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Faith and Purpose
1. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES 6. THE CHURCH
The purpose of the church consists in:
•
To glorify God by serving Him according to His Word (Isaiah 42:8; 43:7;
57:6; I Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 1:6, 12).
•
To worship Him (Psalm 29:2; 33:1-3; 95:6-9; Hebrews 13:15; Ephesians
5:19).
• To
provide spiritual edification in the lives of the members through the
teaching of the Word of God (Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-16)
• To
announce the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people by being His witnesses
(Mark 16:15; Luke 24:45-48; Acts 1:7-8).
The
foundation of our faith is the Word of God: the Bible. Jesus said: "Heaven
and earth
will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" (Matthew
24:35; Mark 13:31;
Luke 21:33).
Therefore, the articles of our faith and conduct are based upon the Bible.
We
accept and believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament
constitute
the revelation of God to mankind and they are verbally inspired by
the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Scriptures were written originally without any
errors and they are the foundation for our
doctrine and conduct, both in the
public and private life (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; Matthew
5:17-19; John
5:39; II Peter 1:19-21; II Timothy 3:16-17).
We
believe in one God to be eternal, all knowing, present everywhere, all powerful,
Creator
of all things which are visible and invisible, and who consists of
three persons: the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:1-31;
2:1-3; Matthew 28:19; 3:16-17; II Corinthians 13:13;
Ephesians 4:4-6; I Peter
1:2).
We
believe God the Father to be an infinite personal spirit; perfect in holiness,
wisdom, power
and love. We believe that the Father cares for the state and
circumstances of mankind, that He
hears prayer and that He saves from sin,
death and eternal condemnation upon the conditions of
repentance and faith in
Christ as Saviour and Lord. We also believe the Father to be:
• The
first person of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19)
• The
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 10:17; II Corinthians 11:31)
• The
Father of all those who accept Christ by faith as Saviour (John 1:12).
We believe the following about the Son:
•
He is the second person of the Trinity
(Matthew 28:19)
• In
His eternal existence with the Father before He became a man (John 1:1,14; 17:5;
8:58;
Philippians 2:6)
• In
His equality with the Father and Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:6)
• He
is the Creator (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-19; Hebrews 1:3)
• Christ
who is God, became a man (John 1:1,14; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:14).
• He
was conceived, in the flesh, by the virgin Mary, through the power of the Holy
Spirit
(Matthew 1:21-23; Luke 1:27,35).
• He
lived without sin (I John 3:5; II Corinthians 5:21).
• In
His miracles (John 2:23; 4:54).
• In
His expiatory death in behalf of the sins of mankind (Matthew 1:21; John 1;29;
Mark
10:45; Romans 8:3-4; Hebrews 9:28; I John 2:2).
•
In His physical resurrection (Matthew 28:6; John 20:25-28)
• In
His ascension to heaven (Acts 1:9-11).
• In
His intercession (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25).
• He
is the only mediator between God and man (I Timothy 2:5)
• He
is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18).
• In
His second coming to take His church (I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 24:30;
Revelation 1:7).
• In
His final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 14:10-12; Revelation 20:1-15).
We believe the following about the Holy Spirit:
• He
is the third person of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19).
• He
does acts which only a person can do. He convicts of sin (John 16:7,8), He
regenerates (Titus 3:5), He baptizes
believers into the body of Christ (I Corinthians
12:13); He inhabits all believers who are
saved (I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Romans
8:9; Acts 2:38-39; John 7:37-39;
14:16-17), He sanctifies (II Thessalonians 2:13;
I Peter 1:21), He teaches (John 14:26; I
John 2:27), He testifies of Christ (John 15:26),
He comforts (John 14:16; 16:7), He guides
(John 16:13; Romans 8:14), He gives power
(Acts 1:8; 2:4; I Corinthians 12:7-11), He
produces the character of Christ in the
believers (II Corinthians 3:18; Galatians
5:22,23), He intercedes in behalf of the believers
(Romans 8:26, 27).
• He
is affected as a person. Therefore the Bible says that He can be resisted (Acts
7:51),
lied to (Acts 5:3,4), quenched (I
Thessalonians 5:19; grieved (Ephesians 4:30), insulted
(Hebrews 10:29), and be jealous
(James 4:5).
We believe the following about man:
• Man
was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27).
• Man
was made body, soul and spirit (I Thessalonians 5:32; Hebrews 4:12).
• After
Adam and Eve, out of their own free will, disobeyed God, they acquired a sinful
nature. This nature automatically was
transmitted to all their offspring (Genesis 3:1-6;
Romans 5:12; I Timothy 2:14).
