STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Bible – We believe that it is God’s Word – the final authority of faith and practice.
The Bible, which composed of 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books, is the Word of God. It is written by human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit thus producing the only written literature without errors in the original manuscripts. It is useful for indoctrinating, reprimanding, correcting and training in godliness for the equipping of believers to do good works. It is the final authority of the believers’ faith and practice and it stands forever.
Scriptures: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Pet 1:19-21, Hebrew 4:12, Psalm 12:6, Isaiah 40:8, Mark 13:31, 1 Peter 1:23
God – We believe in one God in three distinct Persons.
God revealed Himself as one God in three Persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is no other God but Him. God is the creator, redeemer and sustainer of His creation. He is all knowing, all powerful and all present. His love is perfect and his justice is righteous. He demonstrated His love by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to satisfy His justice. He should be worshipped in spirit and in truth.
Scriptures: Genesis 1:26, Deuteronomy 6:4, Matt 3:13-17, 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1Deuteronomy 5:7-8, Peter 1:1-2, Romans 14:17-18; 15:16; Genesis 1:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 103:8,Psalm 33:5; John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:9-10, John 4:23.
Jesus – We believe that He is fully God and fully man.
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity. He is the only way to the Father. He is fully God and fully man. He is the Gospel – conceived by the Holy Spirit, born through a virgin-birth, performed miracles and healings, served His own people, died on the cross for the sins of the world, buried, resurrected on the third day, ascended to heaven, seated at the right hand of God as the believers’ Great High Priest and He will be coming again to gather His own and to establish His kingdom on earth. Only in Jesus can be found true abundance and eternal life, apart from Him man’s life is empty.
Scriptures: Mark 1:11, Matthew 28:19; John 14:6, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 2:11, 14:32-33, Daniel 7:13-14, John 1:1-2, 14, 1 John 4:2, 8:58-59, Colossians 1:15-17; Matthew 1:18, Luke 2:7, Luke 4:40-14, John 6, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Acts 1:9-11, Hebrews 4:14, Revelation 22:7, 12; John 10:10, John 15:1-8
The Holy Spirit – We believe that He is God that empowers the believers to live godly lives.
The Holy Spirit is the Counselor, the Spirit of truth - the third Person of the Trinity. He is not a force but a relational Being, fully God. He convicts the world of its sins. He is the power and presence of Jesus Christ in His Church. Upon genuine faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells a Christian as guarantee to his salvation and to empower him to be fruitful in his life and ministries. The Spirit is grieved when a Christian rebels. He guides believers in all truth and enable them to live holy lives for God’s glory. He sanctifies believers. Believers are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, daily. The Holy Spirit always points to Jesus.
Scriptures: John 14:26, John 16:12-14, Genesis 1:2, Matthew 3:6-17, Matthew 28:19, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 4:4-6, Acts 1:2, Acts 1:8, Acts 4:3, John 14:26; 15:26; 16:8, 13-14, Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Timothy 1:14, Titus 3:5-6, 1 Peter 1:2, Ephesians 5:18-19, 1 John 4:13
Man – We believe that he is a sinner and needs Jesus Christ for his salvation.
Man was created in the image of God for His purpose and pleasure. Because of willful rebellion in the Garden of Eden, he was separated from God. Although the image of God is marred by sin, he has capacity to do good but not enough to satisfy God’s standard. He is a sinner and lost, apart from God’s grace, he cannot save himself from eternal damnation. Man is given a choice to be reconciled with God in repentance and faith through His Son Jesus Christ or to reject God’s gift of salvation. As a Christian, he needs to nurture his personal relationship with God to become more like Him. Justified by God through the death of His Son, he is a work in progress until he faces his Creator.
Scriptures: Genesis 1:27, 3:1-19, Psalm 8:4, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23, 6:23, Acts 20:21, Romans 3, Romans 4, Romans 5, Galatians 2:16, Philippians 1:6
Sin – We believe that it separates the sinful man from the Holy God.
Sin separates man from God. Man commits sin when he worships other gods; when he does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands; when he does not present the Lord’s offering at the appointed time; when he turns away from following God; he does not keep a vow he makes to the Lord; fails to pray for others; he is proud; does not help the poor and needy; causes one of the little ones who believe in God to sin; blasphemes against the Holy Spirit; shows favoritism; he chooses all wrongdoing. All people have sinned and the penalty for sin is death. There is only one way to clear man of sin and that is Jesus Christ.
Scriptures: Genesis 3:23a, Genesis 4:7, Exodus 23:33, Leviticus 4:113, Numbers 9:13, Numbers 32:14-23, Deuteronomy 5:6-21, Deuteronomy 23:21, 1 Samuel 12:23, Proverbs 21:4, Isaiah 59:2, Ezekiel 16:49, Matthew 18:6, Mark 3:29, John 5:24, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:22, James 2:9, 1 John 5:17
Salvation – We believe that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that man is saved from eternal punishment.
Salvation cannot be earned by good works or any other offerings of wealth. Salvation is received as a gift by God’s grace, through faith in His only Son Jesus Christ. Man has a choice to accept God’s gift of salvation by faith with repentance, or to reject it. With God’s gift of salvation, man receives forgiveness of his sins and has eternal life.
Scriptures: Matthew 6:19-20, Matthew 19:16-24, Luke 1:77, 78, John 1:12, John 6:40, Acts 2:39, Acts 4:12, Acts 10:43, Acts 13:48, Romans 8:28-30, Romans 11:7, Ephesians 1:4-6, Ephesians 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 1:1, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 Peter 1:3-9
The Church – We believe that she is the Body of Christ and soon to be His Bride in His second coming.
The Church is the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. She is the Bride of Jesus Christ in His second coming. Because God is a God of order and peace, there are Scriptural instructions for discipline in God’s church. To help the Church grow, there is teaching from the Word of God and Christians are instructed to help each other. In addition, there is intercessory prayer in God’s Church. As God commanded through Jesus Christ, the Church is to make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything that God commands. There are two ordinances that Jesus left to the Church namely water baptism and celebration of the Lord’s Table.
There are different roles of responsibilities (gifting) to build the Church and to grow more in their knowledge of God and His will for them. There are elders who direct the affairs of the Church, and they pray over the sick, and anoint with oil in the name of the Lord.
Scriptures: Matthew 16:18, Matthew 18:17, Matthew 18:20, Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 11:26, Acts 11:29-30, Acts 12:5, Acts 14:27, Romans 14:19, Romans 16:5, 1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 3:9, 1 Corinthians 6:4-5, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18, Colossians 4:15, 1 Timothy 5:17, James 5:14
End Times – We believe that Jesus will come again to judge the world and establish His kingdom on earth.
The “End Times” is when Jesus Christ would return to call home His own. It will also be a time of God’s judgment for each one of us. We will all stand before God’s judgment seat. No one knows when Jesus Christ will return and no one is meant to know. Only the Father knows and God doesn’t want us to waste our time predicting when He will return. Instead, He wants us to keep working advancing the Gospel until He returns. Jesus Christ will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first. As we prepare, we need to be on our guard for false prophets and false predictions. As we wait for Jesus Christ’s return, we are not to lose heart. We are also to fix our eyes and our thoughts on Jesus Christ, and to run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Scriptures: Matthew 24:36-44, Mark 13:22-23, John 14:2-4, Romans 14:10-12, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Hebrews 3:1, Hebrews 12:1