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Being a Christian is more than identifying yourself with a particular religion or affirming a certain value system. Being a Christian means you have embraced what the Bible says about God, mankind, and salvation.
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Consider (click) the following truths found in Scripture
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God Is Sovereign Creator Contemporary thinking says man is the product of evolution. But the Bible says we were created by a personal God to love, serve, and enjoy endless fellowship with Him. The New Testament reveals it was Jesus Himself who created everything (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16). Therefore, He also owns and rules everything (Psalm 103:19). That means He has authority over our lives and we owe Him absolute allegiance, obedience, and worship.
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God Is Holy God is absolutely and perfectly holy (Isaiah 6:3), therefore He cannot commit or approve of evil (James 1:13). God requires holiness of us as well. First Peter 1:16 says, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
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Mankind Is Sinful According to Scripture, everyone is guilty of sin: "There is no man who does not sin" (1 Kings 8:46). That doesn’t mean we’re incapable of performing acts of human kindness. But we’re utterly incapable of understanding, loving, or pleasing God on our own. (Romans 3:10-12).
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Sin Demands a Penalty God’s holiness and justice demand that all sin be punished by death: (Ezekiel 18:4). That’s why simply changing our patterns of behavior can’t solve our sin problem or eliminate its consequences.
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Jesus Is Lord and Savior The New Testament reveals it was Jesus Himself who created everything (Colossians 1:16). Therefore He owns and rules everything (Psalm 103:19). That means He has authority over our lives and we owe Him absolute allegiance, obedience, and worship. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Even though God’s justice demands death for sin, His love has provided a Savior who paid the penalty and died for sinners (1 Peter 3:18). Christ’s death satisfied the demands of God’s justice and Christ’s perfect life satisfied the demands of God’s holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21), thereby enabling Him to forgive and save those who place their faith in Him (Romans 3:26).
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The Character of Saving Faith True faith is always accompanied by repentance from sin. Repentance is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sins to Him, and making a conscious choice to turn from sin (Luke 13:3,5; 1 Thessalonians 1:9) and pursue Christ (Matthew 11:28-30; John 17:3) and obedience to Him (1 John 2:3). It isn’t enough to believe certain facts about Christ. Even Satan and his demons believe in the true God (James 2:19), but they don’t love and obey Him. True saving faith always responds in obedience (Ephesians 2:10).
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There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God is unchangeable in his nature and attributes such as holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty Creator, Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all things according to his sovereign will for his own glory
( Gen 1-2; Deut 6:4; Psalm 90:2; Isa 6:3; Mal 3:6; Matt 28:18-20; Rom 14:12; Titus 3:4-7; 1 John 4:8-10 ). |
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God has revealed himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine.
The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice
(Prov 30:5; Rom 1:20; 1 Thess 2:13; 2 Tim 3:16; Heb 1:1; 2 Pet 1:20-21). |
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All men and women, being created in the image of God, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship and love God.
As a result of the fall of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted and all men and women are without spiritual life, guilty sinners and hostile to God. Every person is therefore under the just condemnation of God and needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him
(Gen 1:26-27; Ps 8:4-5; Eccles 7:29; Matt 22:37; Eph 2:1-10).
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The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life in obedience to the Father. He taught with authority and all his words are true.
On the cross he died in the place of sinners, bearing God’s punishment for their sin, redeeming them by his blood.
He rose from the dead and in his resurrection body ascended into heaven where he is exalted as Lord of all. He intercedes for his people in the presence of the Father
(Isa 53:4-6; John 1:1-3; 20:28; Luke 24:5-8, 38-39, 50-51;1 Cor 15:3; Eph 1:20-23; Phil 2:9-11; Heb 1:8; 2:14,17; 7:25; 1 Pet 2:24 ).
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The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission
(John 14:26, 15:26, 16:8; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Cor 6:19; 12:13; 2 Cor 3:17-18; Gal 5:17-18; Eph 2:22; 5:18).
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Salvation is entirely a work of Gods's grace and cannot be earned or deserved.
It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, and is offered freely to all in the gospel.
