What We Believe

Calvary Chapel began in the late 1960s as a small non-denominational church. Pastor Chuck Smith, who spent seventeen years in churches throughout California and Arizona, became the pastor of a church in Costa Mesa, California which called itself Calvary Chapel. After many years in the ministry, Pastor Chuck was led to a new approach. Rather than teaching a "topical" message every Sunday, he began to teach through each book, chapter, and line of the Bible. He began at Genesis and continued through Revelation, until the entire Old and New Testament were completed. Within two years, the small church had grown so dramatically that there was no longer room in the church to seat all the people. At about the same time, Pastor Chuck's wife Kay began to feel that they needed to reach out to the "hippies" of that era. They eventually made the decision to open their church and home to these young people, teaching the reality of God's love for them through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus. This is what came to be known as the "Jesus movement." The miracle of God's grace dramatically transformed the lives of multitudes of young people.

Today, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa is home to some 30,000 believers. The Word for Today (Pastor Chuck's radio ministry) is heard throughout the United States and he publishes books and tapes which are distributed throughout the world. KWVE and CSN, Calvary Chapel's radio stations, broadcasts Bible studies across the United States by satellite. Calvary Chapel Bible College provides Biblically-based education to thousands at its home campus in Murrieta, California and to over 20 extension campuses worldwide.

There are now over six hundred Calvary Chapels across the United States and around the world. With small, medium, and some very large churches, God has raised up men to follow in the pattern established by Pastor Chuck. Although each church is unique in its own right, the following descriptions outline what most of the churches are like.

Worship

We understand worship to be a lifestyle in which we incorporate what we believe in our daily lives. To live in obedience to God by dying daily to our sinful nature is a way to express our appreciation of His love for us. We also worship in song. Much of the music we sing has been written in recent times. We hope it appeals to those who worship with us but, we understand it is impossible to please everyone.

Membership

There is no official membership at Calvary Chapel Cobb. We welcome young, old, rich, poor and people of every race to be a part of our fellowship. All modest forms of dress are acceptable; whether suits, jeans, or shorts for the men, or dresses, jeans, or shorts for the ladies. We realize that God is more concerned with the state of our hearts; how we appear on the outside has little meaning to Him. Our common objective is to love Jesus Christ and to know Him more intimately.

The Balance

In a broad general sense, Calvary Chapel is the middle ground between Fundamentalism and Pentecostalism in modern Protestant theology. In fact, we believe that this is at least part of the reason why God has raised up this ministry.

Fundamentalism is that portion of Protestantism, which holds to the literal interpretation of the Scriptures, believing that they are divinely inspired and are perfectly true. Hence, the "fundamentals" of the faith are emphasized. Although the modern news media and the liberal church scorn fundamentalists as backward and simple minded, the truth is that fundamentalism has preserved the integrity of God's Word by holding to the essential doctrines of the orthodox Christian faith.

Pentecostalism is a movement that emphasizes the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit which have fallen dormant in many mainline churches. Also criticized by the liberal church and news media as being emotionally driven, it is often misunderstood by its exuberant form of worship.

We believe that over the years that fundamentalism clung to the integrity of God's Word, but, tended to become rigid, legalistic, and did not accept the present day validity of spiritual gifts. Similarly, Pentecostalism became too enthusiastic at the expense of the teaching of God's Word and replaced it with emotional experiences.

Calvary Chapel is a balance between the two. We believe that the fundamental teaching of the Bible is critically important. Therefore, the entire Bible is taught chapter by chapter, verse by verse. We also believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not just for the early church, but, are for today as well. To quote Pastor Chuck Smith:

"We believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Scriptures, and that they are valid for today if they are exercised within the Scriptural guidelines. We as believers are to covet the best gifts, seeking to exercise them in love that the whole Body of Christ might be edified. We believe that love is more important than the most spectacular gifts, and without this love all exercise of spiritual gifts is worthless."

Church Government

Calvary Chapel also differs from some churches in its style of church government. Most denominational churches maintain a congregational form of church government, a Presbyterian form, or an Episcopal form of running their churches.

