What do we believe?

The Bible:

We believe that the Bible (the Scriptures) is the Word of God that He personally breathed out. God the Holy Spirit carried men along, as a wind carries a sailing ship, causing them to write exactly what He intended for them to write. He did not dictate His Word but rather used the different personalities of these men to write exactly what he wanted in their individual styles (2 Pet 1:21, Gal 3:16).

The Bible does not contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God (Matt 4:4, 2 Tim 3:16, Prov 30:5-6).

There were no errors in the original handwritten biblical documents. God has miraculously preserved His Word through the ages and the Bible is still God’s Word and as such, should determine what every Christian does and how he does it.

The Bible is our final authority and alone is able to thoroughly equip the Christian to live a life that pleases God (2 Tim 3:16-17). No other source addresses human problems as thoroughly and reliably as the Holy Scriptures.

The correct way to understand God’s meaning in the Bible is to use the plain meaning of the words (except where it is obvious that figures of speech are being used), which is discovered by carefully studying the grammar, historical background and literary setting (the immediate context and the passage’s context in the whole of the Bible) of the passage being studied. The Bible never contradicts itself and is the final word on its interpretation—it is self-interpreting.

There is only one valid interpretation of Scripture. There may, however, be multiple applications of one Scripture passage.

God:

God is the supreme Lord and maker of heaven and earth (Gen 1:1, Col 1:16-17). The Bible never tries to prove that God exists. It simply states that He does (Gen 1:1).

The God of the Bible is one being, consisting of three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit – 2 Cor 13:14). The three persons are co-equal and co-eternal (John 10:30). No one was created by the others.

Each person is God (John 6:27, Phil 2:6; Acts 5:3-4), but they are one God, not three gods. They are not different modes or forms of one person, but three persons making up one being (John 10:30, Matt 28:19).

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God the Father (Heb 5:5; Ps 2:7; Acts 13:33), equal to the Father (Phil 2:6) and yet submissive to the Father (1Cor 3:23; 1Cor 11:3; 1Cor 15:27; 1Cor 15:28). Jesus is the only mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:5).

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father (John 15:26) as does the Son (John 8:42), but He is not begotten of the Father and is therefore not a son.

All three persons of the God-head act as one in all things (creation, resurrection, salvation).

God’s first concern is His glory (Is 48:11, John 17:24) and for this reason God commands us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30).

Jesus Christ:

Jesus the Messiah is God. We know this because among other things:

  • He has the authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:10-12).
  • He receives worship and honour (Matt 28:17; John 5:22-23) unlike any creature.
  • The prophecies concerning Jesus call Him God (Mark 1:2-3; Isa 40:3-5).

Jesus has been God from eternity past. He existed before He took on human form (Micah 5:2, Is 9:6, John 1:14, John 8:58).

Jesus is the creator of all things (Col 1:16, John 1:3).

He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of Mary who was a virgin (Matt 1:16, Luke 1:35). He continued to be fully God while taking on human form. He remains the God-man forever.

Jesus never sinned, even though He was tempted in every way as we are (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus Christ acquired all of the limitations (but not sins) of humanity by the addition of His human nature. He also voluntarily submitted Himself to the will of His Father, taking the form of a slave (Phil 2:7). In other words, He freely chose to limit the use of His divine powers except where and when He was directed by the Father. He hid His brilliant radiant beauty, which He had before He took on human form. At no time did Messiah Jesus give up any of His divine attributes.

The blood of Jesus the Messiah, representing His life (Lev 17:11), was given to ransom whoever should believe in Him, from the debt of guilt that came from breaking God’s law and not conforming to the standard of His perfection (Rom 3:23, Mk 10:45).

Jesus kept God’s Law perfectly and having done that, paid its penalty (Gal 3:13)—the price for our sin (1 Tim 2:6). God was satisfied with Jesus’ offering of Himself (1 John 2:2). Jesus died in the place of the sinner (2 Cor 5:21), restoring the relationship between God and that sinner (2 Cor 5:18-19). His death was able to cover the sin of all men, but only brings about restoration for those who receive Him (Matt 10:40; Matt 18:5; Col 2:6).

After the third day, Jesus rose from the tomb in bodily form (John 20:20-29). He later went up to heaven (Acts 1:9-11) where He remains, Head over the church. Here too, Jesus continues to intercede for all believers (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34; 1John 2:1) as High Priest.

Jesus will return personally and visibly to rule the earth as King for 1000 years (Rev 19-20:6).

Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, God the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is clearly a person, not a force as:

  • He has intelligence (Rom 8:27), emotion (Eph 4:30) and a will (1 Cor 12:11).
  • He is sometimes referred to with the masculine pronoun “He” (John 16:13-14).
  • His titles confirm this (Acts 16:27, 1 Cor 6:11).
  • His attributes confirm this (omniscience – Is 40:13, 1 Cor 2:12; omnipresence – Ps 139:7).
  • He is associated on an equal basis with the Father and the Son (Matt 28:19).

