Statement of Faith

Statement of Faith

As a church, our deepest desire is to be a living community of God's people, walking in Truth.

We desire to embrace the attitudes, beliefs, values, practices, emphases and priorities that embody the Way of Truth, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and one another. The following statement of faith summarises many of the truths we hold dear.

Please note, we do not expect new attendees to understand or believe all of these, but we feel it is helpful to outline our faith for those who are interested. This statement is meant as a starting point, to help those interested explore the many teachings of the Bible and its significant implications.

Concerning God

God's Existence

There is one God.
God is the only self-existent being.
God depends on nothing but Himself, and everything else depends on Him, absolutely.
God is therefore the ultimate and immediate cause of all things, by definition.
God is the ultimate and immediate explanation for all things.
God is the Creator of all that is good, and in a different sense all that is evil.

God's Sovereignty

God is the LORD of all reality: all things exist, and subsist, by His decree.
God rules the world by His Word.
God's nature is expressed in His sovereign commands.
The commands of God have a special power to bring forth what they declare; to create reality.
All of God's determinations are from eternity.
God has actively intended and predestined all things.
God is the possessor of the heavens and the earth.

God's Love

God dwells in perfect, everlasting bliss.
God has determined all things, including sin and suffering, out of love for His people.
God is love: the very definition, substance and being of it.
Everything God does is out of love.
God loves His people in Christ unconditionally from eternity.
The glory of God is found in the expression of His love.
God has ordained all things for His glory.
The reality God upholds is the best of all possible realities.
God is not to blame for evil, but is to thank for His gracious purposes concerning it.
All things work together for good for those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.

God's Essential Attributes

God is Almighty: infinitely powerful.
God is timeless and unchanging: immutable.
God is everywhere: omnipresent.
God is all-knowing: omniscient.
God is a Spirit, having no physical body.
God is invisible.
God is timeless.
God is personal.
God is holy.
God is the light of truth.
God does not need anything.
God is divinely simple.
God knows no pain or suffering.
God cannot lie.
God is all truth.
God is true peace.

God's Personhood and Will

God exists in three persons, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit: the Holy Trinity.
God has one will: the united will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are full and eternal persons of the godhead.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equally one Jehovah, one LORD.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equal in power and authority.
Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God from eternity, from the incarnation, and from the resurrection: the fullness of Christ's Sonship to the Father.
Jesus Christ is ever new.
Jesus Christ is all Truth.
The Word and Spirit of God are so great in nature as to be persons in their own right.
The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit of God gives life.

Concerning creation

Man is made in God's image.
The purpose of human beings is to glorify God.
The soul of man is immortal, being made in God's image.
Creativity, words and the human spirit have a sacred and vital connection to the Creator, the Word and the Holy Ghost.
The individual, the family, friendship, local community, race and nation have a sacred and eternal importance, being part of what it means to be human.
A sense of the divine is built into human nature: sensus divinitatis.
God can be known from reason, conscience and intuition, and everything, including all sense-perception, is evidence for the self-existent and omnipotent deity: the knowability of God.
Man is a very limited being and unable to comprehend the infinite: the unknowability of God.
Though man was created upright, he has never, even in a state of innocence, had strength in himself, always being weak and vulnerable to temptation, always needing to rely totally upon the LORD.
Man is free to choose what he wills to choose: free will.
Man's choices proceed from his heart.
The hearts of all are in the hand of the LORD; He turns them wheresoever He will: determinism.
To blame men for their sins is to attribute moral corruption to their intentions and motivations, not to hold men as the ultimate cause of their corruption.
The body and soul are seperated in death, but in life they are perfectly integrated.

