ABOUT US | St. John's Reformed Church Loysburg

What We Believe

St John’s Reformed Church is an evangelical Christian church partnered with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference. We believe in one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit as expressed in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. We also use the Heidelberg Catechism. St. John’s comes out of the German Reformed tradition and maintains the five “solas” of the Reformed faith.

The Five Solas:

Sola Scriptura:

Scripture is the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the ultimate authority for Christian faith and practice. The church is guided by God’s Word in Scripture over reason, experience, culture or any other authority or influence. The living and active Word of God penetrates to address the deepest needs of the human heart.

Soli Deo Gloria:

For God’s glory alone do Christians live, worship, minister and grow. The temptation to serve self, such as choosing entertainment in place of God-centered worship, self-improvement talks instead of expository Biblical preaching, or church marketing strategies at the expense of ministries that truly advance the Kingdom of God must be recognized and avoided in favor of more edifying pursuits.

Solus Christus:

Jesus Christ is the head of the church, the foundation and focus of the Christian life. Individualism, in its incessant quest for experiences, feelings, gratification, permissiveness or self-indulgence must surrender to the way, the truth and the life found in Jesus Christ alone. The current revival of universalism is inconsistent with the only name under heaven given through whom humans must be saved, that is, Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

Sola Gratia:

One is saved by grace alone, through faith. Despite impressive technological advances that have “flattened” our world, humans are not able to save themselves or others. One should not presume any self-sufficiency through the latest methods, strategies or techniques, but prayerfully use such resources as tools to further the proclamation of the Gospel while radically relying upon the grace of Almighty God. It is the Holy Spirit alone who can persuade individuals, change a human heart, or bring saving faith.

Sola Fide:

Salvation is a free gift secured through Christ’s sacrifice in that “great exchange” where one’s sin is imputed to Christ for justification and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to the faithful believer to live a new life of grace as a child of God. “Faith alone” means one recognizes that believing this good news and receiving all these benefits through faith is the only sufficient means of living a regenerate life in the Holy Spirit.