Our Beliefs

We at Westhill Church of Christ invite you to come get to know God with us as we strive to love God, love others, and serve both.

 

God has acted in great mercy through Jesus Christ, making a way for all people to come together in one body through the cross (Ephesians 2:13-18). Jesus is the only one who can bring unity and peace to our divided, broken world. We believe God wants us to proclaim that unity by the things we say and the way we live.

 

God welcomes each and every one of us to come as we are to Jesus so we can find grace, forgiveness, and direction for our lives. Jesus made this clear when he said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners,” (Matthew 9:12-13).

 

Here is a brief overview of some of the things we believe and teach (at places, some passages from the Bible are listed if you would like to do some additional study). 

The holy trinity

God

We believe in the God of the Scriptures, a just and loving God who lives in the persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). God created all things and he loves his creation. God wants everyone to be in a relationship with him.


Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is God who became human to save us from our sins. We believe that Jesus’ life shows us how to live, that his death redeems us from our sins, and that his resurrection guarantees our own resurrection to a new life. We believe that Christ now sits at the right hand of God as exalted king, and that he alone is the world’s savior and king (Hebrews 1:1-4). We believe that Jesus is the only way to have a saving relationship with God. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” and we trust him to lead us toward eternity with God (John 14:6).

 

The Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is God who personally dwells in believers for the sake of transforming us into Jesus’ likeness. We believe that the Spirit empowers us to be like Christ, supplies us with spiritual gifts, and leads us in the will of God. We believe we are to be filled with the Spirit. 


The sword of the Spirit is the word of God and we are to pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17-18). In Christ, we are marked as belonging to God by the seal of the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). God pours his love into our hearts through the Spirit and the Spirit helps us pray (Romans 5:5; 8:26-27).

The Bible

We believe that the Bible, or Scripture, is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It was written by human authors under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. We listen to God for guidance, exploring the Bible as his message (1 Thess. 2:13). In it, we also discover together how it reveals to us Jesus as God’s ultimate and clearest message (John 1; Hebrews 1:1-4). We believe that God expects us to be obedient to Scripture as disciples of Jesus. 

Road to redemption

  • When God created us, he gave us the freedom of choice. Unfortunately, we often use our freedom to disobey God, which is sin. This sin separates us from God. We believe that all humans have sinned and that our sins separate us from God and bring God’s judgment upon us (Romans 3:23-24; 6:23). 

     

    We believe that only God’s grace can redeem us from being lost, and that salvation comes to us only through Jesus. We believe in salvation by grace through faith. We believe that saving faith demonstrates itself in obedience to the will of God.

  • We believe that water baptism by immersion serves as the point at which we die to our lost selves, are buried, and are raised to a resurrected life in Christ (Romans 6:1-11). We believe that, in baptism, our sins are washed away through faith, because of grace, and we receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; Titus 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 12:13).  

  • We believe that God calls us to live holy lives, which reflect the purity, morality, and ethical standards of Jesus Christ.

The Church

We believe that the church comprises the community of believers who have been saved by the blood of Christ, and that the church is the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, the temple of the Spirit, the family of God, and the pillar and ground of the truth. We believe that active participation in the church is necessary for growth in Christ.

 

We believe in the vision Jesus set forth for his people in Matthew 28:18-20: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


We believe that when people become growing, maturing disciples of Jesus, they will love God, love others, and serve both (Matthew 20:25-28; 22:34-40).

The second COming

We believe that Jesus Christ will return to gather his people at the end of time, raising all of humanity from the dead. We believe that those who have put their faith in Christ will be raised to eternal life, but those who have refused to believe in him will be raised to eternal death (John 5:28-29). We believe in living prepared for Jesus’ second coming (1 Thess. 4:13-18).