The Purpose of man:
Grace Church of Sacramento affirms that the entire purpose of Man is to love God (Matthew 22:37), to demonstrate this tangibly by obeying Him in all things (John 14:15), conforming all individual thoughts and actions so that they are never in violation of His truth (3 John 4), in order to increase in Christlikeness (Ephesians 4:15) with a view to loving our fellow men (Matthew 22:39), especially our fellow believers (Galatians 6:10) and doing all of this willingly with joy (Philippians 4:4).
Human Depravity:
Grace Church of Sacramento affirms that mankind, individually and collectively, has completely failed in this purpose for which God created him and separate from the grace of God in salvation, deserves nothing but eternal punishment in hell (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Man can be reconciled to God, escape the punishment of hell, be assured of eternity in heaven, can love, obey and begin to serve God, can grow in Christlikeness and begin to serve others only by the grace of God granted to him individually in salvation.
The Gospel:
Grace Church of Sacramento affirms that God saves individuals according to His sovereign choice and by the exercise of His sovereign power. God has made the choice to save those individuals whom He desires to save from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). God has predestined these individuals to be the recipients of His eternal grace instead of the recipients of His eternal righteous wrath (Romans 9:22-23). In fulfillment of God’s electing grace from before the foundation of the world, God presents the good news of salvation to those individuals whom He has elected before their physical death (Romans 8:30). Although an elect individual may hear the good news of salvation several times before his spiritual rebirth, at the precise moment which God has determined, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, empowers the proclamation of the good news, either through that person reading or hearing, so that the elect person becomes spiritually new and reborn internally (spiritual regeneration), with the result that the person is now a entirely new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). This spiritual transformation manifests itself in that person having a completely new heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27), with an entirely new will, motivations, affections and emotions. This saved and transformed person now hates sin, desires to love, obey and serve God, and is willing to pay any price and sacrifice anything in order to be faithful to his new Lord, the LORD Jesus Christ (John 12:25).
Salvation:
Grace Church of Sacramento affirms that an individual whom God has elected and transformed by His grace, is now a child of God (Romans 8:16), has the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, indwelling him permanently (John 14:16), giving him understanding (1 Corinthians 2:14), guiding him in all his decisions (Romans 8:14), empowering him to overcome sin (Romans 8:13), molding him into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18), guaranteeing his physical, bodily resurrection after physical death (Romans 8:11) and manifesting in him the spiritual qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, good, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) without Whom these qualities are absent from a person. This person is now a full partaker in Christ’s own intimate relationship with God which He has enjoyed with Him from all eternity (1 John 1:3)
Eternity:
Grace Church of Sacramento affirms that the persons whom God has chosen and transformed are now members of the Church, a body of individuals who now love, obey and serve God together through the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit by the grace which God supplies in salvation. God Himself defines the function of each individual in the Body (1 Corinthians 12:18) and the Holy Spirit gives each individual the power, the direction and the capabilities to perform this individual function for the benefit of others in the Body (1 Peter 4:10). Once a person is saved and transformed, that person can never lose his salvation (John 10:28) and has the guaranteed hope of heaven (1 John 5:13). Christ is preparing a place for that person right now in heaven (John 14:2) and prays continually in behalf of him before God in heaven (Hebrews 7:25). God in heaven, Christ, the Eternal High Priest in heaven, and the Holy Spirit within the believer continually guide the saved and transformed believer through the perfect and exclusive truth of the Bible (Psalm 19:7), the exercise of prayer (Romans 8:26), the counsel of individuals in the Church (1 Peter 5:2) and the sovereign, providential action of God (Romans 8:28).