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A Word About Our Beliefs

Because of its size and influence, many Christians have asked exactly what Calvary Chapel believes, what are its distinctives, what sets it apart from other Christian groups. At Calvary Chapel, we have always been hesitant to try and answer those questions, not because we are unsure of our beliefs, but because we are cautious to avoid division within the Body of Christ. After all, what really matters is what we have in common as Christians: the quote "essential" doctrines of the infallibility of God's Word, the virgin birth of Christ, His sinless life, death for our sins on the cross, bodily resurrection, ascension to glory, and personal return to rule the Earth. These are the essence of Christianity, and agreed upon by virtually all born-again believers. When we move away from the essential doctrines to those that are less essential we risk setting barriers up in the church of Christ, something we at Calvary Chapel have no desire to do. Still, Calvary Chapel is distinct from denominational churches and people want to know what those distinctions are. It is not our purpose to cause division or discord in the Body of Christ, conversely, we long for unity among God's people of all worship preferences, and we allow for a great deal of flexibility even within our own ranks. Calvary Chapel pastors are not clones who all believe exactly the same thing. Still, there are distinctives that make Calvary Chapel unique and which define our mission.

Calvary Chapel began in the late 1960's as a small non-denominational church of 25 members pastored by Chuck Smith. Now in the new century, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa is home to some 35,000 believers. The Word for Today publishes Bible study books and tapes used all over the world. KWVE and CSN broadcast God's Word to all of Southern California and the Western Hemisphere. Calvary Chapel's Bible College provides a Bible education to thousands at its home campuses in Twin Peaks and Murrietta Hot Springs, California as well as at over 20 extension campuses world wide. The fellowship of churches within the Calvary Chapel movement has reached over 800 churches just in the United States alone. Worldwide we have seen God beginning to use these churches and pastors all over the world including; Australia, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, etc.

Balance

I n a broad general sense, Calvary Chapel is the middle ground between fundamentalism and Pentecostalism in modern Protestant theology. In fact, we believe that this is at least part of the reason why God has raised up this ministry. Fundamentalism is that portion of Protestantism which holds to the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, believing that they are divinely inspired and inerrant. Hence, the "fundamentals" of the faith are emphasized. Although the modern news media and the liberal church scorn fundamentalists as backwards and stupid, the truth is that fundamentalism has preserved the integrity of God's Word and held on to the essential doctrines of the orthodox faith. Pentecostalism as a modern movement grew out of the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century, and spawned denominations that emphasize the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the exercise of spiritual and Scriptural Gifts of the Spirit which had fallen dormant in the main line churches. Also criticized by the liberal church and news media as being emotionally driven, Pentecostalism restored to the church the importance of gifts of the Spirit and the power of God for the believer today. Over the years, however, fundamentalism, while it clung to the integrity of God's Word, tended to become rigid, legalistic, and un-accepting of spiritual gifts. Similarly, Pentecostalism became enthusiastic and emotional at the expense of the teaching of God's Word. Calvary Chapel is the balance between the two.

At Calvary Chapel we believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible, and we encourage their exercise, but always decently and in order, and with the primary emphasis on the Word of God which we look to as our primary rule of faith. To quote Pastor Chuck Smith: "We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the Scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless."

Because of this balance, Calvary Chapel services are designed to be centered around the verse by verse teaching of God's Word, and special "after glow" services are provided where the Gifts of the Holy Spirit can operate freely under the leadership of mature Christians. Many in the Pentecostal churches think Calvary Chapel is not emotional enough, and many fundamentalists think Calvary Chapel is too emotional. That balance is indication, in my opinion, that we are right where God wants us to be.

