NewGrapes Ministries adheres to the ancient statements of faith (the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Creed of Chalcedon) and affirms the historic Christian faith as expressed in the five solas of the Reformation and the Reformed confessions concerning the gospel of God’s grace.
We are Reformed Continuationist. Reformed in our confession of Scripture, sin, grace, and justification in Christ alone. Continuationist in confessing that the Holy Spirit still works in Christ’s church according to the Scriptures — neither emptying the Spirit into a doctrine only, nor making experience the master of the text.
This page is not a substitute for the Bible. It is a plain account of what we hold, so visitors know the house they have entered. Our door remains Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).
The Bible
The Bible, in its entirety, is the infallible, inerrant, and inspired Word of God; it is divine revelation that carries the full weight of God’s authority and to which we are obliged to submit. We read it to hear what it says — not to collect familiar handles, and not to borrow a meaning we were already willing to keep.
The Trinity
Within the Godhead there is a unity of three distinct yet fully divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
God
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. God is fully omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, not given to learning or “openness.”
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, having two natures inseparably united in one divine person without confusion, mixture, separation, or division. Each nature retains its own attributes. In the incarnation, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life among us, was crucified, dead, and buried, rose on the third day, ascended to heaven, and will come again in glory and judgment. He is the only Mediator between God and man. Everything we teach is meant to press His question — Who do you say that I am? — not to replace it with a method or a tribe.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is of one substance with the Father and the Son. He eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son, and He dwells in the hearts of believers, effecting their regeneration monergistically and operating in their sanctification synergistically.
We further confess that the Spirit still gives gifts and works among Christ’s people for the building up of the church, under the authority of Holy Scripture. We refuse a closed book that leaves the Spirit as a slogan. We also refuse any excess that sets experience over the Word, invents a second gospel, or makes gifts a test of belonging to Christ.
Creation
God, by the word of His power, created from nothing the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He further preserves and governs all His creatures and all their actions according to His most holy, wise, and powerful providence.
Man
After God made the other creatures, He created man, both male and female, in His own image, but because Adam sinned and woefully fell in his responsibility, he and his posterity entered into a state of moral corruption and moral inability and became estranged from their Creator, thus deserving death as the punishment for sin.
Atonement
Because all have sinned, atonement must be made in order for man to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ made a complete atonement for His people through His substitutionary atoning death on the cross. He imputes His righteousness to all believers, securing full redemption for all who repent of their sin and trust in Him alone for salvation. Christ died once for all for sins. We will not hand anyone a soft assurance this page does not actually give. Assurance belongs with Christ and His promises, not with a ministry brand.
The Law
The moral law perfectly reflects the unchangeable character of God and forever binds all people, believers as well as unbelievers.
The Church
Christ has established a visible church, which is called to live in the power of the Holy Spirit under the regulation of the authority of Holy Scripture, preaching the gospel of Christ, administering the sacraments, and exercising discipline.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church — the body of Christ across the ages. We welcome the faithful testimony of the Church Fathers and the historic church as teachers in the room. We do not market Rome as a brand, and we do not dunk on brothers to prove a tribe.
NewGrapes Ministries is a ministry, not a competing Sunday. Our aim is to feed disciples and send them home to their churches hungrier for Christ — not to hunt membership letters.
Christianity & Culture
NewGrapes supports the confession of the final authority of Scripture and the lordship of Jesus Christ in all of life. We affirm what God has said about the dignity of human life from its beginning, and about marriage as the union of one man and one woman. We refuse to fight secondary battles that are not ours, and we refuse to let culture war replace the gospel. The questions we put on the table are the ones Scripture asks — not what is trendy, and not what a room already wanted to hear.
How we work
We stock Milk, Solid Food, and Meat. We drop nuggets for growth. We focus on what the text says. If the Word presses, we let it press. If you leave this page with only one question, let it be His: Who do you say that I am?
NewGrapes Ministries · newgrapesministries.com
Religious organization operating under IRC §508 (church/religious organization path).