Our Beliefs
We are Christians gathered from diverse backgrounds unified by the common desire to engage in conversations to promote unity in the Body of Christ. We embrace historic Christianity, reflecting the major streams of Christianity: apostolic, evangelical, and Spirit-filled. We desire to show the existence and character of God, not only with our lips but in our lives.
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Although the founders of CFBU are classical Protestants, we have attempted to construct our statement of faith to include traditional Roman Catholic and Orthodox thinkers as well. If you'd like more information about our approach, we recommend reading the short essay on our website summarizing our approach to ecumenism.
Statement of Faith
GOD
We believe there is one God, the transcendent creator and sustainer of all things visible and invisible. This one God is Triune, existing eternally and simultaneously as three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three persons in the Godhead are co-equal in nature, majesty, and glory.
SCRIPTURE
We believe that God has spoken in and through Scripture, which consists of the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. Scripture is a gracious self-communication from God, containing all things necessary for salvation. Scripture ought to be the authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
CREATION
We believe that the physical universe (the realm of nature) is the visible creation of God. It gives a trustworthy revelation of God’s existence and character. An honest study of nature can prove useful in a person’s search for truth. Properly understood, God’s Word (Scripture) and God’s world (nature) are two revelations from the same God and will never contradict each other.
JESUS
We believe that the historical Jesus Christ of Nazareth is both fully God (the second Person of the Trinity) and fully man (the Incarnate Son of God). We also believe in the historical events surrounding Jesus Christ’s life, including: His eternal preexistence, His birth to the virgin Mary, His attesting miracles, His sinless life, His sacrificial physical death on the cross, His glorious bodily resurrection from the dead, His ascension into heaven, and His present work in heaven is as High Priest and Advocate.
HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity) is coequal with the Father and the Son. We also believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in salvation, convicting humanity of our sin, imparting new life to sinners, and indwelling believers in order to empower them to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
HUMANKIND
We believe that God communicates His goodness to all creatures, but in particular to human beings, whom He has made in His own image, both male and female, and that all men, women, and children have been graciously bestowed with inherent dignity from the moment of conception.
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We believe God created all humans in His image and likeness (having rational, moral, relational, and spiritual capacities). Human beings are the crown of God’s creation, and thus distinct in kind from all other life on earth.
Adam and Eve, the first human beings, were direct and miraculous creations of God. They chose to disobey God and go their own autonomous way. As a result, all of mankind became separated from God, the image of God in man became distorted, and the sinful nature is passed on to all their descendants. The only remedy for humanity’s predicament is redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.
SALVATION
We believe God took initiative to bridge the gap that separates humanity from Himself. He sent His Son, Jesus, “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Through the birth, life, death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, He brought about reconciliation between God and humans for those who believe, repent, and receive His grace. In the atoning death of Christ, both God’s love and God’s justice are fully manifested. The righteousness of Jesus Christ in perfectly fulfilling the law of God has been graciously credited to all believers. Redemption is a work of God’s grace, received exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ.
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​We believe that Jesus Christ to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by Him. All who receive, by faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, have been born again of the Holy Spirit, and have become children of God.
LIFE OF THE CHRISTIAN
We believe that Christians are called to follow the law of Christ’s love and live in the power of the Holy Spirit so that they will bear fruit consistent with the repentance from sins to the glory of God. We believe that it is the mission of every Christian to give a reason for the hope that is within them, to proclaim the Gospel to “every tribe and tongue” on the Earth, and to make disciples.
THE CHURCH
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all people in all times and places, including the living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to disciple people from every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission requires that Jesus’ disciples be willing to endure suffering for the sake of Jesus.
FUTURE THINGS
We look forward to the blessed hope, Christ’s second coming to this earth, personally, bodily, and visibly to establish His glorious reign in a kingdom that will never end. Jesus will resurrect and judge all humanity. Those who have received His offer of life through the Gospel will go to eternal blessings in the afterlife. Those who have rejected it will enter into eternal conscious separation from the Lord in hell.
Positions
The following statements offer concise summaries of the Center for Biblical Unity's (CFBU) that reflect the ethos and culture that we try to promote through our content, trainings and internal work culture.
For more about our positions and how we tackle various cultural issues facing the Church today, please see the short essays we offer on THE ISSUES page on our website.
Creeds and Confessions
In addition to our official statement of faith, a unifying expression of our faith can be found in the Nicene Creed. It has served as the bedrock for Christian unity for thousands of years.
We also find the confirmations and denials laid out in the following modern statements to be helpful summaries of what Scripture teaches on various topics:
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Chicago Statements on Biblical Inerrancy and Hermeneutics
Although these statements do not have the same level of authority as Scripture, we believe they provide a an accurate summary of critical core truths of the historic Christian faith. They also establish important boundaries for our content.​
Authority of Scripture
We recognize that there are various approaches within Christianity when it comes the authority of Scripture (e.g., prima scriptura, sola scriptura, solo scriptura, apostolic succession).
CFBU requires its volunteers, staff and Board members to affirm that Scripture as the supreme authority over the church and the Christian, and that it is sufficient for salvation and Christian growth.
