Statement of Faith

Caleb 14:24 Statement of Faith and Beliefs

What We Believe

We believe that the bible: is the only divinely inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God and is the only source of true Christian doctrine and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Pet. 1:21).

We believe that God: is the one and only true God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; Lk. 3:22).

We believe that Jesus Christ: is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.

We believe that the salvation: of man is wholly a work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who repent of their sin condition and put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justifies them in His sight

It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Saviour. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms to the believer that they are a child
of God as confirmed by the testimony of the written Word of God (John 1:12; Eph. 2:1-10; 1 Pet. 2:24).

We believe that baptisms: are an essential element for all newly born again believers who have repented from all sin and confessed faith towards God through Jesus Christ. Following conversion, the believer is to be baptised in water by full emersion in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are then to be encouraged to seek God for a second experience of the Holy Spirit and be Baptised in the Holy Spirit. In such a way:

Repentance and faith enables the believer to identify and come into a personal experience with the death of Christ. Baptism enables the believer to identify and come into a personal experience with the burial of Christ. Baptism in the Holy Spirit enables the believer to identify and come into a personal experience with the resurrection of Christ (Heb. 6:1-2; Acts 2:38; Mat. 28:19-20; 1 Pet 3:20-22; Rom 6:4-5).

We believe that the Holy Spirit: has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith.

The Holy Spirit leads the obedient believer into ‘all truth’ by applying the power of the life of Jesus and the truth of God’s Word to every area of the believer’s life, sanctifying him for God and providing him with the gifts of the Spirit as God chooses. Every believer is called to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit so that he will not fulfil the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God (1 Thes 5:23; Jn. 16:13-15; 1 Cor. 12:4-11).

We believe that the church: belongs to Jesus Christ alone. It is God’s vehicle for the comfort and up-building of the saints, the destruction of the devil and his works and the ushering in of God’s eternal Kingdom.

Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith. Ultimately, there is only one Church and all local expressions of it are to walk in humility towards each other and the world in order to portray God’s glorious unity (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47; Jn. 17:20-23; Eph. 3:10; 4:1-16). God has entrusted His truth for a given local church to a group of elders who fulfil the Biblical qualifications. They are to carry the responsibility and authority as a team to protect the Truth and serve the saints in that church by finding the mind of Christ in given situations. We believe that every born again believer is a member of the Body of Christ and therefore carries within them gifts to build up the body. (1 Cor. 12)

God has also appointed in the Church the five-fold ministry gifts of Ephesians 4:11, namely Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelists. We believe that these ministers should be given the encouragement and support to exercise their gift of equipping the saints in their local church to do the work of ministry and thereby up-build the Church, the Body of Christ. Further, we uphold that each local church should have access to and be in a meaningful relationship with a spiritual oversight that is outside of themselves, such as an apostolic team, so that they can be encouraged, receive objective but prophetic ministry input and held accountable.

We believe that eternity: is the ultimate destiny for all men after physical death. The believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing.

At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth – personally, visibly and bodily – to consummate history and the eternal plan of God (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:11-15; Jn. 5:28-29; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:11-15).

We believe that the gospel of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus: is to be proclaimed throughout the world by all Christians engaged in apostolic mission, to all men of every tongue, tribe and nation.

The fulfilment of that Great Commission requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated to a total commitment to “Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.” (Matt. 24:14; 28:18-20; Lk. 11:49; Acts 2:42; Eph. 2:20).

We believe that we are at war: not against one another, but against the world, the flesh, the devil and the wicked forces of spiritual evil. Every believer is to conduct himself as a warrior in Christ’s service, in close, constant fellowship with the Head and in meaningful relationship to all other believers in Christ’s army whichever part of His global Church they may come from (Ps. 110:3; Eph. 6:10-20).