We believe in:
The Holy Scriptures
The whole of the Old and New Testaments as originally given are the verbally inspired,
infallible and inerrant Word of God, and are the sole and all-sufficient authority
in every matter of Christian faith, worship and obedience. The teaching of the Holy
Spirit is necessary to a true and spiritual understanding of the whole.
The Trinity
One living and true God, sovereign in creation, providence and redemption subsisting
in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the same in substance and equal in
power and glory.
The Lord Jesus Christ
His eternal Sonship, His essential, absolute and eternal Deity. His true and sinless
humanity. His virgin birth by the agency of the Holy Spirit, whereby the two natures,
Divine and human are mystically joined in one glorious person. His perfect life
and obedience to the law of God. His death and burial. His physical resurrection,
ascension into heaven and intercession for His people. His personal return to judge
both the living and the dead; the just to eternal life in heaven, the unjust to
eternal damnation in hell.
The Holy Spirit
The personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit, who is the sole agent in the new birth
and in all that follows in the Christian life, namely saving faith, communion with
God, power in prayer, sanctification and transformation of character by His indwelling.
The Law of God
God has placed Adam and all his descendants under His Holy Law. By this law man
is required both to love the Lord his God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength,
and to love his neighbour as himself. Following the Fall, God elaborated these two
principles in Ten Commandments setting out man's duty towards God and towards his
fellows. This law is binding upon the saved and the unsaved alike, but the motive
of its observance by the Christian will be love to Christ, who has redeemed him
from its curse.
The Fall of Man in Adam
Adam being the representative of the human race, by his disobedience has caused
the guilt of sin to be imputed, and a corrupt nature conveyed to all his posterity.
Man therefore has wholly lost all ability to will any spiritual good, and being
dead in sin is unable to contribute in any' way to his conversion.
Election
The personal and unconditional election in Christ of a multitude, which no man can
number, unto everlasting salvation out of God's pure grace and love, regardless
of His foresight of their faith or good works.
Redemption
By Christ's perfect obedience and sacrifice of Himself which He, by the eternal
Spirit offered up unto God, He fully satisfied the justice of God, propitiated His
wrath and obtained for those chosen before the foundation of the world, redemption,
reconciliation and an everlasting inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Effectual Calling
Those whom God has predestinated unto life are effectually called by His Word and
by the Holy Spirit, their minds being spiritually enlightened and their wills being
renewed so that, being effectually drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ and enabled by
His grace, they come most willingly.
Justification
The justification of God's elect is only by the righteousness of Christ, imputed
to them without the consideration of any works of righteousness done by them; and
the full and free pardon of all their sins, past, present and to come, is only through
the substitutionary and atoning death of Christ, according to the riches of His
grace. This is known and enjoyed in experience through faith, which is the gift
of God.
Sanctification
Sanctification is the process by which God, through His Spirit and His Word, imparts
holiness to individual believers as they grow in grace, walking in the fear of God,
pressing after a heavenly life in obedience to all the commands of Christ. In this
life believers are never completely freed from the corruption of sin; and from this
corruption arises a continual warfare between the flesh and the spirit.
Perseverance
Those whom God has predestinated in Christ and effectually called by His Spirit,
can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly
persevere in that grace to the end, and be eternally saved.
The Church
The Universal Church which may be called invisible, consists of the whole number
of the elect who have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the
Head thereof.
Local Churches
It is the duty of all believers walking in the fear of the Lord, to unite with local
churches for their sanctification, and to maintain the ministry of the Gospel. Such
churches having the presence of Christ as Head, are responsible to Him, and in this
respect are independent of every other form of control, whether of Church or State.
They have the fullness of God, and to them is committed the stewardship of the Gospel,
the defence of the truth, the discipline of disorderly members, the appointment
of officers and the conduct of worship. It is the duty of the church to provide
for the united worship of the Lord's people in praise, prayer, mutual edification,
administration of the Sacraments and the propagation of the Gospel in the locality
of the Church, in the nation, and throughout the world. Ministry. The ascended Lord
bestows gifts upon men for the maintenance of His work on earth. The administration
of local churches is to be by elders and deacons; among the elders are those whom
we call pastors or ministers, and these are set apart for prayer and the study of
the Word, and should, so far as possible, be adequately maintained in material necessities,
so as to be disentangled from the Cares of a secular calling.
The Sacraments
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are sacraments of positive and sovereign institution,
appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's only Lawgiver, to be continued
in His Church to the end of the world. The sacrament of water baptism is to be administered
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and is a sign and
seal of the Covenant of Grace, of the believer's engrafting into Christ, of regeneration
and remission of sins. The Lord's Supper is to be observed as a memorial of the
sufferings and death of Christ, a means of strengthening the faith of believers,
and a bond and pledge of their communion with Him and with each other. It is in
no sense a sacrifice or continuation of the sacrifice of Calvary. The administration
of the Sacrament involves the sharing of bread and wine, both of which are to be
received by the communicants, and are symbols of the body and blood of Christ on
whom they spiritually feed by faith.
In reference to the above consult:
The Westminster Confession of Faith 1647
The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689
The Strict Baptist Affirmation of Faith 1966