About Saint James Church
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At Saint James Church, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, there is Good News, There really is - Praise God! The Good News is that Christ saves sinners. God - being rich in mercy and compassion - chooses to make sinners alive through faith in His Son, Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-5) God does so by transferring the sins and guilt of believers to God's own account, in the person of Jesus Christ. And God simultaneously assigns to believers the Righteousness of that same Jesus. By virtue of this eternally profound two-way exchange, God has declared Himself willing to look upon sinners who possess faith in Jesus as if God were looking instead at the righteous obedience and selfless sacrificial death of His Son. (Isaiah 53: 5-6; 1 John 4:10)
We believe that, by the Spirit's agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God's family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
About Jesus Christ: We believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son and was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, was resurrected from death, and ascended to heaven where he sits at the Father's right hand. We believe that Jesus will come again to claim his bride, the church. (John 3:16; Matthew 1:18; Romans 5:6-11; John 20:24-31)
About Separation of Church and State: We believe that each local church is self-governing, and must be free from interference by any external ecclesiastical or political authority; that every human being is ultimately responsible to God in matters of faith and life; and that each person is free to worship God according to the dictates of his/her conscience. We further believe that governments are established by God; that Christians, as good citizens, should be subject to governing authorities insofar as possible, recognizing our greater allegiance to God and His kingdom in matters wherein human authorities conflict with clear, biblical mandates.