What We Believe
1. About God
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He is absolutely holy, infinitely
good great, all powerful, all present, all knowing. God is eternal. He eternally
exists in three persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. This “Holy
Trinity” is a union of these three co-equal Persons in one god-head. The one
triune God created the heavens and the earth and all that exists in them. He
continues to care for and govern His creation, working out His sovereign
purposes for all that He has made.
2. About God the Father
The Fatherhood of the First Person of the Trinity is eternal. He has always had a
Son and the relationship of Father to Son is from eternity and not only due to
the Second Person of the Trinity becoming incarnate. Their Fatherhood and
Sonship are the source from which we derive our approximations to fatherhood and
sonship in our human relationships. Our being made in the image of God enables
humanity to partially reflect God’s eternal Fatherhood. God the Father is spirit
and has never been incarnate but nonetheless has always been immanent in the
actions of both God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
3. About Jesus Christ
The eternal Son, co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the member of
the Trinity who became incarnate. He took on humanity without losing any of His
deity in the integrated personality of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is thus still
fully God and now forever also fully man. This incarnation was achieved through
the virgin birth. Jesus lived a sinless human life in perfect obedience to the
Father in a role of humility taken on with His incarnation. He offered Himself
as a perfect sacrifice for sin and a substitution in our place at His death on
the cross. By the Holy Spirit’s power, God the Father raised Him bodily from the
dead, completing the conquest of Satan, sin and death. The Father raised this
Jesus to His right hand of power and there made Him Lord of all. Christ there
intercedes on our behalf and the Father and He sent the Holy Spirit to be
Christ’s formal representative on earth. This crucified, risen and glorified
Christ is the Saviour of the world who, at the climax of the ages, will return
to earth to judge the living and the dead. At that time Christ will continue the
process of our salvation with the deliverance of our bodies from the presence of
sin and the transformation of all of the created order with the eventual
introduction of the new heavens and new earth wherein “all things will be made
new.”
4. About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and with the Son. He is introduced in
the Old Testament as the “Spirit of God”, but in the New Testament is designated
“The Holy Spirit of God.” He was the communication between the Father and His
incarnated Son such that the God-man was called “the Christ” which means
“anointed one.” By the leadership and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, Christ did
the works of His Father from above. After Christ returned to Heaven He and the
Father sent the Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost to the believing disciples
so that they might do the works of their heavenly Lord and be the body of
Christ. The church was born by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. At
his or her conversion to Christ every true believer is baptised into this body
of Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is present in the world to make
humankind aware of their sin and need for Jesus Christ, and to bring them to
salvation. The Holy Spirit is received at conversion to Christ and permanently
lives in these believers providing them with power for living, understanding of
spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives believers
spiritual gifts at their conversion, to be used in service for God. Christians
should seek to live daily under Christ’s control through the infilling of the
Holy Spirit.
5. About the Bible
The 66 books of the Protestant Bible are the written Word of God to humankind.
The Bible is inspired in the sense that God breathed it out as His Word, thus
making it truth from the being of God and alive with His life. The Bible is our
supreme and absolute authority on all matters of faith and practice and
everything that the Bible affirms. It was written by human authors, under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit and is both the Word of God and the Word of Man.
Whilst Jesus Christ alone is the authority in all matters of Christian belief
and lifestyle, His will in such matters is always revealed in, or will be
consistent with His written Word, the Bible.
6. About People
People are made in
the image of God and are the supreme focus of His creative work. The value of
human life is guaranteed from this divine likeness and parentage and this is
true for all humanity, not just Christians. Although every human being still
displays evidence of their divine creation, they also display marked fallenness
from their originally created potential, due to what the Bible calls sin. Sin is
the deep-seated rebellion of the human heart against God. Sin taints even the
good that we are and do. Sin cuts us off eternally from God and works as a
dynamic festering of evil within our relationships, our attitudes and even our
physical bodies. From the moment the human race fell, every individual has been
hopelessly lost and destined for an eternity in hell.
7. About Salvation
Salvation is a free gift springing out of God’s love, mercy and grace. It is ours
only in the provision of the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect life, His atoning
death, His powerful resurrection, His glorious ascension, His ongoing
Priesthood, and His certain return. Salvation is at the one time something to be
possessed, by coming to Christian conversion, and also something to be furthered
through the Christian life. Salvation is to be prosecuted and worked out in our
Christian lives and finally completed at the return of Christ. Salvation is
totally provided for by the work of Christ without any contribution from us. It
is effected by the work of the Holy Spirit; and it is contingent on personal
faith which is not to be viewed as a work. Salvation has its antecedents in the
sovereign election of God but begins in our experience with our repentance
towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It continues in sanctification
through the ongoing practice of spiritual disciplines, and culminates in the
redemption of our bodies and the glorification of our entire persons. Salvation
is both something that we receive and something we seek to work out in our
lives. It is the beginning now of the eternal life with God which will be ours
throughout eternity.
8. About Eternity
People, once created are heading for an eternity in either heaven or hell.
Hell is a place of permanent separation from God. The place of eternal security
with God is "heaven". Eternal life begins the moment a person comes to saving
faith in Christ but continues forever in Heaven. Heaven and hell are real places
of eternal existence. All people, both believers and unbelievers, will be raised
bodily at a resurrection of the dead, finally judged by the Lord Jesus Christ
and thereafter dwell in heaven or hell. Following this judgment, the whole
creation will be so transformed that righteousness and completeness will
characterize believers and the new heavens and new earth forever.
9. About Baptism and the Lord's Supper and the Church
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the only two ceremonies given by Jesus
Christ through Scripture to be observed by the church for all ages. We call them
“ordinances” as they have been ordained by Christ. We do not call them
“sacraments” because they do not convey Christ’s salvation which is conveyed
directly by the Holy Spirit in response to the individual’s faith. Baptism is
the immersion of believers upon their repentance and profession of faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism pictures the connecting of the believer with Christ’s
death, burial, and resurrection. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of thanksgiving
for the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord’s
Supper, or Communion, is to be regularly practised until He comes. It portrays
our continued reliance on Christ’s work. It dramatises the basis, in Christ’s
atonement, of our continued membership in the body of Christ as cleansed
Christians. It keeps us aware of our fellowship with the saints of all ages and
with the other members of the body of Christ and keeps us looking forward to our
future glorification in Jesus Christ. The universal church consists of all
persons, in heaven now or still on earth, who confess Christ as their Lord and
Saviour. The local gathering of believers is the local expression of the same
universal church. This local gathering is charged to meet regularly for worship,
fellowship, teaching of the Scriptures and seeking to save the lost. Christ
alone is the head of His church, both universal and local. The church is known
as the Body of Christ. No other person, group, or religious organization can
profess to be the head of His church.
10. About Service and Sacrifice
The Bible teaches that Christians should surrender every aspect of their
lives to be a “spiritual service” or “offered ministry” to God. In this sense,
every Christian is to minister as a servant of Christ. Serving Jesus Christ in
the natural sphere of every day life is as important to Christ and His witness
as is service undertaken with the church. Each Christian is given one or more
spiritual gifts. These gifts give balance to the Body of Christ and enable
Christ’s work to continue. The empowerment for true service comes from intimacy
with Jesus Christ through prayer, obedience to His Word, dependence on the power
of the Holy Spirit, and appropriate placement in ministry. There are some
Christians who are called by God to full time pastoral and other leadership
roles. These particular Christians receive this challenge from the Holy Spirit,
and this call to a full time service for Christ is confirmed by the church.
However it is the responsibility of every Christian to share the Good News
concerning Jesus Christ with those God leads across their path, by both life and
word.