The Spirit’s main ministry is revealing Jesus Christ, to glorify Him (John 16:14, 15:26). To that end, we see He does a number of works:

  • Conviction of sin (through exposing sin, bringing evidence against the sinner) – John 16:8 11;
  • Regeneration (the event of being born again) – Titus 3:5, John 3:3-7;
  • Baptising (1 Cor 12:13),
  • Indwelling (1 Cor 6:19, Rom 8:9),
  • Anointing (1 John 2:27),
  • Sealing (Eph 4:30),
  • Illuminating (1 Cor 2:9-16),
  • Leading (Rom 8:14),
  • Filling (Eph 5:18), and
  • Gifting – equipping God’s people for ministering to one another (1 Cor 12-14)
    NOTE: Certain gifts were used to prove that the changes from biblical Judaism to Christianity were appointed by God, and used to add to the books of inspired holy Scripture. As the church became established and as the New Testament became available, the need for these sign gifts lessened, disappearing altogether by the end of the time of the Apostles. Therefore we believe that the legitimate gifts that can be seen in the true Church today are those that are useful for edification through service (teaching, service, exhortation, giving, leading, mercy etc).

They were originally all created holy (Jude 6). Some of the angels sinned and so were removed from their original state. We presume that fallen angels are what the Bible calls demons.

Man:

Man was created by God in a unique way on the sixth day of creation. Man was created in the image or likeness of God (Genesis 1:26; James 3:9). Both male and female are made in God’s image (Gen 1:27). This means man is like God in some ways and is a picture of God in some ways. Even though man sinned, he continues to be like God in some ways—God’s image in man is distorted but not lost (Genesis 9:6).

Man was created for God’s own glory (Isaiah 43:7). This determines man’s entire purpose for life—doing ALL in such a way that God is seen to be as glorious as He is (1Cor 10:31; 1Pet 4:11).

Man was created without sin. God revealed His will for them through a command, which man disobeyed. Having failed, he was separated from God who is life—he died spiritually.

Since that day, sin has ruled in every mortal body of every descendant of Adam and Eve. Each person is a slave to sin from birth (Rom 6:17-18), obeying only their own desires.

Sin:

Sin is transgression of the law or lawlessness (1John 3:4) and anything opposed to the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Sin is abandoning God as the source of life and joy and to love substitutes instead of Him (Jer 2:12-13; James 4:4)).

Every individual human being is thoroughly corrupt (Is 53:6; Rom 3:10-18).

Every part of man has been affected by sin, including his heart (Jer 17:9), mind (Eph 4:17; Rom 8:7; Titus 1:15; Col 1:21) and mouth (Rom 3:13-14). Man is a slave to sin (Rom 6:18-22) from birth—he has no ability to stop sinning until God makes him a new creature through the new birth (see Salvation).

The penalty of death for sin (Rom 6:23, Gen 2:17) has three aspects:

  • Spiritual death – separation from God (Eph 2:14).
  • Physical death – the separation of the spirit from the body (2 Cor 5:6-8).
  • Eternal death – the separation from God for all eternity in the lake of fire (Rev 20:15, Mk 9:47-49).

Salvation:

Salvation is when God the Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the sake of the Name of the triune God (Is 43:25), gave Himself for all men, freeing those who receive Him from every sinful act and purifying for Himself a people who are devoted to Him and delight to do good (Titus 2:14; Rev 5:9). In doing so, He removes the curse of the Law from those who believe (Gal 3:13) so that they no longer need to fear the sentence of spiritual death we all deserved (Rom 8:1). To these (those who receive Him) He gave the right to become the children of God (John 1:12).

To magnify the wonder of His unmerited favour toward mankind, it pleased God to determine, by His own choosing, those who would be saved and become his sons (Eph 1:4-5). This election happened before creation and is connected with God’s foreknowledge in a mysterious way (1 Pet 1:2, Rom 8:29-30). Men do not believe indiscriminately or randomly, but God the Father elects those whom he hands over, as it were, to his Son (John 6:37). At the same time, man’s responsibility to actively repent (which is granted by God – Acts 11:18), believe (Acts 16:31) and come (enabled by the Father – John 6:37) is clearly taught in the Scriptures.

How human responsibility and God’s election work together is a mystery, but in a wonderful way, the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to persuade men to voluntarily and actively repent and believe in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, trusting in the salvation that He provides through His sacrifice (2 Thes 2:13, John 6:37, 44-45, 64-65, Rom 10:13-17).

Jesus the Messiah achieved salvation through making atonement. This means that God’s justice was upheld when Jesus bore the curse and punishment for men’s sin—sin was punished and all those who trusted in the atonement provided, are released from the sentence. Jesus’ perfect life, His death as a substitute and His resurrection (which gives assurance of all God has spoken) combine to provide the way that God accomplishes salvation. There is nothing a man can do to make himself righteous—no works such as keeping the Law can save Him (Eph 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Rom 3:28). The biblical conditions for salvation are clearly given as repent and believe (Acts 20:21, Mk 1:15).

A Christian can have absolute certainty of possessing eternal life (1 John 5:13)—he cannot, at any point, lose his position in Christ (his salvation). This certainty is based on God’s ability to save through the work of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:38-39, Heb 7:25, Rom 8:34, Phil 1:6, Jude 24, 1 Pet 1:5). God’s ability to save is absolutely sure and gives the Christian the ability to be assured in his mind of his eternal position in Christ.

Assurance of salvation is given by the Holy Spirit to the child of God, when he or she bears the fruits of a being a child of God, for example, keeping Christ’s commandments (1John 2:3) and loving fellow Christians (1John 3:14).

Statement of faith

This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that we believe. We do believe, however, that the foregoing statements accurately represent the teaching of the Bible, and therefore, are binding upon all members. Acts 20:27; 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 4:1,2; 1 Peter 2:9,10.