• Adam,
as the representative of the human race, brought the curse of God upon himself
and his posterity (Romans 3:23; 5:12,
16-21; 6:23; I Corinthians 15:21,22).
• Man
in his sinful nature is unable to obey the law of God in its perfection (Romans
7:18;
3:10,19; John 15:5).
• Man
in his sinful nature is the enemy of God and is separated from God (Romans 5:10;
3:23; Isaiah 59:2).
• Man
in his sinful nature is under the power of the devil (Ephesians 2:3; John 8:44).
• Man
in his sinful nature is incapable, by his good deeds, to deserve the forgiveness
of sins
and to have eternal life (Romans 3:20,
24-28; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-10; II Timothy
1:9; Titus 3:5).
We understand the following about Satan:
• He
is an angel created by God (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:14-19)
• Before
the fall his name was Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15).
• He
is the author of sin (Ezekiel 28:15-18).
• He
tempted man to sin (Genesis 3:1-13)
• He
declared himself openly as the enemy of God and man (Matthew 4:2-11; I Peter
5:8).
• He
will one day be eternally punished in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).
The
way of salvation is very simple. The Bible teaches that salvation is not by our
good
works but through faith in Christ's death (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:26-28;
Acts 16:30-31;
Ephesians 2:8-9). However, the Holy Spirit works differently
with each individual until that
person will finally come to the
understanding that only Jesus can save them from their sins and
give them
eternal life. Therefore, there are certain steps which the Holy Spirit of God
will guide
each person until true faith comes.
1. Before salvation comes the individual
is convicted by the Holy Spirit to realize his/her
sinfulness before God and how sin
separates people from God (John 16:8; Romans
3:10-23; Isaiah 59:2).
2. Then the Holy Spirit will compel the
individual to repent from sin and turn away from it
(Matthew 3:2, 8; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38).
3. The Holy Spirit will proceed to
enlighten the mind so that the person will see that
salvation is a gift that God gives free to
those who put their faith in Christ as Saviour
(Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:28; Galatians
2:16; II Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5). Thus the
purpose of the death of Christ is seen as
the perfect sacrifice which paid for the sins
of each person in the world (Matthew 1:21;
John 1:29; 3:16; II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter
2:24; I John 2:2). When the person
understands this, then he or she is compelled to
believe that Jesus' death on the cross
paid for theirs sins and that the only way to receive
forgiveness of sins and obtaining eternal
life is through faith in Christ's death (John 3:16-18,
36; John 5:24; John 6:47; John 10:9; John
14:6; Acts 4:12; Acts 10:43; Acts 15:8-11; Acts
16:30-31).
The evidence of true faith in Christ
Unfortunately,
many, even though they have made some type of prayer to accept Christ as Saviour,
but,
with time, they do not show any evidence that they have true faith. In other
words, these people
were exhorted by others to accept Christ but it was not
the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we have
to be careful not to give
people false hopes by affirming that they are saved, without first waiting to
see
evidences that they have been born by the power of God's Spirit.
Thousands of people have been told
in evangelistic campaigns that they are
saved just because they prayed with someone to accept Christ
as Saviour. The
people who prayed to receive Christ are recorded on paper and makes the
evangelist
look great. However, only time will tell whether these people
really accepted Christ as Saviour and
Lord. The Bible does give us some
guidelines for us to observe whether a person has a genuine faith
in Christ.
Here are some evidences that we are to look for:
• The
person who has truly accepted by faith Christ as Saviour has an inward peace
that all of
his or her sins are forgiven before God (Acts
10:43; Romans 5:1; Galatians 5:22).
• The
person as a result of believing in Christ has this assurance inside that he or
she has eternal
life (John 6:47; I John 5:11-13).
•
The person out of his or her own free will
has a desire to follow Christ, obey His
commandments
and put Him first in his or her life (Matthew 6:33; Matthew 7:21-27; Luke
19:1-10; John 14:21; Romans 8:4-14;
Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:10; James 2:14-26; I John
3:10-14; 4:12).
• The
person manifests the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23; Romans 8:14;
Matthew
7:16; Ephesians 2:10; James 2:14-26; I
John 3:10, 24; 4:7-16).
We believe the following about the Church:
• The
universal Church are those who have been born again (John 3:3) when they
repented
of their
sins (Matthew 3:2, 8; Acts 2:38) and put their faith on Christ as Saviour (John
1:12;
3:15-18; 6:47; Acts 16:30-31).
• The
Church, is the body of Christ and also His bride (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:22-23;
I Corinthians 11:2).
