What we believe

Here is where Adam's Daily Bread stands, in plain words. It's the same faith you'll hear in every reading, because it comes from the same Book.

"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."
John 17:17 ESV

Reformed theology in plain words

"Reformed" is a name for Bible teaching that puts God at the center of everything, including our salvation. It goes back to the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s, when the church was called back to the Bible. At its heart are five short phrases, the "five solas" (sola is Latin for "alone").

Scripture alone. The Bible is God's Word, without error in what it teaches, and enough for faith and life. No church, council, or tradition stands over it.

Grace alone. God saves sinners because He is kind, not because they earned it.

Faith alone. We are made right with God by trusting Christ, not by our works.

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Romans 5:1 ESV

Christ alone. Jesus is the only Savior and the only go-between for God and people. His work on the cross is finished.

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
John 14:6 ESV

To the glory of God alone. Everything exists for God's glory, our salvation included.

The basics we hold

God. One living and true God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ. Fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, sinless. He died as a substitute for sinners, rose bodily, ascended, and will return to judge the living and the dead.
The Holy Spirit. A Person, not a force. He convicts, gives new life, lives in every believer, and points to Christ.
Creation. God created everything in six ordinary days, and the earth is young: thousands of years, not billions.
People. Made in God's image, male and female. Fallen in Adam. Sin has reached every part of us.
Salvation. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the price of it.
The church. Christ is its head. Every believer belongs in a local church that preaches the Bible and makes disciples.
Last things. Christ will come for His church before the tribulation, then return personally and visibly. All will be raised: the saved to eternal life, the lost to eternal judgment. God will make a new heaven and a new earth. We set no dates.

The Doctrines of Grace

The Doctrines of Grace describe how God saves sinners, from His side. They are often remembered by the word TULIP, which comes from a church council at Dort in 1618-19. TULIP isn't the whole of Reformed teaching. It answers one question: who does the saving? The answer, every step of the way, is God.

T: Total depravity. Sin has reached every part of us: mind, heart, and will. That doesn't mean people are as bad as they could be. It means no part of us is untouched, and on our own we won't seek God.

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."
Romans 3:10-11 ESV

U: Unconditional election. Before creation, God chose a people to save. He didn't choose them because He saw they would be good, or even because He foresaw their faith. He chose them in love.

"even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him."
Ephesians 1:4 ESV

L: Limited (particular) atonement. Christ's death really saves. He laid down His life for His sheep, and it accomplished what He meant it to do for everyone the Father gave Him.

I: Irresistible (effectual) grace. When God calls a sinner to Himself, He also gives new life, and that person comes. God opens the heart. Then the sinner repents and believes.

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."
John 6:37 ESV

P: Perseverance of the saints. God keeps those He saves. True believers still stumble, but they won't finally fall away. Those who walk away for good show they never truly belonged.

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."
John 10:28 ESV

In the light of everyday life

These truths can sound like a classroom. They're meant for the kitchen table. If you're a Christian, your salvation didn't start with you, so it doesn't depend on how strong you feel today. God began it and He will finish it. That frees you to obey out of thanks, not fear.

Where faithful teachers differ

Some questions still divide Bible-believing, Reformed Christians: who should be baptized and when, whether certain spiritual gifts continue today, and how Israel relates to the church. This site doesn't take a side on those. It holds firmly to everything above, including the hope that Christ will come for His church before the tribulation.