Statement of Faith

WHAT WE BELIEVE

1. The Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, infallible and inerrant in the original documents, and is complete, supreme, final and authoritative in all matters of faith and practice. (2 Timothy 3:16,17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Revelation 22:18,19)

2. There is one God, eternally existent in three persons (Matthew 28:19): Father (Ephesians 4:6), Son (John 1), and Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). These names of God are not mere ‘titles’ nor ‘modes of existence’, nor successive appearances, but affirm that there is only one God who is eternally a ‘Trinity’. God knows everything past, present and future (omniscient); His knowledge is absolutely complete; God is totally perfect and cannot ‘change’ by ‘growing’ in knowledge (immutable).

3. The Lord Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man (1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:5,6); born of a virgin (Luke 1:35); sinlessly perfect (Hebrews 4:15). He died bodily as the ‘Lamb of God’ on Calvary’s tree as the only substitutionary, propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He rose bodily from the dead (Luke 24:39); and ascended to His Father’s right hand (Ephesians 1:20). There is no other mediator between God and man.

4. Man is not ‘an evolved animal’, but is a special creation of God, made for a relationship with Him. God created man in His own image and he is thus distinct from the rest of creation. Each member of the human race is fallen, sinful and lost (Romans 3:23). Regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential for salvation (Titus 3:5; Romans 8:9). Redemption is wholly by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:12-14; 1 Peter 1:18,19); and salvation is by grace alone through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ alone (Eph 2:8,9). Every true child of God possesses eternal life and is safe for all eternity (John 10:27-29; John 3:16; John 5:24).

5. The Holy Spirit is a person, not merely a ‘force or power’. He is fully God, possessing all the divine attributes. He inspired the Scriptures. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment to come.

6. Each believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit who seals this person unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30). It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that the believer can live a godly life (Galatians 5:16,22,23).

7. We believe in the personal, pre-millenial, and imminent return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the rapture of His church to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 ; Titus 2:13); and His later visible return, after seven years of tribulation, to earth to establish His kingdom (Matthew 29-31) and that He will come to earth in the battle of Armageddon to conquer the nations who have gathered against Israel.

8. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust (John 5:29); and the everlasting blessedness of the saved (Phil 1:23); and the everlasting conscious punishment of the lost (Revelation 20:10-15; Matthew 25:46) There is no ‘second chance’ after death (Hebrews 9:27), thus each one must, in this life, prepare for eternity (Isaiah 55:6) The believer will be given a new, perfected, glorified body, like unto the Lord’s resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:35).

9. We believe that the church is not an organization but a name given to all regenerate persons trusting in the work of Christ alone for their salvation. The local church is composed of believers in a locality who gather for prayer, worship, and edification. Government and discipline are matters for the local church (Matthew 18:15-17). Those received into fellowship must be regenerated, be sound in the fundamental doctrines of Scripture, and living a clean, moral life. In meetings of the local church as a whole, the men are responsible for the teaching and not the women (1 Timothy 2:11,12; 1 Corinthians 14:34).