Foundational
Biblical Beliefs
We
believe the Bible, both the Old and New Testament, to be the verbally inspired
Word of God: that it is without error in the original writings and is the
supreme, absolute, and final authority in all matters of Christian doctrine,
faith, life and conduct.
We
believe there is one Eternal God, all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere
present, creator of all things, coequally existing in three persons: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit; that God is holy, righteous, faithful, the total expression of
mercy and loving-kindness and love.
We
believe in the personality and reality of Satan.
We
believe all men, without respect of condition or class, are sinners (spirit,
soul and body) before God; that because of man's total inability to save
himself, salvation is received through faith, having a godly repentance and a
wholehearted acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior on the part
of the individual; and that in this step he is born again and becomes a new
creature in Christ Jesus.
We
believe Jesus Christ (the Son-pre-existent, Creator of all things, equal with
God and possessing the fullness of the Godhead), without any change in His
eternal deity, became man through conception by the Holy Spirit and virgin
birth; that He possessed a sinless human nature being both truly God and truly
man; that He died a substitutionary and propitiatory death on the cross, a
perfect and complete sacrifice for the sins of the whole world according to the
scriptures; that He, in His death, was reconciling the world to God and is
triumphant over the power of Satan in man; that He was bodily resurrected and
has ascended into Heaven where He is seated at the right-hand of God the Father;
that He is now our Advocate.
We
believe the Holy Spirit is a Person coequally existing in the Godhead (Trinity);
that His present ministry is to reprove the world of sin and righteousness and
of judgment, and to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by testifying of Him; that He
regenerates the sinner when through faith he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as
his Saviour; that He indwells all believers from the time of spiritual birth and
baptizes each into one body; that He seals, enlightens, instructs, fills, guides
and empowers the believer for Christian living and service.
We
believe all who are born again by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ
have assurance of eternal life and all the rights, privileges and heirship of
the sons of God.
We
believe the child of God is “created in Christ Jesus unto good works”, that
because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit all believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ are called into a life of separation from worldly living and sinful
practices, abstaining from such amusements, habits and conduct as will cause
others to stumble and bring reproach upon our Lord Jesus Christ.
We
believe all born again believers possesses two natures, the old Adamic nature
and a new Christ-like nature; that the believer may be victorious over and put
off the old Adamic nature through God who has made full provision in the power
of the Holy Spirit whereby His children may be more than conquerors through the
Lord Jesus Christ; and that elimination of the old Adamic nature is unscriptual.
We
believe that God is sovereign in the bestowment of all His gifts, but that the
believer is admonished to exemplify the fruit of the Spirit; that the gifts of
evangelists, pastors and teachers are sufficient for the perfecting of the
saints today; that speaking in tongues and the working of sign miracles ceased
as the New Testament scriptures were completed and their authority became
established.We believe that God hears and answers the prayer of faith, according
to His own perfect will, for the sick and afflicted.
We
believe all the saved, regardless of race, color, social or economic status,
make up the Body of Christ, the Church; that the vocation of the local church is
the perfecting of the saints, work of the ministry, and edifying of the Body of
Christ.
The
supreme purpose of God for every child of His is to be ‘to the praise of the
glory of His grace” and to be a witness; that the question of each believer is
not ‘if’ I should be a witness, but ‘where and how’ I should serve; and
that our mission is to make Christ known to the whole world.
We
believe in the eternal blessedness of the saved; once saved always saved.
We
believe in the eternal conscious punishment of all unsaved.
We
believe in the personal, bodily, visible and imminent premillennial return of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; that this blessed hope has a vital bearing on
the life and service of the believer.