"Tenets" are core principles and beliefs. In this case, they are what we affirm at New Covenant Christian Academy as our foundational understandings of the Christian faith, giving guidance to what will be taught and what won't be taught, Biblically and spiritually speaking, as faith and academics are woven together. These tenets will be evident in the classroom setting, in chapel and other worship services, in our prayer life and all other facets of New Covenant, including Christian parenting classes and other interactions with parents and family.
While New Covenant Christian Academy is a mission of the Fresh Wind Christian Community, its tenets of faith as a school are not as specific in certain areas, (i.e. Baptism, Spiritual Gifts, etc.) as they are in the overseeing church. Given that New Covenant embraces students and families from a number of denominational and theological backgrounds, the intent is to limit the tenets to the very core beliefs to which the vast majority of Christians adhere, thus emphasizing those things which unite us, leaving other principles to each family and the churches they attend.
1. The Bible The Bible is the ultimate authority in the life of a believer and is God's living word for all people. Written by God through divinely inspired men and women, the Bible is the complete story of God's love, instruction and plan for each person. It reveals God's absolute truth's and is as relevant today as when it was first written. The Bible says "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
2. The Trinitarian nature of God God is three persons in one, each person unique yet inseparable as a creating and sustaining entity. The trinity consists of . . . God the Father, who, with the Son and the Spirit, created all things. There is but one God, the God who is made known in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible; who said of Himself "I AM WHO I AM." (Exodus 7:14) God is forever sovereign and owner, sustainer and master of the universe . . . God the Son, manifest in the person of Jesus Christ. God came into the world to reveal Himself though the person of Jesus. Jesus was and is fully both God and man. Born of a virgin who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus taught, healed and lived as man yet was without sin. He died on the cross, taking upon himself the punishment for our sins, rose on the third day in glorious resurrection and ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God until he returns. He is, as evidenced by his very name, Jesus, the savior of the world, for “ . . . he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) . . . God the Holy Spirit, who is the ongoing presence of God on earth. By His Spirit, God dwells within all those who have received the love and forgiveness of Jesus into their lives. The Spirit guides, comforts, empowers and gives gifts to be enjoyed and shared. It is the work of the Holy Spirit which draws persons into relationship with God through belief in Jesus. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was present at specific times with specific people for specific reasons. At Pentecost, The Holy Spirit came to be available to all people, fulfilling the promise by Jesus, "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:25-26)
3. Salvation Salvation comes through Grace by Faith in Jesus Christ Under the "New Covenant" (see Jeremiah 31), we are no longer under the "law"but rather "grace". God's grace involves extending forgiveness and a reconciled relationship with Him not by works, but by repentance and faith in Jesus, who died on the cross as penalty for our sins, thus "saving" us from the consequence of our sins. This grace is received, again, by faith. " . . . if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) Furthermore, salvation is only available through the relationship with Jesus, by accepting him as savior and Lord. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." (John 14:6)
4. Eternal Life Eternal life is a reality for all persons. Without a saving faith in Jesus, eternity exists in hell as consequence for our sinful condition, into which all are born as a result of the original fall of man. For those who have embraced a saving relationship with Jesus, eternity occurs in heaven, where believers will dwell for all time with God and others who have also embraced Jesus as Savior and Lord. "For the wages of sin is death (hell), but the gift of God is eternal life (heaven) in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Jesus put it this way, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)