What We Believe

Of the Holy Scriptures

We believe that God the Holy Ghost inspired every word of the sixty-six books of the Bible, and that His Word is therefore without error. We believe that what God inspired He has also providentially preserved, so that His pure and inerrant Word is in our hands today. We receive the King James Bible (A.V. 1611) as the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people, and as our sole and final authority for all matters of faith and practice.

"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." (Psalm 12:6-7)

Of the One True God

We believe there is only one true and living God, the Creator and sustainer of all things, holy, eternal, and infinite in every perfection; and that this one God is eternally manifest in three Persons — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — equal in power and glory, and yet eternally distinct in Person.

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." (1 John 5:7)

Of the Lord Jesus Christ

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh — very God and very man in one Person; conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of a virgin; sinless in life; that He gave His life willingly upon the cross as our substitute; that He was bodily raised from the dead on the third day; that He ascended into heaven where He now intercedes for His own; and that He shall come again, personally, visibly, and bodily.

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." (1 Timothy 3:16)

Of the Holy Ghost

We believe the Holy Ghost is a divine Person, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son; that He is the agent of the new birth; that He gave us the Holy Scriptures; that He reproves the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; and that He permanently indwells and seals every believer the moment he receives the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth... in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13)

Of Man and of Sin

We believe that God created man in His own image, without sin; that by wilful disobedience man fell, bringing sin and death upon the whole human race; and that all men are therefore by nature and by choice sinners, separated from a holy God, and in need of salvation.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

Of Salvation

We believe that salvation is the free gift of God, received by grace alone, through faith alone, in the Lord Jesus Christ alone — that is, by faith in His substitutionary death and bodily resurrection — wholly apart from works, baptism, sacraments, or the merits of men. Salvation comes through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Of the Eternal Security of the Believer

We believe that everyone who has been truly born again in this age of grace is eternally secure in Christ, kept not by his own strength but by the keeping power of God, and can never lose his salvation.

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:28)

Of the Church

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, which is His body; and that the church finds its visible expression in local assemblies of baptized believers, gathered for worship, teaching, fellowship, the ordinances, and witness. We believe the local church is autonomous and self-governing under Christ, and that He has given it two offices only — the pastor (also called bishop and elder) and the deacon.

"Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." (Philippians 1:1)

Of the Ordinances

We believe the Lord committed two ordinances to His church. Baptism is by immersion only, for believers, following salvation, picturing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; it has no saving power. The Lord's Supper is a memorial of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, observed with unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine, until He come.

"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (1 Corinthians 11:26)

Of Separation

We believe that every believer is called to be separate from the world and from all that dishonours the Lord Jesus Christ, and to walk in holiness; and that this church shall remain separate from all apostasy, false doctrine, and unequal yoking with unbelief.

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." (2 Corinthians 6:17)

Of Last Things

We believe in the personal, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ in two parts: first, the Rapture, when He shall come in the clouds to take away His saints, which could be at any moment; and afterward, following the Tribulation, His visible return to the earth to reign. We believe in the resurrection of all, the eternal blessedness of the saved, and the eternal, conscious punishment of the lost.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout... and the dead in Christ shall rise first." (1 Thessalonians 4:16)