What We Believe

We believe it is both useful and important to hold a stated doctrinal stance to represent what we believe the Bible says. These statements represent a summary of what we believe the Bible teaches on the following subjects:

God: 

God exists eternally as one Being in three Persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each Person having the whole divine nature without this nature being divided. God is the unchangeable, all-powerful, all-knowing, holy, just, faithful, loving God; the almighty Creator, Saviour, and Judge. He sustains and governs all things according to His sovereign will for His own glory, knowing all things possible, past, present, and future.

The Bible:

The Bible (or the Scriptures), comprising the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, inspired and originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek; is the complete and final written record of God’s revelation to the human race. It does not merely contain the Word of God but is in its entirety the Word of God.

The Bible was written by human authors who were supernaturally moved by the Holy Spirit so that every word they wrote was divinely inspired. The Bible, as originally written, is therefore inerrant and is fully reliable in all it teaches. It is the final authority in and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and conduct.

The supreme judge for deciding all religious controversies and for evaluating all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, human teachings, and individual interpretations is to be the Word of God in the original languages.

The authority and composition of the canon of the Bible is not dependent upon any local church, church council, man or woman therein, but upon God who is Lord, Author, and Truth. Therefore, the authority of God’s Word depends on the Holy Spirit’s work of demonstrating the Bible as self-authenticating.

Many doctrines and truths in the Bible are clearer than others, and some people understand the teachings more clearly than others.  However, the things that must be known, believed, and obeyed for salvation, that which is primary truths, are so clearly set forth and explained in one part of the Bible or another that all may achieve a sufficient understanding of them.

The infallible rule for interpreting the Bible is the Bible itself. Therefore, when there is a question about the true and full meaning of any part of the Bible, it must be understood in comparison to and in consultation to other passages that speak more clearly.

The true and accurate understanding of the Bible comes through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the accurate preaching, teaching, and public and private reading of the Bible.

The Human Race:

God created mankind—male and female—in His own image and likeness, thereby both having equal worth and value. Their greatest purpose is to worship, love and obey God. Men and women were created in a state of goodness and sinlessness, but as a result of the disobedience and fall into sin of the first man, Adam, all people became sinful in nature. Every aspect of this fallen human nature, with which we are born, is corrupt and without spiritual life; it is rebellious and hostile in its relationship to God. All are therefore under God’s righteous condemnation and need to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him. God therefore commands all people everywhere to repent, turn from their sin and believe in Jesus Christ, who is Lord and Saviour.

The Lord Jesus Christ:

The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, uniting in Himself his divine nature and his human nature without mixture or change of either nature. He is God of God, the only begotten Son of the Father, though not made or created. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary while she was a virgin. Though fully human in nature, with all its properties and weaknesses, He did not have humanity’s sinful nature and was entirely without sin in His birth, life, death, and resurrection.

He lived perfectly under the Law of God and taught truthfully about God in order to fulfill all righteousness. On the cross he died for the sins of His people, shedding His precious blood, bearing God’s wrath and being punished for their sins. On the third day, He rose from the dead in fulfillment of the Scriptures and as vindication of His life and ministry. In His resurrected body He ascended into heaven. Now He is exalted as Lord of all and intercedes for His people in the presence of the Father. He is the source of all Life, the sustainer of all Creation, in Whom dwells all wisdom and knowledge.

The only way that anyone can come to God the Father is through Jesus Christ His Son.

Salvation:

The Gospel is God’s plan of salvation. Salvation, being saved from the punishment our sins deserve and the power of sin over our lives, is entirely the work of God’s grace. It cannot be earned or deserved. It was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ for His people who, because of God’s unconditional love, were chosen in Him before the world was made. God in His love forgives sinners, because of Christ’s atoning death, and, through the Holy Spirit, grants them the gifts of repentance and faith.

God’s salvation in Christ is freely offered. Sinners who believe in and trust Jesus Christ alone, as Lord and Saviour, are justified by personal faith alone, are considered by God to be righteous, are adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life. The salvation of every believer is therefore eternally secure in Jesus Christ through His saving and keeping power. Because of this there now remains no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit:

The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ, witness Christ, and reveal Christ. He indwells all believers giving them spiritual life, applying and bringing assurance of salvation, producing the fruit of the Spirit and making them more like Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He empowers and gives gifts to the members of the Church for worship, service, and mission.

The Church:

Jesus Christ is the only head of the Church, to which all who are saved from every generation and all nations belong. This universal Church is seen in local churches, which are congregations of believers who are united in their love for the Lord Jesus Christ and are committed to each other for the worship of God, for pastoral and personal care, discipline, and evangelism. The Bible and the faithful preaching of God’s Word are central to and commanded for true worship.

Even the purest local churches may and often will still contain error on secondary and tertiary matters of doctrine. Sadly, some local churches have ceased to be churches of Christ in sacrificing the primary doctrines of Christ and the Gospel. Nevertheless, Christ always has had and will have in this world, to the very end, those who believe in Him and profess His name. Unity, therefore, is expressed within and between local churches by mutual love, care, and encouragement. True fellowship between churches exists only where they are faithful to Christ and the Gospel.

Believers' Baptism and the Lord's Supper:

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper were introduced and commanded for believers by our Lord Jesus Christ. They are administered in the context of the local church.

Baptism is to be by total immersion in water, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and is a beautiful symbol of the washing away of sins, union and fellowship with Christ, entry into his Church and commitment to living for and submitting to the Triune God. Baptism is only for those who personally profess repentance of sin, belief and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour over their lives.

The Lord’s Supper is a simple, symbolic meal to remind believers of Christ’s sacrifice for them, their unity with and duties to one another through Christ’s union of them into one Body the Church. As we partake, we are reminded to feed on Christ in our hearts by faith, of His forgiveness of our sin, His perfect righteousness given to us, and our eternal hope in and with Him.

Baptism in water does not save, bring new life to, or make anyone a Christian. Furthermore, the bread and wine remain totally unchanged and do not of themselves confer the benefits of Christ’s sacrificial and atoning death. Benefits only come through the Spirit by faith in Christ, as one obeys God by partaking properly of the elements.

The Future:

The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory and judge the world in righteousness. The bodies of the dead will be raised, 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 perfect. In the new heavens and a new earth which He creates He will be glorified forever. There will be no pain, sickness, evil, sin, or opportunity to suffer or sin there, but only peace, worship unto God, and joy for those who put faith in Christ now and before His return. The time of Christ’s return is unknown to all except the Father, yet we say, “Come soon, Lord Jesus.”

Marriage:

God has designed marriage to be a covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union of one man and one woman, as husband and wife, and is meant to signify the covenant love between Christ and his bride the church, and for the enjoyment of the partners and the procreation of children. Any other sexual union, temporary or otherwise, either between an unmarried man and woman, or between a married man and woman who are not married to each other, or between two men or two women, or between a human being and an animal, or between family members, is sin.

Singleness:

Though God created the first man and woman to be married and to live within that covenant, God also ordained some to live within the state of singleness for a time or for the duration of their lives. Singleness, therefore, is not to be viewed as a lesser state for the believer, nor is it to be viewed as a greater state or office. Singleness is then to be lived to the glory of God, just as marriage is.

Gender:

Since God created humanity as male and female, there are only two genders (male and female) within the creation order, people’s gender therefore is indicated by their body at birth, apart from any decisions, struggles, or thoughts otherwise of the mind and emotions. God’s grace and Holy Spirit are powerful and sovereign enough to enable healing and/or peace and strength for those who struggle with gender identity, so that they may live a fruitful life as their birth gender.