Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Statement of Faith

I believe as follows:

  1. I believe in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, consisting of the 66 canonical books of the Bible in their original writing as fully inspired of God and accept them as the supreme and final authority for faith and life.
  2. I believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  3. I believe in Jesus Christ who is the unique Son of Father God, became human by the Holy Spirit, was born of the virgin Mary and is true God and true man. He lived and served among mankind, living a sinless life.
  4. I believe that God created man in His own image; that man transgressed and thereby incurred the penalty of sin which is death, physical and spiritual; that all human beings inherit a sinful nature which results (in the cases of those who reach moral responsibility) in actual transgression for which they are personally accountable.
  5. I believe that sin is any thought, action or inaction that does not arise from or not live up to any of God’s standards of perfection.
  6.  I believe that the world’s fallen condition is caused by sin and that mankind, indeed all of nature, exists in a fallen condition that does not conform to God’s original creation.
  7. I believe that all people can only find their identities in God.
  8. I believe that we have been redeemed from sin by the blood of Jesus who died as our substitute.
  9. I believe that we live in an era of God’s grace where everyone’s sin will be condoned if they call out to God with a humble and repentant heart.
  10. I believe that those who are forgiven are reckoned righteous on the grounds of His shed blood and through nothing else.
  11. I believe that all who repent of their sins and receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith are born again of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.
  12. I believe that divine healing of body, soul and spirit was provided for in the Old Testament and is an integral part of the Gospel.
  13. I believe that God’s miracle-working power is still alive and active on earth to deal with the consequences of sin according to His mercy and grace.
  14. I believe in the baptism in the Holy Spirit and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, empowering and equipping believers for service with the accompanying supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit.
  15. I believe that God releases His grace and power according to the faithfulness and trust of those who know Him intimately.
  16. I believe in the physical (bodily) resurrection of the Lord Jesus, His ascension into Heaven, and His present life as our High Priest and Advocate.
  17. I believe in the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  18. I believe in the resurrection of both the just and the unjust, the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and the eternal banishment of those who have rejected God’s offer of salvation.
  19. I believe that at the resurrection of the saints, they will receive perfect spiritual bodies that cannot die.
  20. I believe the Bible teaches that without sanctification no man can see the Lord. I believe in the doctrine of sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of the new birth and continuing until the resurrection of the saints from the dead at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
  21. I believe that God’s progressive work of grace in every believer follows a predetermined pattern and that this pattern is clearly visible throughout the Bible.
  22. I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ appointed two ordinances – Baptism in water; and the Lord’s Supper – to be observed as acts of obedience and as perpetual witnesses to the essential facts of the Christian faith; that Baptism is the immersion of the believer in water as a confession of faith through the identification with Christ in burial and resurrection; and that the Lord’s Supper is the partaking of the emblems symbolic of the Saviour’s broken body and shed blood, in remembrance of His sacrificial death until He comes.
  23. I believe that God ordained marriage relationships to express the intimate, nurturing and loving nature of God.
  24. I believe that God does not give anyone a ministry of criticism. Jesus said: “let those who are without sin throw the first stone.” 
  25. I believe that all people should be loved as an unconditional choice and be treated with respect, irrespective of their gender, religion, culture or social status.
  26. I believe that every Christian has the mandate to proclaim the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ to all people.
  27. I believe that church on earth is a spiritual and not a physical building, that the one true Church is the whole fellowship of all those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and regenerated by the Holy Spirit; that the new birth and personal confession of Christ are essential for Church membership.
  28. I believe that leadership in the church starts with servanthood.
  29. I believe that God develops and raises up visionaries to operate as leaders in the church in unity with other church leaders who will hold each other accountable in truth and love.
  30.  I believe in the divinely ordained Biblical ministries of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and preacher.
  31. I believe that local church leadership carry the responsibility for oversight and care of their staff and members.
  32. I believe that church leaders get their authority from God and are accordingly accountable to Him.
  33. I believe that the Church is open to any further truth which the Holy Spirit may illuminate from the Holy Scriptures. I believe that further revelations by the Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word of God and will always correspond with the character of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Pieter de Waal