Concerning revelation

God is revealed by creation to all, and specially through the apostles and prophets as recorded in scripture.
Scripture consists of the 66 book canon.
Scripture is the written word of God.
Like the incarnate Word, scripture is fully divine, and fully human.
The truth of God's word is fully evident from its authority within the soul, its ability to search the thoughts and intents of the heart, its consistency within itself, and its wisdom regarding God and the world, rendering all presupposition of its truth needless.
Scripture is sufficient for instruction in all matters of religious doctrine and practice: the sufficiency of scripture.
Scripture is infallible and inerrant.
Scripture was given both for the instruction and comfort of God's people.
There is an exceeding broadness of meaning in scripture, including a broadness of meaning to many key words and verses.
The full meaning of scripture is hidden to the proud and revealed to the lowly: the hiddenness and perspicuity of scripture.
Scripture speaks in all the ways that human beings communicate with each other, and more, so that it has a great depth of meaning.
In scripture God condescends to speak to people in ways they can understand: the principle of divine accommodation.
Scripture reveals the way it should be engaged with it by example and instruction: the embedded scriptural hermeneutic.
Scripture reveals its own interpretation: sola-scriptura.
Important doctrines can be, should be, and often are derived from scripture, rather than found in the explicit text: doctrinal derivation.
Scripture has a fullness of meaning, in that every meaning is intended by the Most High.
All scripture is applicable to people today, either directly or indirectly.
Scripture is filled with many pictures representing God and the gospel: the picture language of scripture.
In scripture the gospel is depicted by many types and shadows: the picture-fulfilment paradigm.
Scripture has a lesser meaning for the non-elect, in justice and judgement, and a greater meaning for the elect, in salvation, unconditional love, and eternal life: the election paradigm.
Every verse of scripture has various contexts—literary, canonical, inter-textual, theological, moral, historical, cultural, socio-political, prophetic, law-gospel and metaphysical—and each context brings out an aspect of the meaning: the multiple contexts of scripture.

Concerning law

Man has an inherent duty to obey God in everything.
Man's conscience testifies to his duty to obey God.
All creation testifies to the invisible attributes of God, even His infinite power, self-existence and Lordship over all, so that men are without excuse.
The law of Moses was given to the Israelites.
According to the Law of Moses, the nation of Israel was to be a light unto the gentiles, a model nation, to whom the gentiles were to look for leadership and inspiration.
The law of Moses had civil, ceremonial and moral aspects, such as those pertaining to the boundaries of the land, the eating of meats, and the commandment not to kill, respectfully; yet each of these were moral in so far as they pertained to things above.
Many of the ceremonial aspects of the law of Moses had a moral dimension that applies to men and women today.

Concerning sin

Sin is all that resists or rejects what God loves and commands.
All sin is hated of God.
God hates not only evil actions, but the evil hearts and corrupt natures that produce them.
Sin is defined by its absence of goodness, and not by the creation of anything new: the negativity of sin.

God uses what He hates to reveal what He loves.
God uses sin to humble His people, showing them their need of Him.
God uses sin to reveal His love towards His people, both in dying for it, and delivering His people from it.
God uses sin to show His justice and wrath in the heathen.
Sin is ultimately intended by God for good: it serves His ultimate purposes.

Through temptation man sinned and corrupted himself, falling from his original glory into moral and spiritual corruption.
Man is now dead in sin, having a complete, natural inability to please God.
Man's descendants are conceived in that very sin, and shapen in that very iniquity, on account of the guilt of Adam's fall.
Men therefore bear both the guilt and corruption of Adam's sin: original sin.
Man is, by nature, wholly morally corrupt, in every aspect, heart, mind, soul, will, emotions, understanding, knowledge, conscience and wisdom: the total depravity of man.
The race of Man was created upright in Adam, but they have sought out many inventions.
There is never a good reason to sin: sin is always very foolish.
Pride is the first and greatest of all sins, being a direct affront to the existential nature of God, for the creature is nothing without the Creator and deserves nothing from Him.

Concerning judgement

God's judgements are always with equity, so that men shall be judged for their heart's righteousness or wickedness, and not merely for their actions.
Both death and suffering are ordained and unavoidable on account of the Fall.
There shall be a final and everlasting judgement.
The wicked shall be tormented in hell eternally, in equal measure to their wickedness.
Hell is the proper place for the wicked.
It is God who sends people to hell, in punishment for their sins, and not sin itself that sends people to hell.
God shall judge the world in righteousness, by Christ Jesus.

Concerning salvation

The Gospel

The gospel is the full truth of unity with God in Christ, in His death to sin, resurrection, and everlasting life.

