Our Beliefs

We believe in the one true and living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, manifesting Himself in three eternal persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, co-equal in power and glory and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great works of creation and redemption.

Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:2,3; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 42:8; 43:10,11; 44:24; 45:7,21,22; Matthew 28:19; Acts 17:23-29; II Corinthians 8:6; I Corinthians 13:14; I Thessalonians 1:9

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son, and of the same nature; that He was active in creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the Wicked one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; that He bears witness to the truth of the gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the new birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies and helps the believer. The gift of tongues and healing were ‘sign gifts’ until the Scriptures were completed. These gifts ceased at that time.

Genesis 1:1-2; Matthew 28:19; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:35; 24:49; John 1:33; 3:5-6; 14:16,17,26; 16:7-11; 16:13; Acts 5:30-32; 11:16; I Corinthians 13:8; 14:20-22 ref. Isaiah 28:11 (cp. Deuteronomy 28:49); Romans 8:14,16,26,27; 15:19; Ephesians 1:13; II Thessalonians 2:6-8; Hebrews 2:4; 9:14

We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; He is very God of very God co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and The Holy Spirit, being God manifest in the Flesh; He lived a life of absolute sinlessness and in His death He made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins, dying not a martyr’s death, but as a voluntary substitute in the sinner’s place. He rose again from the dead on the third day and ascended bodily into heaven, where He is the believers’ High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for them. He is coming again to rapture His saints, set up the throne of David and establish His Kingdom. His coming is imminent and will be personal, pre-tribulational, and pre-millennial.

Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25; John 1:1; 5:18; 10:30; 14:1-3; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:6; I Thessalonians 4:16; 5:9; I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:6; 4:15; 7:24-27; 10:19-22; I Peter 2:22; 3:18; I John 5:20; Revelation 1:8,13; 22:13 (cp. Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12)

We believe the Scriptures teach that man was created by a direct act of God, and not from any previously existing form of life. By voluntary transgression he fell from his state of innocence, in consequence of which all men are now sinners by nature and by choice, being utterly devoid of the holiness required by the law, positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin without defence or excuse.

Genesis 1:27; 3:1-24; Isaiah 53:6; John 3:19; Romans 3:23; 5:12-19

We believe the Scriptures teach that salvation of sinners is divinely initiated and wholly of grace through the mediatorial work of the Son of God; it is wholly apart from works, and is upon the sole condition of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that in order to be saved the sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in God’s word, and becoming the recipient of a new nature; that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification, which includes both pardon of sin and the imputation of divine righteousness, solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood; that having exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer is completely justified and is in possession of a salvation which is eternally secure.

John 3:3-6; John 10:28,29; Acts 13:39; II Cor. 5:17; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 4:2; I Peter 1:18-23; II Peter 1:4

We believe that a church of Christ is a local assembly (congregation) of immersed believers associated by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers are pastors or elders and deacons, whose qualifications, claims and duties are clearly defined in the Scriptures. We believe the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission; first, to make individual disciples: second, to build up the church; third, to teach and instruct, as He has commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order. We hold that the local church has the absolute right of self-government free from any interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organisations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to co-operate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and method of its co-operation.

Matthew 18:15-20; 28:19-20; Acts 2:41-42; 6:5-7; 14:23; 15:22-23; 20:17-28; I Corinthians 5:11-13; 6:1-3; 11:2; 12:4; 16:1-2; II Corinthians 8:23-24; Ephesians 1:22,23; 4:11; 5:23,24; Colossians 1:18; I Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; I Peter 5:1-4; Jude 3-4

We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism is the single immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem his identification with the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour; thus illustrating the believer’s death to sin, and his resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to membership and privileges in a local church. We believe that the Lord’s Supper is the commemoration of His death until He come, and should be preceded by solemn self-examination.

Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38,41; 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 11:23-28; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12

Note: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are important acts of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ but neither contributes to a person’s salvation.

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked; that only those who are justified by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and sanctified by the Spirit of our God are truly righteous in His esteem, while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked and under the curse; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost in the lake of fire.

