IONA Chapel · Sámara, Costa Rica
What We Believe
We are not trying to make up something new. We are seeking to faithfully receive, believe, teach, and live what God has already spoken.
We Believe the Bible Is the Source for Life and Doctrine
At IONA Chapel, we are not trying to invent something new.
We believe the Christian faith has been given to us through the Word of God. We do not create our doctrine by personal preference, cultural pressure, popular opinion, or spiritual imagination. We receive what God has revealed.
The Bible is our source for life and doctrine because we do not want to make it up.
To invent new beliefs about God, Jesus, salvation, sin, grace, worship, or the Christian life would not be faithfulness. It would be the beginning of a new religion. That is not what we are trying to do.
We believe what Christians have always believed where Scripture speaks clearly: that God is holy, that humanity is sinful and in need of grace, that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, that He lived without sin, died for our sins, rose from the dead, and is Lord over all.
Almost everything we know in detail about the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus comes to us through the Bible, especially the four Gospels. Other ancient sources outside the Bible help confirm that Jesus lived, was known in history, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, but the full meaning of who Jesus is and what He has done is given to us in Scripture.
So our goal is simple: we want to believe, teach, obey, and live according to what the Bible plainly teaches.
Non-Denominational, But Not Undefined
IONA Chapel is a non-denominational church, but that does not mean we are doctrinally unclear.
We are not trying to be vague. We are not trying to be trendy. We are not trying to build a church around one personality, one culture, or one new idea.
Our doctrine stands in line with historic Protestant Christianity and the plain teaching of Scripture. Our beliefs overlap with traditional Baptist, Presbyterian, evangelical, and Protestant understandings of the Bible.
We believe the church should always be reforming according to the Word of God, not according to the spirit of the age.
Where the Bible speaks clearly, we seek to obey clearly.
Where the Bible gives room for sincere Christians to differ, we want to walk in humility, grace, and love.
That means we take God seriously. We take the Bible seriously. We take doctrine seriously.
But we do not take ourselves too seriously.
We are still learning. We are still growing. We are still being corrected, shaped, and strengthened by the Word of God. Our confidence is not in our own wisdom, but in the goodness, truth, and authority of God as revealed through His Word.
Grace Where There Is Freedom, Obedience Where There Is Clarity
Not every Christian agrees on every secondary issue. The Bible leaves room for differences of conscience, conviction, worship style, spiritual gifts, church practice, and the timing of certain future events.
Where Scripture allows freedom, we want to allow freedom.
Where Scripture calls for charity, we want to show charity.
Where Scripture commands obedience, we want to obey.
Christian unity does not require pretending that doctrine does not matter. It means standing together around the truth of the gospel, loving one another deeply, and refusing to divide over matters where faithful believers may disagree.
But when the Bible gives clear direction, we are not free to ignore it, soften it, or rewrite it. Jesus is Lord. His Word is not advice. His Word is life. His Word and His character are one and the same. Unlike humans, God always says what He means, and He does not change.
Statement of Faith
Our Doctrinal Statement
These are the central convictions we hold as a community, rooted in Scripture and the historic Christian faith.
In Summary
We are a Bible-grounded, Jesus-centered, grace-shaped, mission-focused church.
We are not trying to make up something new.
We are seeking to faithfully receive, believe, teach, and live what God has already spoken.
In short, our goal is to follow Jesus, becoming like Him, because we believe He is the way to abundant life that begins now and continues into eternity.
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