All those who repent of their sins and place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation are immediately forgiven, justified, adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life
(Mark 10:26-27; John 3:16; Acts 4:12; 16:31; Rom 1:16-17; 3:11, 28; 5:1; Gal 3:11; Eph 2:8-10; Col 1:13; 2 Tim 1:8-10; Titus 3:3-7; 1 John 3:1-2).
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The universal Church is the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong.
It is made visible in local churches, which are congregations of believers who are committed to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, the administering of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for pastoral care and discipline, and for evangelism. The unity of the body of Christ is expressed within and between churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between churches exists only where they are faithful to the gospel
(Matt 16:18; Acts 2:42-27; 1 Cor 1:2; 12:7-11; Gal 1:6-9; Eph 1:22-23; 5:23-32).
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| BAPTISM & THE LORD'S SUPPER |
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Baptism and the Lord's Supper have been given to the churches by Christ as visible signs of the gospel.
Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ in his death and resurrection but does not impart spiritual life.
The Lord's Supper is a commemoration of Christ's sacrifice offered once for all and is remembered with bread and wine/grapejuice which are symbols of the body and life blood of Jesus Christ. All its blessings are received by faith
(Matt 28:18-20; Acts 2:41-42, 8:12, 36-38; 10:47-48; 1 Cor 10:16-17; 11:17-32).
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The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever
(Matt 25:46; John 5:25-29; Acts 1:10-11; 1 Thess 4:16-17; 2 Thess 1:5-10; 2 Pet 3:3-13; Rev 21-22).
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We teach the literal interpretation of the account of creation and the fall recorded in Genesis chapters 1-3.
We teach that the heavens and earth (and everything in them) were created in 6 literal days; that things were created with the appearance of age, that the age of the earth is relatively young; and that reinterpreting these chapters in order to accommodate the scientific theory of evolution (e.g. theistic evolution) undermines the authority of the Scriptures.
We applaud such ministries as Creation Ministries International, Institute for Creation Research, and Answers in Genesis which are seeking to confirm people’s faith in God’s word. |
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We seek to uphold what the Bible teaches on both the sovereignty of God and responsibility of man in salvation, and affirm the 5 'Sola' statements of the Reformation.
We teach that saving faith is always accompanied by repentance and produces a transformed life issuing forth in works pleasing to God and a witness to the world (Eph 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14; James 2:14-26).
We teach that salvation is secure, that assurance of salvation is available to the believer through the promises of God’s word and descriptions of true faith therein, and that God will enable the believer to persevere in his faith to the end (Lk 22:31-32; John 6:35-40; 10:27-30; Rom 8:28-39; Phil 1:6; 1 Pet 1:3-5; 1 John 5:11-13). |
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| Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts |
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We teach the importance of living a passionate, fruitful, and Spirit-filled life of worship and service to God (John 4:23-24; Eph 5:18; Gal 5:22-25) from a non-charismatic perspective.
We teach that each believer has received a spiritual gift to be exercised for the building up of others within the body of Christ (Eph 4:7-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11).
We teach a cessationist viewpoint concerning the 'sign gifts' spoken of in the NT (commonly referred to today as charismatic gifts), believing they were given only temporarily for the specific purpose of establishing the early church and NT doctrine in the first century Apostolic age (2 Cor 12:12; Eph 2:19-20; Heb 2:1-4). |
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We teach a futuristic premillennial viewpoint with regard to prophecy.
We teach the rapture of the church (John 14:1-3; 1 Thess 4:13-18), the 7 year tribulation period (Dan 9:27; 2 Thess 2:7-12; Rev 16), the 2nd Coming of Christ in glory to judge (Jude 1:14-15) and set up His Kingdom (Matt 24:27-31; 25:31-46), His literal thousand year reign upon the earth (Rev 20:1-7), the creation of a new heaven and new earth (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1), the eternal state (Rev 21-22), and a future for the literal nation of Israel in accordance with the many yet to be fulfilled promises and prophecies in the Scriptures (Jer 31:31-37; Ezek 36:22-37:38; Zech 12:10; 13:1; Rom 11:25-27).
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