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Statement of Faith
Here is a statement of what we believe. To lookup any Bible references go to the
Online Bible on this site.
1. The Scriptures
We believe that the Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is
verbally inspired by God, inerrant in the original manuscripts, and is
the complete, final, and authoritative revelation of God’s
will to man, and therefore the absolute authority for Christian union
and the supreme standard by which all human conducts, creeds,
and opinions should be tried. We believe the Scriptures should be
interpreted literally (whenever possible), consistently, contextually,
grammatically, culturally and historically.
Psalm 119:89,160; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 1 Corinthians
2:11-14; Revelation 22:18-19.
2. The True God
We believe that there is only one true and living God, Creator and
Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness
and worthy of all possible honour, confidence and love, and Who
eternally exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, known as the Godhead, each having the same nature and
attributes, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct
but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption. Genesis
1:1; 1:26; Exodus 15:11; Psalm 111:9; Isaiah 45:5-6; Matthew 28:19;
Mark 12:29-30; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 13:14, Colossians 2:9.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly Man, and that He is both
the Son of God, and God the Son. We believe in His sinless life, His
atonement as a substitution for the sins of mankind by the shedding of
His blood on the cross, and in His bodily resurrection from the tomb
and ascension into heaven.
Isaiah 7:14;
9:6;
Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:31-35; John 1:1-4; 1:14; Acts 1:9-11;
Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:19; l Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:9;
2:14-16; 4:15.
4. The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the divine third person of the
Godhead, with the Father and the Son co-equal and co-eternal, and is
the source and power of all acceptable worship and service; that He was
active in creation, and in His relation to the unbelieving world He
restrains the wicked one until God’s purpose is fulfilled;
that He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and is
the agent in the new birth and the infallible interpreter of the Word
of God, Who baptizes, indwells, seals, empowers, guides, teaches,
witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer, and Who is ever present
to testify of Christ.
Genesis 1:2;
John
3:5-8;
14:16-18; 16:8-15; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:9; 8:14-16; Ephesians 1:13; 5:18;
1 Corinthians 2:11-14; 12:13; 2 Corinthians
3:18.
5. Creation
We believe that the Genesis account of creation is to be literally
accepted, and that creation was a direct act of God. Therefore we teach
that any evolutionary hypothesis is totally inconsistent with the
Scriptures.
Genesis
1:1-2:25; John
1:3; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 11:3.
6. Satan
We believe in the existence and personality of Satan, though created
holy, became the author of sin and all the powers of darkness, and is
the deceiver, the prince of the power of the air, the unholy god of
this world who endeavours to keep souls from coming to Christ, and that
he is at enmity with God, Christ, and the church, and by
Christ’s death and resurrection on the cross, he is destined
to judgment of eternity in the Lake of fire. Isaiah
14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:12-19; John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Hebrews
2:14; Ephesians 2:2; 6:11-12; Revelation 20:10.
7. Man
We believe that man was directly created by God in His image and after
His likeness, free of sin, with a moral responsibility to his Maker,
but by voluntary transgression fell from his innocent and happy state,
incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, in consequence of
which all mankind are now sinners, not only by nature, but also by
choice, and are become inherently corrupt, and therefore under just
condemnation without defence or excuse.
Genesis
1:26-27; 2:7; 2:15-24; 3:1-19; Jeremiah 17:9; John 3:36;
Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 1:18-32; 3:9-23; 5:12-19; 6:23.
8. Atonement
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ freely partook of our nature, yet
without sin, was made a curse for the sinner, bore our sins in His own
body on the cross, and by His death and shed blood made a full and
substitutional atonement for our sins, and is the only means of
salvation, and that no efforts or attitudes of man can add to the
finished work of Christ.
Isaiah 53:4-7,
Romans 5:6-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 2:13-14; 1 John
2:1-2; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 2:24; 3:18; Revelation
1:5.
9. New Birth
We believe that in order to possess eternal life, and enter the kingdom
of God, sinners must be born again, and that the new birth is a new
creation in Christ Jesus, instantaneous and not a process, in which the
sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, is made alive in Christ and a
partaker of the divine nature; that the new creation is brought about
in a manner, not by water baptism, neither by culture, nor by
character, or by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of
the Holy Spirit using the Word of God to secure our voluntary
obedience, and that it is evidenced by repentance, faith, and newness
of life.
John
1:12-13; 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17;
Ephesians 2:1-5; Colossians 3:1-3; Titus 3:5.
10. Salvation
We believe salvation is wholly of God by grace, made free to all by the
Gospel, received by repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
includes regeneration, pardon and forgiveness of sins through
justification, adoption and sanctification through the Holy Spirit to
ultimate glorification in the presence of God, and that the true
believer is eternally secure and cannot be lost.
