God – We believe in the Eternal God who has revealed Himself in the scriptures as One God existing in Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are in unity and equal to every divine perfection and attribute; they are distinct but harmonious in their functions. (Matthew 28:19, I John 5:7-8)
Jesus
– We believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, was born of a virgin,
lived a sinless life as the Lamb of God, died on the cross and was resurrected
from the dead to atone for the sins of all mankind. He is now seated
in power and glory at the right hand of the Father in heaven. (Matthew
1:23, 3:17, 16:16, I John 2:2, Mark 16:19, Luke 22:69, Ephesians 1:20)
The
Holy Spirit – We believe the Holy Spirit is the third
Person of the Godhead that He is distinct from the Father and Jesus,
but is in perfect union and oneness with them. The Bible refers to the
Spirit as Holy and Jesus spoke of the Spirit as “He” and
“Him” rather than “it”, which teaches us that
He is Divine and a Person. The Holy Spirit seals believers until the
day of redemption and is a gift that God has given to those who repent
of their sins and receive Jesus as Savior. (Ephesians 1:13, Acts 2:38,
John 14:17, 16:13-14)
The Kingdom
of God – We believe that the kingdoms of this world
are temporal but the Kingdom of God is eternal and can never be shaken
or fall. Those who have received God’s Son have been translated
out of Satan’s power of darkness and into the light of God’s
Kingdom to receive salvation and an inheritance in Him. God has granted
all believers access into and to the things of the Kingdom. (Hebrews
12:28, Acts 26:16-18, John 3:5, Titus 3:5, James 1:18)
Jesus said that in order for people to enter into and see the Kingdom,
they must be born again of the Spirit; therefore it is only through
the regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we are able
to see (spiritually perceive or comprehend) the things of the Kingdom.
We believe that the saints have the God-given ability to not only see
the things of the Kingdom, but also because of the indwelling of Christ,
they carry the Kingdom power within them and will manifest its blessings
and benefits in the earth by proclaiming the Gospel with signs following
to authenticate that this message is from God. (John 3:3, Mark 16:15-20,
Luke 17:20-21, 22:29)
Salvation
– The Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believes. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God the
Father, eternal life and that He is the door into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus shed His blood on the cross to be a propitiation for the sins
of the whole world. (Romans 1:16, John 10:7-9, 14:6, I John 2:2)
It is by God’s grace that we are saved through faith in Jesus
Christ and salvation cannot be earned because it is a free gift from
God. When one repents of sin, confesses with their mouth that Jesus
is Lord and believes in their heart that God has raised Him from the
dead, they shall be saved. We also believe that when an individual accepts
the atonement of Christ, they have access to the Father by the Spirit
and become fellow citizens with the saints and are part of the household
of God. (Romans 3:25, 10:9-10, John 3:3-5, Ephesians 2:8, 9, 19)
Christian
Life – We believe that when an individual accepts
Jesus as Savior and Lord, that they receive a new nature in Christ and
have the ability to live a godly life through the power of the Holy
Spirit. We also believe that as saints of God we are not only saved
by God’s grace but are also kept by God’s grace throughout
our Christian walk as we live by faith in Christ and what He has accomplished
for us. Due to some extremism in the Church in the past and present,
we believe that it is important to stress balance in the lives of Christians
today and we believe that balance can be found in the Word of God and
through the guidance of the Spirit.
Although we do believe that the saints are to live by grace and faith
in Christ, we do not believe that anyone should take advantage of His
grace by continuing in sin as a way of life. Also, in light of the recent
surge of those reverting to the works of the law (of Moses) within the
body of Christ, we also do not believe that one should turn or return
to legalism or the rituals of Judaism once they have begun their Christian
walk by receiving God’s grace and Spirit. The New Covenant scriptures
warn of the dangers of the doctrines of men or reversion to Judaism
as a means of justification with God and plainly teach us that this
will alienate believers from Christ and cause them to fall away from
His grace. (Matthew 15: 1-20, Romans 6:1, Galatians 5:13, I Peter 2:16,
Galatians 1:6-9, 2:11-21, 3:1-5, 10-18, 5:1-4)
We believe that one can lose their salvation if they turn away from
the Lord with the full knowledge that He is the only way to salvation
since there is no other sacrifice for sins available except the blood
of Christ. We believe that the Lord is able to keep us saved, however,
until the day of redemption because of His blood sacrifice and power
but we must remain in Him alone as our source of life and salvation.