The gospel is the believer's rule of life, fulfilling the law, in all its aspects: moral (elevated), civil (as a governmental pattern) and ceremonial (embodied in Christ, with special ordinances representing Him and His work).
There is a therefore a vital application of the law of God today, through the gospel.
There is a vital distinction between law and gospel: the law-gospel distinction.
There is a vital distinction between common faith and special faith.
There is a vital distinction between legal repentance and evangelical repentance.
The LORD has, out of unconditional love for His people, given them all things, including the judgement of angels.

The gospel is Trinitarian: election by the Father, redemption by the Son, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
The gospel is Christ-centred: God's people being chosen in Christ, redeemed by Christ, and given the life of Christ.
The incarnation of Christ has a vital importance in the gospel, Christ being the point of unity between Creator and creation.
God's grace in salvation is full and free: all-sufficient.
God has saved His people from all their enemies: from sin, from the fall, from the wicked, from the world, from the flesh, from the devil, and from the last enemy of all, death: there is full salvation in God.
God has saved His people unto eternal life and righteousness in Jesus Christ, their LORD.

There is a holistic and mystical union between God and His people in the gospel, legally, naturally and Spiritually.
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, according to scripture alone: the monergistic work of God in salvation.
The great truths of the gospel of Christ are divinely simple.

Man's choices and decisions play no part in obtaining or maintaining salvation from sin or judgement whatsoever, to the great glory of God.
God offers salvation through the holy blood of Jesus only to those for whom He has provided it: the so-called free-offer of Christ's blood to all, denied.
The offer of the blood of Christ to His people is a presentation of Christ's sacrifice, which they are thankful for, and not a bargain to be accepted or rejected.

The Covenants of the Gospel

Salvation is worked out according to God's covenants.
God's people are saved according to the eternal covenant of grace, or New Covenant, established by God from before the foundation of the world.
The covenant of grace is exclusively for the elect.
The various covenants of the gospel, Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic and Davidic, are all fulfilled in Christ.
As they remained unfulfilled in man, the covenants of God were covenants of works, but as they are fulfilled in Christ, they are covenants of grace, being graciously intended by God for the good of His people.
The New Covenant fulfills the Old.
The New Covenant was made in the blood of Jesus.
The New Covenant was made with the house of Israel; gentiles being grafted in among the Jews (the natural branches); and unfaithful Jews being stripped away.
There is a vital distinction between covenant symbols and the realities they represent, the symbols having no Spiritual value in themselves.

Election and Reprobation

God's election of His people in Christ is eternal and unconditional.
The non-elect (the many) outnumber the elect (the few) in time and eternity.
God's adoption of His people in Christ is eternal and unconditional.
God is united with His people in Christ from eternity.
God has elected some who die in infancy.
God is very gracious to all His creatures, elect and reprobate alike.
God's grace to the reprobate flows out of His everlasting love for the elect.
God's grace to the wicked may be thought of as a disposition of compassion for a time, until the appointed day of wrath, when they shall receive a just reward, and is not to be confused with a desire on God's part for their eternal, actual good.
God provides preservation and many lesser salvations to the non-elect, though often scorned and disregarded, for which they shall be punished, in order that He may be magnified in the great salvation of His people.

The destruction of the wicked is central to the deliverance of God's people, being a major aspect of salvation (Psalm 44).
God hates the wicked from eternity.
God is angry with the wicked every day, and His anger will burn for eternity.
God's reprobation of the wicked is from eternity.
The word of Truth is a special means used by God, in renewing the hearts of His people, and in hardening the hearts of the unbelieving.
The wicked are not the spiritual neighbours of the righteous, but their spiritual enemies.
Some who die in infancy remain in their corruption, and shall dwell in corruption, for God has rejected them.

The Incarnation

The Creator and His creation were united together at the incarnation, in the person of the Son, two natures in one person.
The Word became flesh, without ceasing to be divine.
Unity between the Creator and His creation was man's destiny, regardless of sin: the predestination of Christ.
The will of the Father and of the Son are united as one.
The incarnate Christ has a human will that can be tempted, and a divine will that ensures He never yields to temptation.
Christ is fully divine, fully human and perfect in every way.
Christ was born of a virgin.
In carrying Christ in her womb, Mary was the Tabernacle of God.
Mary is ever blesséd.
Mary shall be called blesséd in every generation.
From the incarnation Christ is to be called by names connoting each of His natures, such as The Word of God and The Son of Man.
Mary may be called mother of God, since she is the mother, not of a nature, but a person, who is God.

