At We Are Church Nashville, we have two distinct but complementary statements summarizing our beliefs:

Statement of Basic Beliefs
This statement represents the most simple and foundational beliefs of Christian orthodoxy from a
biblical perspective. It captures the basic contours of Christian theology. Anyone pursuing
membership at We Are Church must agree with this statement.

Statement of Biblical Doctrine
This statement represents a full summary of the various convictions held and taught by We Are Church.

Together, these statements communicate what we believe as a church and will therefore be
foundational for our teaching, preaching, praying, instructing, disciplining, and counseling.

Statement of Basic Beliefs
The gospel is the hope of the world. As we read the Scriptures, we see the overarching themes of
God’s providence, power and provision to reconcile mankind and the created world to Himself
through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In light of this, we aim to be explicitly gospel-
centered in all that we preach, teach and practice.

We believe:
• The Scriptures are infallible, authoritative and sufficient.
(Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).
• There is only one true God, Creator of heaven and earth, who eternally exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5-6; Isaiah 46:9-10; John
17:3; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Timothy 2:5; Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 28:17-20; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6).
• All things exist for the glory of God 
(Psalm 148; Proverbs 16:4; Isaiah 61:3; Romans 11:33-36; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Ephesians 1:3-14).
• All humanity, Christ excluded, is sinful by both birth and action 
(Genesis 6:5; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:23; 5:8, 12-21; 7:18; Ephesians 2:1-3).
• The deserved penalty for sin is physical and spiritual death 
(Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:19; Romans 5:12; 6:23; James 1:14-15).
• Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, was born of a virgin and is both fully God and fully human 
(Matthew 1:20; Luke 2:52; John 1:1-4, 14; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-3).
• Jesus Christ died as the sacrificial substitute to pay the penalty for sin 
(John 1:29; 10:1-18; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 3:18).
• Only through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ and repentance from sin can one be
reconciled to God and experience true life and joy
(John 3:18, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 3:21-26; 1 Timothy 2:5-6).
• Jesus Christ physically rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and will one day physically return 
(Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 1:20-21:25; 1 Corinthians 15:12-
34; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Hebrews 9:28; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 1:7).
• There will be a future physical resurrection of the dead. Only those who turn from sin and to
Jesus in faith and repentance will be raised to eternal reward. Those who do not turn from sin
and to Jesus will be raised to eternal punishment 
(Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15).


Statement of Biblical Doctrine

The Scriptures
We accept the Bible, including the 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New
Testament, as the written Word of God. The Bible is an essential and infallible record of God
revealing Himself to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Given by
God, the Scriptures are fully inspired by God and are, thus, free of error. Each book is to be
interpreted according to its context and purpose and in reverent obedience to the Lord who
speaks through it in living power. All believers are exhorted to study the Scriptures and
diligently apply them to their lives. The Scriptures are the authoritative and normative rule and
guide of all Christian life, practice and doctrine. They are totally sufficient and must not be
added to, superseded or changed by later tradition, extra-biblical revelation or worldly wisdom.
The full counsel of God in Holy Scripture, whether of creed, confession or theology, must test
every doctrinal formulation.

The Triune God
There is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty and perfect in holiness, truth and love. In the unity
of the Godhead, there are three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal and
co-eternal. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the
Father. Yet each is truly Deity. One God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is the foundation of
Christian faith and life.

God the Father
God the Father is the Creator of heaven and earth. By His word and for His glory, He freely and
supernaturally created the world out of nothing. Through the same word, He daily sustains all
creation. He rules over all and, together with the Son and the Spirit, is the only Sovereign. His
plans and purposes cannot be thwarted. He is faithful to every promise, works all things together
for good to those who love Him and, in His unfathomable grace, gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for
mankind’s redemption. He made all things for the praise of His glory and intends for man, in
particular, to live in fellowship with Himself.

Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the eternal Word made Flesh, supernaturally
conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully man. Through
Him, all things came into being and were created. He was before all things, and in Him, all
things hold together by the word of His power. He is perfect in nature, teaching and obedience
and is the only Savior for the sins of the world, having shed His blood and died a vicarious death
on the cross. By His death in our place, He revealed divine love and upheld divine justice,
removing our guilt and reconciling us to God. Redeeming us from sin, He rose bodily from the
grave on the third day, victorious over death and the powers of darkness and performing many
convincing proofs of His resurrection. He ascended into heaven where, at God’s right hand, He
intercedes for His people and rules as Lord over all, awaiting His return. He is the Head of His
body, the Church, and should be adored, loved, served and obeyed by all.

The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Through the
proclamation of the gospel, He persuades men to repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord.
By the same Spirit, a person is led to trust in divine mercy. The Holy Spirit unites believers to
Jesus Christ in faith, brings about the new birth and dwells within the regenerate. The Holy Spirit
has come to glorify the Son who, in turn, came to glorify the Father. He will lead the Church into
a right understanding and rich application of the truth of God’s Word. He is to be respected,
honored and worshiped as God, the Third Person of the Trinity.

Man
God made man—male and female—in His own image, as the crown of creation so that man
might glorify Him through enjoying fellowship with Him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled
against God. Being estranged from his Maker yet responsible to Him, man became subject to
divine wrath, inwardly depraved and, apart from a special work of grace, utterly incapable of
returning to God. Unregenerate man lives under the dominion of sin and Satan. He is at enmity
with God, hostile toward God and hateful of God. Fallen, sinful people, whatever their character
or attainments, are lost and without hope apart from salvation in Christ alone.

