What We Believe
The Bible
We believe that the Bible, consisting of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, is God’s inspired (God-breathed) Word, without error as originally written, and is the complete revelation of God, the final authority for our faith and practice (2 Tim 3:16; John 17:17).
God
We believe that the one, true, unchanging God, who created all things, exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who are equal in essence, yet distinct in personality (Deut 6:4; Matt 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14)
Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who added a fully human nature to his divine nature thus becoming the God-man, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as the substitute for sinners, paying the penalty of God’s wrath against sin, rose from the dead, and will come again to establish his kingdom (John 1:1, 14; Heb 4:15; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; 1 Thess 1:10; Rev 11:15)
Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, not as an influence, but as a Divine Person (Gen 1:1-3, Psa 139:7-12, Mat 28:19, Acts 5:1-4, Eph 4:30) the source and power of all acceptable worship and service (Acts 1:8, 1 Cor 12:11, Phil 3:3), is our abiding Comforter and Helper (John 14:16-17), fully indwells every believer from the moment of salvation (John 7:38-39, Rom 8:9, 14), seeking to occupy us with Christ, and not with ourselves nor with our experiences (John 15:26, 16:13-14, Phil 3:3).
Man
We believe that God created man in His own image by a direct act on the sixth day of the creation week (Gen 1:26-31). We believe that man deliberately disobeyed the expressed will of God and therefore fell under God’s condemnation and the power of sin (Rom 5:12; 6:20). We believe that the resulting effect of sin on man touches his entire being, leaving him completely unable to earn God’s favor or contribute to his own salvation (Eph 2:1-10; Titus 3:5)
Salvation
We believe that salvation is the free gift of God given by His grace, according to His sovereign will, through His Son, to sinful people (Eph 2:8-9; Rom 3:21-25; 4:5). This grace includes the faith to believe in and submit to the authority of Jesus as Savior and Lord and to repent of sins (2 Pet 1:1; Phil 1:29; Matt 4:17; 2 Pet 3:9). The result is salvation forever from the penalty of sins (John 3:16; Rom 8:30) which is possible only because God forgives the sinner and declares him innocent, crediting the righteousness of Christ to his account (Rom 4:5-8, 2 Cor 5:19)
Sanctification
We believe that those who have been saved from their sins must strive to reflect God’s holiness in their lives (1 Pet 1:14-16). Through obedience to the Word of God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to live a life of increasing holiness in conformity to the will of God, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 6:12-14; 2 Cor 3:18; 1 Thes 4:3-4).
We believe in the final resurrection of both the saved and lost, one to life eternal and the other to eternal condemnation (John 5:29; Rev 20:6, 13-15).
The Church
We believe that the local church is currently the center of God’s activity in this world (I Tim 3:15, Eph. 3:10, 1 Cor 3:6) being composed of believers who have been baptized as a testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:41;), and being organised according to the principles of God’s Word in order to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ (Matt 28:18-20).