Doctrine

We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the sixty-six books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Sprit of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.

We believe in one God, creator of all, holy, sovereign, eternal, existing in three equal Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We believe in the absolute and essential deity of Jesus Christ, in His eternal existence with the Father in pre-incarnate glory, in His virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, triumphant ascension, mediatorial ministry and personal return.

We believe in the absolute and essential deity and personality of the Holy Spirit Who convinces of sin, of righteousness and of judgement; who regenerates, sanctifies, illuminates and comforts those who believe in Jesus Christ.

We believe that Satan exists as an evil personality, the originator of sin and the archenemy of God and man.

We believe that man was divinely created in the image of God; that he sinned, becoming guilty before God, resulting in total depravity, thereby incurring physical and spiritual death.

We believe that salvation is by the sovereign, electing grace of God; that by the appointment of the Father, Christ voluntarily suffered a vicarious, expiatory and propitiatory death; that justification is by faith alone in the all-sufficient sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and that those whom God has effectually called shall be divinely preserved and finally perfected in the image of the Lord.

We believe in the personal, bodily and glorious pre-millennial return of the Lord Jesus Christ; in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust; in the eternal blessedness of the redeemed and in the judgement and conscious, eternal punishment of the wicked.

We believe that a church is a company of baptized believers, called out from the world, separated unto the Lord Jesus, voluntarily associated for the ministry of the Word, the mutual edification of its members, the propagation of the faith and the observance of the ordinances. We believe it is a sovereign, independent body, exercising its own divinely awarded gifts, precepts and privileges under the Lordship of Christ, the Great Head of the Church. We believe that its primary officers are pastors/elders and deacons.

We believe that there are two ordinances for the church regularly observed in the New Testament:

1. Baptism, which is immersion in water whereby the believer obeys Christ's command and declares identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

2. The Lord's Supper, which is the memorial wherein the believer partakes of the two elements, the bread and the cup, which symbolize the Lord's body and shed blood, proclaiming His death until He comes.

We believe in the separation of church and state.

We believe in religious liberty; that everyone has the right to practice and propagate his or her beliefs.

We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's day and that, in a special sense, it is the divinely appointed day for worship and spiritual exercise.

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interest and good order of society; that authorities are to be prayed for, conscientiously honoured and obeyed, except only in the things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the only Lord of the conscience and Prince of the kings of the earth.

We believe that the term 'marriage' is reserved for the covenant relationship between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

We believe that sexual intimacy is to be practiced only within the context of marriage between a husband and a wife (Genesis 2:23-24), and that all members' sexual behaviour is to be kept consistent with this teaching. This Biblical principle forbids the practice of same-sex sexual relations within the Christian community of believers. Nevertheless, we also believe that all people are created in the image of God and have inherent worth and value. Recognizing humanity's brokenness, we affirm the need for all people to engage in the journey towards wholeness in Christ including those dealing with sexual and gender identity questions. We uphold the Biblical principle to love our neighbour and affirm that same-gender attracted people should be treated with the respect that is consistent with communicating the Good News of Jesus Christ.