We also value tradition in the history of the church. It helps set important precedents and provides wisdom. But we do not see it as having equal authority to Scripture.
God has also given humanity other tools through general revelation to discover truth, such as logic, math, and science. All of these can provide insight into the created order, and when rightly interpreted will not contradict special revelation.
Christ and Culture
We recognize there are various approaches among Christians when it comes to how we ought to engage the broader culture.
CFBU advances a version of the "Christ transforming culture" model. Our approach is similar to the method pioneered by evangelical theologian and philosopher, Francis Schaeffer.
We believe that human culture was initially good, but subsequently corrupted by humanity's Fall. Since Christ is redeeming all of creation, however, individual Christians, as well as local churches, can and should work to transform culture to the glory of God. This is done first and foremost through the preaching of the Gospel, church planting, building families and encouraging honest work. Over time, however, we would expect that the Gospel's impact on transformed lives would have a transforming effect on the broader culture.
Women in Ministry
Predestination and Free Will
Sexuality
CFBU affirms the impact that women can have in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19; John 4:39) and as disciples of Jesus (Luke 10:39), capable of learning deeply about their faith through the study of theology and apologetics. Women participate equally with men in the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:4–5, 9–10).
We believe the Holy Spirit is the owner and dispenser of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7,11) and that all believers have a responsibility to steward these gifts (1 Peter 4:10). Spiritual gifts are not specified in Scripture as being connected to biological sex.
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CFBU is not a church. We are not pastors. We don't administer the sacraments, nor do we engage in church discipline. Our role is to provide teaching and consulting support for local churches, Christian schools and ministries. We want to serve the Body of Christ by helping its leaders to have a biblically faithful view of race, unity and justice.
We acknowledge the strong historical precedent that only men were ordained to the office of bishop and priest for the purpose of leading local churches. However, CFBU doesn't take an official position on the issue of complementarianism or egalitar-ianism. For this reason, you are likely to find CFBU speakers, volunteers, and Board members on both sides of this issue. We expect all those affiliated with CFBU to act with gentleness and humility when discussing this issue.
Integration of Creation & Scripture
Sincere Christians who hold to the infallibility of Scripture differ on issues related to the integration of Scripture and creation.
CFBU doesn't take an official position on the age of the earth. For this reason, you will find CFBU employees, volunteers and Board members who differ about the exact age of the earth. We expect all those affiliated with CFBU to act with gentleness and humility when discussing these issues.
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There are a few critical issues, however, related to the creation of humans that we believe are foundational to the conversation about human dignity. On these issues, all CFBU staff, volunteers and Board members agree. These include:
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God created the first humans, male and female, as unique creatures bearing His image (Gen. 1:26-27).
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The first human pair were the result of the Creator's direct and miraculous intervention, not the refashioning of bipedal primates (Gen. 2).
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God created one human race (Acts 17:26).
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The diversity of physical features experienced by various people groups is the result of microevolutionary processes.
One of the major controversies among Protestant Christians involves an understanding about the roles of predestination and personal agency in coming to faith in Christ.
You will find CFBU employees, volunteers and Board members on both sides of this discussion. As such, we expect all those affiliated with CFBU to act with gentleness and humility when discussing this issue.
Sanctity of Life
Procreation is a gift from God. A new human being enters the universe, created in the image of God, at the moment of conception. Every human being deserves our protection, whatever the circumstances of conception. Our stand for human dignity for the pre-born shapes how we see matters such as abortion, birth control, and IVF.
For more on this topic, please read the related essays available on THE ISSUES page on our website.
We believe God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as either male or female (Gen. 2). Each of these sexes reflects the image of God in its own unique way (Gen. 1:26–27).
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We believe marriage joins one man and one woman in an exclusive union and provides the sole God-ordained context for sexual intimacy.
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We believe that all sexual relations outside of a committed heterosexual marriage constitute sin. This includes sexual sins such as fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and the use of pornography.
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Our desire is to demonstrate God’s love for all people. The same redemption is available to those who struggle with sexual sins as it is for all sinners. We want to come alongside anyone who struggles with sexual sin, including those who struggle with porn addiction and gender identity discordant with their birth sex, and encourage them to find healing, wholeness, and their true identity as a new creation in Jesus Christ.
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For more on this topic, please read the related essays available on THE ISSUES page on our website.
Cessationism vs. Continuationism
Race Issues
One of the major controversies among Protestant Christians is the extent to whether certain spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament remain available to the church, or whether their operation ceased with the close of the Apostolic age or shortly thereafter.
CFBU doesn't take an official position on this issue. For this reason, you will find CFBU employees, volunteers and Board members on both sides of this discussion. We expect all those affiliated with CFBU to act with gentleness and humility when discussing this issue.
All humans are created in the image of God, which forms the foundation for human dignity, value, and worth. CFBU maintains a stand that there is one human race with many ethnicities. The Bible does not categorize humans according to the modern construct of race.
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CFBU requires that all staff, volunteers, and board members uphold a biblical view and approach to unity as expressed in the Los Angeles Statement on Race, Justice & Unity.
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For more on this topic, please read the related essays available on THE ISSUES page on our website.