(Hebrews 6:4-8, 10:23-31, John 15:1-7)
Baptism
of the Spirit – We believe that the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit is a subsequent experience following salvation. John the
Baptist spoke of the One (Jesus) coming after him as the One who baptizes
with the Holy Spirit and fire. We believe the Lord Jesus fulfilled His
promise and sent the fire of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost
at the inception of the Church and that He still baptizes believers
in the Spirit today in order to empower His Church to fulfill the great
commission of preaching the gospel of Christ to the whole world. When
one receives the baptism of the Spirit, they also receive the gifts
of the Spirit as God wills to help encourage and build up the body of
Christ and empower the believer to help lead souls to the Lord. (Matthew
3:11, 28:16-20. Acts 1:8, 2:38, 19:1-6, Hebrews 2:3-4, I Corinthians
12: 4-11)
Ministry
– We believe in the five, ascension-gift ministries given by Christ,
the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor and teacher; for
the maturing and equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. We also believe in other ministry
gifts as listed in the Bible such as the office of the bishop, elders,
deacons, gifts of healings, helps, governments and diversities of tongues.
(Ephesians 4:11-16, I Timothy 3:1-13, 5:17, Titus 1: 5, I Corinthians
12:28)
There are different offices or functions in the Body that are according
to the grace of God which are prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation,
giving and ruling. We also believe that according to the New Covenant,
all believers have now been made priests in the household of God. Believers
should exercise their God-given gifts with love, in proportion to their
faith, to build up the body of Christ and to promote the cause of God’s
Kingdom. (Romans 12:4-8, I Corinthians chapters 12, 13, 14, I Peter
2:9-10)
Divine
Healing and Deliverance – We believe that divine
healing and deliverance is the power of God to heal the sick and deliver
those oppressed and possessed of the devil. God answers’ believing
prayer and divinely heals and delivers through vessels that He chooses
to work through. Both healing and deliverance are provided for in the
Atonement of Christ just as salvation is. We believe that God is willing
to, and does, heal the sick and deliver the oppressed and possessed
today. (Isaiah 53:4-5, Matthew 8:16-17, Mark 16:17-18, James 5:14-16,
Acts 3:16, 8:4-8, 16:16-18, 19:11-12)
Giving
– We believe that Christians under the New Covenant
have the freedom given to them by God to give according to grace. The
scriptures teach us that giving is one of the Christian gifts or graces
from God. (II Corinthians 8:6-7) Original scriptural examples of giving
within the early New Testament Church were by grace therefore, we believe
in and follow these examples as given in II Corinthians chapters 8,
II Corinthians 9:1-14 and James 2:14-17.
We do not believe however, that the saints of God in the New Covenant
are bound to the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Law since it has
been fulfilled and its commandments and ordinances abolished through
the Atonement of Christ. (Ephesians 2:15, Colossians 2:14) We also do
not believe that anyone in the body of Christ can command or coerce
others to give according to any regulations of the Old Testament Law
(i.e., tithing, first fruits, the Jewish festivals etc.) since it has
no authority in the lives of New Covenant believers. (Romans 7:1-6,
10,4, Galatians 2:16,21, 3:10-18)
In light of the ungodly and unscriptural tactics of some modern day
ministries, we also do not believe in anyone using intimidation, threats,
manipulation, deceit or condemnation as a means of trying to receive
offerings and/or tithes from the saints of God. We believe that if one
chooses to tithe, they have the freedom to do so but that their personal
choice to tithe should not be enforced as law upon the body of Christ.
We believe giving should be a positive experience where the saints can
give out of love, with a willing mind, cheerful heart and clear conscience.
The Second Coming of Christ – We believe that the second coming of Christ is personal, imminent and pre-millennial. Jesus will come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to rule and reign on the earth with His saints for one thousand years and then the Last Judgment will occur. (Revelation 1:7, 20: 4-6, 19: 11-16, 20:7-15)
The Rapture
– We do believe that the Lord is coming back and that the saints
that remain alive on this earth will meet Him in the air. (I Thessalonians
4:13-17) We do not believe, however, in the “escapism mentality”
so often associated with the doctrines of bible prophecy teachers on
the rapture, which can promote a spirit of fear instead of faith among
those in the Church. Although we believe that we should have knowledge
of end-time prophecies, we believe that it is spiritually unhealthy
for the Body of Christ to be taught to focus too much on the coming
anti-Christ, the beast and the tribulation rather than looking to Christ’s
power to protect and deliver. (I John 4:4, I Thessalonians 5:23)
We believe that the Church should instead focus more on “occupying”
our position of authority and power given to us by the Lord until He
returns by fulfilling the Great Commission by spreading the Gospel to
every nation. (Luke 19:13 KJV, Matthew 28:18-20) We believe that the
Church has been divinely called to bring glory to God in the earth and
that we must keep our eyes upon the Lord and trust Him to preserve us
whether we are here for the tribulation or not. God is able to keep
us preserved completely- spirit, soul and body until the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. (I Peter 2:9-10, Hebrews 12:2, 13:5-6, I Thessalonians
5:23)
*Of course this is not the sum total of our beliefs but will give you
some idea of what we believe. To receive greater detail as to what we
believe please read the teachings on our website.