• The
establishment of the local churches is clearly taught in the Holy Scriptures of
the New
Testament (Acts 14:21-23; 20:17-32; I
Timothy 3:1-16).
• A
local church is the congregation of believers (Acts 2:41), the house of God
(Ephesians
2:20-22; I Corinthians 3:16), the assembly
of the living God and the pillar of truth (I Timothy
3:15).
• The
main purpose of the church is to glorify God by reflecting the image of Christ in the character and
works
of the members(I
Corinthians 10:31; Matthew 5:13-16; II Corinthians
3:18; Ephesians 2:10).
• Besides
glorifying God the church was founded to edify the believers through the
teaching
of the Holy Scriptures (Ephesians 4:11-16;
Acts 20:26-32), promote worship to God
(Colossians 3:15-17), defend the faith
once given to the saints (Jude 1:3) and proclaim the
message of salvation (Matthew 28:18-20;
Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8).
• The
officials of the church are the bishops (pastors) and the deacons (Philippians
1:1).
The bishops and deacons must have the
spiritual qualifications as taught in the Holy
Scriptures (I Timothy 3:1-16; Titus
1:5-11; Acts 6:1-7).
• The
local church is autonomous in government and free from the interference of an
hierarchy of people or organizations. The
head of the church is Jesus Christ (Ephesians
1:22, 23; Colossians 1:18). The Scriptures
in the Bible are the supreme authority to
define the rules of the church with
respect to doctrine and conduct (II Timothy 3:16-17).
• Every
believer should identify with and be responsible to a local church which is
faithful to the ministry of the Word of
God (Hebrews 10:25; I Corinthians 12:21-26).
• All
believers are commanded to submit to the leadership of the local church in which
they are affiliated (Hebrews 13:17).
• God
is sovereign in the distribution of the spiritual gifts among the members for
the
ministry (Romans 12:3-8; I Corinthians
12:4-11; I Peter 4:10; Hebrews 2:4).
• The
gifts are to be used for the edification of the Church (Ephesians 4:11-16) and
with order (I Corinthians 14:26-33).
• Every
believer should be content with his gift or gifts that God has given and used
them faithfully for the glory of God
(Romans 12:3; I Corinthians 10:31).
We believe the following:
• In
the pre-tribulation and pre-millennium of the coming of Jesus Christ when
he
comes to take His church (I Thessalonians
4:14-17; I Corinthians 15:52).
• After
the second coming of Christ He will establish His kingdom on earth for a
thousand years (Matthew 24:27-30;
Revelation 19:11-16).
• The
saved in Christ will resurrect physically to live eternally with Christ (John
5:28,
29; 11:25; I Corinthians 15:22, 23, 51-54;
Revelation 21:4-8).
• At
the hour of death the souls of the redeemed became absent from the body and
will be with the Lord Jesus Christ. While
the souls are in heaven, they will wait until
the first resurrection when the spirit,
soul and body will become united and glorified
and live eternally in that state with
Christ (Revelation 6:9-11; 20:4-6; II Corinthians
5:1-8; Philippians 1:23; 3:21).
• After
death, the souls of the unbelievers will continue to suffer until the second
resurrection when their souls, spirits and
bodies will be thrown into the lake of fire.
The wicked will not be exterminated, as
some religions teach, but will be conscious
of their suffering for eternity (Luke
16:23-25; Matthew 25:41-46; II Thessalonians 1:7-9;
Mark 9:43-48; Revelation 20:11-15).
We believe that
the Christian ordinances are external rituals ordained by the Lord Jesus,
not
to be the means of salvation, but visible symbols of the faith of the believer
in the facts of
the reality of salvation.
We
believe that baptism in water is a personal public testimony that Jesus Christ
is the
Saviour
and Lord. The Holy Scriptures teach that the method for baptism is by immersion.
This
method is attested by three evidences. First, the Greek word, "Bapto,"
literally means to
immerse completely
any object or person in a liquid and then take it out. The second evidence
is
the origin of baptism. Baptism was a ritual which started some centuries before
John the
Baptism. Any gentile who desired to belong to the religion of the
Jews had to submit to the
ritual of baptism. This meant that the gentile was
willing to forsake the old ways of paganism
and adopt the true God of the
Jews. A gentile converted to Judaism was called a proselyte
(Matthew 23:15).
Thus the proselyte had to submit to two rituals: Circumcision and baptism.
The
ancient literature of the Jews reveal that when the proselyte was baptized his
whole body
was immersed in the water. The Biblical texts allude to the
complete immersion of the person
who is baptized. In John 3:3 says that John
the Baptist chose that location in the river Jordan
because there were many
waters. This gives us the idea that there was sufficient water there to
immerse
those who were baptized. Small rivers usually have shallow currents. The river
Jordan
is not an exception. However, there are certain places in rivers where the waters
are
deep. In Mark 1:9, 10 states that Jesus came out of the water after he
was baptized.
