We affirm the Nicene Creed We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father, through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, The Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Scripture We believe the Bible, consisting of all 66 books of both the Old Testament and New Testament, is the solely inspired (God breathed) and authoritative Word of God. It is verbally inspired and inerrant in its original texts coming through Holy men of God who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It is the final Word from God and authoritatively determines our belief, life and conduct and determines our relationship to both past traditions and the current cultural perspectives. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21)
God is a Triune Being We believe in One God and that God is an eternal being who exists in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These persons share same nature, attributes, and perfections, and are each worthy of our faith, worship and obedience. God is The Trinity. (Matt. 28:18–19; Mark 12:29; John 1:14; Acts 5:3–4; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 1:1–3; Rev. 1:4–6)
Deity and Humanity of Jesus We believe that Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, God’s eternal and only begotten (not made) Son, thus fully God. We believe this same Jesus is fully human, who took upon himself the sinful and fallen human nature (flesh) of all mankind. His two natures are without confusion. (John 1:1-2; 14; Heb. 2:14-18)
Virgin Birth We believe that Jesus is the one and only uniquely born of a virgin Jewish mother named Miriam (Mary) as she conceived by the Holy Spirit who overshadowed her. This was a miraculous birth and one that was prophesied hundreds of years before it happened. (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-38; Matt. 1:23)
Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus We believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, dead and buried and arose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures. This was not the appearance of a death, but an actual death. His body was not stolen, but he literally rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples and to 500 other people over a period of 40 days until he was visibly taken back to heaven, ascending into the clouds in bodily form. This was all done to secure our salvation, validate his righteous sacrifice, and ensure his coming again the same way he was seen to depart. (John 19:30; 20:1-9; Rev. 1:18; 1 Cor. 15:2-8; Acts 1:3; 9-11)
The Five Solas Faith alone (Sola Fide) We are saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. This is our Justification, the forgiveness of sins and Christ's righteousness imputed to us as a pure gift, not by our works or merit. (Eph. 2:8-10; Rom. 3:21-28; 4:5; 25) Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura) We believe the Scriptures alone provide all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all Christian behaviour must be measured. The Scriptures alone are the source of written divine revelation, and they alone can bind the conscience. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21) Christ alone (Solus Christus) We believe that salvation is accomplished through Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atoning death alone are sufficient for our justification and reconciliation to the Father. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) Grace alone (Sola Gratia) We believe that we are saved from sin, death, hell and the wrath to come by God’s grace alone. It is pure unmerited favour and gift, received by faith, which produces repentance and holy living while we await the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14; Heb. 4:16) Glory to God alone (Soli Deo Gloria) We believe that all we do is to be done for the glory of God alone. We are to aim for perfection and to purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body or spirit out of reverence for God alone. (1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Cor. 7:1; 13:11)
Creation We believe that God created the heavens and the earth; all things that are seen and unseen, and that He created “ex nihilo”, out of nothing through His Word. We believe the teaching of “Darwinian Evolution” is false and a part of a long deceptive campaign of the enemy of our lives, Satan. (Gen. 1:1-ff; Col. 1:16-17; Isaiah 45:18)
The Fall of Man We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, and that through the deception of Satan, he fell through sin, lost his spiritual life, and became dead in trespasses and sins. As a result he also became a slave to Satan. We also believe that this spiritual death has been transmitted to the entire human race of man from Adam. Thus, every person is born “in Adam”, is spiritually dead and enslaved to sin. For this reason all must be “born again in Christ” to be set free from the penalty, power and ultimately the presence of sin and Satan. (Gen. 1:26; 2:17; 3:4; Ps. 14:1–3; 51:5; Jer. 17:9; John 3:3-7; Rom. 3:10–19; 8:6–7; Eph. 2:1–3; 1 John 3:8).
Satan and Fallen Angels We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning”—the highest in rank—sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Isa. 14:12–17; Ezek. 28:11–19; 1 Tim. 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6).
