1. Scriptures
We believe the Bible to be the complete word of God; that the sixty-six books comprising the Old and New Testaments were God-breathed or verbally inspired by the Spirit of God, inerrant in the original writing, and that the Bible is the supreme, sufficient and final authority in all matters of faith, life, and practice and is therefore the only true basis of Christian Unity. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:19-20.
2. God
We believe in one God, a living, intelligent, rational Being, creator of all, who is holy, eternal, and the sovereign of the universe. He is worthy of all possible worship, honour, faith, love, and obedience. Genesis 18:25, Isaiah 57:15, Ephesians 2:10, Romans 8:28-29.
3. The Trinity
We believe that God eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 John 5:7, Matthew 28:19.
4. The Father
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of God the Father, an infinite and personal Spirit who is omnipotent and who is a righteous judge who cannot tolerate sin and who must therefore punish unrepentant sinners. We believe that he is loving, good, and merciful, and that he offers salvation from sin only through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. John 6:27, 8:54, 20:17, Romans 1:7, 1Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 1:2-3, 1Timothy 1:2.
5. The Son
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in his eternal existence with the Father in preincarnate glory. He was begotten by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and is therefore both true God and true Man. We believe in his sinless life and his perfect sacrificial and substitutionary death to take the penalty for the sin of all believers in Him, and in his resurrection from the dead. Matthew 1:18-20, Luke 1:26-28, John 1:1-2, 14, 18, 20:28, Galatians 4:4-5.
6. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, who convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. We believe that at salvation he regenerates, baptizes into the body of Christ, indwells, and then fills those who believe in Jesus Christ in order to illuminate, comfort, and sanctify them. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Romans 8:1-14, John 14:16-18, 15:1-7 16:7-14, Galatians 5:22-25, Ephesians 6:17, 5:18, Hebrews 4:12.
7. Satan
We believe that Satan (Lucifer) is a fallen angel, and an evil personality, who is the originator of sin and the arch-enemy of God and humanity. We believe that because Christ defeated Satan by dying on the cross, the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit enables the believer to overcome Satan in this life, and that Satan’s doom is eternal punishment. 1Chronicles 21:1, Job 2:1-7, Luke 22:31, Revelation 12:9, 2Corinthians 11:14.
8. Creation
We believe that the narrative of creation over a literal six-day span found in Genesis is a factual historical account. Genesis 1-3
9. Human Race & Sin
In particular Genesis explains that human beings were specially created and are born and remain male and female in the image of God, but the first couple sinned, thereby becoming guilty before God, separating themselves from Him, and entering a state of total depravity resulting in physical and spiritual death. Consequently, death and decay came to the whole creation, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners in thought, word and deed. Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 3:10-18, 23, 5:12.
10. Death of Christ
We believe that by the appointment of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death on the cross for our sins, according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood. Isaiah 53, Matthew 1:21, 1Corinthians 15:1-4, Hebrews 10:9-12, Romans 3:24.
11. Christ's Resurrection
We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His triumphant ascension into heaven and in His present life there as our High Priest and Mediatorial Advocate. 1 Corinthians 15:1-20, John 20:24-29, Acts 1:10-11, Hebrews 1:3, 4:14-16, 7:25, 1 Timothy 2:5.
12. New Birth
We believe that salvation is solely by the grace of God, received through faith in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that all those whom God has sovereignly and effectually called are justified, regenerated (saved, born again), and have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, thereby becoming children of God. John 1:12, 3:5, John 6:44, 1Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5.
13. Security
We believe in the eternal security of the believer; that it is impossible for one born into the family of God ever to be lost. They are divinely preserved and will be finally perfected in the image of the Lord. John 1:12, 10:27-28, Romans 8:28-30
14. Sanctification
We believe that sanctification is primarily the believer’s position in Christ in which that person is set apart to God as the recipient of every heavenly blessing. Sanctification is also a process wherein the believer undertakes by grace through faith to be set apart to God in the gradual attaining of spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit and in obedience to the word of God. Sanctification will be perfected only at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 17:17-19, Romans 15:16, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23
15. Return of Christ
We believe in the blessed hope of the Church, the imminent, personal, bodily, and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ when he will take his church to be with him forever. This return will come at a time that God in His sovereignty alone knows and chooses to undertake, so believers must constantly live in the eager anticipation that Christ could come at any moment. Titus 2:13, Acts 1:10-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-19.
16. Universal Resurrection
We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust and in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and the eternal conscious punishment of the lost. John 5:21-30, Daniel 12:2-3, Revelation 20:4-6, 20:11-15, 21:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, John 14:1-6.
