United Methodists share with other Christians the conviction that Scripture is the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine. Through Scripture the living Christ meets us in the experience of redeeming grace. We are convinced that Jesus Christ is the living Word of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death. The biblical authors, illumined by the Holy Spirit, bear witness that in Christ the world is reconciled to God. The Bible bears authentic testimony to God’s self-disclosure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as in God’s work of creation, in the pilgrimage of Israel, and in the Holy Spirit’s ongoing activity in human history.

The Affirmation of Faith (The Apostles Creed) helps us declare the Christian faith. They affirm our unity in Christ with those followers who first wrote them, the many generations who have recited them before us, and those who will recite them after we have gone. Historians believe what we refer to as “The Apostles Creed” was adopted by early Christians as a method of remembering and reciting the core beliefs held by the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Christian faith is believing in God’s promises, trusting in His faithfulness, and relying on God’s faithfulness to act. Christian faith is a commitment of our whole being, a matter of heart and soul. Christian faith is a choice we make to live our lives for the living God revealed to us through Christ Jesus.

Jesus Christ is the One and only Son of God, who left heaven to come and provide salvation for all of us. Jesus Christ was both fully man and fully God, without sin. Jesus paid the price for our sins by being crucified on the Cross, he died and was buried and on the third day he was resurrected and later ascended to heaven. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and Mediator who intercedes for us and by Him all people are to be judged.

Human beings have rebelled against God going all the way back to Adam. To sin means to miss the mark of God’s righteousness; it means to rebel against God and disobey His laws. Humans are unable to overcome sin on our own. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit and the salvation offered through Christ Jesus that we can break free and overcome a sinful life. Christ paid the price for our sins on the Cross and He provides salvation for all people. We have to accept the salvation provided to us by Jesus Christ by faithfully living a Christian life.

Once used as an instrument of torture and death, the Cross is our symbol of our hope in Jesus Christ. The Cross of Christ must always be seen against the background of our preciousness and our failure. We were important enough and needy enough for Christ Jesus to die for us. Jesus’ death on the Cross was an atoning sacrifice making it possible for our forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

The Trinity is a doctrine of the church used to illustrate the three equal persons of God: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is mentioned more than once in the Bible, including the great commission at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. Before his ascension, Jesus told his disciples, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”