The Cornerstone Confession

The Cornerstone Confession is the foundational doctrinal statement of Cornerstone University, reaffirmed annually by Cornerstone trustees, faculty, and staff. The Confession expresses our commitment to the key teachings of Scriptures as interpreted through the ecumenical creeds of the early church, the chief insights of the Reformation, and evangelical Christianity.

We believe in one sovereign, omnipotent, and fully omniscient God who eternally exists in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who in love and for his glory created all things out of nothing and pronounced them good.

We believe that God has revealed himself in the sixty-six canonical books of Scripture, which are verbally inspired, truth without error, and serve as our final authority in faith and life. They lead us to Jesus Christ, who shows us the Father, and rightly interpreted, they enable us to understand God’s revelation in humanity, nature, and history.

We believe that God directly created Adam and Eve, the historical parents of the human race, distinct from the rest of creation in their bearing of God’s image and their stewardship over creation. Their union as man and woman models God’s design for marriage and perpetually stands as God’s loving and righteous will for all sexual intimacy.

We believe that our first parents forfeited their original righteousness when they succumbed to Satan’s temptation and rebelled against God’s revealed will. As a result, every human is born in sin, leaving us totally depraved, alienated from God, and destined to spiritual and physical death. As such, our sinful ways have corrupted God’s creation, resulting in discord to society and nature.

We believe that God’s plan to redeem fallen humanity and renew creation flows through his promises to the Jewish people. God’s promises to Abraham and David are fulfilled in Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant.

We believe that the Son of God, while fully divine, became fully human through the virgin birth to save the world from sin. Living a sinless life in perfect obedience to His Father, Jesus proclaimed God’s reign in word and deed. In his mercy he atoned for our sins by dying in our place. Having satisfied the just wrath of God on our behalf, he rose bodily and triumphantly over sin, death, and Satan. He then ascended to heaven, sent his Spirit to lead and empower his church, and is seated at the Father’s right hand where he reigns and intercedes for His people.

We believe that the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost to establish the church; that he uses the Word of God to give new life to those who repent of their sin and believe in Christ; and that all who by faith alone receive Christ’s finished work are by God’s grace united with Christ, justified by his shed blood, adopted into the family of God, forgiven of all their sin, indwelt and gifted by the Spirit, and added to the church.

We believe that the one, holy, and universal church is the body and bride of Christ. The church gathers in local assemblies to worship God and celebrate the gospel through the preaching of the Word, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, prayer, and fellowship. It disperses to proclaim the gospel to a sinful world which must hear the good news of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. The church makes disciples of Jesus who, through persevering faith, embody the kingdom values of righteousness, peace, and joy. By loving God, serving others, and caring for creation, they anticipate the redemption of all things at Christ’s return.

We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ will personally and gloriously return to deliver this world from Satan’s rule and bring his reign to its ultimate fruition. Jesus will raise the dead to stand with the living before his judgment throne where he will determine the final state of humanity. The lost will experience everlasting conscious separation from God as the just punishment for their sin, and the redeemed will be welcomed into the unhindered joy of everlasting fellowship with him.