What we believe.

The Bible

The Bible (Old and New Testament) is the inspired, inerrant, and perfect Word of God. It is our only and immutable source of faith, teaching what to believe about God, salvation, and godly life.

((Joshua 1.8; Psalms 119.9-11; Proverbs 30.5; 2 Timothy 3.16; Hebrews 4.12; 2 Peter 1.20-21)

God

There is only one God, eternally existing in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three are equal in essence, power, and glory, and each equally deserving of worship and obedience. God is sovereign as Creator and King above all creation. He is loving, just, and perfect in all His actions.

((Genesis 1.1; Exodus 20.1-7; Deuteronomy 6.4; Psalms 90.2; Isaiah 6.1-3; 2 Corinthians 13.14)

The Human Race

All men and women were created in the image and likeness of God. Nevertheless, through Adam's sin, humanity inherited a sinful nature, being since then separated from God. Humanity is in a state of total depravity, powerless in itself to handle its sinful condition or to cross the deep that separated and alienated humanity from God. The divine penalty for sin is eternal death, both spiritual and physical.

((Psalms 51.5; Isaiah 53.6, 59.12; Romans 3.23, 5.12-19, 6.23; 1 Corinthians 15.22; Ephesians 1.3)

The Person and Work of Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ, being totally God, humbled Himself and was made in the likeness of men, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

Jesus was born and lived without sin and became a perfect offering for our transgressions. Jesus, as our unique, perfect, and efficient substitute, took our sins on Himself while on the cross. He tasted on the cross God's wrath in our place, and died the death we deserved, paying to God the penalty for our iniquities, once for all. He was resurrected on the third day as proof that His sacrifice was accepted by God the Father.

((Isaiah 53; Luke 1.26-35; John 1.1-5; Acts 1.9-11; Romans 8.34; 1 Corinthians 15.3-4; Titus 3.3-7)

Salvation

Salvation is a gift from God, given only through grace to His people, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. It cannot be earned through good works, but only through grace, by faith. And it is received by all those who believe and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, the one who through His life, death, and resurrection efficiently gave the forgiveness of our sins.

((John 1.12; Romans 5.1-2, 6.23, 8.28-39; Ephesians 2.8-9; Galatians 3.26; 1 Peter 1.18-19; 1 John 5.11-12)

Eternal Assurance

Salvation begins when an individual believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. It is a gift from God, based on grace and faith and not on good deeds. For that reason we believe that true believers have eternal assurance of their salvation, because salvation is preserved by grace and God's power. Those who believe, after death, will abide with the Lord for all eternity.

((John 5.24, 6.37-40, 10.27-30; Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 1.4-8; Galatians 5.13; Hebrews 10.10-14; 1 Peter 1.5)

Ministry and Spiritual Gifts

We believe that God is sovereign in the concession of spiritual gifts. Nevertheless, it is a believer's responsibility to seek gifts and develop each spiritual gift sovereignly conceded. The baptism in the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion, and it is the entry of the believer into the Body of Christ. We believe that the spiritual gifts are not essential and do not prove the presence of the Holy Spirit, nor are they an indication of deep spiritual experience (1 Corinthians 12.7, 11, 13; Ephesians 4.7-8). We believe that God hears and responds to prayers made with faith, in accordance with His own will, for the ill and afflicted (John 15.7; 1 John 5.14-15). We believe that it is a privilege and responsibility of each believer to use the gifts according to the grace given to us by God.

Note: Paul uses the language of baptism with the Holy Spirit for conversion (1 Corinthians 12.13), but Jesus also uses the language for a capacitation, an experience of plenitude with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1.5). It is understood that conversion is the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and Luke uses this same language to speak about this filling of the Spirit. Several theologians, to avoid confusion and misunderstanding, call this filling the Plenitude of the Holy Spirit. This affirmation is not wrong, because they were filled (full) of the Holy Spirit.

((Romans 12.1-8; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 Peter 4.10-11)

The General Church and Local Church

The Church is the body and the bride of Christ, made up of all born-again believers in all places. At a local level, believers are united with the purpose of glorifying God, living authentically in a community of love, and impacting the culture with the Gospel (Matthew 28.19-20; Acts 2.42-47, 6.1-6; 1 Corinthians 11.23-26, 12.12-14; Ephesians 1.22-23, 4.11-16).

Our understanding is that all believers who are part of the global Church are called to assume local responsibilities, including the maintenance of the local services, through faithful contribution and generosity in offerings, which are presented to God and managed by the local community.

