STATEMENT OF FAITH

  1. (The Holy Scriptures) We believe that the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament are inspired by God and constitute the one perfect rule for our Christian faith and practice. They are infallible; they do not lead us to failure and death, but to truth and life.
  2. (God) We believe that there is only one living true God who has revealed Himself in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  God is the almighty creator, and sustainer of all things; the ruler of all history; the holy one; the just judge of all men, and the merciful redeemer.
  3. (Human Sin) We believe that the first man Adam was created holy, in the image of God, but fell by voluntary transgression of the commandment of God into a state of sin and death; and that in consequence of his fall all his natural posterity have inherited his corruption.  They are without power to keep His law perfect, and therefore they are guilty before the wrath of God and condemned to eternal punishment.  We believe that all are sinners by nature and by choice and are, therefore, under condemnation.
  4. (Jesus Christ) We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ in his person united true Godhead and true manhood, that he through his perfect obedience before the law of God and through his atoning death has opened for all a way to redemption and salvation from this lost state, and that everyone who from his heart believes in him will become a partaker of his redemption and salvation without merit or worthiness of his own.
  5. (The Gospel) We believe that the gospel, namely, the good news of the salvation which is acquired through Christ, has to be preached to the whole world; that everyone who hears the gospel is under obligation to repent with a sincere grief before God to confess and abandon his sins, and at the same time to believe in Christ as his only and all-sufficient Savior, and that whoever may refuse to do so will incur upon himself condemnation.
  6. (Election) We believe that saving faith is a gift from God and entirely a fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit through the Word; that all who are to be saved have been given by the Father to the Son and were chosen in him for salvation and sonship before the foundation of this world was laid; and that we must with utmost diligence seek to obtain assurance of our own election.
  7. (The Law of God) We believe that the law of God has for its end:  (1) a restraint for the ungodly to restrain them from performing all the evil purposes of their heart; (2) a schoolmaster or custodian to bring sinners to Christ and to show them their inability to fulfill the just claims of God and thus to awaken in them the need of grace and forgiveness of sin;  (3) a rule for the walk of believers to be followed in the spirit of the new covenant.
  8. (The Ordinances) We believe that there are two ordinances of the Church, believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Christians are baptized upon repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  Baptism is a sign of our union with Christ through which we put on Christ and identify ourselves with his death and resurrection.  Baptism signifies the washing away of sin, the start of a new life in Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the Lord’s Supper, we remember our crucified Lord and have fellowship with Him who gave His body for our salvation and who called the Church into the new covenant in His blood.  In the Lord’s Supper, the fellowship of the body of Christ is particularly represented when we share the same bread and the same wine.
  9. (The Church) We believe that a true Christian Church is a union of believing and baptized Christians, who have covenanted to strive to keep all that Christ has commanded, to sustain public worship, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to choose among themselves shepherds and church leaders, to administer baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to practice discipleship, to promote godliness and brotherly love, and to contribute to the general spread of the gospel.
  10. (Religious Liberty) We believe that every human being has direct relation with God, and is responsible to God alone in all matters of faith; that each church is independent and must be free from interference by any ecclesiastical or political authority; that therefore Church and state must be kept separate as having different functions, each fulfilling its duties free from dictation or patronage of the other.
  11. (The Holy Spirit) We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.  We believe that the Holy Spirit regenerates those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior.  We rely upon the presence and fullness of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our understanding of the Word of God and in the application of its truth for our life.  We acknowledge that the Holy Spirit produces within us the fruit of the Holy Spirit and empowers us with His gifts for service and ministry.  The Father and the Son sent the Spirit to bear witness to the Son; without the witness of the Spirit our witness becomes futile.  Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth, and Christian growth are all the works of the Spirit.  Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is an evangelistic spirit.  Thus evangelism should arise spontaneously from a Spirit-filled Church.  A Church that is not an evangelistic Church is contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit.  Worldwide evangelism will become a realistic possibility only when the Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love, and power.
  12. (Evangelism) We believe that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly penetration of the world.  We believe that we need to break out of our ecclesiastical ghettos and permeate non-Christian society.  To evangelize is to spread the good news that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that, as reigning Lord, He now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.  Evangelism is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Savior and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God.  Jesus calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community.  The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.
  13. (The Last Things) We believe that this world is to come to an end; that our Lord Jesus Christ will reappear on the earth on the last day, wake up the dead, and execute a general judgment in which all wicked men will be irrevocably condemned to eternal punishment, while all believing and righteous men will be solemnly established in their possession of the kingdom which was prepared for them from the beginning of the world.