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› What is Ellerslie’s statement of faith?
› What is Ellerslie’s central message?
› Are there certain points of doctrine that Ellerslie is willing to divide over?
› Does Ellerslie identify and affiliate with a specific denomination?
› How do you handle the more controversial and divisive issues of soteriology (salvation) and eschatology (end times) at Ellerslie?
› What is Ellerslie’s position on speaking in tongues?
› What is Ellerslie’s position on spiritual gifts?
› What is Ellerslie’s position on modern-day apostles?
› What does Ellerslie teach about biblical headship and the role of women / role of men?
› Why does Ellerslie have such a strong emphasis on the Cross? Are you not diminishing the resurrection by talking so much about the Cross?
› Is Ellerslie “King James Only”?

What is Ellerslie’s Statement of Faith?

Read our statement of faith.

What is Ellerslie’s central message?

In simple terms, it is to establish Jesus Christ at the very center of the Christian life, and to establish His Cross-work at the very center of all doctrine, reasoning, and living. We believe that the Christian life is meant to actually work in a real-world functional way, and not just in a theoretical academic sense. We believe that God has supplied to each of us, in and through the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and His subsequent resurrection, ascension, and out-poured Spirit, everything we need in order to live out a triumphant life on this earth. The following are several key sermons by Pastor Eric Ludy that clearly enunciates the heart of our message:

Are there certain points of doctrine that Ellerslie is willing to divide over?

Just because we give reasonable allowance on Scriptural points where there are varying conclusions (ie. soteriology, eschatology, head coverings, spiritual gifts, etc.) does not mean we don’t have a spine in our belief system. We believe that true historic Christianity is defined by five key doctrinal positions. And it is on these five doctrinal pillars that Ellerslie is built and constructed.

The Reformation era brought about what Christian history refers to as the Five Solae that differentiated the True Church from the Apostate church (Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Christo, and Sola Gloria). Ellerslie embraces the Five Solae as written below; and marked by the love and kindness of Jesus Christ, here we as a ministry stand unbending, incorrigible, and immovable.

1. SOLA SCRIPTURA (BY GOD’S WORD ALONE)

God’s Word is, in fact and in truth, God’s Word.

The 66 canonized books of Scripture are of Divine origin and bear the very nature of God Almighty (they are pure, holy, unchanging, without lie, and wholly authoritative). What the Word of God says, goes. When it speaks, the true believer doesn’t argue, negotiate, or critique—rather he bends his knee, submits, and says, “Yes, Lord!” There is no other book, outside the Bible, that bears such position, honor, and authority.

2. SOLA CHRISTO (BY CHRIST ALONE)

Jesus is the ONLY WAY unto the Father.

Outside of Jesus and His work upon the Cross, there is no hope for man to enter into the perfectly righteous domain of God. But, in Jesus, a way has been made to access the Throne Room of Grace. That Way is Jesus, Himself. And by faith, a believer is enabled to enter into the Person of Christ, and thus be clothed by His very righteousness, His atoning, reconciling, redeeming, regenerating work upon the Cross. And by faith, a believer is able to share in Christ’s death, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension. Thus in Christ Jesus, a believer is brought near unto the Father, adopted as a son or daughter of the King, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. There is no other Way, outside of Jesus Christ, that any man or woman can approach the Throne of Grace and be reconciled unto the Father.

Jesus is God.

As God’s Word is Truth, so is God’s Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Like the Scriptures that testify of Him, He too is of Divine origin. He is God Almighty, revealing the pure, holy, unchanging, guileless, and wholly authoritative nature of Jehovah God. There is no other man, outside of Jesus, that bears such position, honor, and authority.

3. SOLA FIDE (BY FAITH ALONE)

Faith in Jesus is the ONLY way to access the salvation offered at the Cross.

Trusting, child-like confidence in the work of Jesus upon the Cross is the ONLY means by which a sinner can gain access to the saving grace manifest in Christ. “Without faith, it is impossible to please God …” (Hebrews 11:6). And there is no other means, outside of faith, that any man or woman may access the grace, the righteousness, the salvation, and the mercies of God.

4. SOLA GRATIA (BY GRACE ALONE)

Grace is the ONLY means by which a Christian can live out the triumphant life of Jesus.

Without Grace there is no power for a Christian to live as they ought to live. Without Grace there is no power for salvation — no victory over Sin and the Flesh. For, a man or woman in his/her own natural power cannot imitate Jesus’ perfect life. They must receive the impartation of Jesus (or grace) in order to live as they ought to live. And there is no other means, outside of Grace, that any man or woman can live righteously as they ought.

5. SOLA DEO GLORIA (FOR THE GLORY OF CHRIST ALONE)

The glory of Jesus Christ is our ultimate goal.

The Christian must decrease that Christ Jesus might increase. There is only One that saves — Jesus. There is only One that is righteous — Jesus. There is only One that is holy, One that is good, One that is perfect, One that is sinless, and One that has done it. And this One is the focal point — the entire fixation of the Christian life. It is all about Him, all for Him, and all to Him. His glory, His praise, His worship, and His renown is the great end of the man or woman that believes.

 Does Ellerslie identify and affiliate with a specific denomination?

