What We Believe
Christ Church Cambridge is a Christian, Evangelical and Anglican church.
As a Christian church, we worship the One, true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour, and following Him as Lord, we confess the faith delivered once for all to God’s people, as revealed in the Bible and set forth in the creeds of the Church (the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed).
As an Evangelical church, we look to the Bible as God’s authoritative word, our rule for all matters of faith and conduct and are eager to proclaim the gospel of Christ’s atoning death, victorious resurrection and glorious ascension to the world. We believe that as God the Holy Spirit applies His Word to our hearts, God will transform the lives of individuals and the church community.
As an Anglican church, we stand in the tradition of the Anglican Reformers of the 16th century and, with them, we hold to the great truths rediscovered at the time of the Reformation: the sovereignty of God in salvation, justification by faith alone and salvation in Christ alone. We are a Church of England church in the Diocese of Ely, under the care of the Bishop of Ebbsfleet.
We do have church members from many different denominational backgrounds, and our unity is found in Christ.
The following commonly used doctrinal statement is a useful summary of what we believe.
The unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead
The sovereignty of God in creation, revelation, redemption, and final judgement
The divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture as originally given and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct
God’s creation of human beings, each made in his image and precious in his sight; his creation of them as male and female, and marriage as a faithful union only between a man and a woman, reflecting the relationship between Christ and the Church, and the only proper place for sexual intimacy.
The universal sinfulness and guilt of human nature since the Fall, rendering people subject to God's wrath and condemnation
The full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God; his virgin birth, and his real and sinless humanity; his death on the cross, his bodily resurrection and his present reign in heaven and earth
Redemption from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of our representative and substitute Jesus Christ, the only mediator between us and God
Justification as God's act of undeserved mercy in which the sinner is pardoned all their sins and accepted as righteous in God's sight only because of the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, this justification being received by faith alone
The need for the Holy Spirit to make the work of Christ effective to the individual sinner, granting them repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in all those thus regenerated, producing in them an increasing likeness to Christ in character and behaviour, and empowering them for their witness in the world
The only holy universal Church which is the Body of Christ to which all true believers belong
The future personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge all people, executing God's just condemnation on the impenitent and receiving the redeemed to eternal glory