Worship

Many people are under the impression that a particular style of worship is insisted upon at Calvary Chapel, that style being the soft contemporary Sound made popular by Maranatha! Music and by Asaph Records (both of which originated at Calvary Chapel). Although most Calvary Chapels do utilize a form of contemporary worship, there is actually a great variety of styles of music found in our churches. Some are very traditional and conservative, with organs or pianos and hymns, while others prefer electric guitars and drums. There is no set style of worship that makes a Calvary Chapel unique; instead there is wide latitude in expression. All of us desire, of course, that whatever the style of worship, it come from our hearts. Similarly, some of the worship services at Calvary Chapels are quite traditional, while others are more contemporary. Some of our churches are filled with elderly people in suits and ties, some are filled with young people in jeans and tee shirts, and many are a combination of all different ages, styles, and races of folks who come together with one common focus: love for Jesus Christ and the desire to know Him more intimately. That is typical of a Calvary Chapel church. Most are places where anybody with any style of dress or musical taste or culture feels welcome.

Doctrine

At Calvary Chapel we believe and hold to the essential teaching of the Evangelical Protestant church. Calvary Chapel is a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our greatest desire is to know Christ and be conformed to His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as such. We are opposed only to the emphasis on unbiblical teachings that divide the Body of Christ.

We believe the true basis for all Christian fellowship is God’s love, which is greater than our differences. Without His love, we have no right to call ourselves Christians.
We Believe in God as He has presented Himself in the Bible; one God in the persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each equal in power and majesty, each working for the salvation of all mankind.
We Believe in the Bible as the only inspired, inerrant word of God by which all things are given to us pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). We therefore, place a great priority on knowing God through the study of His word.
We Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross for our sins, rose again to bring us life, and is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
We Believe in the soon return of Jesus Christ, and the need for all believers to be prepared to meet their savior. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
We Believe that our worship is an expression of our hearts as is shown in Psalm 95 to God from His Church. Our worship must be spiritual (John 4:24) and can be expressed through our singing, prayer, giving, and in our daily obedience to His lordship in our lives.
We Believe in the Fellowship of all true believers in Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3; 1 Cor. 1:9). We place a high priority on the gathering of the body of Christ together to provoke each one to love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24,25)
We Believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church and that the Gifts of the Spirit are still occurring in the Church today. We also believe that these gifts are vital and needful, but must be done decently and in order. (Acts 2:38-39; 1 Corinthians 12-14)
We Believe in the need for discipleship and training of all believers for the perfecting of the saints and the work of the ministry. (Ephesians 4:11) We Believe in maintaining and defending orthodox Christian beliefs, we therefore test all things by the rule of Scripture found in the Old and New Testament. (Acts 17:10-12)

While there are many additional areas of polity and doctrine we could discuss, and while we could write volumes in an effort to defend all our positions against other positions, this is not our desire. Our desire is to simply adore Jesus, and we invite all God's people to join us as we do so. On the other hand, there have been people who have started churches and called them Calvary Chapel that hold views and practices very different from what has been described here. In our opinion, it would be better if they would take a different name for their churches that more accurately reflects what they believe and practice so as not to confuse people who are looking for a ministry that is in line with what we have described in the previous paragraphs.

We do not believe the following to be true

1. The belief that true Christians can be demon possessed.
2. "5 point Calvinism" (i.e., a fatalistic Calvinistic view that leaves no room for free will; specifically, we reject the belief that Jesus' atonement was limited, instead we believe that He died for all people, and we reject the assertion that God's wooing grace cannot be resisted or that He has elected some people to go to hell; instead we believe that anyone who wills to come to Christ may do so).
3. "Positive confession" (the faith movement or “health and wealth gospel” belief that God can be commanded to heal or work miracles according to man's will). We believe that God is God apart from us and remains sovereign despite our will.
4. Human prophecy that supersedes the Scripture.
5. The random incorporation of humanistic and secular psychology and philosophy into Biblical teaching.
6. The overemphasis of spiritual gifts, experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of Biblical teaching.

Our simple heart's desire is to love our God, and demonstrate His love towards His people. We want to stay focused on Christ, not on the peripherals of religion. So we gather in an informal atmosphere of thankfulness to Christ, and leave everything else outside as best as possible

. - Adapted from Larry Taylor's work on the Calvary Chapel distinctives

 


Last Update 12/28/2007                                                                             Office   (801) 779-1001     FAX   (801) 525-1561