The Sovereignty of God

God is completely sovereign, in control of absolutely everything at all times. There is not a single molecule floating about in the universe that is outside of His sovereign will and purpose. Everything that happens is either caused or allowed by Him for His own perfect purposes.

God almighty is absolutely sovereign in all things, specifically in predestination, creation, providence, and salvation (Rom. 8:28-30; 11:33-36).

Everything that comes to pass in time was predestinated by God in eternity and is brought to pass by God in providence for the salvation of his elect (Rom. 8:28-30; Eph. 1:11).

Creation

God created all things, including the spirit world, out of nothing, in six literal days. He rested on the seventh day, which was also a literal day. God did NOT create over a long period of time. Evolution and theistic evolution are heresies. It is not possible, scientifically or Biblically, for one kind to evolve into another kind.

Sin

All humankind are born in sin. There are no exceptions to this law and no exceptions to the law of judgment upon them. Sin separates us all from God.

Adam and Eve were sinless when they were created by God. Through their disobedience to God, sin entered the world. This disobedience was the original sin and was the fall of mankind. Since the fall of man, all humans are born in sin.

Original sin is the cause of all secondary sins. Even if humans lived impossibly perfect lives and never committed any other sins during their lives, they would still be eternally damned, because of their original sin with which all men are born.

The Trinity

We believe there is only one true God. He is a Trinity. He is one God eternally existing in three co-equal Persons; Father and Son and Holy Spirit.

Salvation

We hold firmly to the glorious doctrines of grace as laid out clearly in Scripture. It is in this way that God saves sinners by His sovereign grace which results in God receiving all the glory for their being saved. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9.)

Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ and His finished work of redemption alone. It is not by the free will or good works or religion of man. We are directly opposed to all will-worship, works based, self righteous and legalistic religious church practices.

We believe in the total depravity of all men by sin; the personal, eternal election of God unto salvation; the particular redemption of the elect by Christ’s blood; the irresistible grace of the Holy Spirit in effectual calling; and the final perseverance of the saints in faith and holiness.

God in His Sovereignty chose some of Adam’s fallen race to eternal life in Christ before the world began (Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Thess. 2:13-14).

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for and redeemed those elect sinners chosen to salvation in eternity and called to life and faith in Him in time (Heb. 9:12; Rev. 5:9).

God the Holy Spirit regenerates and calls every chosen, redeemed sinner to life and faith in Christ by the irresistible power of his grace through the preaching of the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17; 10:13-17; 1 Cor. 1:21-23; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 23-25).

Every sinner born again by God’s free, sovereign, irresistible grace is kept in life and faith in Christ by that same grace unto eternal glory, being sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13-14).

All who are born of God, being redeemed by Christ, are forever and entirely free from the law (Rom. 6:14-15; 7:4; 10:4).

Our doctrine is the gospel of salvation by God’s free and sovereign grace through the merits of Christ, our crucified, risen, exalted Lord and King, who gives eternal life to whom he will. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). “So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy” (Rom. 9:16).

We reject such human devices such as ‘altar calls’ or any other suggestion that we may choose God or choose to be saved.

The Church

We are not ruled, governed or in any way obligated to any creed, any denominational confession of faith, or any tradition of men that is not explicitly laid out in the Word of God. Each assembly of believers is to be independent and self-governing.

The church of Christ is our spiritual family. The people of God are our brothers and sisters. The greatest earthly privilege that we enjoy, the greatest earthly blessing God has bestowed upon us, is the privilege of being a part of this assembly of believers. The church is made up of men and women, sinful, mortal people of flesh and blood, frail, weak, depraved men and women; but they are men and women in Christ who are redeemed and regenerated by the grace of God. Fellowship involves communion, agreement of heart, and unity of spirit. Where there is no agreement upon gospel truths there is no fellowship.

