We believe God is Spirit, infinite, sovereign, eternal, uncreated, and unchangeable in His being or attributes. In Him all things have their source, support and end. He is the Only Creator God and all things were created for His pleasure and purposes. There is one true God who has a plural nature – and reveals Himself in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – all distinct personalities – equal in power and glory.
We believe God the Father is the Father of all in a creative sense, but only those who have received Jesus Christ can be called His children in a redemptive sense. He is the Father of all believers and we can have an intimate relationship and fellowship with Him.
We believe Jesus Christ is Lord and the Son of God – these titles proclaim His deity. He is the Only Begotten of the Father, not that He is a son of God in a general sense, but the Son of God in a unique sense. As God He existed eternally and will exist forever. By taking on the form of a man, Jesus is the Word of God that became flesh. He was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He was fully and completely human as well as God. He lived a sinless life on earth, teaching, preaching and performing miracles with divine authority. He fulfilled God’s redemptive plan in history, He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, was buried and descended to Hades. He died for all and rose physically, with a glorified body from the dead.
By faith we share in his resurrection and will one day be resurrected to eternal life with Him. After His resurrection He ascended into heaven and is presently sitting at the right hand of God the Father. He is alive forevermore in His resurrected body and exalted position, representing us before the throne of God as our High Priest and Advocate. He is the only way to salvation, there is no truth besides Him and He is the Life.
We believe Holy Spirit is personal and He is God. He is not an impersonal force, nor a mere principle or influence, but possesses full, distinct personality and deity. He is sent as Comforter and Helper and Spirit of truth to imbue believers with power for service. He always testifies about, and glorifies Jesus. He empowers believers with His gifts and we bear His fruit. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, but will also bring to remembrance the words of Jesus and guides us into all truth. It is His presence and ability working in and through believers to accomplish God’s purposes in the earth.
We believe that the Scriptures, in their original form, both the Old and New Testament of the Bible, are divinely inspired and is the revelation of God to man. All Scripture is God-breathed meaning that Holy Spirit inspired the human authors, revealing to them what He wanted written. These Scriptures are infallible truth, containing no contradiction or error. It is the final authority for faith, doctrine and life. They are able to make us wise for salvation. The canon of the Bible is closed. Believers must remain receptive to the illumination of Scriptural truth by Holy Spirit.
We believe all people have been created equally and in the image of God with a body, soul and spirit, irrespective of race, ethnicity, colour, gender, age, language, culture or class. God created humankind in His own image, but that image has been marred by sin. Humankind was given a free will and through Satan’s temptation sinned, thereby incurring the penalty of death, both physical and spiritual.
All human beings inherit a sinful nature that results, in the case of those who reach moral responsibility, in actual transgression involving personal guilt. All have sinned – therefore humankind is in a lost sinful state, fallen from original righteousness. Sin means missing the mark, not meeting God’s standards, breaking His laws, going against His will, disobeying Him, acting in unbelief, failing to do what is good, and owing a debt. Sin is humankind’s fallen condition evident in human character, will, thoughts, attitudes and acts. It is proud, self-willed rebellion against God in active or passive form.
We believe Jesus Christ gave His life as a substitutionary sacrifice and ransom for all. His atoning death on the cross and His shed blood fully paid the price of redemption required for the release of sinners. Through His death people can obtain the forgiveness and remission of sins; washing and cleansing from unrighteousness; justification and pardon from the guilt of transgressions, righteousness and right standing with God; propitiation and reconciliation which restores fellowship and favour with God, healing and wholeness, a victorious life and the free gift of eternal life.
We believe people are utterly unable to save themselves by works, by trying to keep the Law of Moses, by personal merit, by any self-effort or by natural development from within. Nothing can be added to the completed atoning work of Christ. Salvation is by grace, the free gift of eternal life from God to all those who believe in Christ. It is received by faith in the crucified and risen Saviour, resulting in the supernatural work of the new birth, which is essential to make the sinner, after repentance, a new creation in Christ Jesus and a child of God. The new birth is the work of regeneration that the Holy Spirit accomplishes, by which He then indwells the believer.