The Gospel
The gospel is the good news of God’s grace invading the darkness of this world. It is the grand
narrative of creation, fall, redemption and consummation ordained by God and orchestrated
through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Christ’s crucifixion is the
heart of the gospel. His resurrection is the power of the gospel. His ascension is the glory of the
gospel. Christ’s death is a substitutionary and propitiatory sacrifice to God for our sins. It
satisfies the demands of God’s holy justice and appeases His holy wrath. It also demonstrates His
mysterious love and reveals His amazing grace. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God
and man. There is no other name by which men can be saved. At the heart of all sound doctrine
is the cross of Jesus Christ and the infinite privilege that redeemed sinners have in glorifying
God because of what He has accomplished. Therefore, we want all that takes place in our hearts,
church and ministries to proceed from and be related to the gospel.

Man’s Response to the Gospel
The proper response to the gospel is faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, a faith that is
naturally accompanied by repentance from sin. Biblical repentance is characterized by a changed
life, kingdom service, and works that evidence saving faith. Neither repentance nor works save.
Unless a person is willing to deny himself, pick up his cross and follow Christ, he cannot become
His disciple. This gospel of grace is to be sincerely preached to all men in all nations.

Man’s Inheritance Through the Gospel
Salvation, the free gift of God, is provided by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ
alone, for the glory of God alone. Anyone repenting of sin by the miracle of regeneration and
looking to Christ and His substitutionary death receives the gift of eternal life and is declared
righteous by God as a free gift. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. He is justified and
fully accepted by God. Through Christ’s atonement for sin, an individual is reconciled to God as
Father and becomes His child. The believer is forgiven the debt of his sin and liberated from the
law of sin and death into the freedom of God’s Spirit.

Sanctification
The Holy Spirit is the active agent in our sanctification, seeking to produce His fruit in us. Our
minds are renewed, and we are conformed to the image of Christ. Though indwelling sin remains
a reality, the Spirit leads us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord, freely keeping His
commandments and endeavoring to so live in the world that all people may see our good works
and glorify our Father in heaven. All believers are exhorted to persevere in the faith, knowing
they will have to give an account to God for their every thought, word and deed. The spiritual
disciplines, especially Bible study, prayer, worship and confession, are a vital means of grace in
this regard. Nevertheless, the believer’s ultimate confidence to persevere is based in the sure
promise of God to preserve His people until the certain end.

Empowered by the Spirit
The Holy Spirit empowers believers for Christian witness and service. The promise of the Father
is freely available to all who believe in Jesus Christ, enabling them to exercise the gifts He
sovereignly bestows for ministry and mission. The Holy Spirit desires to continually fill each
believer with power to bear witness to the gospel and imparts His gifts for the edification of the
body and the work of ministry in the world. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work in the first-
century church are available today and are to be earnestly desired and practiced in an orderly
manner. This includes those gifts that are considered miraculous, as well as those that might be
seen as more mundane, as both are works of the Spirit. The healthy exercising of diverse gifts
within a unified body is essential to the mission of the Church in the world today.
All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the
Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This
was the normal experience of all in the first-century church. With it comes the endowment of power
for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.
This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.

The Church
God, by His Word and Spirit, creates the Church, calling sinful men out of the whole human race
into the fellowship of Christ’s body. By the same Word and Spirit, He guides and preserves that
newly redeemed humanity. The Church is not a religious institution or denomination. Rather, the
Church is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have
personally appropriated the gospel. The Church exists to worship and glorify God as Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. It also exists to serve Him by faithfully doing His will on earth. This service
involves a commitment to see the gospel preached and churches planted in the entire world. The
ultimate mission of the Church is to bring glory to God by making disciples. Upon conversion,
newly redeemed men and women are added to a local church in which they devote themselves to
teaching, fellowship, prayer, and the ordinances of the church.
All members of the Church are to be a vital and committed part of a local church. In this context,
they are called to live out the implications of the gospel as the people of God and demonstrate
the reality of the kingdom of God. The ascended Christ has given gift ministries to the Church,
including prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, for the equipping of Christ’s body so that it
might mature and grow. In the context of the local church, God’s people receive pastoral care
and oversight and the opportunity to steward their gifts for His glory and the good of the others.

Ordinances of the Church
Water baptism is only intended for the individual who has received the saving benefits of
Christ’s atoning work and become His disciple. In obedience to Christ’s command and as a
testimony to God, the Church, oneself and the world, a believer should be immersed in water in
the name of Jesus. Water baptism is a visual and symbolic demonstration of a person’s union
with Christ in the likeness of His death and resurrection. It signifies that a former way of life has
been put to death and vividly depicts a person’s release from the mastery of sin.
As with water baptism, the Lord’s Supper is to be observed only by those who have become
genuine followers of Christ. This ordinance symbolizes the breaking of Christ’s body and the
shedding of His blood on our behalf and is to be observed repeatedly throughout the Christian
life as a sign of continued participation in the atoning benefits of Christ’s death. As we come to
the table with an attitude of faith and self-examination, we remember and proclaim the death of
Christ, receive spiritual nourishment for our souls and signify our unity with other members of
Christ’s body.

The Consummation
The consummation of all things includes the future, physical, visible, personal and glorious
return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those alive in Christ, the
judgment of the just and the unjust, and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens
and the new earth. In the consummation, Satan, with his hosts and all those outside Christ, is finally
separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring eternal punishment, but the righteous,
in glorious bodies, will live and reign with Him forever, serving Him and giving Him unending praise
and glory.  Then the eager expectation of creation will be fulfilled, and the whole earth shall
proclaim the glory of God, who makes all things new.