The congregational form of church government is an American invention and appeals to our American sense of democracy. Basically, the congregation as a whole makes all decisions in these churches by voting on matters of importance and appointing committees from its ranks to run the daily operation of the church. Most Congregational, Baptist, Pentecostal, Brethren, and non-denominational churches are organized in this fashion. The congregation votes on hiring a pastor, votes on how to spend the money, and on anything else of importance. Although democratic people like the idea, congregational forms of church government often wind up at best causing the pastor to be directed by the sheep he is supposed to lead, and at worst reducing the pastor to a hireling.

The Episcopal form of church government, used by Episcopalian, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox, and Methodist churches (to name a few) is controlled by a church hierarchy, which may have different names. Basically, there is a bishop, or someone of similar stature if called by a different name, who oversees the churches, appoints pastors to pulpits, sets policy, and guides the vision of the local congregations. Unfortunately, this style of government, which grew out of European monarchies, leaves little freedom for the local pastor or congregation to follow the leading of the Spirit.

The Presbyterian form of church government, which is typical in Presbyterian and Reformed churches, puts the decisions of the church in the hands of a select group of elders (the "presbytery") who are appointed in various different ways, depending on the church. These elders are over the pastor, who in turn is over the congregation. The problem here too is that this system puts the God-appointed leader, the pastor, under those he is supposed to lead.

Calvary Chapels are organized differently. Church government at Calvary Chapel is very simple. It is not a complex bureaucracy with committees and sub-committees. Basically, at Calvary Chapel we believe that the pastor is responsible for the church, responsible to hear from God, and responsible to feed and love His people faithfully. Elders are appointed in the larger churches to help the pastor care for the spiritual needs of the congregation, as are deacons to help the pastor care for the practical needs of the church.

Doctrine

At Calvary Chapel we believe in all the fundamental doctrines of the evangelical Protestant church. For example, we believe in the perfection of truth in the Scriptures, that the entire Bible, Old and New Testament, are the inspired, infallible Word of God.

We believe that God eternally exists in three separate persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. We believe that He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, provided for the atonement of our sins by His vicarious death on the Cross. He was bodily resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit, ascended back to the right hand of God the father, and lives to make intercession for us.

After He ascended to Heaven, Jesus poured out His Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem, enabling them to fulfill His commandment to preach the Gospel to the entire world; a privilege shared by all believers today.

We believe that all people are born into sin and by nature are separated from God. Each individual is responsible for his own sin, but that salvation, redemption, and forgiveness of sin are freely offered to all by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a person repents of sin and accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord, trusting Him to save, that person is immediately born again and sealed by the Holy Spirit. All sins are then forgiven, and that person becomes a child of God, and will then spend eternity with the Lord.

At Calvary Chapel, we await the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. Calvary Chapel believes that the church will be raptured before the seven-year tribulation period described in Revelation chapters 6 through 18. We recognize that some believers may hold a different view.

We believe that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ with His believers to rule on the earth will be personal, pre-millennial, and visible. This motivates us to live a life of obedience, heartfelt worship, committed service, the diligent study of God's Word, regular fellowship with other Christians, and participation in both baptism by immersion and in Communion.

Calvary Chapel rejects the teaching of "amillenialism" which spiritualizes Scripture and denies the literal 1000-year reign of Christ on the earth as described in Revelation chapter 20.

Conclusion

Our purpose has been to help others who are less familiar with Calvary Chapels to gain insight into what we believe and to understand our form of worship. It has not been our intention to say that we are right and other ministries are wrong, nor is it been our intention to argue our position with any Christian believer. We desire to have nothing but love and fellowship with anyone who calls on the name of our Lord in truth and sincerity. There have been people who have started churches and called them Calvary Chapel who hold views and practices very different from what has been described here. In our opinion, it would be better if they would take a different name for their churches that reflect more accurately what they believe and practice so as not to confuse people who are looking for a ministry that is in line with what has been described. We welcome you and hope this ministry blesses you.