((Matthew 28.19-20; Acts 2.42-47; Ephesians 1.22-23, 4.11-16)

The Second Coming of Christ

We believe in the personal and imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come for those redeemed by Him and to judge the living and the dead. We do not know when Jesus will return, but we know He will come again. While we wait for this day, we busy ourselves with the works of God the Father.

((Zechariah 14.4-11; 1 Thessalonians 1.10, 4.13-18, 5.9; Revelation 3.10, 19.11-16, 20.1-6)

Baptism

Baptism is the visible sign of invisible grace. It is an act of obedience and a symbol of identification with Christ. It is the evidence of a redemptive faith in Jesus Christ.

Throughout the Old Testament, baptism was performed by pouring water on the head, but in the New Testament it was also done through immersion in the waters. Because of that, we baptise in these two forms, seeing no reason for controversy. In baptism, we are clothed in Christ and grafted into His body; those who believe are united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, and sins from past, present, and future are “washed” completely by Christ as our personal substitute. Although baptism is a commandment, the act of baptism does not save. We are justified by the grace of God, through faith alone.

((Matthew 28.19; Mark 1.5-11; John 2.23; Acts 2.38-41, 16.25-34; Romans 6.1-7; Galatians 3.27; Colossians 2.11-12)

Communion (Lord's Supper)

Jesus established Communion at the last supper, so that God's people would continue to remember and celebrate His flesh (represented by the bread) and blood (represented by the wine) for the forgiveness of sins. The Church must celebrate the Lord's Supper with a sober confession of sins and acknowledgement of the reason Jesus died and was resurrected.

We must remember Christ's love for His people, that our sins were completely paid through His life, death, and resurrection, and that only He offers us a new life in Him. For that reason, we believe that the Lord's Supper must be celebrated only by believers.

((Deuteronomy 14.22-26; Matthew 26.26-29; John 6.53-57; 1 Corinthians 10.16-17, 11.17-34; Revelation 19.9)

1st — We are Christians

• We distinguish ourselves from other religions and non-Christian services. For that reason, we subscribe to the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed.

2nd — We are Evangelical

We subscribe to the evangelical faith, summarised in:

• We believe that the Bible is inspired, the only infallible and authoritative Word of God.
• We believe that there is only one God, eternally existing in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ has all the divine excellencies; we believe that He was virgin born, we believe in His life without sin, in His miracles, in His death and vicarious expiation, in His poured out blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
• We believe that the salvation of sinners and the lost happens through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and is essentially absolute.
• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, who abides in believers and empowers them to a godly life.
• We believe in the resurrection of the saved and the lost; for the saved, the resurrection to eternal life, and for the lost, the resurrection to eternal condemnation.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

3rd — We are Missional

• We believe our church must be faithful in the preservation of the immutable doctrines of the Bible (Jude 3).
• We believe that our local churches must be faithful to the constantly changing context of the culture(s) in which they develop their ministries (1 Corinthians 9.19-23).
• We believe that our mission is to bring people to church, in a way that they can be prepared to go to their cultures as efficient missionaries.

4th — We are Reformed in our view of salvation

• We believe God created heaven and earth.
• We believe God created men and women in a perfect state and without sin, with the particular dignity of His image and likeness.
• We believe that our first fathers sinned against God and that since then all are sinners by nature and choice. Sin totally affected all creation and ruined the image and likeness of God, in a way that all of our being was stained by sin (i.e. reason, will, and emotions).
• We believe that all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God, and that God is not obligated to save anyone from the just chastisement of hell. We believe also that God, in His incomparable love and mercy, has chosen to elect many people for salvation, whom He purchased with the blood of His Son.
• We believe that the salvation of the elect, only through the grace of God, is manifested in continuous repentance and faith in Jesus Christ that leads us to good deeds.
• We believe that the salvific grace of God is, ultimately, irresistible and invincible. God can shatter the hardest heart and the worst of sinners by His will.
• We believe that the gospel needs to be proclaimed with passion and urgency to all people. In that way, all those who believe will be saved through the preaching of the Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• We believe that true believers who were born again were regenerated by the Holy Spirit and will be kept by God for all their lives. Evidence of that is personal transformation, which includes constant development, higher and higher, in the love of God the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit, in love for brothers and sisters in church, and in love for the lost in their culture.
• We believe that God is the Lord above all in life, and there is nothing in life that is separated from God.
• We believe that worship of God is the purpose of everyone's life. Permanent happiness can only be found by delighting in God in everything in life, including in difficulties, even in death (that is gain).