Statement of Faith – Cross to Crown Ministries

When Cross to Crown Ministries speaks of New Covenant Theology, this is what we mean…¹

First, we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible.

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the infallible and inerrant Word of God, and is the highest authority for Christian faith and practice.
There is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Jesus is fully man and fully God, born of the virgin Mary, sinless, the vicarious and substitutionary atonement for believers, the risen and ascended Lord who went in body to the right hand of the Father in heaven, the King who will return to judge the living and the dead.
Because humanity has rebelled against God and failed to worship Jesus as Lord, we are by nature children of His just wrath. Our only hope of forgiveness is to believe that Jesus was condemned in our place on the cross.
The Spirit of God is the One who enables people to trust in the death and resurrection of Christ. He grants new birth to unbelievers and He sanctifies believers.
All men and women will stand before Jesus to be judged. Believers will be resurrected to eternal life, unbelievers to eternal, conscious punishment.
All who genuinely believe the gospel of Jesus Christ are united as His one body, bride, temple, and family.

Second, we believe the doctrines of grace.

Human beings are born with a natural inclination toward sinning. Disobedience to God is not a matter of if, but of how and when. God is not obligated to save anyone from condemnation. It would be just and right of Him to punish everyone in Hell.
God mercifully forgives sinners who believe the gospel, and He gives them eternal life. But not every one will believe the gospel, only those predestined by God before the foundation of the world. God’s sovereign compassion is shown to the people of His choosing. It is His right to punish some evildoers and to be gracious to others.
The reason why a just and holy Judge can forgive sinful rebels is because their sins have been atoned for in their substitute, the Lord Jesus. On the cross, Jesus, the human son of Mary, suffered God’s wrath in the place of all gospel-believing people. His work of atonement was not theoretical or hypothetical or potential; He actually atoned for the sins of all believers. If actual sins were not imputed to His account, God would have been unjust to punish Him. If the sins of unbelievers were imputed to His account, God would be unjust to punish them in the future. As it is, only the sins of believers, and all the sins of believers, were transferred to the head of Christ and comprehensively judged. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
These elect individuals do not receive forgiveness whether they want it or not. All of the elect will come to saving faith in the gospel. God’s Spirit changes their hardened hearts of rebellion into humbled hearts of repentance. They want to admit their wickedness. They want to be reconciled to God. They want to love and obey their Lord. Their hearts, minds, wills, and bodies are transformed into disciples of Jesus. They are new creatures.
God’s elect are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and genuinely converted to Christ. They have new hearts, new wills, and new passions. They love Jesus. They trust Jesus. They want to please Jesus. And although they will give into temptations along the way, they will steadily progress along the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life. God’s Spirit will not allow any of the elect to abandon Christ for another god. None of those whom the Father has given to be the Son’s inheritance will be lost. They will remain steadfast and true until they die, even under threat of persecution.

Third, we believe that the gospel must be proclaimed worldwide with passion, grace, humility, and truth, so that disciples are made in all nations.

No one taught God’s election more often or more clearly than the apostle Paul. And no one called unbelievers to faith and repentance with more zeal or more urgency than Paul. We should not be better theologians than God. If the Bible reveals both the truth of predestination and the necessity of the gospel, we should believe both. We should plead with all men to be reconciled to God through Christ, and we should thank God alone when any man, woman, or child is.
Moreover, the gospel is not a lifestyle, a movement, or a community service project. The gospel is news. It is a message that must be delivered. It is the story of Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coming judgment, a story that must be heard and believed by sinners. The primary mission of the Church is not to make the world a better place to live, but to show people how to live in a better place with Jesus forever.²
The gospel is good news of forgiveness that must be explained in contrast to the bad news of condemnation. There is no need for forgiveness and reconciliation to God now if there is no threat of eternity in Hell. True gospel-preaching will include the reality of God’s punitive judgment against unbelieving sinners.

Fourth, we believe that Jesus came to fulfill everything in the Old Testament Scriptures, and that He inaugurated an entirely new, superior, and everlasting covenant with all who believe the gospel. (This is what distinguishes New Covenant Theology from other Evangelical tribes.)

