We at Children's Relief International hold convictions about who God is that are foundational to who we are. More than any other single document, our statement of faith describes why we work as we do. We invite you to read it.
Our Statement of Faith
Our evangelical statement of faith provides the foundation for our vision for service. We serve the poor in the light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, believing that the day will come when there will be no more rich or poor for all things will pass away and God will create a new heaven and earth. We look at His resurrection as proof of this coming age and obey His commands in our time to be compassionate servants who remember the poor.
1. We believe that God is one and living, the fountain of all being and beauty, of Whom, through Whom, and to Whom are all things (Rom 11.36). In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, one in substance, power and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
2. We believe that God the Father is the Creator and Sustainer of all that is (Ps 135.6; Ac 17.25-28).
3. We believe that God the Son is Jesus Christ, born to the virgin Mary, true God and true man, "the one mediator between God and men" (1 Tim 2.5). "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Ac 4.12). Jesus Christ is the holy and righteous one who was put to death for our sins, "the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God" (1 Pet 3.18).
4. We believe that God the Holy Spirit is the sanctifier of God's people (1 Cor 6.11). Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit our witness to Jesus is futile (John 16.8-11). The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict of sin, impart faith and new birth, and provide Christian growth.
5. We believe that human beings were created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), the acme of earthly creation, designed for communion with the Triune God. But because "sin came into the world through one man and death spread to all because all have sinned" (Rom 5.12), men and women are "dead" in their sins (Eph 2.5) apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
6. We believe that salvation is not earned by any good works or merits of our own but is received through faith: "By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph 2.8). Faith is not merely intellectual assent but an act of the whole person, involving the mind, the will, and the affections, issuing in a changed life (Eph 2.9-10).
7. We believe that all human beings will be raised from the dead in the next life (1 Cor 15.42-44). Those in union with Christ shall be raised by the Spirit for honor and joined to a glorious body (Phil 3.21). The lost shall be raised to anguish and distress in hell (Rom 2.8-9; Lk 16.23-24).
8. We believe that all teaching, life, work and ministry are accountable to the final authority of Holy Scripture, which is the Word of God in written form (2 Tim 2.13-17; 2 Pet 1.21). The Scriptures are the inspired revelation of God, totally true and trustworthy, the only infallible rule for faith and practice.
9. We believe the church consists of everyone who is personally united to Jesus Christ. By the Spirit every Christian is united to every other true believer in Jesus. The one church becomes visible on earth in all local congregations that meet to do what Scripture commands the church to do (Eph 2.19-22, 4.1-16).
10. We believe the mission of the church is to proclaim the Good News that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Cor 5.19). It is not within our power to build the Kingdom of God on earth, but God has called us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked while we wait for Christ to bring His kingdom (Matt 25.31-46).