John
1:12; 3:16; 10:27-31; Acts 4:12; 13:38-39; 16:31; Romans 5:1-9;
8:35-39; 10:9-13; Ephesians 1:3; 1:7; 2:8-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; 1
John 5:11-13.
11. Election
We believe in the sovereign act of God whereby He chose in Christ Jesus
for salvation all those whom He foreknew, and that God’s will
is for all to be saved as evidenced by the Scriptural declarations that
God is no respecter of persons, that God has no joy in the death of the
wicked, that Christ came into the world to save the lost and that He is
the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, that God’s
saving grace is extended to all, and that the Gospel is addressed to
all.
Ezekiel
18:31-32;
Matthew 28:18-20; John 3:16; 12:32; Acts 10:34; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; Romans
2:11; 8:28-30; 10:9-13; Titus 2:11-13; 1 Peter 1:1-2; 2 Peter 2:1; 3:9;
Hebrews 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 1 John 2:2.
12. The Church
We believe that the church is a local assembly of true baptized
believers in Christ, associated by a covenant of faith, love, and
fellowship of the Gospel, each sharing the responsibilities and
privileges as found in God’s Word, obeying the commandments
of Christ, meeting for worship, service, the study of God’s
Word, and prayer; that in its complete form in addition to the saints
contains Pastors (Elders, Bishops) and Deacons, who meet the
qualifications and perform their duties in accordance with Scripture;
that its supreme mission is to preach the Gospel, faithfully witnessing
of Christ to all men, and that the local church has the absolute right
to self-government, free from interference and influence of any
hierarchy of individuals and organization, and that the only head is
Christ, Who directs the church through the Holy Spirit.
We believe that all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and
Lord are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, the
glorious Church in prospect and Bride of Christ, and that having become
part of the family and kingdom of God are responsible to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and love with a pure heart
fervently.
Matthew
28:18-20; Acts
1:8; 2:42, 6:1-5; 20:17-35; Romans 12:14-8; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Hebrews
12:23; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:22-23; 3:15; 4:3-6;
4:12-16; Colossians 1:18; 1 Timothy 3:1-13.
13. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that Christian baptism is the total immersion in water of a
believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
with the authority of the local church, to show forth in solemn and
beautiful emblem our identification and faith in the crucified, buried,
and risen Saviour, with its effect in our death to sin and resurrect a
new life, and that it is a pre-requisite to membership and the
privilege of a church relation to the Lord’s supper, in which
the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and the fruit of
the vine are to commemorate together the death and resurrection of
Christ, and preceded always by solemn self-examination. These
ordinances are non-efficacious and do not warrant merit towards our
salvation.
Matthew
26:26-30;
28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42; 20:7; Romans 6:1-7; 1 Corinthians
11:23-34.
14. The Miraculous Sign Gifts
We believe the miraculous sign gifts of the early church, enumerated in
1 Corinthians 12:8-10, were given temporarily in the apostolic era for
the purpose of confirming the authenticity of the Word of God, as
spoken by the Apostles and later recorded by divine inspiration forming
the New Testament, and now as the full revelation of God is complete,
are no longer in use.
Mark 16:17-20;
1
Corinthians 13:8-13; 14:21-22; Hebrews 2:1-4; 2 Peter 1:19-21.
15. Separation
We believe that all true believers are called into a life of separation
unto God which will result in holiness, chastity, purity, and
godliness, and a life of separation from evil which will result in non
participation in worldly and sinful practices, such amusements and
habits as will cause others to stumble or bring reproach upon the name
of Christ, and non involvement or fellowship with false teachers, false
prophets, and the world ecumenical and religious system.
Romans
12:1-2; 14:13-21; 1 Corinthians 5:9-11; 8:9-13; 2 Corinthians
6:14-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 3:10-15; 1 John 2:15-17
16. Return of Christ
We believe in the visible, personal, bodily return of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, first in the air to call His church unto Him,
known as the Blessed Hope (Rapture). We believe that the church will be
translated and received into the clouds by Jesus Christ before the
period of Tribulation, known as Israel’s seventieth week;
that this translation will be followed by a time of judgement on the
whole earth lasting seven years, to conclude with the visible return of
Christ to the earth to put down all rebellion and establish His
Millennial kingdom, after which Satan shall be cast into eternal
judgment in the Lake of Fire and joined by all unbelievers judged at
the Great White Throne, followed by the destruction of the heaven and
earth in fervent heat and the creation of a New Heaven and New Earth
where the saints shall be forever with Christ.
John
14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:57-58;
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Peter 3:9-13; Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24-25;
Revelation 20-22.
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