Core Beliefs at Steadfast
(These are some of our core, shaping beliefs)
What We Believe about God
There is one holy God, living, eternally existent in the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the Creator of Heaven and earth. He made us and it’s important for us to know Him.
What We Believe Specifically about Jesus
As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. We believe that Jesus is unique and eternal with the Father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, miraculously born of a virgin, and led a sinless life as He walked this earth. He suffered at the hands of men and was crucified on the cross. In His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus took on and fully paid for the sins of all. He was literally resurrected in His body, and is enthroned with the Father in Heaven (and, ultimately, in all realms) as the rightful King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Very practically, we believe that Jesus is the perfect representation of God to humanity, and is also the perfect representation of humanity to God. Hence, we humans approach God in and by Christ.
What We Believe about People
We believe that God deeply loves His creation. We believe that humankind is created by God and blessed to carry God’s image, which is a special role among creation. As “imagers” of God, we are created to be in living relationship with Him because our role is to know Him, abide in Him, and have Him live through us everywhere we go and in all we do.
We believe that our good standing as our Creator’s earthly imagers was corrupted when the first of us, Adam and Eve, chose to wander from God and sin in the Garden of Eden, breaking humanity’s special connection to God.
Because Jesus is both fully human and fully God, Jesus was able to bear the cost of reconciling humanity back to God.
To be personally reconciled back to God through Jesus Christ is often called “salvation” because we are saved by Christ from a lost, sinful, death-bound condition. We believe that individual salvation is by grace through faith, not something that we can do of ourselves. Salvation is received by confession (acknowledging our status as sinners estranged from God), repentance (asking God for forgiveness and turning away from sin and towards Him) and faith (trusting, truth-based belief in His salvation offered) in Jesus Christ.
When we give ourselves to Christ and trust Him for salvation, His Holy Spirit settles again to abide in us and we then grow in the journey of learning to walk again in living relationship with our Creator.
Every human being has a purpose, an identity in God, and is specially known and called by God to live out that purpose. We are equipped with spiritual tools to interface with God, like prayer, worship, words, song, and willful choices. Through Christ and by the Holy Spirit, and with the guidance of God’s word, the Bible, we learn to use those tools properly and live out our created purpose.
What We Believe about the Bible
We believe the Holy Bible is the inspired word of God and has been provided to us, by Him, so that we can know Him and walk with Him. God’s word, as revealed in Scripture, is the guiding authority and standard by which we can steadfastly walk with Him. We look to the Bible for all we say and do, and our teaching is held to a strong Biblical standard.
We believe the Holy Spirit is specially active in the Bible. We approach the Bible with honor and care because God lives in His Word.
We recognize that the Bible is a complex set of writings across thousands of years by dozens of human authors, yet it remains singularly cohesive and whole because it was intended all along by God, for our benefit. We believe God has actively helped preserve, protect, and propagate the Bible because He wants it to be available to us as accurately as possible. We believe the Bible is absolutely unique in this way and stands head and shoulders above any other religious text, both historically and spiritually.
Simply and practically, we believe the major translations of the Bible we have available today are excellent and trustworthy English reproductions of the oldest and most reliable Biblical manuscripts, which have been remarkably well preserved and passed down for thousands of years. We have every reason to rely on the Bible.
We believe the study and personal understanding of the Bible is a worthy, lifelong pursuit and is rewarding on every level. It is our honor to teach the Bible to our utmost, for in doing so we teach Christ Himself.
What We Believe about Marriage, Gender and Sexuality
We believe that God’s intentional creation of humankind includes the male and female genders, and God’s divine gift of marriage is for a male and a female to join in lifetime commitment and sexual exclusivity. These are very important elements of human creation and speak volumes about our roles and responsibilities on earth.
We believe that wandering from God’s design, like engaging sexual promiscuity, changing God’s design for gender, or abusing God’s plans for marriage results in damage to His beloved creation, starting in our own spirits. We believe that honoring God means making every effort to walk according to His designs, which are described in the Bible.
At the same time, we recognize that sexuality and marriage are deeply personal parts of our identity, and (like pretty much every Biblical standard) nobody navigates it perfectly. To varying degrees, every adult is a sexual sinner and has had sexual sin committed against them as well. Along similar lines, nobody has a perfect marriage, and some marriages fail, resulting in much pain. We don’t hold past sins, problematic marriages, or sexual struggles against anybody, but rather we work together to walk closely with Jesus and find healing from the past, holiness today, and hope for the future.
We recognize that marriage and sexuality are difficult issues in society, and we do not like to be divisive or attacking, so we treat people with compassion and respect regardless of their wrestling with sexuality.
What We Believe about Free Will
We believe that our relationship with God includes our free and willing interaction with Him. We believe that human capacity for free will and choice is an important part of our spiritual capacity. We agree with many churches, even those who have different views on free will, that God is sovereign and does choose to call, appoint, and influence human beings for His will, including His foreknowledge of future events. At the same time, we believe He honors and pays attention to our choices, whether our choices delight or grieve Him. Accordingly, one of the most important spiritual disciplines we can practice is to voluntarily surrender our wills to His on a daily basis, and pay close attention to our alignment with His will in all areas of our lives.
The “Weird” Stuff
At Steadfast, we are not afraid to tackle the difficult or “weird” topics. Besides a huge scope of challenging narrative, the Bible is a thoroughly paranormal book so taking it seriously requires stretching into the supernatural. Many people have wondered about or even encountered unsettling experiences, including angels, demons, miracles, sleep paralysis, shadow beings, giants, cryptids, Nephilim, ghosts, near death experiences (NDEs), out of body experiences (OBEs), aliens, UFOs/UAPs, non-human intelligences, the occult, witchcraft, magic, quantum realities, consciousness phenomena, and so much more.
While most modern churches in the US shy away from these areas, we believe the church is exactly the place for these discussions, without becoming unhelpfully preoccupied with them. We are confident that God, especially through the Bible, can handle any questions we ask of Him. Our theology and teaching absolutely include a thoughtful and growing understanding of topics like these.
Besides paranormal topics, there are many areas of the Bible that are often skipped, ignored, or not taught because they bring up uncomfortable events or ideas. We do not skip those sections as we teach because we believe they are included for a reason and can be helpfully illuminating to our overall understanding, as well as our personal faith.
With AI, social media, and many strange events, we also know we live in a world where it can be difficult to tell what is true and what is fake. It is important to remember a couple foundational truths: First, everything was made through Jesus, by Jesus, and for Jesus and everything will be reconciled to Jesus (see Colossians 1:15-20). Second, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (see Philippians 2:10-11). That means everything, human or not.
While “the weird stuff” is not the main focus of our faith, we will not hesitate to openly address such things as they come up in our study or ministry (this includes being willing to address demonic situations where necessary). As we teach through books of the Bible we will not skip uncomfortable topics or sections. We also welcome your questions, even your “weird” questions, and we are gladly willing to talk with you about any strange or unusual things you may have experienced.