Second Congregational Church of Douglas, Massachusetts

Primary Beliefs: Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing. At Second Congregational, our members value the blessing of unity in the primary, central teachings of Scripture. We believe the core truths of the gospel are essential to our fellowship together, and we’ve listed those primary beliefs below. If you’re curious about other topics not listed here, we’re happy to discuss them in a spirit of love and mutual respect, but on those non-primary topics we may sometimes have to agree to disagree, and we think that’s okay. In fact, we think it’s a mark of a healthy church when the family of God can come together to hold firmly to the primary matters, while also being gracious and compassionate to one another in differences that are not essential to the gospel.

God. There is only one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For his own good pleasure and for the glory of his name, God created and sustains all things, ordering them in every detail by his own sovereign will for his own good purposes. God is a spirit, both infinite and personal, all-knowing and all-wise, faithful and true; he is altogether holy, righteous and just, while also gracious and merciful, loving and good; he is perfect and unchanging in all his ways, and worthy of all glory and praise.

The Bible. God has spoken to us for his glory and for our salvation in the Holy Scriptures, which are the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God; its words were breathed out by him as men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are authoritative, trustworthy, and to be fully believed in all that they teach; they are entirely sufficient and complete, providing all that we need to know and believe for salvation and for honoring God in our lives.

The Human Condition. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were living, historical persons created by God in his image, and endowed by him with an original goodness and righteousness. As the representative head of all humanity, Adam failed to obey God’s law, and thus incurred God’s just judgment and wrath on himself and on all of us. All humans are now sinners both by nature and by choice; we are alienated from God and spiritually dead in our sin, and we face the penalty of God’s coming judgment which is physical and spiritual death. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued from God’s wrath and reconciled to him.

Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the eternal Son of God and Israel’s promised Messiah, one person with two complete natures, divine and human, yet without sin. He is the only sufficient mediator between God and man: able to suffer in our place because of his humanity, and able to save us because of his divinity. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary; he lived a life of perfect righteousness, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, died and was buried, and on the third day God raised him bodily from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our great High Priest, Advocate, and King.

The Atonement. In his life of perfect obedience and death on a cross, Jesus saved his people from the penalty of sin by acting as their substitute. God transferred the guilt of our sin to Christ, though he was sinless and undeserving of death, and Christ suffered the just wrath of God for that sin in our place. In exchange, God transfers the righteous record of Christ’s obedience to all who trust in him, though we are lawbreakers and deserving of death, so that God no longer holds our unrighteousness against us, but accepts Christ’s righteousness in its place.

Salvation. Salvation is entirely a work of God’s undeserved grace in a person’s life, and not a result of their own efforts, goodness, worthiness or wisdom. As God calls people to himself through the message of the good news of Jesus Christ, his Holy Spirit is at work imparting new spiritual life to whomever he wills, causing them to repent of their sin and trust by faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness. All who are given this new life are immediately justified in the sight of God, adopted into his family, united to Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit for growth and service; they begin to grow in holiness and enjoy the blessings of fellowship in Christ’s body, the church, and will be preserved by God through this life unto the sure completion of his saving work in glory.

The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is fully and truly God; he is eternally co-equal with the Father and the Son, and glorifies Christ in all that he does. The Spirit was present at creation, came in power at Pentecost as Christ promised, inspired the Holy Scriptures, convicts the world of sin, and applies the atoning work of Christ to individual sinners. The Spirit gives new life to spiritually dead sinners, baptizes them into union with Christ, indwells, illuminates, equips and empowers them for a life of service to Christ, and is a seal and firstfruits of the fullness of our salvation that is yet to come.

Living as a Christian. Once the Holy Spirit has given us new life, he goes on to produce in our lives the good fruits of love for God and love for our neighbors. Knowing the grace of God in Jesus Christ toward us makes us thankful people who express our thanks to him by caring for one another, showing mercy and compassion to the poor and needy, praying for God’s will to be done in the church and in the world, arming ourselves against the spiritual forces of darkness that battle us inwardly and outwardly, and bearing witness to others of the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Church. The church is the beloved bride of Christ and the body of which he is the head, and includes all true Christian believers of every time and place. It is built and preserved by Christ against all spiritual forces of opposition, and when he returns, Christ will finally present the church to himself a holy and glorious bride without spot or blemish. The true church may be recognized by the pure preaching of the gospel, the faithful administration of the two sacraments ordained by Christ (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and the loving exercise of discipline to both maintain the purity of the church and promote repentance and reconciliation. The church is governed locally by the congregation through its appointed elders and deacons.

The Future. At a time in the future known only to God, Jesus Christ will personally and bodily return from heaven in power and glory, and will bring into judgment all people living and dead. The bodies of the dead will be raised incorruptible, and those still alive will be changed from corruptible to incorruptible. Those outside of Christ will be justly condemned to the everlasting conscious punishment of hell, but those who are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ will be crowned with glory and honor, all tears will be wiped from their eyes, and they will enjoy everlasting blessedness with Christ in the new heavens and new earth, to the praise of God’s glorious grace.