What We Believe

"A Faith to Confess", (this is the Baptist Confession of 1689 re-written in modern English) is our main statement of what we believe are the leading teachings of the Scriptures.

A shorter summary of our beliefs is found in the following Basis of Faith:

1. The Inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures as originally given, their verbal inspiration by God and their final authority and sufficiency in all matters pertaining to faith and practice.
2. The unity of the Godhead and the eternal co-equality of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (i.e. the Trinity), the sovereignty of God in creation, providence and redemption.
3. The essential, absolute and eternal Deity (Godhood) of the Lord Jesus Christ; His conception by the Holy Ghost, His birth of the virgin Mary, His real but sinless humanity.
4. The Work of Jesus Christ, i.e. His voluntary humiliation in life as a Man of Sorrows culminating in His substitutionary and atoning death (thereby securing righteousness, forgiveness and eternal life for all who are united to Him by faith) as a sacrifice for sin.  On the third day He was raised (the Resurrection) from the dead in that very body that had lain in the tomb. This same Jesus Christ ascended into heaven as the only Mediator between God and man and there He remains, in intercession for His people till His coming again personally and visibly in glory and power.
5. The Holy Spirit's deity and personality and His essential work in regeneration, conversion and sanctification.
6. The creation of man in the image of God, his sin and fall, the consequences passing to all humanity, extending to every part of human nature and resulting in the universal guilt of mankind and liability to Divine justice and eternal punishment.
7. The personality of Satan, his opposition to God and His purposes, and his corruption and enslavement of man.
8. Salvation as solely by the grace of God, accomplished by God the Son and applied by God the Holy Spirit; appropriated by God-given faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; including regeneration, justification, sanctification and final glorification.
9. The resurrection of the body (i.e. all who have ever died), the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting blessedness of the saved in Heaven and the everlasting punishment of the lost in Hell.
10. The Spiritual Unity of all who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and their duty to maintain in themselves and in the Church a standard of life and doctrine that is in conformity with the teaching of God's Holy Word.
    
    In addition to the above, we also believe:-
    
    
11. Concerning the Church - We believe that the true Church consists of the whole number of God's elect.  This glorious and, as yet, invisible Body of Christ, comprises all in every generation and from every land who have been quickened by the Spirit and brought to trust in the Saviour.
    The New Testament also uses the term Church in a restricted and local sense. Christians in a particular locality are encouraged to covenant together in a visible bond of fellowship and such groups are designated in Scripture as local Churches of Christ.  True local Churches are characterised by the faithful preaching of the whole Word of God, steadfast adherence to apostolic doctrine and practice and the maintenance of true godliness among the membership.
12. Concerning the Ordinances - We believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper were instituted by Christ for His own glory and the spiritual good of His children and that both ordinances are to be observed in the Church throughout the Gospel age.
    Believers who have made a credible profession of faith in Christ are the only valid subjects of baptism.  The symbolic nature of this ordinance is best displayed by immersion in water, which mode proclaims, according to Scripture, the believer's identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.