Distinctives

Our faith is distinguished by the knowledge that God is the ground and foundation of all existence, and that the whole gospel testifies to the One upon whom reality depends. 

We believe that the total dependency of all things on God is the central doctrine of Christianity, and the primary implication of God's blessèd name, I AM.

Moreover we trust that every aspect of reality not only depends on God, but represents the total dependency of all things on Him. In the gospel this is shown in the complete reliance of God's people on Christ as their Lord and Saviour, representing the reliance of reality on God as Creator, Maker and King.

Our focus on God's being manifests in various ways; for example, we value sin—namely that which is wicked, cruel and unloving—as having a vital role in our world, and trust that reality would be far worse if sin did not exist, that God has good intentions regarding sin, and that His determination of it was for the good of His people. We also trust that sin is to be abhorred as evil, and insist on man's duty to obey God in everything.

 

We feel this trust is missing from the vast majority of churches today, despite many claiming to believe in a Sovereign God who rules all things by His decree, and in God's good intentions regarding all things. Our existential focus is therefore the primary differentiator of our church.

Our secondary focus is on the grace of God in Christ, which is intrinsic to His nature and precedes any consideration of sin. We believe firmly in the supralapsarian love of Jesus. That means, all things, including sin and suffering, have been determined by God out of love for His people.

We call our church "Sovereign Grace Assembly" to indicate that Jesus is the focus of our lives and that we dedicate our lives to Him.

We believe that everything in our lives has a purpose, having been intended by the Creator for a reason: fatherhood to reflect the Fatherhood of God, motherhood to reflect the motherhood of the church above, husbands to represent Christ as the bridegroom of the Church, wives to represent the Church itself, sons to represent the Son of God, and so on.

 

We believe that work reflects the work of God in salvation; sufferings, the sufferings of Christ; our political concern stems from our faith that Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and that those in authority reflect the authority of God, and wrongful suffering at the hand of the authorities represents the suffering of Christ at the hands of the Romans.

 

We believe that while sin reflects nothing in God, nevertheless it represents opposition to His Truth, Life and divine being; that it is constituted by its non-being, as unrighteousness, lawlessness, faithlessness, injustice, unkindness, falsehood, Spiritual darkness, et cetera; and that therefore it is anti-the God of all being, the Great I AM. Therefore everything has a meaning, and, our faith holds, was all intended by God for good.

 

If you are new to the faith, you may find it to be differentiated by its logical approach. Spiritual logic is powerful, and yet there is a blessèd simplicity to it. In many traditions, especially Eastern Hinduism and Buddhism, beliefs and stories can feel more random and disconnected, whereas  Sovereign Grace Christianity embraces God as the One who orders all things by His divine Logos, namely His Son, Jesus Christ, the Word of God.

 

If you would like to find our more about our faith, please feel free to come along to one of our services.

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