SECTION A – BIBLE
We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and were entirely free from error as first written; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union. (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)
SECTION B – GOD
We believe in one God; Creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal; existing in three equal Persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Isa. 45:21; Matt. 28:19)
SECTION C – CHRIST
We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return. (John 1:14, 29; Luke 1:26-35; Col. 1:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:1-4, 12-25; Matt. 24:35)
SECTION D – THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgment; who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.
We believe that the Holy Spirit has and does give spiritual gifts to believers for the glory of God’s name and maturing of His Church. (John 16:7-15; Matt. 28:19; 1 John 5:7, Eph. 4:11-16, 1Cor 13:10-13)
SECTION E – SATAN
We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin and the archenemy of God and man. (John 8:44)
SECTION F – MANKIND
We believe that mankind was divinely created in the image of God; that mankind sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death. (Gen. 1:27, 31; 3:1-6; Isa. 53:6, Eph. 2:1-3)
SECTION G – SALVATION
We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord. (Eph. 3:8; 1 Peter 1:2; Rom. 3:24; 1 Peter 1:5)
SECTION H – FUTURE THINGS
We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgment and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked. (John 14:3; 5:25-29; Matt. 18:8; 2 Cor. 5:10)
SECTION I – THE LOCAL CHURCH
We believe that a church is a company of baptized believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus; voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the Church. We believe that its primary, biblical officers are Pastors/Elders and Deacons. (Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 12:27, 28; 11:2; Eph. 2:19-21; 5:27)
SECTION J – ORDINANCES
We believe that there are two ordinances for the Church regularly observed in the New Testament: (Acts 2:41, 42)
- Baptism, which is immersion in water whereby the believer obeys Christ’s command and declares identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. (Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 8: 36-38; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12)
- The Lord’s Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes in the two elements, the broken bread and the cup, which symbolize the Lord’s body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes. (Matt. 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-25; John 6:51-58; 1 Cor. 11:23-29)
SECTION K – THE CHURCH AND STATE
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that authorities are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed; except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God is sovereign over both Church and state and that the Church is independent and free, under Christ, from the interference or control of the state in matters of faith and conscience.
We believe that Christians individually and corporately have a responsibility to pray for issues of moral, ethical and spiritual concern in society, advocating for Biblical principles of faith and conduct as the Lord gives them opportunity.
(Romans 13:1-7, 1Timothy 2:1-3, 1Thes 4:11)
SECTION L – THE LORD’S DAY
We affirm the tradition of the early Church, which recognized the special character of the first day of the week, the day on which the Lord rose from the dead. Although every day is to be lived for the glory of God in obedience to Christ, the first day of the week is, in a special sense, an appropriate day for corporate worship and service. (John 20:19, 26; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1, 2)
SECTION M – MARRIAGE
We believe marriage is the covenant union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, in which they commit, with God’s help, to build a loving, life-giving, faithful relationship that will last for a lifetime. God has established the married state in the order of creation, for husband and wife to grow in love for one another and for the procreation, nurture, formation, and education of children. We affirm that the Bible teaches that sexual intimacy is to be practised only within the context of marriage between a man and a woman. (Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:13-18, 7:2; I Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 1:24-27)