he had emblazoned these Latin words:  suaviter in modo, fortiter in re, which means, “gentle in manner, strong in truth.”  This is what SCPC desires to be:  warm, gracious, inviting, open, and non-judgmental; yet still holding strong convictions that always come directly from the Bible.  It is our absolute and unwavering conviction that to be strong in truth without being gentle in manner is unbiblical.  It is also our profound conviction that to be gentle in manner while not adhering to scriptural truth is also unbiblical.  By God’s grace, we will be both as we press on in the Lord’s grand design for SCPC to be used in Spring, Texas and in the world.