Statement of Faith
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The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, God's infallible written Word. We believe that it was uniquely, verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that it was written without error in the original manuscripts. It is the supreme and final authority in all matters on which it speaks.
We explicitly affirm our belief in basic Bible teachings, as follows:
1. There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - each of whom possessed equally all the attributes of deity and the characteristics of personality. 2. Jesus Christ is God, the Living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect deity and true humanity united in one person forever. 3. He lived a sinless life on earth and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone. 4. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died. 5. He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own. 6. Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God: thus, he alienated himself from his Creator. That historic fall brought about a separation of mankind from God. 7. Man's nature gravitates towards things that are not pleasing to God (sin) and he is, therefore, totally unable to please God without regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 8. The Salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace and not the work (in whole or in part) of human ability, goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation and thereby justifies them in His sight. 9. It is the privilege of all who are born again by the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Saviour. This assurance is not based on any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written Word. 10. The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of Spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer's life by faith. 11. Every believer is called to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God. 12. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church; His body is composed of all men (living and dead) who have been joined to Him through saving faith. 13. God requires His people to assemble together regularly for worship, participation in ordinances, edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement. 14. At physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal conscious fellowship with the Lord. 15. At physical death, the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal conscious separation from the Lord. 16. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth, personally, visibly and bodily to establish His Kingdom. At this time, the dead will be resurrected bodily; the believer to eternal joy with the Lord and the unbeliever to eternal separation and sorrow. 17. The Lord Jesus commanded all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the whole world and to disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of the Great Commission requires a selfless commitment to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. 18. There exists a personal spirit of Evil, Satan, our adversary, who with great power opposes the Kingdom of God and seeks the demise of man. He will suffer ultimate and total defeat at the hands of Jesus Christ. We accept these large areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. We desire to allow for freedom of conviction on either doctrinal matters (provided that any interpretation is based upon the Bible alone) and that no such interpretation shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us. |
