Gospel at the Centre

We believe that the gospel is the good news of what God has accomplished for sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. This great accomplishment includes our forgiveness from sin and complete justification before God. We are no longer bound for hell but rather included in His heavenly family.

This Gospel is not only the means by which people are saved, but also the truth and power by which people are sanctified. It is the truth of the Gospel that enables us to genuinely and joyfully do what is pleasing to God and to grow in progressive conformity to the image of Christ.

The salvation offered in this gospel message is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; no ordinance, ritual, work, or any other activity on the part of man is required in order to be saved.

• Race: We are all equally made in the image of God and therefore are deserving of equal respect regardless of ethnicity (Gen 1:27).
• Sex: God created humans both male and female and therefore we recognise a person’s sex as wholly determined by biological factors (Gen 1:27).
• Sexuality: We are called to celibacy in singleness and loving faithfulness between a man and woman in marriage (Gen 1-2, 19, Lev 18,20, Rom 1, 1 Cor 6, 1 Tim 1, Eph 5)
• The Environment: We are called to steward God’s resources, which includes the ongoing care and protection of the earth (Gen 1:26-28, 2:15, Prov 12:10)

We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man,

without ceasing to be God. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order that He might reveal God, fulfil prophecy, and redeem sinful humanity. We believe He accomplished our redemption through His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, His burial, and His bodily resurrection. We believe our redemption and salvation are guaranteed by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead and that He is the only means of salvation (John 1:1; 14; 18; Luke 1:35; Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Timothy 2:5).

We believe that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, the Creator and Sustainer of heaven and earth, and the Head of the church. We believe the Lord Jesus Christ is now in heaven, exalted to the right hand of God where, as High Priest to His people, He serves as our Advocate and intercedes for us (Colossians 1:15-19; Hebrews 1:3; 3:1; 7:23-25; 1 John 2:1-2).

We believe there is one God, that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are each God, and that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are each a distinct person (Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 2:9; Acts 5:3-4).

We believe salvation is a sovereign gift of God and is received by believers through personal faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for sin. We believe that believers are justified by grace through faith apart from works (Acts 13:38-39; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2:8-10). We believe that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation and that no one is saved apart from a conscious and personal decision to trust in Christ as his or her one and only Saviour (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-10).

We believe sanctification, which is a setting apart unto God, is positional, progressive, and ultimate. Positionally, it is already complete since the believer is in Christ and is set apart unto God as Christ is set apart unto god. Since the Christian retains his sinful nature, however, there is need for progressive sanctification whereby he grows in grace by the power of the Spirit. Ultimately, the child of God will be set apart from sin in his practice (as he is now in his position in Christ) when he is taken to be with Christ and shall be like Him (John 17:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 10:10-14).

We believe that the church has a clear biblical mandate to spread the good news of the gospel to the world; therefore mission is not an optional program in the church but an essential element in the identity of the church (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Romans 10:14-15).