It is one thing to have our names a church role, but it is something else to be a member of the church of God. Church membership is an alliance of hearts to one another in Christ. It is a voluntary commitment of love, a loving commitment to Christ and to one another for Christ’s sake. To unite with the church of God is to make a public commitment to the worship of Christ, the gospel of Christ, and the church of Christ.

We believe that the true church adheres to the Word of God alone as its only standard and rule of faith and practice.

We believe that the Church consists only of those sinners saved by Grace. ‘Membership’ is automatic for such. The Church of Jesus Christ is not a building or a denomination on earth and it has no earthly leaders, pope or head. All Christians who have been, or who will be, born, are forever of the True Church.

There are to be no popes, bishops, synods, denominations or any other unbiblical hierarchies to answer to and to be corrupted by. Jesus Christ is the only Head and Lawgiver of the church, through His Word.

We believe in the priesthood of the believers.

We believe in the separation of church and state.

Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour

Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, Lord, Christ and the only Savior of men. He is the God-man, true God and true man in one Person and the one Mediator between God and men. He died a substitutionary death on the cross for the sins of His people, was buried, and rose again bodily from the dead the third day. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Race and nations

All people are created in the image of God. All people are of one race – the human race. The idea that there must be many different races is a man-made concept and is as unbiblical as it is unscientific. There are many ethnic groups and nations, but all belong to one race. All forms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination are affronts to the work of Christ on the cross.

The End Times

We believe in the single, personal, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory at the last day to raise all men from the dead for the final and general judgment. This will be immediately followed by the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. The wicked shall then go into everlasting punishment in hell and the righteous into life eternal in heaven, which is the eternal state.

Heaven and Hell

We believe that Heaven and Hell are real places. Hell is a place of unimaginable terror and woe, a place removed from the Presence of God. Heaven is a place filled with joy and peace and is in the Presence of God.

The Bible, the Word of God

We believe that the Bible in the entirety of its 66 books is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. We do not believe that there is any form of extra-biblical revelation that takes place since the inception of the complete canon of Scripture. The Word of God, completely and utterly, is perfect and without flaw or contradiction. It is our only guide for living and for faith.

We uphold the Five Solas being Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria.

Apostles, prophets and gifts today

There are none who hold the offices of prophet or apostle today. There are none today who have the gifts of speaking in tongues, miracles, healing, or prophecy. There is no need for any of these things. We have the full, final, complete revelation of God in the Scriptures. Since that which is Perfect is come, that which was in part is no longer needed. Gifts of the Spirit can be, and often are, counterfeited by Satan (2 Thess. 2:7-10). Miraculous gifts, which appear to be gifts of the Spirit, are by no means an evidence of grace, salvation, and eternal life.

Satan and Demons

Before Satan sinned, he was chief among the angels of heaven. Satan sinned against God and was thrown out of heaven by God to inhabit earth for a season, along with other angels who supported his evil intentions. The angels who were cast out of heaven along with Satan are called demons. Satan and his demons are spirit creatures and they have immense power, knowledge and influence, but have been overcome by Jesus Christ.

Demons are not spirits of the dead or “ghosts”. Because of their great ability to influence mankind, they are able to fool people into believing many lies. They are able to mimic people, influence people and pretend to be friendly spirits of dead people, but all manifestations of this kind are evil. Demons cannot “possess” Christians who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, but they can and do tempt, influence and cause the saved Christian to commit sin.

Satan has been defeated, overcome and bound by Jesus Christ (Rev 20, Matt 12), and as such, he is unable to stop the arrival and advance of the kingdom. However, Satan can still wield great influence over people. He is now even more dangerous, angry and active than before he was defeated, because he knows his time is short and that he is soon to be cast into the lake of fire for eternity at the coming of our victorious Lord Jesus Christ.

