The word of God
We believe that the Old and New Testament
are the only Scriptures inspired by the Holy spirit of God. These scriptures
are the complete revelation of God and no other revelation can change them. We
believe that God gave the apostles of the New Testament the authority to write
His Word, therefore all believers should surrender to all of their teachings.
1 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy
3:15-17, 2 Peter 1:21
The person of God
We believe there is only one God who
created all things and was never created. The holy scriptures describe him as
self existent, eternal, infinite, all powerful, all knowing, all present,
changeless, self sufficient and sovereign. God is loving, merciful and full of
grace, yet he is also righteous and just. God exists in three persons: God the
father, God the son and God the holy spirit. Each one of them is called God and
is worthy of the same honor, yet they are distinct from one another even though
they are one.
Deuteronomy 6:4, Psalm
90:2, Isaiah 40:12-31, 1 John 4:10, Ephesians
2:8, Romans 3:26, Acts 5:3-4, 1 John 5:20
Man and sin
We believe that God created man in his
image on the sixth day of the six literal twenty-four hour days of creation.
From the moment that man sinned against God he lost his fellowship with God and
became dead in his transgressions. All of humanity has received a sinful nature
that can’t in anyway please God. Because of the sinful nature men and women die
physically and spiritually, they have no hope of entering heaven.
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is eternal
and he was never created. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the
Virgin Mary in His incarnation. Jesus Christ was God revealed in flesh and
united in his own person both deity and humanity. Jesus is the promised
Messiah, just like the prophets of the old testament prophesied. Jesus died on
the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, although He was sinless and
could not sin. Jesus Christ was buried and on the third day, He rose bodily
from the dead. Now he is sitting at the right hand of the father and intercedes
for all believers. He will come again to earth to reign from Jerusalem over all
the earth.
Hebrews 4:14-16, 7:3,
24-25, Matthew 1:18-23, John 1:1, 14, 2:19-21, Mark
16:6, Isaiah 11:1-11
Salvation
We believe that the sinner can receive
forgiveness of sin and be saved from hell only through faith in Christ Jesus.
One must repent of his sins when coming to Christ, yet repentance in itself is
not enough. Salvation is a free gift from God and the only way of receiving it
is by faith in Christ and what he has accomplished by his death and
resurrection. There is no other way to be saved and man can do nothing in order
to save his soul but believe in Jesus Christ. One can’t get saved while
believing another gospel or another Jesus.
Romans 3:21-26,
10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 1:8-9, 2:16
Assurance of salvation
We believe that a saved person can’t loose
his salvation. God, his Saviour, has sealed him by the Holy Spirit unto the day
of redemption. The saved one is kept by the power of God unto salvation. The
born again believer should not live in fear of being thrown into the lake of
fire when he dies, because of something which he had done or something that he
hadn’t done in his life. Yet, he who lives in sin and walks in the darkness is
not saved at all. The good works of the believer don’t save him or maintain his
salvation, but serve as sign of him being saved.
John 10:27-29, Ephesians
1:13-14, 4:30, 1 Peter 1:3-5, Romans 8:14-17, 1 John
1:6, 2:4-6
The new birth
We believe that in order to be saved one
must be born again. The new birth comes when we hear the word of God and
believe it, and it has nothing to do with water baptism. A born again person
receives a divine nature, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and is able to
obey the word of God and walk according to his will.
John 3:3, 1 Peter
1:23, 2 Peter 1:4, Galatians 2:20
The holy spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is co-equal
with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin and
causes men to repent. The Holy Spirit indwells permanently in all believers
from the moment they have believed the gospel of salvation. There is no other
condition for receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is a different
state from the times of the Old testament, where the Holy Spirit could depart
from the person He came upon. Baptism in the spirit and the anointing of the
spirit are the same and describe the moment when the Holy Spirit came to
indwell the believer. All believers are urged to being filled with the spirit
daily, which means, allowing the spirit to control their life. The Holy Spirit
glorifies Christ, teaches, guides, empowers, gives the believer assurance of
his salvation, prays for the believers, sanctifies and gives gifts to every
believer for building up the body of Christ. Some gifts of the Spirit, such as
speaking in tongues and miraculous healings, had special significance during
the New Testament apostolic period and are no longer in operation during the
present time.
John 14:16-17, 26,
16:7-15, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:9, 26, 1 Corinthians
3:16-17, 6:19, 12:13, 13:8, Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:7, 30,
5:18, Titus 3:5-6, Hebrews 2:3-4, 1 John 2:20,
27, 3:24
The new life of the
believer
We believe that all believers are called
to live their lives for the glory of our Lord Jesus. The believer needs to die
daily to his old sinful nature and walk according to his new divine nature. The
believer should not sin or live in sin, but when he does fall into sin he needs
to repent and confess his sin. All believers are called to a life of holiness,
prayer in the holy spirit, sharing with others the good gospel, fellowship with
other believers and expectance for the coming of our Lord. All believers need
to serve the Lord according to their different spiritual gifts and live a holy
life as well. Believing men and especially believing women are called to a
modest life, not just in the assembly meetings. The believer will be rewarded
according to his works, yet he will not gain or keep his salvation by his good
works.
