9 Marks

The desire of the pastors at Keltys is to shepherd the flock at into a “healthy” New Testament Church (Colossians 1:18).

We affirm the following 9 Marks of a Healthy Church:

I. Preaching
A verse-by-verse sermon that takes the main point of a Scripture passage, makes it the main point of the sermon, and applies it to life today (Nehemiah 8:8; Hebrews 4:12).

II. Biblical Theology
This is sound doctrine; it is right thoughts about God; it is belief that accords with Scripture (Titus 2:1–10).

III. The Gospel
The good news that God is holy, that man has sinned and separated himself from God, that God became man in Jesus, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross, taking on Himself the punishment for the sins of all who would believe.

IV. Conversion
God gives life to the dead (Ephesians 2:5), sight to the blind (2 Corinthians 4:3-6) and the gifts of faith and repentance (Acts 11:18); people repent of sin (Acts 3:19) and believe in Jesus (John 3:16).

V. Evangelism
This is telling non-Christians the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to save sinners (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 10:14-17).

VI. Membership
This is a commitment every Christian should make to attend, love, serve, and submit to a local church (Hebrews 10:24-25; 13:17).

VII. Discipline
This is everything the church does to help its members pursue holiness and fight sin (Matthew 18:15-20).

VIII. Discipleship
This is a church exhorting their members to both grow in holiness and help others do the same (Ephesians 4:15; Philippians 4:9; Hebrews 13:7).

IX. Leadership
This is a church led by a plurality of godly, qualified men (Acts 14:23).

For more details about these 9 marks, visit the 9Marks website.