We believe water baptism is a direct commandment of our Lord. Scripture requires that all who have become disciples through repentance and faith in Christ as Saviour and Lord, are to be baptised in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which exclude infants. Baptism is by immersion in water and is for believers only. The ordinance of baptism is an act of obedience, a symbol of the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection and a declaration that the believer has died with Christ and has been raised with Him to walk in newness of life; a public confession of the new believer’s faith in Christ and the answer of a good conscience toward God.
We believe in the regular partaking of communion as a covenant meal by use of the elements of bread and wine as symbolic of Jesus’ broken body and shed blood. In doing so believers are remembering the Lord Jesus Christ, proclaiming His death, giving thanks to Him for the covenant privileges, expressing their communion with Him as well as with one another, celebrating His resurrection and anticipating His return.
We believe in the baptism in Holy Spirit as an experience distinct and subsequent to the new birth. Jesus baptizes in Holy Spirit and according to His command all believers are entitled to and should expect this infilling that brings power and purity. This was the normal and useful experience of Christians in the early Church and is part and parcel of apostolic doctrine. Through baptism in Holy Spirit believers are empowered and equipped for life and service, and with it comes the bestowment of the supernatural gifts of the Spirit and their uses in the work of the ministry. This baptism in Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.
We believe in the process of sanctification that demands a life of holiness, being separated and consecrated unto God. Christ’s holiness is imputed to the regenerated believer, but this positional holiness has to be pursued with fear and trembling as we work out what God has already worked in us. Sanctification is a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the new birth and continuing throughout the life of the believer. Sanctification is realised in the life of believers by recognising their identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, by faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God; thereby not conforming to the world’s way but constantly being transformed by the renewing of our minds to think, speak and act accordingly.
We believe that through Christ’s redemptive work, full provision has been made for physical healing and health. Healing is for physical as well as emotional ills and is produced by God’s power in different ways, like the laying on of hands, the prayer of faith, anointing with oil, or the gifts of healings. Miracles are supernatural works, signs or wonders of God and are integral to the Gospel Message.
We believe that every Christian is a priest to bring acceptable spiritual sacrifices by full and equal access to God through Christ, a servant to serve God and one another through love, a steward to profitably use the trust and resources granted by God, and a worker to fulfill the labour of love in God’s kingdom.
We believe the ascended Christ has given various ministries to the Church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers – which are essential to equip the saints for their work of ministry and to build up the Body of Christ.
We believe the one true Church is the whole company of all believers who have been called out of sin and the world, redeemed by Jesus and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. It is universal in the sense that it includes all true believers out of all nations from all generations. Each Christian is an integral part of the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn registered in Heaven. The Bible describes the Church as the Bride and Body of Christ of which He is the Bridegroom and Head. The Church is also the Building and Habitation of God of which Christ is the Corner-and Foundation stone. This means that we are the family of God and brothers and sisters of each other.
We believe that the Church also has a visible, local expression – a company of believers voluntarily fellowshipping together in a given locality. The local church on earth should take its character from the conception of the Church universal. The only condition for true spiritual membership in the church is the new birth.
We believe in the principle of being in submission to authority. As such, it is understood that church membership shall be subject to submission to authority in matters pertaining to church governance, doctrine and personal behaviour.
We believe the Bible teaches heterosexual relationships between a natural man and a natural woman within the confines of lawful marriage.
We believe that the primary mission of the Church is to be an agency of God for evangelising the world; to be a corporate body bringing praise and worship to God; to be a gathering where the saints can be equipped, edified and perfected in the image of Christ; to be a demonstration of God’s love and goodness to all, to be a foundation upholding God’s wisdom and truth; to be a catalyst of constructive social change and justice in the community, ministering to the poor and oppressed; and to be an instrument enforcing Satan’s defeat through the power of God.
We believe that the devil, called Satan, is a fallen being cast out of Heaven because of his transgression. He is not an impersonal force, nor the principle of evil personified because personal names and pronouns are used with reference to him while personal attributes and acts are ascribed to him. He is the real enemy of believers and together with his demons seeks to deceive, tempt, afflict, oppress and destroy humankind. The believer, however, has been given authority over them in the name of Jesus Christ.
We believe that Christ shall return to earth at a time predetermined by God the Father, that there will be a judgement day for all people, that the righteous shall live, rule and reign with Him in glory forever in a new Heaven and a new Earth, but that the wicked shall live in eternal punishment – called hell.