“There is one Body and one
Spirit…there is one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, and one God and Father for us
all…”Ephesians 4:4-6
·In non-essential beliefs-we have liberty.
“Accept him whose faith is weak,
without passing judgment on disputable
matters…Who are you to judge someone else’s
servant? To his own master he stands or
falls…So then each of us will give an account to
himself to God… So whatever you believe about
these things keep between yourself and God.”
Romans 14:1, 4, 12, 22
·In all our beliefs-we show charity.
“…If I hold in my mind not only all
human knowledge but also the very secrets of
God, and if I have the faith that can move
mountains-but have no love, I amount to nothing
at all.”
1 Cor.13:1-3
The Essentials
We Believe
1.About God
God is the Creator and Ruler of the
universe. He has eternally existed in
three personalities: the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal
and are one God.
Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:22, Psalm
90:2, Matthew 28:19, 1 Peter 1:2, 11,
Corinthians 13:14
2.About Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
He is co-equal with the Father. Jesus
lived a sinless human life and offered Himself
as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all
people by dying on a cross. He arose from the
dead after three days to demonstrate His power
over sin and death. He ascended to
Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to
earth to reign as King of Kings, and Lord of
Lords.
Matthew 1:22, 23; Isaiah 9:6; John
1:1-5, 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14, 15; 1 Corinthians
15:3, 4; Romans 1:3, 4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy
6:14, 15; Titus 2:13
3.About the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the
Father and the Son of God. He is present
in the world to make men aware of their need for
Jesus Christ. He also lives in every
Christian from the moment of salvation. He
provides the Christian with power for living,
understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance
in doing what is right. He gives every believer
a spiritual gift when they are saved. As
Christians, we seek to live under His control
daily.
The Bible is God’s Word to us. The
Bible is God’s way of speaking to us. It was
written by human authors, under the supernatural
guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the
supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs
and living. Because it is inspired by God,
it is the truth without any mixture of error.
People are made in the spiritual
image of God, to be like Him in character.
People are the supreme object of God’s creation.
Although every person has tremendous potential
for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of
disobedience toward God called “sin.” This
attitude separates people from God and causes
many problems in life.
We believe that Jesus Christ, the
Living Son of God, was given by God as a
sacrifice for the sins of all men. Christ
died on the cross to mend the broken
relationships which were caused by man’s sin of
disobedience. This severed relationship
between God and man may be restored into perfect
harmony through belief in Jesus Christ by faith,
and not on the basis of our works (Galatians
5:4, 5; Ephesians 2:8, 10). This belief
and faith in Jesus Christ, recognizing Him as
Lord and Savior, gives men and women the free
gift of eternal life (John 1:29; 3:16; 1
Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Peter 1:19).
After receiving salvation by faith through
belief in Jesus Christ, the “born-again” (John
3) believer may live free from the judgment of
God, by living a life according to the teaching
of the scriptures and trusting the Holy Spirit
for the power to live a holy life according to
God’s Word.
7.About Good Works
We believe that after we have
experienced regeneration, that all will sin and
fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23),
for in this life there is no such height or
strength of holiness from which it is impossible
to fall. But, by the grace of God, one who
has fallen into sin may, by confession and true
repentance, find forgiveness and restored
fellowship with God (Matthew 18:21; 1 John 1:9;
John 15:6; 2 Peter 2:20-22). We believe
that even though men and women cannot receive
salvation by good works, their good works are
still pleasing to God and show evidence of a
true faith in God, and Jesus as Lord of the
believer’s life.
Matthew 5:16; 7:16-20; Romans 3:20;
Galatians 2:16; James 2:18, 22
8.About Eternity
We believe all people will exist
beyond this life in eternity. We will have
eternal life with God in Heaven, or eternal
death and punishment with Satan in Hell. To
obtain eternal life with God in Heaven we must
believe in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, God’s son, who was sent by God to redeem
us. Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way the
truth and the life, no one comes to the Father
(heaven) but through me.” Those who don’t
believe in Christ as their savior, and choose
not to follow Him, will be separated from
believers, like the sheep are from the Goats,
and will be cast into Hell and into eternal
punishment for their sins.
John 2:16; John 14: 17; Romans 6:
23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; 1
Corinthians 2:7-9
9.About Baptism
We believe Christian baptism,
according to the Bible, is an outward testimony
of what has occurred inwardly in a believer’s
life. Christian baptism illustrates a believer’s
identification with Christ’s death, burial, and
resurrection. The Bible declares, “Or don’t you
know that all of us who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We
were therefore buried with Him through baptism
into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the
father; we too may live a new life” (Romans
6:3-4). In Christian baptism, the action of
being immersed in the water pictures us being
buried with Christ. The action of coming out of
the water pictures our resurrection with Christ,
and our new life with Him. The word Baptize in
the Greek literally means “immerse, submerge,
dip or bury.” Therefore, we believe that the
Biblical form of baptism is full immersion. In
Christian baptism, there should be two
requirements before a person is baptized: 1) the
person being baptized must accept and trust in
Jesus Christ as their savior, and 2) the person
must understand what baptism signifies.
According to the Bible, Christian baptism is
simply a step of obedience and a public
proclamation of one’s faith in Christ alone for
salvation.
Acts 8:36-37; Acts 2:41; Romans
6:3-6
10.About Communion
We believe that Christian Communion
is a remembrance of what Christ did for us, and
a celebration of what we receive as a result of
His sacrifice. “For I received from the Lord
Jesus what I also delivered to you, that the
Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed
took bread, and when He had given thanks, He
broke it, and said ”This is my body which is
broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my
blood. Do this in remembrance of me”. For as
often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”.
(Corinthians 11:23-26) Christian believers
participate in communion, remembering “the Lamb
of God, which takes away the sins of the world”
(John 1:29). Through Christ’s death on the cross
we have participated in “the blood of the
everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20). Never
again need another die, for Christ has set us
free. We are to remember this as we receive the
fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread. Each
time, we recall that “without the shedding of
blood is no remission of sin” (Hebrews 9:22).
Only through faith in Christ whose body was
broken and whose blood was shed for our
salvation are we delivered from sin. We gladly
allow all believers to participate in communion
with us, in which we partake of once a month.
