What We Believe

The following are the core beliefs of Calvary Church | Norman, OK, based on the foundational truths taught in the Bible. All of our teaching and ministry are rooted in and flow out of these biblical doctrines.

We believe that God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Righteous Ruler of the universe. He has revealed Himself in nature, and in the Scriptures of the Holy Bible as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: yet as one God.

He is God’s unique Son; the only one of a kind. The Scripture teaches that He is God revealed in flesh. In His Divine nature He is truly God and in His human nature truly man. He is the One once crucified for man’s sin, the now risen and glorified Savior and Lord who mediates between God and man and who gives us access to the Father through His intercession. None can come to the Father unless they come through Him.

All of the attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit by the Scriptures. It is He who convicts and convinces men of their sin. He also convinces man of that which is right, and that a final day of judgment will come. He, it is, who comes to live in us at conversion, to open our understanding to the Scripture, and to lead us into the truth.

God used holy men to write the Scriptures. They are, in both the Old and New Testaments, the very words God intended us to have. They are, as given by God, without error and are our only rule of faith and practice. We profit from them by learning the truth about many things: they also speak to us about wrong doing; they even correct us and get us back on course as well as instructing us in right living.

God created man in a state of innocence. Man, being tempted by Satan, yielded and willfully disobeyed God, becoming a sinner and incurring God’s judgment upon sin. All of Adam’s descendants inherit his fallen nature and thus have a natural inclination to sin. When one comes to an age of accountability, he is guilty of sinning before God and in need of salvation.

God exercises a wise and benevolent providence over all beings and things. He maintains the laws of nature and performs special acts as the highest welfare of mankind and His created order of things require.

Man receives pardon and forgiveness for his sins when he admits to God that he is a sinner, when in godly sorrow he turns from them and trusts in the work of Christ as redemption for his sin. This acceptance of God’s great salvation involves belief in Christ’s death on the cross as man’s substitute and the fact of God’s raising Him from the dead as predicted. It is a salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone and not of works.

The condition of salvation is faith! What is biblical faith?
1. Repentance or sincere sorrow for sin and hearty renunciation of it.
2. Trust or the unreserved committal of oneself to Christ as Savior and Lord with the purpose to love and obey Him in all things.Repentance+ Trust = Faith.
In the exercise of saving faith, the soul is renewed by the Holy Spirit, freed from the dominion of sin, and becomes a child of God.

The human will is free to respond to the drawing, convincing, and convicting work of the Holy Spirit as the Gospel is presented. Having the power to yield to the influence of the truth and the Spirit, or to resist them and perish.

The Son of God, by His incarnation, life, sufferings, death, and resurrection, effected for all a redemption from sin that is full and free, and is the ground of salvation by faith.

God desires the salvation of all, the Gospel invites all, the Holy Spirit strives with all, and whosoever will may come and take of the water of life freely.

God determined from the beginning to save all who should comply with the conditions of salvation. Hence by faith in Christ men become His elect.

It is God’s will that all be saved, but since man has the power of choice, God saves only those who repent of their sin and trust in the work of Christ on the cross. (repentance + trust = faith) Those who refuse in this life to repent and believe have no later chance to be saved and thus condemn themselves to eternal damnation by their unbelief.

We believe that believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit and divine grace to persevere unto the end and be saved. We believe that when a saved person sins, backslides, or stumbles in their Christian walk, they are called to repentance to be restored to God’s favor and fellowship. We believe the New Testament pattern is that believers simultaneously grow in sanctification and struggle against sin, but ultimately persevere in faith to the end. However, because believers continue to possess free choice, it remains possible, though uncommon, that, through temptation and the weakness of the human flesh, a believer may deliberately turn to unbelief, make shipwreck of their faith, and ultimately apostatize. Apostasy is a total and willful rejection of their faith in Christ. It is the worst spiritual condition of which there is no remedy.

We believe the Bible teaches two ordinances for the church to practice: Believer's Baptism in water by immersion & the Lord’s Supper, to be perpetuated until His return.

We believe the Scriptures teach the resurrection of the bodies of all men, each in its own order; they that are saved will come forth to the resurrection of life, and they that are lost to the resurrection of damnation.

We enjoy local church autonomy (self-governing). The local church is the highest authority in the denomination. Local churches voluntarily organize themselves into quarterly meetings, district, state, and national associations for the purpose of promoting the cause of Christ on the local, state, district, national, and worldwide level.

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, who ascended on high and sits at the right hand of God, will come again to close the Gospel dispensation, glorify His saints, and judge the world.

We believe that Jesus commanded the church to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.