God’s plan for the universe, established before the foundation of the world, is entirely preoccupied with revealing His glory, mercy, and justice in Jesus Christ. This was the motivation behind creation, Eden, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and everything else in the Old Testament Scriptures. Everything and everyone prior to Jesus pictured, predicted, pointed to, and prepared for Him.
The Old Covenant was unique to Israel. It began at Sinai and ended at Calvary. Its promises and curses were fully and finally fulfilled in Christ. It foreshadowed the New Covenant by establishing the priesthood, the sacrifices, the temple, the people, the kingdom, the prophecies, and the atonement that would eventually be consummated by the Messiah Jesus.
The Law of Moses in its entirety, including the Ten Commandments, was specific to Israel. It was fulfilled by Christ and abrogated. Gentiles were never under the Mosaic Law; now no one is.
Jesus is the ultimate prophet, priest, king, sacrifice, temple, Israel, and Son of God. All who are joined to Him through faith receive the ultimate fulfillment of all of God’s promises. Thus, the Church of Jesus Christ is the new Israel of God, the true circumcision, and the final manifestation of God’s holy nation, royal priesthood, and prized possession. The Church alone is the Bride of Christ (i.e. God’s wife by covenant).
The relationship between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is neither linear (like an acorn growing into an oak tree) nor suspended (like a parenthesis in God’s plan), it is transformational (like a caterpillar to a butterfly). They are not unified by one underlying covenant, nor are they separate and unrelated. They are connected by and through God’s eternal plan to graciously redeem a people who would honor and obey His Son Jesus. God gave the Old Covenant as a shadowy, symbolic outline of what was coming. In the New Covenant, the full story is revealed in living color and three dimensions.
The Mosaic commandments were given to provoke and punish the sins of Israel, and to prophesy of the ultimate Moses (Jesus) who would instruct God’s ultimate people. Thus, Christians are not under the Law of Moses but under the Law of Christ.
The climax of human history and the return of Christ are no more about the Jews than about the Americans or the Australians or the Vietnamese. Israel, like all other nations, must believe the gospel and bow the knee to Jesus before He comes or face His just retribution. Whatever tribulation arises, it will be focused upon Christians. And whatever triumph occurs, it will be for Jesus and the Church.

Affirmations and Denials

To help clarify our understanding of the Bible’s teaching and God’s purposes in history for Jesus Christ, we will articulate our positions through a series of affirmations and denials. These are directed toward believers who hold to other positions. Note: we consider them to be brothers in Christ. While we seek to establish who is inside our camp, we do not believe that a person must agree with us to be inside His camp. Ultimate unity is by the one faith in the one gospel through the one Spirit. So even though we regard these differences to be important for Christian understanding and practice, we do not see them as prerequisites for being a Christian.

Article 1

We affirm that God’s eternal purpose and plan, revealed progressively through the Bible, is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the making of His New Covenant, and the establishment of His kingdom.

We deny that God changed His plan after previous dispensations failed. We deny that His kingdom is or ever was primarily for ethnic Israel. We deny that His redemptive plan is the outworking of a Covenant of Grace made with Adam.

Article 2

We affirm that Adam’s sin brought death and condemnation to all mankind. We affirm that God’s promise to send a Redeemer was first made in Genesis 3:15.

We deny that God made a Covenant of Works or a Covenant of Grace with Adam as described in the Westminster Confession of Faith or any other Christian confession.

Article 3

We affirm that the Old Testament Scriptures were God-breathed, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and are profitable for believers in the New Covenant.

We deny that the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was ever binding on Gentiles. We deny that Christians are required to keep it.

Article 4

We affirm that the Law of Moses, including the The Commandments, is profitable for Christians as Christ-prophesying Scripture and as a testimony to the gospel.

We deny that the Bible allows the Old Covenant Law to be divided into the categories of civil, ceremonial, and moral with the moral law continuing into the New Covenant. We deny that the Ten Commandments are the eternal, universal Law of God.

Article 5

We affirm that the commands of Christ, delivered through His apostles, are expectations, not suggestions. We affirm that Christians are not without Law.

We deny that the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, is intended to be the foundation for civil laws or Christian obligations for sanctification.

Article 6

We affirm that God made great promises of prosperity, power, and blessing to physical Jews in the Old Testament. We affirm that those promises were either temporally fulfilled in Israel before Christ, or are typologically fulfilled in Christ and the Church, or both.

We deny that God has failed to keep His promises to Israel. We deny that any promises remain to be fulfilled to geopolitical/national Israel.

Article 7

We affirm that Israel was chosen and redeemed by God temporally and nationally through Moses. We affirm that many chosen and redeemed Jews perished for their sin because of unbelief.

We deny that Old Covenant election and redemption were salvific. We deny that any Jew received forgiveness of sin apart from faith in the coming Messiah.

Article 8

We affirm that the Old Covenant served as a typological pattern for Christ and the New Covenant, especially the priesthood, sacrifices, circumcision, Day of Atonement, Temple, prophetic ministry, feasts, Passover, Sabbath, and commandments.

We deny that any of these types are instituted as part of the New Covenant.

Article 9

We affirm that Jesus will return to earth to judge the living and the dead. We affirm that the eschatological viewpoints historically called pre-millennialism, a-millennialism, and post-millennialism are biblically tenable positions. We affirm that Jews are included in the elect who will come to faith in Jesus Christ.

We deny that He will rapture the Church from the earth and inaugurate a 7-year tribulation period for the Jews. We deny that geopolitical/national Israel factors into the return of Christ.

¹ This document was formally adopted in March, 2022.

² This is not to minimize the mandate to all men to rule and subdue the earth.