What we believe at Life-everlasting
- There is one God, the Lord God Jehovah also called the Lord God Most High, and the God of Heaven, who is triune, being God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (the trinity). The name of God is “I Am”. God is holy. God is righteous (always right) and holy (perfect).
- God is revealed in Scripture (called the Bible, Cannon or Word), both Old and New Testaments.
- The Bible was divinely (supernaturally) inspired, God breathed, and is inerrant, infallible and plenary (contains everything that is needed for all people). The Bible is complete, and was provided to all people for our learning, instruction and correction, that we might have hope, for it gives understanding of God’s plan of salvation; that is, the Bible contains all that is needed to be saved from judgement and punishment.
- Interpretation of Scripture is not a private affair, but by Scripture only, enlightened by the Holy Spirit only.
- The Lord Jesus Christ is the son of God. He is deity, existing before the foundation of the world, and is He is one with God
- The Holy Spirit is a person; He was sent to the world after the Son returned to heaven in order to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
- God created all things, including the world in six days and He rested on the seventh as taught in Scripture.
- God created humans in His image. He created all people with an everlasting spirit which is located in the soul (only humans have a spirit, and can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit). A person’s soul will be saved and live with God if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; else they will be cast into hell, after they die.
- The purpose of all people is to glorify God. God delights in our prayers and He delights in our obedience and dependence upon Him.
- Sin entered the world by one man, Adam, and so did death. Adam’s sin corrupted all of creation. This means that all people born from that day are separated from God because all inherit a sinful nature, therefore all require a means to be saved. The Bible says that the heart of each person is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; this means all people are sinners.
- The Holiness of God demands perfection. As a consequence, sin must be punished by death, which is eternal separation from God; it is not annihilation. The Bible says the wages of sin is death.
- Following death, the body will be resurrected – either to judgement and everlasting punishment in hell or to everlasting life with God the Father.
- Salvation from death (and eventually hell) can only be obtained by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ (Yeshua), who is the Messiah, the Son of God. This is because humans cannot pay or work for the sins they have committed – they are too sinful.
- Jesus Christ, the Son of God, incarnate, is a man born of a virgin, was killed by crucifixion on a cross (all his blood was drained from him, ensuring death); he was buried, then after three days he rose bodily from the grave (resurrection). For a period of 40 days after his resurrection he was seen by many as a witness of his resurrection after which he rose bodily to heaven and is now seated on the right hand of the Father, the Lord God Most High.
- Salvation is by the grace of God alone. God can offer this because the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross offers a means of eternal redemption, which is underserved and cannot be paid for, therefore is called grace.
- God can do this because the Lord Jesus Christ died in our place as punishment for our sins. This is the only acceptable substitutionary atonement which is entirely propitiatory, and thus blots out God’s view of our sin forever.
- All people have a choice of accepting this atoning sacrifice of Christ.
- It is only by faith in Jesus Christ can a person be saved. Salvation comes from believing on Jesus Christ; Christians are called ‘believers’ for this reason.
- A person believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is born again, or in other terms, regenerated, which is imparts new life. A person ‘born again’ cannot lose his or her salvation because the Holy Spirit from that time forth dwells within the born-again person and seals them against judgement. Furthermore, such a person is adopted as a child into God’s family – for this reason Christians refer to God as ‘Father’.
- As a consequence of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ a person will repent of their sins through confession to him. Only the Holy Spirit provides the means to do this. Forgiveness of sins only comes from the Lord Jesus Christ – no man can do this.
- Faith is demonstrated in our works - what we do and say. This is called the fruit of a Christian; therefore a Christian earnestly seeks to do God’s bidding and carry out his work.
- The duty of a Christian – one that is saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ – is to be holy, for we all are to be holy as God is holy. In doing so Christians will love the Lord our God, and will love those in our community and beyond (our neighbour). In all things the Christian desires to do the pleasure of God the Father, and it follows that a Christian sees the needs of the community and responds.
- God predestines born-again people to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, all of whom He knows in His foreknowledge (or full knowledge). The process of growing in the likeness of Christ is call sanctification – this is not complete until a Christian is with Christ Jesus in heaven. Predestination guarantees glorification of saved people – a person’s salvation is eternally secure in Christ – nothing can prevent this from occurring.
- Adam was deceived by the Devil, also called Satan, a fallen angel. Satan exists and with his angels he continues to plague the world.
- Hell was prepared for Satan and his angels, but will be used for those that do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Until that time the souls of those who have died, having rejected Jesus Christ, are in Hades; those who were born-again (i.e. saved by faith) are in Paradise.
- The Church is the Bride of Christ, redeemed by the blood of Christ, as a people to be gathered unto Himself. The Church comprises only those that personally believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. These will subsequently (after salvation) confess his name (baptism is a means to do this) and repent of their sin; this takes a life-time.
- Christ is the head of the Church – no person can substitute this.
- Of ordinances, the Lord’s Supper is to be taken regularly by believers only, until the Lord himself comes for His Church. Baptism taken in obedience is a symbol of a believer’s death and resurrection to new life; it proclaims Christ the Saviour.
- Christ is coming soon to gather the Church unto himself – which the world will not see; the Church waits for this day called the rapture. This occurs at the fullness of the time, which is the time when all that are to be saved into the Church (believe in Jesus Christ), have been saved.
- Jesus Christ’s current role in heaven is as high priest, advocating for Christians before the Father. Jesus Christ is also a king, but currently does not exercise this role – but rather he sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, being the mediator of the new covenant as High Priest. In due course after he comes to take his Church to heaven he will rule as King, first in Heaven then in Jerusalem, seated the Throne of David.
- Dispensations describe well the counsels of the Almighty God in his dealings with mankind. We are currently governed under the dispensation of Grace.
- Israel has not ceased to exist but in the days of the tribulation, after the Church is taken to heaven, a remnant (small number) will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Yeshua) as their Messiah, and will arise and go and evangelise the nations (as Jesus has commanded). The re-birth of Israel after its destruction and dispersal, as prophesied by Jesus, has taken place – she is yet to accept her Messiah.
- The righteous God will judge the world during a period called the Great Tribulation over a period of seven years, commencing when Israel signs a peace deal with the Antichrist, which occurs sometime (unknown number of years) after the rapture of the Church (pre-tribulation). In this period God judges, in particular Israel, but also the Nations because they rejected the Messiah.
- Christ Jesus as Messiah will reign for 1000 years (called the Messianic Kingdom) following the tribulation (pre-millennialism, which is “waiting for the Son”) during which time Satan will be locked-up. After this time Satan will be let loose, for a short time, to test the hearts of all people. Following the time of testing those that fail, along with Satan, will be cast into Hell for ever.