At Living Waters, we have members who come from a variety of different Christian traditions. While we seek to be generous in the way we view each other’s differences, there are still some characteristics of theology that you will hear in our preaching and teaching.
Our beliefs can be described as Christian, Protestant, Reformed, and Evangelical.
CHRISTIAN
Most importantly, we are Christians. By that, we believe that at a point in real history, mankind (through Adam) rebelled against the loving rule of the one true God who created all things. As a result, our relationship with God was broken. In his great love, God offered a way back to a right relationship with him through Jesus, specifically through faith in Jesus’ historic life, substitutionary death and resurrection. As Christians, we believe that a relationship with Jesus is the only way to get back to God.
A further summary of what we believe to be the “Essentials” of Christian faith can be found here.
PROTESTANT
Following Jesus’ resurrection the church began to grow rapidly and spread throughout the known world. Sadly, as it grew there were times that the message of Jesus was clouded by ideas contrary to the very teaching of Jesus. Within Western-European history, this was especially true in the medieval church and, as a result, some Christians began to call for reform. This effectively meant a break from the Roman Catholic Church (though there was also a subsequent set of reforms in the Roman church through what has been called the Counter-Reformation) and those who broke away became known as “Protestants”. Protestant churches emphasize the following ideas:
• The Bible is the only authoritative source for knowing who God is and what he requires. Church tradition has value but only as it agrees with what the Bible says.
• There is no way to earn our way back to God through good works. The only way to be right with God (justified) is by trusting (faith) in what Jesus has done on our behalf; specifically offering himself as a substitute for our sin. He took our sin upon himself and gave to us his perfect record of righteousness, thereby making us acceptable before God and reconciling the broken relationship between God and man. Good works are an important response of gratitude to having been made right with God and they are a necessary fruit of God’s grace.
• Because of mankind’s rebellion, the gap between God and man is so great that there is nothing about us that merits God’s love. So, saving man is all God’s doing as an act of his unmerited favor (grace).
• The only way to get back to God is through Jesus. This means that a person doesn’t need to go through a priest, a preacher, or a saint to have access to God. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.
• While it is commendable to consider, appreciate, and learn from the lives of faithful Christians who have gone before us, our worship belongs to God alone. Life is to be lived to his glory alone.
REFORMED
“Reformed” refers to our theological distinctions within the broader Protestant church. Reformed churches seek to emphasize two Biblical ideas.
• God’s kingly rule (which we call his Sovereignty) – This means that God lovingly controls everything that happens in the world including salvation. He is so intimately involved in this world that nothing escapes his notice and he is (sometimes mysteriously to us) making all things work out for our good and for his glory.
• God’s grace – Mankind is a mess! We are such a mess that the only way we could ever get back to God is if he decides to fix things. Even though there is nothing in us that could merit God loving us, saving us, and caring for us, through Jesus we can experience God’s unmerited favor (grace).
A more thorough summary of what it means to be Reformed can be found in our confessional document, the Westminster Confession of Faith. We believe this is a helpful and accurate summary of what the Bible teaches.
EVANGELICAL
While for some this word has taken on political connotations, historically this word has meant an emphasis on spreading the fundamental historical message of Jesus to all of the world. That is indeed our desire!
Living Waters is a congregation in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Living Waters Evangelical Presbyterian Church 
You must be logged in to post a comment.