Ellerslie Discipleship Training is congruent with Christian denominations that emphasize the power, preservation, purity, and pedigree of Scripture, the centrality of Jesus and His Cross-work, the infilling of the Almighty Holy Spirit of Grace, the expectancy of triumph in the daily walk of a believer, and the great aim of the Church being the Glory of God. We have every conservative denominational persuasion represented in our student body — from pentecostal, to anabaptist, to reformed, to methodist, to charismatic. The Ellerslie staff consists of Christian influencers from a varied background of denominational frameworks. But there is a strong agreement on the fact that Jesus Christ and the work of the Cross is the primary doctrinal baseline and reasoning point from which our training springs forth. For more specifics about our core beliefs, we encourage you to read our statement of belief and listen to the following messages from Eric Ludy — “Christophany” and “The Simplitist.”

 How do you handle the more controversial and divisive issues of soteriology (salvation) and eschatology (end times) at Ellerslie?

One of the primary things that makes Ellerslie Discipleship Training so unique is the broad base of denominational persuasions among our students. We have strong Calvinists, staunch Arminianists, and even open-view soteriologists that pass through. We have preterists, pre-tribs, mid-tribs, post-tribs, and every millennial persuasion in-between-and-surrounding represented in our midst. So how do we keep the peace? We make it very clear what we are about. We are not about a soteriological viewpoint or an eschatological viewpoint. We are about Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. We ask our students to lay down their differences during their brief time in the on-site portion of Ellerslie Discipleship Training, and focus wholly on the person of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture and behold the mighty work of the Cross. Ellerslie believes that true spiritual unity is possible if everyone fixes their compass to the North Star of Scripture — Jesus and the Cross. This method has garnered extraordinary results that defy the contentious nature of the modern Christian system of denominational identification and line drawing. We in no way want to lessen the clarity of Scripture on any point. We do not avoid speaking straight on any given point of doctrine, but we are sensitive to the fact that certain peripheral aspects of doctrine must be handled with gracious dexterity, due to the wide variety of differing viewpoints.

What is Ellerslie’s position on speaking in tongues?

At Ellerslie we teach that the Bible is the record of Truth. It cannot lie. It is without error and without flaw. And when it talks about tongues and spiritual gifts it is 100% correct in its statements. That said, we teach that the primary gift of God is NOT tongues, but Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Gift of God (see John 4:10; 3:16) and His Unspeakable Gift (see 2 Corinthians 9:15). We do not believe that a Christian must speak in tongues in order to demonstrate a saving work of grace in Christ Jesus or evidence of Spirit-baptism. Rather, we believe that the primary evidence of repentance and life transformation is love. A man or woman of God speaking, living, and acting in love is the great evidence of change and the primary fruit of the Spirit of God. Simply put, a true Christian, altered by the grace of God, reveals Jesus. At Ellerslie, we do not stand against the biblical concept of tongues, but we do not allow demonstrations of tongues or specific beliefs about tongues to become a distraction or point of contention among our students in our Ellerslie Discipleship Training programs.

 What is Ellerslie’s position on spiritual gifts?

We believe that spiritual gifts are still alive and right for the Church today, but they don’t fall under the typical classification of charismatic or pentecostal in our church practices. We believe that the Spirit of God must rule the church environment. We believe that every detail and every action of church activity must be enabled by the Spirit, directed by the Spirit, and harnessed to the Spirit’s lead. We believe that when the Body of Christ is yielded to the leadership of the Spirit of God, then Jesus Christ will be seen more clearly in our midst, and that every individual member of the Body will be enabled by God, and equipped by God, to perform their unique and particular role in the Body. In light of this, we are a very conservative expression of this truth, and we are very guarded to honor and reverence God in our practice of it. Everything is done decently and in order and the many conservative denominational expressions found in our midst all feel honored, safe, and respected. Long and short, we believe that God gifts the members of the Body with grace to function in whatever role they are assigned, that the church may declare to the heavenlies the manifold wisdom of God. For a more detailed understanding of Bravehearted Christian’s handling of the Person of the Holy Spirit, listen to Pastor Eric Ludy’s sermon entitled, “The Master Builder.”

What is Ellerslie’s position on modern day apostles?

Ellerslie is not affiliated in any way nor adheres to the beliefs amongst the rapidly growing movement often referred to as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). For a detailed understanding of Ellerslie’s position on modern day apostles, listen to Pastor Eric Ludy’s sermon entitled, “The Pattern-Passers.”

What does Ellerslie teach about biblical headship and the role of women / role of men?

We believe that the Bible speaks to this issue matter-of-factly. However, how it is often applied within the modern Church has been lacking the nature and the attitude of Christ. Eric Ludy gave two messages entitled, “Feminine Beauty” and “The Position of the Woman” that directly answers this question. If this particular issue is of concern for you, then please take some time to review these messages.

Why does Ellerslie have such a strong emphasis on the Cross? Are you not diminishing the resurrection by talking so much about the Cross?

The reason we emphasize the Cross so heavily is not to displace the resurrection, but to amplify it. Unless you understand the Cross, the resurrection has no context. In fact, we don’t just emphasize the resurrection, we proclaim it with loudest voice (and trust us, Pastor Eric Ludy can get really loud!). And we don’t stop at the resurrection, but we also proclaim the ascension and the exaltation of Jesus Christ to the right hand of the Father, the subsequent sending forth of the Holy Spirit to dwell within the body of every believer, and the imminent return of our precious King. We make a big deal about Jesus Christ and His Cross in order that all the amazing work gained there would be wholly appreciated and appropriated.

Is Ellerslie “King James Only”?

No. The writers, preachers, and teachers in the Ellerslie Discipleship Training programs use a variety of word-for-word translations such as the KJV, NKJV, NASB, and ESV as the basis of their biblical study, writing, and teaching. Ellerslie supports the versions of the Bible that are word-for-word translations from the original text.

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