17. Heaven
We believe in a literal heaven where all those whom God has saved go to be with the Lord for all eternity. Matthew 5:3,10,12, 19:21, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20, Revelation 11:12
18. Hell
We believe in a literal hell where all those still in their sins will experience eternal conscious torment. Matthew 5: 29-3, 10:28, Luke 16:23, 2 Peter 2:4-9, Rev 20:8, 11-15
19. Liberty
We believe in religious liberty, namely that every person has the right to practice and propagate personal beliefs, provided that in so doing the life and safety of themselves and others is not endangered, that the religious liberties of others are not impaired, and this liberty is not used to create divisions in the Church. These rights under God and the responsibility to answer to God for the way we exercise them are personal and individual, independent of any other person or institution (including church and state), for the latter cannot act as an individual's conscience. This means we:
must obey God rather than any other being.
have the individual right to interpret the Scripture for ourselves, but in a responsible way, that is under the guidance and enabling of the indwelling Holy Spirit, rightly handling the word of God in its whole context, testing all teaching and holding to what is consistent with the scriptures.
1 John 2:27, Romans 14:5, 2 Timothy 2:15, Acts 17:11, 1Corinthians 2:9-14.
20. Priesthood of all believers
We believe in the priesthood of all believers; that all believers have immediate access into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, that we need no other human agency on Earth or in Heaven to intercede for us before the throne of grace, and that Jesus Christ is our only mediator before God. Hebrews 10:19, 1 Peter 2:1-10, Hebrews 13:15, 1 Timothy 2:5.
21. The Church
We believe that the true Church is the spiritual body of Christ, of which He is the living head and that all regenerate believers are its members. Ephesians 5:23-32, Matthew 16:18, Acts 2, Colossians 3:11.
22. The Local Church
We believe that the local church is a company of baptized (immersed) believers called out from the world and separated to the Lord Jesus. The people of the church voluntarily associate themselves for the ministry of the word, their mutual edification, the propagation of the faith, the observance of the ordinances, and to carry out the principles, precepts and the commission of Christ to make disciples in every part of the world. Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:41-47, 14:23, Ephesians 4:11-16. 1, Timothy 3:15.
23. Local Church Sovereignty
We believe that each local church is an independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts, resources and privileges, subject to the authority of the Scriptures, and the lordship of Christ the head of the church, and doing so independent of any centralized power, whether from other churches, denominations, or the state. Fellowship ties with other churches may be undertaken or dissolved, provided that in making such ties, local autonomy is not surrendered. Acts 5:29, 11:22, 13:1.
24. Church and State
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that governments are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will and commands of our Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in his word, for he is the only Lord of our conscience and is prince over all rulers on the earth.
We believe that the people of God need to live, act, and speak so as to influence both society and their governments to promote the interests and well-being of their local church, but that churches and the state are separate. This means the state should avoid official entanglements in churches' affairs. Acts 5:29, 15:3, 19-31, Romans 13:1-7
25. The Ordinances
We believe there are only two Scriptural ordinances for the church that were regularly observed in the New Testament–and in the following order:
a. Immersion, that is the baptism of the believer in water, wherein the believer expresses obedience to Christ’s command and witnesses to identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism symbolizes that the believer’s sins have been washed away at the time of conversion.
b. The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein believers, who should already have been baptized, partake of the loaf and the cup, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, and thus proclaim His death until He comes. Matthew 3:16, Acts 8:26-39, Romans 6:3-5, Colossians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 11:23-28
26. Church Offices
We believe that the local churches' offices are pastors (also called elders or overseers) and deacons. These church offices are held by Biblically qualified men. Acts 20:28. 1Timothy 5:19, Titus 1:6, 1Peter 5:1-2, Philippians 1:1, 1Timothy 3:8-10
27. The Lord's Day
We believe that each day is given to us for glorifying God, but that since the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day it is an appropriate day for corporate worship and spiritual exercise. John 20:19, Acts 20:7, 1Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10.
28. Marriage
We believe that marriage is a Divinely appointed formal covenant and exclusive union between one man and one woman and is intended to last for as long as both shall live. Malachi 2:14-16, Romans 7:2, Hebrews 13:4.
29. Future Things
We believe that inasmuch as God has in the past kept his word concerning future events as expressed in his Scriptural promises, covenants, and prophecies, he will continue to do so in the future. These include as yet unfulfilled promises of spiritual renewal for the physical descendants of Israel. Ezekiel 37:11-14, 21-28, Romans 11:26-27
30. End Time Events
They also include those of: the antichrist, God's future judgements on the nations, the resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous, the revelation of Christ in his glory, the establishment of his reign on Earth, the creation of the new heavens and the new earth, the judgement of the righteous for rewards (judgement seat of Christ) and to be with Christ eternally, the judgement of the unrighteous to be condemned to eternal separating from him (great white throne judgement), and the casting of hell and its inhabitants into the lake of fire for all eternity. Daniel 9:24-27, 12:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9, Revelation 6:16-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-17, Revelation 19:20, 20:10, Zechariah 14:1-9, Matthew 24:27-31, Jude 14, 15, Matthew 25:31-32, Revelation 20:6, Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 2:4-6, 1 Corinthians 15:22-25, Revelation 20:7-15, 21, 22, 22:17.