About First Church
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Welcome to the web page of First Church in Reston, Virginia. We believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself - baptism as a symbol of entrance into the body of Christ and the Lord's Supper a regular reminder of the death, resurrection, and return of Christ. Baptism symbolizes the believer's death to sin and new life in Christ. Those baptized are done so in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Together they are simultaneously God's pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
Here at First Church, we believe that good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God's kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God.
About Jesus Christ: We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, Light from Light, God from God. He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully man. He lived a sinless life. He was crucified as an atonement for sin and He bodily rose again on the third day. He ascended to the right hand of the Father where He reigns over all. He will bodily and visibly come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
About Salvation: We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; that this salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God; that it was purchased by Christ on the cross; that it is received through faith, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual; and that salvation results in righteous living, good works and biblically informed actions to bring about godly justice wherever we live.