Basis of Faith

1. The one true God who lives eternally in three persons—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
2. The love, grace and sovereignty of God in creating, sustaining, ruling, redeeming and judging the world.
3. The divine inspiration and supreme authority of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which are the written Word of God—fully trustworthy for faith and conduct.
4. The dignity of all people, made male and female in God's image to love, be holy and care for creation, yet corrupted by sin, which incurs divine wrath and judgement.
5. The incarnation of God’s eternal Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—born of the virgin Mary; truly divine and truly human, yet without sin.
6. The atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross: dying in our place, paying the price of sin and defeating evil, so reconciling us with God.
7. The bodily resurrection of Christ, the first fruits of our resurrection; his ascension to the Father, and his reign and mediation as the only Saviour of the world.
8. The justification of sinners solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ.
9. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit, who leads us to repentance, unites us with Christ through new birth, empowers our discipleship and enables our witness.
10. The Church, the body of Christ both local and universal, the priesthood of all believers—given life by the Spirit and endowed with the Spirit's gifts to worship God and proclaim the gospel, promoting justice and love.
11. The personal and visible return of Jesus Christ to fulfil the purposes of God, who will raise all people to judgement, bring eternal life to the redeemed and eternal condemnation to the lost, and establish a new heaven and new earth.

History of the 2005 Revision

Since early 2002, a special working group of the Evangelical Alliance theological commission (ACUTE) has been reviewing the Alliance’s Basis of Faith.

In January 2003 the Alliance Board formally instructed the working group to produce a new text to replace the existing Basis, which had itself superseded the original 1846 Basis in 1970.

After consultation with EA(UK) Council members and with the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance, the text was presented to the EA Council at its meeting on 17 February 2005.

After careful discussion and refinement it was adopted by the Council in the above form nem con. In accordance with legal procedure, it was formally incorporated into the Alliance’s Memorandum of Association at its Annual General Meeting on 14 September 2005.

Basis of Faith 1970

1. Evangelical Christians accept the revelation of the triune God given in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and confess the historic faith of the Gospels therein set forth.
2. They here assert the doctrines which they regard as crucial to the understanding of the faith, and which should issue in mutual love, practical Christian service and evangelistic concern.
3. The sovereignty and grace of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in creation, providence, revelation, redemption and final judgement.
4. The divine inspiration of the holy Scripture and its consequent entire trustworthiness and supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
5. The universal sinfulness and guilt of fallen man, making him subject to God's wrath and condemnation.
6. The substitutionary sacrifice of the incarnate Son of God as the sole all-sufficient ground of redemption from the guilt and power of sin, and from its eternal consequences.
7. The justification of the sinner solely by the grace of God through faith in Christ crucified and risen from the dead.
8. The illuminating, regenerating, indwelling and sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit. The priesthood of all believers who form the universal Church, the Body of which Christ is the Head and which is committed by His command to the proclamation of the gospel throughout the world.
9. The expectation of the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory.