The Bible

We teach the full and complete verbal inspiration of all sixty-six books of the Bible. By this we understand that the Holy Spirit not only inspired the thoughts of the writers, but also the way in which their thoughts were written down with the result that the original documents were without error.

We teach that the textual integrity of the original documents has been marvellously preserved through the centuries, and that all modern translations which reflect careful and competent orthodox scholarship reliably bridge the gap between Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek manuscripts and the English language.

God

We teach that God actively pursues a loving relationship with each and every person, and that His desire is that all people come to know, love and honour Him through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The Son

We teach the bodily, pre-tribulation return of Jesus Christ in the air—that he will come and gather to himself all who have placed their faith in Him, both living and dead.

We teach the bodily, pre-millennial return of Jesus Christ—that He will return with His church at the close of the tribulation to judge the nations and set up His earthly Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit

We teach that the Holy Spirit seals, baptises and indwells a person at conversion, that His presence in every believer will be evidenced by growth toward spiritual maturity, and that the Holy Spirit gives gifts and abilities to every believer in order to build up the body of Christ.

We teach that the Holy Spirit can and does work in miraculous ways today, but that such miracles are not the predictable or guaranteed result of prayer offered in faith. While we encourage all believers to pray in faith, believing that we serve an all powerful God who delights in answering the prayers of His people, we also encourage the acceptance of God’s sovereign will in regard to matters of the supernatural.

People

We teach that all Christians are equal in status and worth before God regardless of gender, that the priesthood of all believers is independent of gender, and that both men and women are gifted by the Holy Spirit and called to use such gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ.

While we hold to the essential equality of men and women before God, we teach that God has ordained some distinct spiritual functions for men and women in the context of the home and the church. The husband is the head of the home and as such is to love his wife, care for and serve her, modelling his sacrificial service after that of the Lord Jesus. The wife is to willingly accept the headship of their husband and seek to support, encourage and love him. In the church, only suitably qualified men are to be elders, and only suitably qualified men are to teach during the formal, collective gatherings of the church.

We teach that marriage in the eyes of God is the joining of one man and one woman in a life-long commitment of love to one another.

Salvation, Satan and the Eternal State

We teach that salvation results in and is made evident by a God honouring life and good works, and that all those who become children of God by action of the Holy Spirit are eternally secure from all condemnation.

We teach that Satan is the author of sin, is the open and declared enemy of God and man, and that he will be eternally punished in the lake of fire.

We teach that at the end of the millennial age the earth will be destroyed and a new, unblemished earth will be created, where all those in the family of God will live in loving relationship with Him forever.

We teach that all who refuse God’s offer of forgiveness through Christ will suffer the consequences of such rejection by being consciously cast away from his presence forever.

The Church

We teach that the Church is the family of God, the Body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit, created by God to glorify Him on the earth by reaching out to people who do not know Christ, offering worship to Him in thought, word and deed, growing in maturity to be like Christ, and lovingly serving others in His Name. We teach that God expects each local church to be a worshipping community which spreads the gospel message both locally and globally, and lovingly encourages its members toward Christian maturity and selfless service in the name of Christ.

We teach the ordinances of baptism of believers by immersion and the regular observance of the Lord's Supper. Neither of these ordinances have a role in salvation, but are important expressions of spiritual truth.

Conclusion

We acknowledge that the above doctrinal statement in no way exhausts the content of our faith which is the entire Word of God.