About

Statement of Faith

1. SCRIPTURE

We believe that the 66 books of the Bible consisting of the Old and New Testaments are the only inspired words of God, inerrant in its original autographs, instructive for faith and conduct, and authoritative by nature of its divine authorship. The Bible is true in all that it affirms.

 

2. GOD

We believe in the One, True, Living God of the Bible, eternally existing as three distinct and simultaneous persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is one God in essence yet existing perfectly in three persons who are equally God, sharing the same substance, authority, power and glory, and mutually indwelling one another. Each person fulfills different roles and willfully leads or submits in perfect unity. God alone deserves our full submission and worship; therefore, we worship and pray to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

3. JESUS

We believe in the second person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus the Son, who is fully God and fully man. In his incarnation he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and lived a perfectly sinless life. He was crucified by sinful men and died as an atoning sacrifice to pay the penalty for the sins of all people who put their trust in him: sins of the past, the present, and in the future. He physically resurrected with a glorified body on the third day signifying victory over sin and death and verifying the propitiation of God's wrath. He is presently seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven interceding for believers.

 

4. HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from and is sent by the Father and the Son to regenerate the hearts of the elect, indwell them to confirm their faith, seal them for their future inheritance, and sanctify them in this life towards Christlikeness. As a distinct person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit (“He”) illuminates the truth of Scripture to the humble and pure in heart and also empowers them to live holy, righteous, and obedient lives as witnesses for Jesus Christ.

 

5. CREATION

We believe that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days in accordance with Scripture, that the material and living world came into existence not through randomness or evolution but by deliberate design in line with God's will and by his powerful word. In the act of creation, God brought order into chaos and established laws to govern his creation. God alone is set apart as the Creator, everything else that exists, whether visible or invisible, was created by God. All of creation ought to submit to God’s creation order because it exists for and declares the glory of God; yet, because of willful disobedience and rebellion, it is currently under the curse of sin, eagerly awaiting the day of redemption and final restoration that is to come when heaven and earth will be renewed.

 

6. MAN

We believe that man was the crowning work of God's perfect creation, and the only creatures made in the image and likeness of God—to reflect His glory, capable of communing with God, and given free-will to choose obedience to God and to reciprocate God's love. Bearing the image of the Triune God, man and woman were also created with the same substance, sharing equal value and dignity, but each was uniquely created to function in different roles; man to lovingly lead and protect and woman to willingly submit and support in perfect unity. The first man, Adam, failed to choose obedience to God when tempted by Satan, opting to reject and rebel against God in pursuit of selfish desires, resulting in the fallen state of human nature. As the representative head of humanity, Adam’s sin permeated his descendants perpetually, all of whom are born with a corrupting sin nature.

 

7. SIN

We believe sin is any deviation from God's perfect will and moral standard and that all humans are under the curse of sin due to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The sin nature corrupted all of humankind through Adam and, therefore, all people are sinful, deserve the just punishment of death and the wrath of God, and are desperately in need of salvation that only God can provide through Jesus Christ. Sin unraveled the perfect order that God established in creation and its effect is continuous deterioration into greater chaos in every facet of creation.

 

8. LIFE & DEATH

We believe in the sanctity and inherent value of all human life, given and received according to God's divine decree at conception, whereby all people are entrusted with the responsibility to protect the lives of the unborn, raise up and nurture children and infants, help the sick—whether physically or mentally, and honour the elderly through providing for their needs and easing the discomforts of the dying, while respecting the Author of life by not interfering with the decreed number of days God has allotted for each person.

 

9. FINAL JUDGEMENT

We believe in Jesus' second coming in glory as the King. He will come to judge both the living and the dead according to their deeds, granting a full pardon to those who have placed their genuine faith in his atoning sacrifice on the cross evidenced by obedience and conformity to Jesus Christ, and pronouncing eternal punishment on those who have rejected his gracious offer of salvation in this lifetime, choosing instead a life of rebellion against God. All people will stand before the judgement throne of Christ and every deed will be accounted for according to the perfect justice of God.

