SCRIPTURES
We believe that the Bible comprising the Old and New Testaments is verbally and fully inspired.
We believe that it is the work of men who were controlled by the Holy Spirit and that it is preserved from all human error in its writing.
We believe that it is the supreme revelation of the will of God to men and that it must be our only rule of faith and actions.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16;
2 PETER 1:19, 21.
THE TRUE GOD
We believe in one God, Creator of heaven and earth, in three persons.
1. Father
2 sons
3. Holy Spirit
We believe that these three people are all eternal, equal and share the same essence.
Exodus 20:2, 3;
1 Corinthians 8:6.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person possessing all the attributes of personality and divinity.
He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment.
He seals, fills, guides and teaches believers the paths of righteousness.
John 14:16, 17, 26 John 7:39 Hebrews 9:14; Ephesians 1:13, 14 Acts 1:5 1 Corinthians 12:13
We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is intended to unite the repentant sinner to the body of Christ, a spiritual operation which occurs during our regeneration.
1 Corinthians 12:13
We believe that speaking in tongues is by no means the necessary or certain sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
It appears in Scripture as a sign of the condemnation of Israel's unbelief, so believers need not look for it today.
1 Corinthians 14:21, 22
We believe that the Holy Spirit gives believers one or more gifts as He wills for the building up of the body of Christ and not for personal glory.
1 Corinthians 12:4, 11
Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.
He was God and man on earth, where He lived a sinless life.
He died voluntarily on the cross to expiate the sins of men.
He was buried but rose again on the third day and ascended to heaven bodily.
He will return to take his people with him and judge the world.
John 1:1; 1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 28:6;
John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16
MAN
We believe that the Scriptures teach that man was created by a direct act of God and not from any preexisting form of life.
By willful transgression he fell from his state of perfection, so that all men are now sinners by nature and choice.
Being completely devoid of that holiness which the law demands, man is positively inclined to evil, and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, without defense or excuse.
Genesis 1:27; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12, 19.
SALVATION
We believe that the Scriptures teach that salvation is a divine work, completely of grace through the mediating work of the Son of God, that it is not of works, and that it is only conditionally repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that to be saved, the sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in the Word of God.
The great gospel blessing includes both the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of divine righteousness solely by faith in the blood of redemption, that having exercised personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the believer is completely justified and is in possession of a salvation that he cannot lose.
Ephesians 2:8, 10; 2 Peter 1:4; Acts 13:39; 1 Peter 18, 23; John 10:28, 29; Hebrews 4:2
THE CHURCH
We believe that the Scriptures teach that the Church of Jesus Christ was inaugurated at Pentecost and should be viewed in two aspects:
The local Church and “the Church which is his body”.
The local church is a congregation of baptized believers, united by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel, keeping the ordinances of Christ, governed by the laws, and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges with which they have been invested by the speech.
Its leaders are the pastors, elders and deacons whose qualifications and duties are defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus.
“The Church which is his body” is the totality of believers in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, regardless of any denominational affiliation. She is present in heaven and on earth.
Ephesians 1:22, 23; Titus 1; Acts 2: 41, 42
BAPTISM AND LORD'S SUPPER
We believe that the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to show by a solemn symbol his identification with the crucified Saviour. , buried and resurrected, thus illustrating the believer's death to sin and resurrection to new life.
Baptism is an indispensable condition for becoming a member of a local church and taking part in its privileges.
We believe that the Lord's Supper is the commemoration of the death of Christ until He comes, and that it should be preceded by a solemn examination of conscience.
Acts 8:36, 39; 1 Corinthians 11:23, 28
ETERNITY
We believe the scriptures teach the physical resurrection of the just and the unjust.
All who by faith are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ shall spend eternity in the presence of God, and those who through impenitence and unbelief refuse to accept God's merciful offer shall spend eternity in the presence of God. eternity in eternal punishment.
Psalms 16:11; Matthew 25:46; John 14:2; John 5:28, 29
SATAN
We believe that the Scriptures teach that the devil exists. He is the "god of this century", the "prince of the power of the air", he is full of cunning and he constantly seeks to destroy the plans of God and ensnare men.
He was defeated by Christ on the cross and is condemned to eternal punishment.
Ephesians 2:22 Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 11:13, 15; 2 Corinthians 4:4; HEBREWS 2:14
CHRISTIAN LIFE
We believe the scriptures teach that every believer, with the help of the Holy Spirit, should walk in love and holiness, manifesting the virtues of honesty, integrity, kindness and spirituality. We believe, further, that they are accompanied by sincere humility and genuine zeal for the advancement of the cause of Christ.
2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 5:22, 25; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Peter 5:5-6; Proverbs 15:33; Ephesians 5:1; 4:32.
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
We believe according to Scripture in the existence of spiritual evil beings opposed to God who followed Satan in his rebellion against the Lord of the universe.
We believe they are all doomed to suffer eternally for their rebellion without the possibility of forgiveness or repentance.
We believe that they act on earth primarily to seduce mankind and turn them away from worshiping and even knowing the true God.
We believe that demons and Satan are opposed to believers and do everything to tempt them, prevent them from serving God and praising him.
We believe that Christ's victory on the cross has given us a final but not fully consummated victory (it will be at Christ's return) over all spiritual enemies because the sin that held believers captive has been fully forgiven.
The enemy therefore no longer has any legal right or power over the children of God.
We therefore believe that Christians should live without fear of the enemy.
We believe that at no time can a believer be possessed by a demon. (The term does not exist in Scripture by the way.)
We believe that believers can suffer physical attacks (diseases for example) from the enemy and more or less oppressive suggestions to sin against God.
These attacks, however, are permitted by God Himself, so nothing could happen to the believer that God has not permitted.
Satan cannot take initiatives against a child of God without divine permission.
We expressly reject any practice aimed at seeking information on the occult world.
Any published work, any testimony trying to reveal what would happen in the realm of darkness would only be an experience of an individual and could not be held up as doctrinally sound and a truth that we must believe with certainty.
Except the authority of the Scriptures, no revelation, prophecy, vision, dream can be taken into account to allow an action or a reflection within our assembly.
The enemy must therefore be fought by all true Christians with regular praise, holy living and insistent prayers to our Father.
God is able to deal with our adversaries.
The fight of the Christian against his three enemies is realized:
- against the world, by detaching his affections from the vain and bad things that the world offers him;
- against the flesh, by renouncing with tenacity and perseverance one's passions and desires and by practicing confession and repentance;
- against Satan and his demons by resisting him, being continually clothed in the complete armor of God by leading a holy life, by a praise based on the truths of Scripture, by a life of persevering and insistent prayers to our Father at which belongs to all authority, asking deliverance and restoration. We believe according to the Scriptures that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross definitely and definitively defeated the power of Satan and his demons.
This victory, from which we benefit by the grace of God, is the consequence of the atonement of sins, accomplished by Christ in our favour.
Gen 3; Rev 14; Gen 3:14; Apoc 20; 2 Thess 2:9; Rev 16:13; Jobs 1 and 2; Zech 3; 2 Cor 2:11; 1 Thess 2:18.