About Pennsylvania Avenue Church
-
What We Believe
We believe that the life, ministry, and mission of Jesus Christ are the fundamental examples for the life, ministry, and mission of our church. As a missional church, we believe in the importance of seeing and serving others just as Christ did while on Earth.
We also believe the following:
Tweaked Depravity – We agree that we are totally depraved. Sin has destroyed us and continues to destroy us. Sin has an entropic force on our lives. However, we also believe in prevenient grace, that grace of God which “comes before” – before we are aware of God, before we aware of our sinfulness, before we are aware of … – and tweaks us just enough that we can begin to respond to the light which Jesus shines into the lives of every person.
Unconditional Love – God is love and loves all. In regards to the elect you have Israel and you have those who are in Christ. You can either be part of the elect or not, as an individual. The choice is not based on God’s sovereignty, but rather in God’s loving nature.
Limitless Atonement – God is what we might call a hopeful universalist, desiring that all be saved. Jesus’s death was not only efficacious for all, but applicable to all, because of God’s unconditional love. The fact that we have been tweaked means that we can freely choose to receive God’s freely given love, or we can reject it. The atonement is not limited by God’s decision, but by our rejection.
Invitational Grace – God is not making us an offer we can’t refuse. He has given us an invitation to something so amazing we would be crazy not to accept it! God offers us his grace – his sneaky, pardoning, cleansing, perfecting grace. But like all invitations, we are free to make some excuse and decline to RSVP.
Progressive Sanctification – Ben Witherington III said in a 7 Minute Seminary episode, “You’re not eternally secure, until you’re securely in eternity.” Jesus invites us to abide in him as he abided in the Father. He reminds us that fruitless branches are taken away, gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. But fruitful branches are pruned so they can produce even more fruit and bring greater glory to God.