Serving Him,
The staff at Calvary Chapel Cobb

Comments, questions and suggestions are always very welcome!

What We Do Not Believe

At Calvary Chapel, we reject some popular doctrines of various Christian groups because we believe them to be in Biblical error. This does not mean that we think those holding these views are not saved, it simply means that such views are outside the boundaries of what constitutes a Calvary Chapel.

For example, we reject, as we have already mentioned, "amillenniallsm," post-millennialism, as well as a mid- or post-tribulation rapture view. At Calvary Chapel, we are strongly pre-millennialists and pre-tribulation rapturists.

We also reject the belief, held by some believers, that Christians can be demon possessed. The Scripture says "greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world" which makes no sense that a believer can be simultaneously indwelt by both the Holy Spirit and evil spirits. Christians can be attacked by demons, but they cannot be possessed or controlled by them.

In addition, we reject "5-point Calvinism." First, Calvinism teaches that Jesus' atonement on the Cross was limited, that is, that He died only for a chosen group, His "elect," not for the sins of the entire world. At Calvary Chapel, we believe that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all people, and that anyone who chooses can accept Him as Lord and Savior and be born again. Strict five-point Calvinists believe that only the elect can be saved and that God has elected others to spend eternity in hell.

Secondly, we reject the Calvinistic teaching called "irresistible grace," which is the belief that an "elect" man cannot, even if he wants to, resist the wooing and calling of God to salvation. Instead, at Calvary Chapel we believe that man has a free will and he can resist the call of God if he chooses to do so. Therefore, those who hold to five-point Calvinism are outside of the borders of what defines Calvary Chapel.

At Calvary Chapel, we also reject the teaching of "positive confession" which is the doctrine put forth by the Word Faith movement that teaches we as human beings can have unlimited health and wealth because we, like God, have the ability to create our own reality by the confession of our lips. These people teach that if a person will confess health and wealth consistently, then that is what he will have, and, conversely, the Christian living in sickness or poverty is settling for less than his full inheritance in Christ. At Calvary Chapel, we believe that many believers both in the Bible and in daily life are often afflicted not because their confession is wrong, but simply because we live in a foreign world. We believe that the health and prosperity doctrine is a perversion of Scripture and is often used to financially fleece the flock of God. We do not believe that God can be commanded by man to heal or provide, but that we must always submit to His perfect will even in affliction.

Additionally, we reject the teaching that uses human prophecy to supersede the Word of God. There are some Christian groups claiming to have prophets and apostles of equal validity with those who wrote the Bible. Moreover, they claim that the prophetic utterances from these people take precedence over the Word of God. At Calvary Chapel, we believe that the Bible is the final authority and the complete Word of God for His church today, and that no prophecy or teaching can ever supersede it.

Some churches have incorporated human secular psychology and philosophy into their teaching programs, creating sermons that are based more on secular humanistic theory than on the Word of God. While we respect our fellow believers who work in mental health related fields, we at Calvary Chapel believe that the central mission of the church is to proclaim God's Word to a lost and hurting world. Moreover, it has been our experience that humanistic psychology and philosophy can do more harm than good. We mature spiritually and respond best when God's Word is proclaimed in the power and love of the Holy Spirit. It is God's Word that changes lives for the better. At Calvary Chapels our services remain centered on the teaching of the Bible. This is not to imply that we object to the work of the many dedicated Christian mental health professionals; conversely, we thank God for them. Our point is simply that in our church services, we emphasize the teaching of God's Word.

And finally, as we have mentioned before, Calvary Chapel rejects the over-emphasis of spiritual gifts and experiential signs and wonders to the exclusion of Biblical teaching. Current fads may include activities and terms such as; "being slain in the spirit" and "holy laughter." We believe these are an abuse to the freedom we have as Christians. Again, we are a Bible-based ministry that avoids programs and gimmicks in favor of the simple teaching of the Word of God in love to His people. In our services, we focus on a personal relationship with God through worship, prayer, and the teaching of the Word of God. We do not allow speaking in tongues during services because we do not believe that the Holy Spirit would interrupt Himself.
 
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