 

10. SALVATION

We believe the only way to salvation from the judgement and wrath of God against sin is not by personal works of merit but solely by the grace of God. God’s demand for perfect justice was satisfied through offering his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the death penalty as an atonement for our sins in our place as our substitute, once for all, so that anyone who trusts in Jesus by faith will be born-again from spiritual death to spiritual life and be saved. Our penalty for sin and death is exchanged for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The act of salvation secures our inheritance of the kingdom of God to eternally enjoy the presence and glory of God through our adoption into God’s family as his children. We are saved from both the power of sin and the consequence of sin, restoring order to the chaos of life and enabling us to live righteously with eternal hope, peace, and joy.

 

11. ETERNITY

We believe in life after physical death as each person's soul continues eternally. Those who have been born-again are instantaneously ushered into paradise with God and will be physically resurrected at the second coming of Christ and given perfected, glorified, and imperishable bodies with which they will dwell in the new heaven and the new earth to enjoy God's presence eternally where the fullness of God's glory will be manifested perpetually. Those who have not put their faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins will be thrown into hades to await their final judgement when God's wrath will be poured out upon them and God's perfect justice will be served through their eternal punishment in the lake of fire for which there is no rescue.

 

12. BAPTISM

We believe in water baptism as an ordinance that every believer should observe as commanded and exemplified by Jesus Christ. Baptism is not the means of or requirement for salvation but a symbol of obedience and public declaration of a believer’s participation in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which cleanses not the body but the conscience—an external expression of an internal spiritual reality.

 

13. CHURCH

We believe that there is one united spiritual and global Church, known as the body of Christ. The church is a living spiritual organism composed of born-again believers who are saved by grace through faith and submit under the authority of Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church. Local churches exist to carry out Jesus' command to love others and his commission to make disciples within local communities whom they are best equipped to effectively reach. As such, every local church body ought to function autonomously under the authority and leadership of godly elders who are held spiritually, doctrinally, and morally accountable both internally within the church community and externally among other godly men—with whom they seek prayer and counsel, and from whom they receive encouragement and support. According to God’s creation order, design, and instruction, the burden of liturgical leadership was placed upon men, such that women should participate and enjoy worship through orderly submission to the head—just as they submit to Christ—in all matters of church life including the exercise of spiritual gifts, for the mutual benefit, edification, and harmonious unity of the body of Christ. Therefore, the duty of public teaching and preaching in the church is commissioned to qualified men whom God judges with greater strictness and who are also responsible for exercising authority in the church to guard and preserve sound doctrine, while women are commissioned to be teachers of what is good, training up children, and instructing other women in the faith.

 

14. SANCTIFICATION & HOLINESS

We believe every Christian is called to a life of holiness, being set apart from sin and corruption and dedicated as a servant belonging to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer and performs the work of sanctification in the elect who participates with the Holy Spirit's work to help him constantly choose to turn away from sin and temptation, towards righteousness—putting to death the desires of the flesh that are contrary to the Spirit. Good works are not an end in itself or in any way a contributing factor to salvation, but the natural and necessary external result evidencing internal transformation.

 

15. SINGLENESS & MARRIAGE

We believe in marriage as instituted by God in accordance with Scripture to be between one man and one woman and that the marital covenant is a binding commitment in this life requiring both diligent maintenance and growth as well as God's sustaining grace to uphold. The husband is to lead and protect his wife lovingly and sacrificially as Christ loves his church and sacrificed himself for her, guiding her to godliness by example. The wife is to submit and support her husband cheerfully in reverence to the Lord as the church submits to Christ in all things, showing respect to her husband at all times and encouraging him to fulfill his responsibility as the head in perfect unity. Singleness, whether for a season of life or as a life-long gift is to be honoured and joyfully dedicated to God's service in humble reverence and submission to God’s will. Sexual intimacy is reserved and enjoyed only within marriage. Chastity should be observed in singleness and faithfulness preserved in marriage.

 

16. ANGELS

We believe angels are a unique class of spiritual beings, distinct from humans but created by God as messengers and servants to carry out his will. They have received limited temporary power and authority to affect the physical world—occasionally even through physical manifestations. Although they have been given free-will, those fallen angels who have rebelled against God—of which Satan and his cohort of demons belong—have no possible pathway to redemption and are perpetually condemned for eternal punishment in the lake of fire at the final judgement. Holy and fallen angels wage continual warfare in the invisible spiritual realm resulting in actual effects in the physical realm. Humans may benefit from the aid provided by holy angels sent from God, but are also susceptible to the influence of fallen angels in their temptations, deceptions, and accusations.