We believe that
baptism is a symbol of the identification which the believer has with the
death
and resurrection of Christ. When the person is immersed completely in the water
signifies
the faith which the person has in the meaning of the death of
Christ. The person under the
water cannot breathe thus symbolizing death.
Likewise those who believe that Christ died for
their sins, not only receive
the forgiveness of sins but spiritually have also died to the old sinful
life.
When the person comes out of the water he/she can breathe. This signifies that the
person believes
that just as Christ resurrected from the dead, he or she has
also resurrected spiritually with Christ
to live a new life with Jesus
(Romans 6:2-5; Colossians 2:13).
We believe that the
Scripture teaches that baptism is to be administered only to those who have
had
a genuine repentance and received by faith Christ as Saviour and Lord (Matthew
3:7-8; Acts
2:38; 8:36-39; 10:43-48).
We believe that the
Scriptures teach that every believer should be baptized in obedience to the
commandment
of Jesus (Matthew 28:19) out of love for their Saviour (John 14:21).
We
believe that the Lord's Supper is to be observed by all believers who are born
again. In
the Old Testament God taught that only the Israelites who had been
circumcised could celebrate
the Passover (Exodus 12:43-45). The stranger who
wanted to celebrate the Passover had to have
faith in the God of Israel and
be circumcised (Exodus 12:48). However, the man who was not
circumcised,
Israelite or gentile, could not celebrate the Passover (Exodus 12:48). The Bible
teaches
that the rituals of the Old Testament were symbols to teach us spiritual lessons
(I
Corinthians 10:6, 11;Hebrews 10:1). The Passover of the Old Testament pointed to
the Lord's
Supper in the New Testament. Jesus celebrated the first Holy
Supper on the day of the Passover.
Therefore, if the Passover could only be
celebrated by those who had faith in the God of Israel
and who had been
circumcised, likewise, the Lord's Supper, can only be celebrated by those
who
have faith in Christ's death, as the only means to be saved, and who have been
baptized.
The believers are the only ones who should participated in the
Lord's Supper because they
understand and appreciate the meaning of taking
the bread and the cup of wine (Luke 22:15-20).
We believe the bread
and the cup of wine are symbols of the death of Jesus Christ. The bread
is
the symbol of the body of Jesus, who took upon Himself our sins (I Corinthians
11:24; I Peter
2:24). The cup of wine is a symbol of the blood of Christ who
has the power to wash us from
our sins (I Corinthians 11:25,26; I John 1:7;
Revelation 1:5).
We believe that the
Lord's Supper should be open to all believers who in their own conscience
agree
with the statements mentioned in the above paragraphs (Luke 22:15-20; Matthew
26:26-31).
The
doctrine of separation is very important because it is taught in the Word of
God. In the
Old Testament God wanted the Israelites to live separately from
the others nations so that they
would not be contaminated (Genesis 24:1-3;
Leviticus 18:1-4, 24-30; Numbers 25:1-8; 33:50-56;
Deuteronomy 7:1-6; Judges
2:1-3; I Kings 11:1-13; II Chronicles 19:1-2; 20:35-37; Ezra 9:1-4;
Psalm
1:1-3). In the New Testament God wants His church to live a life differently
from the world
and not to have intimate friendships with unbelievers (II
Corinthians 6:11-18; Romans 16:17; John
17:14; Ephesians 4:17-24; I John
2:15, 16; James 4:4; I Timothy 6:10, 11; II John 1:9-11; Colossians
3:1-2; I
Corinthians 5:9-11).
In practice the doctrine of separation is lived in the following way.
• The
believer should not offend the holiness of God (I Peter 1:15,16).
• The
believer is free to practice the Christian moral values where God does not condemn
(Galatians 5:1; I Corinthians 10:22-23).
• The
Christian should not offend his own conscience (Romans 14:22-23).
• The
concept of separation is to be applied in the following relationships: marriage,
business,
in the ministry of the gospel (II
Corinthians 6:11-18; Deuteronomy 7:1-6; II Chronicles
19:1-2; Revelation 2:14-16; 2:20-22).
• Separation
does not mean that the Christian cannot have any contact with unbelievers.
Otherwise he or she would have to live as
a hermit in a monastery. Separation means
that the Christian should not participate
in the same style of living as the unbelievers
(I Corinthians 5:9-10; Daniel 1:1-9).