We believe that Satan is the originator of sin, and that, under the permission of God, he, through subtlety, led our first parents into transgression, thereby accomplishing their moral fall and subjecting them and their posterity to his own power; that he is the enemy of God and the people of God, opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped; and that he who in the beginning said, “I will be like the most High,” in his warfare appears as an angel of light, even counterfeiting the works of God by fostering religious movements and systems of doctrine, which systems in every case are characterized by a denial of the efficacy of the blood of Christ and of salvation by grace alone (Gen. 3:1–19; Rom. 5:12–14; 2 Cor. 4:3–4; 11:13–15; Eph. 6:10–12; 2 Thess. 2:4; 1 Tim. 4:1–3). We believe that Satan was judged at the Cross, though not then executed, and that he, a usurper, now rules as the “god of this world”; that, at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years, and after the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season and then “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,” where he “shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Col. 2:15; Rev. 20:1–3, 10). We believe that a great company of angels kept their holy estate and are before the throne of God, from whence they are sent forth as ministering spirits to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Luke 15:10; Eph. 1:21; Heb. 1:14; Rev. 7:12). We believe that man was made lower than the angels; and that, in His incarnation, Christ took for a little time this lower place that He might lift the believer to His own sphere above the angels (Heb. 2:6–10). (This sectioncited 21-2-17; Dallas Theological Seminary- Doctrinal Statement of Faith http://www.dts.edu/about/doctrinalstatement/)
The Church We believe that all who have heard the Gospel through the Word of God and responded in faith to the already completed work of Jesus Christ are members of His church which is both His body and His bride. We believe that the church is distinct from Israel, and does not replace Israel or the promises made to Israel as a nation. We believe Jesus Christ is the Head of The Church. The church which Jesus Christ is building is made up of those “called out” through the Holy Spirit given revelation of who Jesus Christ is. The church is not “Christendom” which Jesus described in the parables of the Wheat and Tares, The Mustard Seed, the Leavened Batch and the Dragnet. True believers may exist in these organized churches of “Christendom”, but this does not mean that all these organization are the church. We believe members of the church are members of one another and have a responsibility to function in their gifts and build each other up in the love and knowledge of Christ. (Matt. 16:16–18; Matt. 13:24-43; 47-50; Acts 2:42–47; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph. 1:20–23; 4:3–10; Col. 3:14–17).
Pre-Tribulational Rapture and Pre-Millennial Return of Jesus We believe that Jesus Christ will visibly, physically and personally return to this earth in the same way in which His disciples saw Him leave. This return will culminate a period of great distress upon the earth known as the Great Tribulation. This is a 3 ½ year period of the wrath of God upon a sinful and Christ rejecting earth is also known as the time of “Jacobs trouble”. The Book of Revelation Chapters 6-19 describe this horrendous time that is coming. However, for believers in Jesus Christ, we believe we shall be snatched away; taken up; raptured to be with the Lord Jesus before these events begin. This is our blessed hope. (Matt. Ch. 24; John 14:1-3; 1 Thes. 1:10; 4:13-18; 5:9) After the Great Tribulation Period, Jesus Christ along with His raptured believers, will return to earth and put down the final rebellion of fallen man against God. Jesus will then visibly and physically reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Satan will be bound, the curse on creation will be lifted and righteousness shall reign. After the 1,000 years Satan will be released to deceive humanity again, however he and all his deceived will be immediately judged, with Satan cast into the eternal Lake of Fire, and the deceived held for judgement before the Great White Throne. (Rev. 19:11-20:10)
Judgement of Christians We believe that Christians will stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ, not to receive or lose salvation, but to have their Christian lives and conduct examined and to receive or lose reward. These rewards are described as “Crowns”, but also refer to the measure of responsibility we shall be be given to exercise during the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the earth. (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; Matt. 25:21, 23, 26; Luke 19:17, 19, 26)
Judgement of those who reject Jesus Christ All unbelievers at death are held in a place of temporal judgement called Hades. At the end of the 1,000 year reign all unbelievers will be resurrected and united to their bodies to appear before the final and Great White Throne Judgement, which is an eternal judgement to Hell. “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”. (Revelation 20:11-15)
Eternity We believe the eternal state to be just that. A final and never ending state of perfect righteousness, in a resurrected and glorified body, where no pain, tears or sin shall ever enter and we shall forever be with God and serve Him eternally. (Rev. 21-22)
Marriage and Sexuality We believe marriage is a God ordained relationship and institution that only exists between a man and a woman. We also believe than human sexual relations were given to be enjoyed only between a man and a woman who live faithfully together within the God given union of marriage. We believe the current cultural trajectory away from these truths and towards the normalization of same sex marriage and affirming the lifestyle choices of the so called “LGBTQI” community to be sin, to be deception and an expression of the apostasy the Bible associates with the last days before the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth. (Gen, 1:27, 2:23-24; Lev. 18:22; Eph. 5:31; Rom. 1:18-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 18; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Thes. 4:3; 2 Thes. 2:10-12; 1 Tim.1:10; Jude 7-8; Rev 21:8; 22:15)