Genesis 18:23; Proverbs 14:32; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 25:34-46; Luke 16:25; John 8:21; Romans 6:17,18,23; 7:6; Hebrews 9:27; I John 5:19; Revelation 20:14,15

We believe the Scriptures teach that there is a personal devil who is ‘the god of this world’, ‘the prince of the power of the air’, who is full of all subtlety, who seeks continually to frustrate the purposes of God and to ensnare the sons of men, and who was conquered by Christ on the cross, and is condemned to everlasting punishment.

II Corinthians 4:4; 11:13-15; Ephesians 2:2; Hebrews 2:14; I Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9

We believe the Genesis account of creation as being neither allegory nor myth, but a literal, historical account of the direct creative act of God without any evolutionary process; that man, spirit, soul and body, was created by a direct work of God and not from previously existing forms of life; that all men are descended from this historical Adam and Eve, first parents of the entire human race.

Genesis 1:1-2:25; Job 38:4-6; Psalm 33:8,9; 102:25; 104:5; Isaiah 40:26; 41:20; 42:5; 45:8,12,18: 48:13; 51:13; John 1:3; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16,17; Revelation 4:11; 10:6

We believe that sanctification is the divine setting apart of the believer unto God accomplished in a threefold manner: first, an eternal act of God, based upon redemption in Christ, establishing the believer in a position of holiness at the moment he trusts in the Saviour; second, a continuing process in the saint as the Holy Spirit applies the Word of God to the life; third, the final accomplishment of this process at the Lord’s return.

John 17:17; I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 5:27; I Thessalonians 4:3,4; 5:23-24; Hebrews 10:10-14; I John 3:2; Jude 24; Revelation 22:11

We believe the Scriptures teach that every believer, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, should walk in Christian love and holiness, exhibiting qualities of honesty, integrity, forgiveness, loving kindness and spirituality. We further believe that any achievement in these characteristics will be evidenced by sincere humility and genuine zeal for the advancement of the cause of Christ.

II Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:2,7 11,15,20; Philippians 4:8-9

We believe that adoption is the gracious act whereby the Father, for the sake of Christ, places new believers into the honoured position of mature sons, in contrast with regeneration whereby the believer receives the nature of God and becomes a child of God. The full benefit of the position accorded by adoption as sons awaits the glorification of the believers at the coming of the Lord.

Romans 8:15,23; Galatians 4:17; Ephesians 1:5; I John 3:1-2

We believe that all who are truly born again are kept by God the Father for Jesus Christ, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.

John 10:28-29; 6:39-40; Romans 8:35-39; Ephesians 1:13,14; 4:30; Philippians 1:6; I Peter 1:5; Jude 1

We believe that Civil Government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming King of Kings.

Exodus 18:21,22; II Samuel 23:3; Daniel 3:17-18; Matthew 22:21; Acts 4:19-20; 5:29; 23:5; Romans 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-16

We believe in the sovereign selection of Israel as God’s eternal covenant people, that she is now dispersed because of her disobedience and rejection of Christ, and that she will be re-gathered in the Holy Land and, after the Tribulation period, will be saved as a nation at the second advent of Christ.

Genesis 13:14-17; Jeremiah 33:7-9; Ezekiel 11:11-12,17-20; 36:24-28; 37:1-28; Amos 9:11-15; Romans 11:1,32

We believe the Scriptures teach that the believer should be separated unto God from the world and from apostasy as exemplified in ecclesiastical organizations such as the National and World Councils of Churches. This doctrine is based upon God’s eternal principle of division between truth and error, and His specific command to be separate from unbelievers and disobedient brethren. This truth is to be practised with an attitude of devotion, humility, compassion, and yet with conviction, to create the proper condition and atmosphere for the glorification of God, and the winning of souls for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amos 3:3; Matthew 10:34-39; Romans 16:17; I Corinthians 5:7-13; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 1:8-9; I Timothy 6:3-6; II Timothy 2:16-18; Titus 3:10-11; II John 9-11