Ecumenism

We believe that ecumenism is a tool of Satan and is not of God. Ecumenism refers to the combining of ‘Protestantism’ and Roman Catholicism, Christianity and any religion, or the joining together of whole denominations. All denominations are made up of local churches whose local witness and beliefs may be unsound and whose individual members may, or may not, be saved. Only the saved may join with the saved, and no other. Ecumenism could possibly also apply to the confluence of local churches for wider ‘witness’, especially where some churches may have unsound witness and doctrine.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe there are only two church ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s table

We believe that immersion in water of believers is the only true Biblical baptism. Any value granted to infant baptism, is a great deception. Infant baptism is no true baptism, and should be avoided lest those who are spiritually immature be led astray by the false connotations to this belief.

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act performed in memory of Jesus Christ. The purpose of taking part in this service is not to ‘get a blessing’, but simply to remember Jesus Christ and His Perfect sacrifice, until His Second Coming.

The Reformation

We believe that the Reformation was an act of God and the greatest revival ever. This does not imply that we support believers who wish to be known as ‘Calvinists’ or ‘Reformed’. We do not subscribe to those affiliations; we do not ascribe to ourselves the title of Reformed, Calvinist or any other humanly-devised denomination.

Calvinism

We believe that Calvinism is no better than Arminianism or Romanism, if that Calvinism is without Christ. Calvinism has no more to do with salvation than Arminianism or Romanism does. Christians are not those who have been converted to Calvinism. Christians are not concerned with converting unbelievers to Calvinism. Christians want to see sinners saved by the grace of God, converted by the power of God to Jesus Christ the Lord. What matters is how the Bible defines the Gospel, not the definition thereof according to Arminius, Calvin, Roman Catholicism, the Baptist church, Mormonism or any other source other than Scripture.

Heresies, false doctrines, practices and religions

This is by no means a complete historical list and it is constantly being added to. With the vast diversity of deceptions that Satan has used to mislead people, we would probably need hundreds of pages of this nature to mention them all. Even in this list there are glaring omissions, which we will gladly add if you would make us aware of them. We believe that these are all false doctrines, movements and practices, and that there are many others.

Adoptionism, Albigensianism, All religions, Altar calls, Anglo-Israelism, Antinomianism, Apollinarianism, Arianism, Arminianism, Asceticism, Averroism, Bishops, Centering prayer, Charismaticism, Christadelphianism, Christian Science, Christian Zionism, Common Grace, Decision theology, Denominationalism, Dispensationalism, Divorce and remarriage, Docetism, Donatism, Ecumenism, Emergent movement, Eutychianism, Evolution, Extra-Biblical revelation, Feeneyism, Full preterism, Gnosticism, Hebrew Roots movement, Humanism, Iconodulism, Idolatry, Iglesia ni Christo, Institute of Metaphysical research, Interfaith movement, International Churches of Christ, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Joels Army, Kenosis, Kingdom Now theology, Labyrinth ‘walking’, Latter rain movement, Lectio Divina, Legalism, Liberalism, Manichaeism, Marcionism, Modalism, Modernism, Monarchianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Montanism, Mormonism, Mysticism, Nestorianism, New Age movement, New Anointing, New Apostolic Reformation, New Calvinism, New Wine movement, Ogamisama, Oneness Pentecostals, Paedobaptism, Panentheism, Pantheism, Patripassionism, Pelagianism, Pentecostalism, Prayer ‘soaking’, Popery, Post-apostolic faith healing, Post-apostolic glossolalia, Post-modernism, Prayer ‘walking’, Prosperity preaching, Public or organized fasting, Rastafarianism, Reformed Charismaticism, Reincarnationism, Religious tolerance, Roman Catholicism, Sabellianism, Sacred name movement, Scientology, Semi-pelagianism, Sinner’s prayer, Slain in the Spirit, Socinianism, solo Scriptura, Subordinationism, Synergism, Synods, Theistic evolution, Tritheism, Unification church, Unitarianism, Unity Church, Universal atonement, Universal World church, Universalism, Woman pastors or elders, Word of Faith movement, Xenolalia

We agree that “The greatest deception to fall upon humanity is by far the deception of self-righteousness–the erroneous belief that man can earn immortality through religious works”.- Ray Comfort

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