Redemption

Christ offered Himself to God as a spotless lamb to redeem His people from all their sins.
The redemption provided in Christ is holistic, full and free.
The blood of Christ was sufficient to redeem everyone throughout history, but it was not intended by Christ in such a way, and therefore the price for sin has only been paid for those whom Christ sought to save, namely those chosen in Him from before the foundation the world, the elect of God, loved by God from everlasting.
Christ died for the sin of Adam (the sin of the world) only as it is found in His people; He did not die for the sin of the non-elect.
Christ is the spotless Lamb of God.
Christ is the great example of love, laying down His life for His friends.
Christ is the great example of a servant, suffering out of love.
Christ is the great victor, having conquered all the enemies of God.
Christ fulfilled the sacred offices of prophet, priest and King.
Christ was the scapegoat, bearing the sins of His people away, never to return.
Christ bore the eternal punishment that brought His people peace, pound-for-pound.
Christ bore hell on the cross.

Resurrection

Christ was raised, bodily from the dead, on the third day, by the Father.
The divine and human natures of Christ remained united in His death, enabling Him to raise Himself from the dead on the third day.
Christ is the resurrection and the life of His people.
There is no Spiritual life outside of Christ.

Conversion

By regeneration and the gift of repentance and faith, God converts His people from darkness to light.
The time prior to conversion, of fearing hell and the wrath of God, is not a time of resting in the blood of Jesus, nor does it proceed from regeneration, but is a time in which all acts, thoughts and deeds are unacceptable to God, for there is no trusting nor resting in the righteousness of the saviour by faith.

Regeneration

The new birth and regeneration refer to the creation of a new nature, in Christ, by which God's people are given a new heart to trust in Him.
God's people live by hearing the voice of the Son of man to their souls.
Faith is a gift of God, given in regeneration.
In regeneration God's people are converted from darkness to light.
God's people are given a conviction of sin.
The grace of God in regeneration is irresistible.
Some are regenerated in infancy, such as David, Jeremiah and John the Baptist.
Everyone who truly comes to the Lord by faith, comes willingly, yet their will does not proceed from an act of their will, or by choice, but by the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, that is, creating in His people a clean heart.

Repentance

Saving repentance is a turning from sin, unto eternal life in Christ.
Repentance is a gift of God, for it is God who changes the heart.
The unrepentant cannot be forgiven.

Faith

Saving faith is a trusting in and heart-reliance upon God, His Word and work of salvation: it involves trusting in who God is—His nature, essence, and attributes—and what He has done in saving His people from sin.
While true beliefs are the acceptance of truths about God, faith is a trusting in God Himself, which is to say, in the Truth, inclusive of those important truths about God.
Faith, love, joy and peace are gifts of the Holy Ghost given to God's people in regeneration.
God's people look to Christ for salvation by trusting in Him, Spiritually.
Regenerate people are drawn to the truth by faith.
True faith is confidence in God and His Word, as opposed to confidence in man, tradition or worldly authority.
There is a vital distinction between faith and head-knowledge; the distinction between beliefs about God, or what men should trust in (such as God's promises, sovereignty, word, love and faithfulness) and actually trusting in God (in His promises, sovereignty, word, love and faithfulness); only the latter only is the faith of God's elect.
True faith involves relying upon God and His works.
Faith works by love.
Saving faith is not obtained by a choice or decision, nor is making choice or decision part of what it means to have faith.
Nobody is saved from sin or its consequences by making a choice or decision to believe in Christ, to 'put their trust in Jesus' or by personal choices and decisions in any way.
The notion that there is hope for the unbeliever if only they will decide to believe in Christ is false and to be utterly rejected, for scripture expressly declares that there is no hope outside of Christ, which is to be taken according to the fullness of it's meaning.
The unregenerate, who do not trust in God's love, are not to assume that God loves them savingly, or that Christ died for them: duty-faith denied.

