As a Christian organization, we affirm our Christian identity with the following statement of faith:
1. The Bible
We believe the 66 books of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired, infallible, and only authoritative Word of God (Matthew 5:18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). In faith, we hold the Bible to be inerrant in the original writings, God-breathed, and the complete and final authority for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Whilst using the human authors’ individual writing styles, the Holy Spirit perfectly guided them to ensure that they wrote precisely what He wanted written (2 Peter 1:21).
2. God
We believe in one God, who is the self-existing creator of all the universe and all that is within it (Deuteronomy 6:4; Colossians 1:16). He has revealed Himself in three distinct Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14), yet is one in being, essence, and glory (John 10:30). God is eternal (Psalms 90:2), infinite (1 Timothy 1:17), sovereign (Psalms 93:1), omniscient (Psalms 139:1-6), omnipresent (Psalms 139:7-13), omnipotent (Revelation 19:6), unchanging (Malachi 3:6), holy (Isaiah 6:3), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and righteous (Exodus 9:27). God is love (1 John 4:8), and He is gracious (Ephesians 2:8), merciful (1 Peter 1:3), and good (Romans 8:28).
3. Jesus Christ
We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God, the expressed image of the Father, who, without ceasing to be God, became man in order that He might demonstrate who God is and provide the means of salvation for humanity (Matthew 1:21; John 1:18; Colossians 1:15).
We believe that:
· Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:23), He is fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 14),He lived a perfect, sinless life (1 John 3:5); and all His teachings are true (John 14:6)
· Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one can go to the Father except through Him.
· The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for all humanity (1 John 2:2) as a substitutionary sacrifice (Isaiah 53:5-6). His death is sufficient to provide salvation for all who would receive Him as their Savior through faith (John 1:12; Acts 16:31). Our justification is grounded in the shedding of His blood (Romans 5:9-10; Ephesians 1:7) and attested by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:6; Peter 1:3).
· The Lord Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven in His glorified body (Acts 1:9-10), and is now seated at the right hand of God as our High Priest and Advocate (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25).
4. The Holy Spirit
We believe in the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). He regenerates sinners (Titus 3:5) and indwells believers (Romans 8:9). He is the agent by whom Christ baptizes all believers into His body (1 Corinthians 12:12-14), the seal by whom the Father guarantees the salvation of believers unto the Day of Redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14), and the Divine Teacher who illuminates the hearts and minds of believers in order to guide us into the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-12).
We believe the Holy Spirit is given by grace, received through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross for us, and is ultimately sovereign in the distribution and manifestation of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). The miraculous manifestations of the callings and gifts of the Spirit are present today in the church and are meant to benefit everyone in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
5. Salvation
We believe that salvation is a gift of God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ’s death fully accomplished justification through faith and redemption from sin. Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8-9) and bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). On the third day after His death, Jesus physically rose again, demonstrating His victory over sin and death (Romans 14:9).
We believe salvation is received only by grace through faith in Christ. Good works and obedience are results of our salvation, not requirements for salvation (Romans 4:4-5). Due to the greatness, sufficiency, and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice, all those who have truly received Christ as Saviour are eternally secure in salvation, kept by God’s power, secure and sealed in Christ forever (John 6:37-40; 10:27-30; Romans 1:38-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:5; Jude 24).
6. The Church
We believe in the universal Church, the Body of Christ, a spiritual organism made up of all believers of this present age (1 Corinthians 12:12-14; 2 Corinthians 11: 2, Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27). We believe in the ordinance of water baptism by immersion, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as a testimony to the world of our identification with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 28:19-20).
We also believe in the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of Christ’s death and His shed blood, which He established in the new covenant with His church (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
We believe that the church is an extension of Christ Himself, of which He is the head. When we gather, we are before: thousands of angels in joyful assembly, a great cloud of witness, the Father, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and the sprinkled blood which speaks of forgiveness (Hebrews 12:22-24).
We believe that the church is a safe place for both the rich and the poor; old and young; any race without prejudice and in cordial assembly and fellowship (Acts 2:41-42). We believe the church is a place for sinners, the sick and destitute to come and be transformed by the love and grace of God, and also, by the gracious acts of the believers. Through the church, believers are to be taught to obey the Lord and to testify to the world concerning their faith in Christ.
We believe in the Great Commission as the primary mission of the Church. It is the obligation of all believers to witness, by word and life, to the truths of God’s Word. The gospel of the grace of God is to be preached to the entire world (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:19-20). We believe that the church, its properties and materials belong to Jesus.
7. Humanity
We believe that humanity came into existence by the direct creation of God, and that humanity is uniquely made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). We believe that all humanity, because of Adam’s fall, has inherited a sinful nature, that all human beings choose to sin (Romans 3:23), and that all sin leads to death (Romans 6:23). Humanity is completely unable to remedy this fallen state (Ephesians 2:1-5, 12). We believe that human life is sacred from conception to its natural end; that we must honor the physical and spiritual needs of all people; following Christ’s example, we believe that every person should be treated with love, dignity and respect (Psalms 139:13; Isaiah 49:1; Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 22:37-39; Romans 12:20-21; Galatians 6:10)
8. Sexuality
We believe God’s design for sexual intimacy is to be expressed only within the context of marriage. God instituted marriage, between one man and one woman, as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. As a result, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9).
9. The Supernatural
We believe in the reality and personality of angels. We believe that God created the angels to be His servants and messengers (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalms 148:2; Hebrews 1:14).
We believe in the existence and personality of Satan and demons. Satan is a fallen angel, who led a group of angels in rebellion against God (Isaiah 14:12 -17; Ezekiel 28:12-15). He is the great enemy of God and man, and the demons are his servants in evil-doing. He and his demons will be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10). We believe the devil and all his powers are still under the sovereign control of the God-head. We believe the Lord Jesus has also delegated His authority to us, His children, to cast out, displace and resist the enemy, and he will flee from us in the Name of Jesus Christ.
10. Rapture and Judgment
We believe in the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), the personal and imminent coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His saints (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). We believe in the visible and bodily return of Christ to the earth with His saints to establish His promised millennial kingdom (Zechariah 14:4-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; Revelation 3:10, 19:11-16, 20:1-6). We believe that all saints will be rewarded, according to their works at the judgment seat of Christ. We believe in the physical resurrection of all human beings—the saints to everlasting joy and bliss on the New Earth and the wicked to eternal punishment in the lake of fire, at the judgment of the great white throne (Matthew 25:46; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5-6, 12-13).