1 Titus 2:10-14, Ephesians 4:7,
22-24, 6:18, 1 John 2:1-2, 1 Peter 1:13, 22,
2:9, 1 Timothy 2:9-10, 1Peter 3:3-4, 1
Corinthians 3:13-15
Baptism
We believe that all born again believers
should be baptized by immersion into water, when they are old enough to make
this decision by themselves. The water baptism symbolizes the believer's
identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. The
baptism is a commitment to follow the Lord Jesus and is a very important step
in the faith. Baptism is not a means of or an aid to salvation; however, it is
expected of all believers in obedience to our Lord.
Matthew 28:19, Romans
6:3-4, Colossians 2:12, 1 Peter 3:21
The Lord's supper
We believe that all believers should
continue steadfastly in the breaking of bread. We believe that the Lord’s
supper has a very important role in the believer’s life as a reminder of our
Lord’s death. The bread and wine are only symbols that help us remember our
Lord and what he has done for us. Because the Lord’s supper reflects our
oneness with Christ and with one another, the believer who partakes in the
Lord’s supper has to examine himself before partaking the bread and wine. The
only cases when a believer should not partake in the lord’s supper are when a
person lives in sin and refuses to repent or is holding to a false doctrine
(believing another gospel or another Jesus). We believe that in the Lord’s
supper the believing men can pray, ask for a hymn/song or read a passage from
the scriptures spontaneously by the leading of the Holy Spirit. All the
believers are called to worship the Lord in this meeting even if it is in a
silent way.
Matthew 26:26-29, Mark
14:22-24, Luke 22:15-20, Acts 2:42, 1
Corinthians 10:16-17, 11:23-34, 14:34-35
Roles in the assembly
We believe that every believer has a role
in the assembly’s life, but God has established an order in the roles of men
and women in the family and in the assembly. God gave the men the leadership in
the family and in the assembly and the women are called to submit to their
leadership. Men are those who are to teach, pray and lead the assembly in the
worship of God with their head uncovered, and women are to be silent in the
meetings with their head covered. This has nothing to do with the woman being
inferior to man. Women can serve in roles which are not connected to
leadership, teaching men or leading the assembly in worship by praying,
choosing a hymn or reading a passage from the
scriptures.
Genesis 3:16, Ephesians 4:7,
5:23-24, 1 Timothy 2:8-14, 1 Corinthians 11:2-16,
14:34-35, 1 Peter 3:1-7
Leadership in the
assembly
We believe that the Lord Jesus is the head
and shepherd of the assembly and that there needs to be more than one elder in
the assembly. We see no difference between elders and pastors in the
scriptures. All the elders have the same authority in the assembly and they are
helped by recognized deacons that are qualified according to the
scriptures.
Acts 6:1-8, 14:23, 20:17-38, 1
Corinthians 12:4-11, Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:1-13
, Titus 1:5-9, Hebrews 13:17, 1 Peter 5:1-3
The body of Christ
We believe that the body of Christ is
composed of all true believers, whether living or dead. From the moment a
person is born again, he is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one body of
Christ. Every local assembly is the local body of Christ and represents the
universal body. The local assembly is to be independent and autonomous with the
Lord Jesus as it’s head and authority, and elders as it’s only human leaders.
Every assembly and every believer is significant and has an important role in
the functioning of the whole body. The body of Christ, which contains both Jews
and gentiles, is a secret that was not revealed in the Old Testament.
1 Corinthians
12:12-27, Ephesians 1:22-23, 3:5-10, Colossians 1:18
The return of Christ
We believe that Christ will return to meet
all the believers, dead or alive, in the air before the time of the seven-year
Tribulation. This event will end the age of the assembly and God will pour out
his wrath upon the earth in the seven-year Tribulation. Christ will come again
to earth, as king and messiah, to rule the whole earth from Jerusalem. Christ
will reign for a thousand years upon the whole earth and all the gentiles will
come to worship him in Jerusalem. No one can tell when the age of the assembly
will end and Christ will return.
Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:1-10, Matthew
24:4-44, 25:13, John 14:2-3, Romans 11:25, 1
Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, Titus
2:13, Revelation 19:11-16, 20:1-6
The rapture
We believe in the rapture of all believers
at Christ’s coming to meet the believers in the air before the seven-year
Tribulation. First, those who are dead in Christ will rise then, those who are
alive will be changed and taken to be with the Lord forever.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1
Thessalonians 4:13-17, Revelation 3:10
The eternal state
We believe that all people will exist
forever and no one will cease to exist. When a believer dies he goes to be with
the Lord and at the time when the lord will come to meet all believers in the
air (at the rapture) he will be resurrected with a new body. All true believers
will live forever in the presence of God the father and his son Jesus Christ in
the new city of Jerusalem. All unbelievers will be thrown to the lake of fire
at the close of the millennial reign of Christ and shall suffer there forever.
Luke 16:19-26,
23:42-43, Revelation 20:11-15, 21:1-8
Israel's future
We believe that God has not cast away his people,
which he foreknew! God will fulfill all his promises to the people of Israel.
God will save all the people of Israel that will remain after the seven-year
Tribulation. The promises in the Old Testament for Israel are not for the
assembly of Christ, because the assembly was a secret not revealed in the Old
Testament. It is true, that in the eternal state in the new Jerusalem, Israel
will not be different from other believers. If God will not fulfill his
promises to Israel, how can we be sure that he will keep his promises for us
believers?
No comments:
Post a Comment