Justification

The sins of the elect were imputed to Christ, and Christ's righteousness is imputed to the elect.
God's people are justified in time and eternity.
The Lord's people take no action, mental or physical, in the form of a choice, or an act of the body, to receive the blood of Jesus, justification, or forgiveness of sins.
God's people receive forgiveness by faith in Christ, in the new heart and the new man, by whom they trust in God's mercy, sovereignty and love, as well as Christ's precious blood, unto the salvation of their souls.
God's people are justified by faith alone, by trusting God when He speaks, in all that He says, in His trustworthiness, faithfulness, mercy and kindness, in His power, good intentions and Lordship over all, and especially in His grace toward them in Christ's work of salvation.
God's people are perpetually justified upon believing.
In justification, God's people are counted righteous in Christ forever, according to the trust that He has given them, prior to their performance of any good works.
God's people are justified by works in that God counts the righteous works He gives them as righteosuness.
When God's people are justified by faith, it is not by putting their faith in God, but by the faith God puts in them.
Unlike regeneration, adoption refers to a legal change, which is, like justification, by faith alone.

Assurance

God's people are assured of eternal life by trusting in Christ's work of salvation: the full assurance of faith.
There can be no assurance or surety in calling and election by looking to one's own works or progress in this life, but only by looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.
The warnings of scripture do not threaten eternal punishment to those in Christ, but are an admonition to remember the gospel.
God shall deliver His people from all their fears.

Sanctification

God's people are sanctified by the Holy Spirit in being given a new nature, a new spirit, a new heart that trusts in God, and by the continuing operation of Christ in them, forever.
While understanding may increase as God's people are continually sanctified, there cannot be any progress in sanctification, since God's people are wholly righteous in Christ from the creation of the new man: progressive sanctification denied.

Suffering

The way of Christ, the righteous, is the way of suffering, through tribulation of fire, floods and not knowing, but trusting in God to make a way.
The sufferings of the cross show the way for God's people to walk, not seeking out suffering, but passing through it by God's strength.
The strength of God is shown outwardly, in the events of life, and inwardly within the soul.
Suffering is the result of the Fall, being ordained by God for good.
Suffering provides God's people with an opportunity to exercise the faith He has given them.
Suffering causes God's people to feel their ever-present need for God.
Suffering causes God's people to feel their own weakness compared to God's Almighty strength.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart He will not despise.
God delivers His people from all their fears.

The Residue Of Sin

There is a vital distinction between the new man of righteousness and the old man of sin.
The old man of sin and the mind of the flesh is of Adam.
The new man of righteousness and the mind of the Spirit is of Christ.
The old man does not cease to exist at regeneration, but will be done away with in the death of the body.
Sin dwells in the flesh until death.
Due to the weakness of the flesh, God's people are prone to backsliding.
The old man of flesh can only sin; going from bad to worse in this life, being totally depraved unable to do anything pleasing to God.
The new man of righteousness is altogether in Christ, being altogether Spiritual and incapable of sin.

Perseverance

The saints shall persevere until death, by the preservation of God.
God shall preserve His people forever.
God chastens His people in this life.
God leads His people by His Word.

Good works

All good works proceed from faith in God.
God's people are ordained unto good works.
It is God who has wrought all His people's works in them, for God works in them both the willing and the doing according to His good pleasure.

The Church

All of God's people are united together in Christ.
The Church is a called-out assembly of God's people.
The Church is the New Covenant people of God in all ages.
The Church is the community of God's people, walking in truth.
The Church was founded upon the apostles and prophets.
Christ's Church is universal and holistic: catholic.
Christ's Church is holy.
Christ's Church is pure.
Christ's Church is always reforming: sempa reformanda.
Christ's Church is separate from error.
All believers are priests of the Most High: the priesthood of all believers.
Christ will build His church, in every generation.
Spiritual unity precedes symbolical unity.
Divine causality and the predestination of all things have a central importance in the Church.
Those who do not worship the Almighty, personal, ultimate and immediate cause of all things, worship they know not what.
The mission of the Church is to love one another, as Christ has loved it.
The mission of the church is not to evangelize the lost.
The great commission given to the apostles was fulfilled in the founding of the Church, so that Christians are not to think of themselves as apostles, sent into all the world to preach to the heathen.
There is great importance in examining the scripture for oneself and personally proving all things, so as not to trust in a minister, pastor, preacher, teacher, or man in any way.
There is great importance in teaching, for God has appointed elders within the church to teach.

