WE
BELIEVE that God's kingdom is everlasting.21
From His throne,22 through His Son, His eternal Word,23
God created,24 upholds25 and governs26
all that exists:27 the heavenly places,28
the angelic hosts,29 the universe,30
the earth,31 every living thing32
and mankind.33 God created all things very good.34
WE
BELIEVE that Satan, originally a great, good angel, rebelled against
God, taking a host of angels with him.35
He was cast out of God's presence and, as a usurper of God's rule established
a counter-kingdom of darkness36 and evil on the earth.37
WE
BELIEVE that God created mankind in His own image, male and female,38
for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth.39
Under the temptation of Satan,40 our original parents
fell from grace,41 bringing sin,42
sickness43 and God's judgment of death to the earth.44
Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God's
good creation.45 Creation now experiences the consequences
and effects of Adam's original sin.46 Human beings
are born in sin,47 subject to God's judgment of death48
and captive to Satan's kingdom of darkness.49
WE
BELIEVE that God did not abandon His rule over the earth50
which He continues to uphold by His providence.51
In order to bring redemption, God established covenants52
which revealed His grace to sinful people.53 In the
covenant with Abraham, God bound Himself to His people Israel, promising
to deliver them from bondage to sin and Satan and to bless all the nations
through them.54
WE
BELIEVE that as King, God later redeemed His people by His mighty acts
from bondage in Egypt55 and established His covenant through
Moses, revealing His perfect will and our obligation to fulfill it.56
The law's purpose is to order our fallen race57 and to make
us conscious of our moral responsibility.58 By the work of
God's Spirit,59 it convicts us of our sin60 and
God's righteous judgments against us61
and brings us to Christ alone for salvation.
and brings us to Christ alone for salvation.62
WE
BELIEVE that when Israel rejected God's rule over her as King,63
God established the monarchy in Israel64 and made
an unconditional covenant with David,65 promising
that his heir would restore God's kingdom reign over His people as Messiah
forever.66
WE
BELIEVE that in the fullness of time,67
God honored His covenants with Israel and His prophetic promises of
salvation68 by sending His Son,69
Jesus, into the world.70 Conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary,71 as fully God and fully
man in one person,72 He is humanity as God intended
us to be.73 Jesus was anointed as God's Messiah and
empowered by the Holy Spirit,74 inaugurating God's
kingdom reign on earth,75 overpowering the reign of
Satan by resisting temptation,76 preaching the good
news of salvation,77 healing the sick,78
casting out demons79 and raising the dead.80
Gathering His disciples,81 He reconstituted God's
people82 as His Church83 to be the
instrument of His kingdom.84 After dying for the sins
of the world,85 Jesus was raised from the dead on
the third day,86 fulfilling the covenant of blessing
given to Abraham.87 In His sinless, perfect life88
Jesus met the demands of the law89 and in
His atoning death on the cross90 He took God's judgments
for sin91 which we deserve as law-breakers.92
By His death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers.93
The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus' birth from David's house,94
His Messianic ministry,95 His glorious resurrection
from the dead,96 His ascent into heaven and His present
rule at the right hand of the Father.97 As God's Son
and David's heir,98 He is the eternal Messiah-King,99
advancing God's reign throughout every generation and throughout the
whole earth today.100
WE
BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church at Pentecost
in power,101
baptizing believers into the Body of Christ102 and
releasing the gifts of the Spirit to them.103 The
Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us104
for spiritual worship,105 personal sanctification,106
building up the Church,107 gifting us for ministry,108
and driving back the kingdom of Satan109 by the evangelization
of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus110
and doing the works of Jesus.111
WE
BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Jesus Christ112
and that He is our abiding Helper,113 Teacher,114
and Guide.115 We believe in the filling or the empowering
of the Holy Spirit,116 often a conscious experience,117
for ministry today.118 We believe in the present ministry
of the Spirit119 and in the exercise of all of the
biblical gifts of the Spirit.120 We practice the laying
on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit,121 for
healing,122 and for recognition and empowering of
those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the Church.123
WE
BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of Holy Scripture124
so that the Bible is without error125 in the original
manuscripts. We receive the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments126
as our final, absolute authority, the only infallible rule of faith127
and practice.128
WE
BELIEVE that the whole world is under the domination of Satan129
and that all people are sinners by nature130 and choice.131
All people therefore are under God's just judgement.132
Through the preaching of the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom of God133
and the work of the Holy Spirit,134 God regenerates,135
justifies,136 adopts137 and sanctifies138
through Jesus by the Spirit139 all who repent of their
sins140 and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord141
and Saviour.142 By this they are released from Satan's domain and enter into
God's kingdom reign.143
WE
BELIEVE in the one,144
holy,145 universal Church.146 All
who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior are regenerated
by the Holy Spirit147 and form the living Body of
Christ,148 of which He is the head149
and of which we are all members.150
WE
BELIEVE that Jesus Christ committed two ordinances to the Church: water
baptism151
and the Lord's Supper.152 Both are available to all
believers.
WE
BELIEVE that God's kingdom has come in the
ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ,153
that it continues to come in the ministry of the Spirit through the
Church,154 and that it will be consummated in the
glorious, visible and triumphant appearing of Christ155
- His return to the earth as King.156 After Christ
returns to reign,157 He will bring about the final
defeat of Satan and all of his minions and works,158
the resurrection of the dead,159 the final judgment160
and the eternal blessing of the righteous and eternal conscious punishment
of the wicked.161 Finally, God will be all in all162
and His kingdom, His rule and reign,163 will be fulfilled
in the new heavens and the new earth,164 recreated
by His mighty power, in which righteousness dwells165
and in which He will forever be worshipped.166