The Return of Christ

Christ will return in power and glory.
There shall be a resurrection of the body.
Christ has reigned, is reigning, and shall reign in a millennial Kingdom.
Prophecy has a cyclical fulfilment throughout history, so that every generation shall see the day of Christ drawing near.
When Christ returns there shall be eternal life, joy and peace for the righteous.
There shall be a second death for the wicked, fully concsious, perminent and more terrible than the first.
When Christ returns there shall be a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
The righteous shall be as an everlasting city, the dwelling place of the Most High.
The wicked shall be without, in outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The central joy of the LORD is being with Christ, the One God's people love.

Concerning obedience

Knowing that God's commandments are loving and good, God's people delight in obedience.
In Christ, God's people love, reverence and honour God in everything with all their strength, doing all for the glory of God.
In Christ, God's people possess all the virtues, attitudes, emphases and priorities that flow from the Holy Spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Loving their neighbour.
Loving their enemy.
Holding to the Truth above all.
Holding to friendship.
Patience.
Humility.
Kindness.
The way of suffering.
Gentle and firm patriarchy.
Thankfulness for all of God's works.
Prayer.
Fasting.
Sincerity.
Thoughtfulness.
Togetherness.
Listening and speaking graciously.
Being quick to hear and slow to speak.
Avoiding all unnecessary contention and dispute.
Practising encouragement, exhortation and rebuke.
Exhorting one another daily.
Holding to modesty, purity and chastity.
The sanctity of marriage.
Women's quietness.
The submission and obedience of women to their husbands.
The submission and obedience of children to their parents.
The submission and obedience of husbands and fathers to Christ.
The love of husbands for their wives, and wives for their husbands.
Faithfulness.
Sharing and lending.
Gentleness.
Meekness.
Soberness.
Temperance.
Gravity when speaking about the LORD's things.
Hospitality to all, including friends and strangers.
Confession of sin and prayer for the sick.
The leading of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the Word.
Christ-centred church government.
The absolute and non-negotiable truth is that preachers and teachers in the church must not be novices.
The Biblical pattern of church.
Separation from brothers walking disorderly, after appropriate rebuke and reproof.
Apostolic uniqueness.
Bible reading from a faithful version.
Extemporaneous prayer and preaching in church.
Openness between brethren.
Communion for recognised members of the body of Christ, alone.
Brotherly affection, such as the kiss of charity.
Spiritual symbolism, such as the anointing of oil, female head coverings, hair lengths for males and females, communion with unleavened bread and fermented wine, standing, kneeling, and lifting hands in prayer, and baptism (immersion) upon repentance and faith.
Singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in assembly from God's hymnbook, the Psalms, exclusively.
Male-only psalm singing.
The silence of women in the assembly.
Participation in the services for members of the church of Christ, exclusively.
Organic church growth.
Obedience to authorities, God being the divine authority.
Political concern, God being the governor among the nations.
The divine right of kings, Christ being the King of kings.
Respecting justice, for God is the judge of all.
Respecting human life in all things, for Jesus is The Life.
Care for animals.
Not judging.
Not shouting in anger.
Not lying or attempting to deceive under any circumstances.
Not elevating themselves above others: rejecting all pride and arrogancy.
Rejecting all gossip, bullying, coldness and showiness.
Rejecting, as in Christ, all anxiety, fear and trembling that has torment, including fear of Christ's chastening, and the false fear that those for whom Christ died can or will go to hell, for love casts out all fear.
Rejecting trust in man.
Moreover the Lord's people rightly reject theological error.
Moreover they reject every false way.
Rejoicing in the Truth.
Rejoicing in the LORD always.

If you would like to speak to us about anything we believe we would be happy to listen to you and attempt to answer any questions.

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