The Gospel creates new people, who are committed to Christ in every area of their lives. People like these will change the world. They will fill and rule the earth for the glory of Jesus. They will plant churches and establish godly families, and they will also establish hospitals, schools, arts, and sciences. That is what has happened, by God’s grace. And that is what will continue to happen until Jesus comes.”
The following statement of faith has been modified from Refuge Church in Ogden, Utah.
We believe there is one God: infinite, eternal, almighty and perfect in holiness, truth and love. In the unity of the Godhead, there are three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-existent, co-equal and co-eternal. The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Father. Yet each is truly Deity. One God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is the foundation of Christian faith and life.
Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:36-39; Isaiah 45:5, Mark 12:29; Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 33:27; Romans 16:26; Isaiah 40:28; John 1:1; John 8:58; Exodus 3:14; Hebrews 9:14
We believe in God the Father, an infinite, personal spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, power and love. We believe that He infallibly foreknows all that shall come to pass, that He concerns Himself mercifully in the affairs of men, that He hears and answers prayer, and that He saves from sin and death all who come to Him through Jesus Christ.
Luke 10:21, 22; Matt 23:9; John 3:16; 6:27; Rom 1:7; I Tim 1:1,2; 2:5, 6; I Pet 1:3; Rev 1:6
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit. We believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, and teachings. We believe in His substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, perpetual intercession for His people, and personal visible return to earth.
Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; John 1:1; 20:28; Romans 9:5; 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21-23; John 20:30, 31; Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:4; Acts 1:11; Romans 5:6-8; 6:9, 10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Timothy 3:16
We believe in the Holy Spirit who came forth from the Father and the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; and to regenerate, sanctify, and empower all who believe in Jesus Christ. We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in Christ, and that He is our abiding helper, teacher and guide.
John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26,27; John 16:9-14; Romans 8:9; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Galatians 5:22-26
We believe the Scriptures are true, authoritative, sufficient, and without error. They are the sole basis of our belief and are comprised of 66 books known as the Old and New Testaments. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. Scripture speaks with God’s authority while also reflecting the backgrounds, styles, and vocabularies of these human authors. In its original manuscripts, the Scriptures are truth without any mixture of error.
2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Mark 13:31; John 8:31, 32; John 20:31; Acts 20:32
We believe that man was created by God in His own image; that he sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual, and eternal death, which is separation from God; that as a consequence, all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice and therefore under condemnation. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures, delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life.
Genesis 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Ecclesiastes 2:11; John 3:14; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26; Romans 9:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 19:3, 20; 20:10; 14, 15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1
We believe in the universal church, a living spiritual body of which Christ is the head and all regenerated persons are members. We believe in the local church, consisting of a company of believers in Jesus Christ and their children, baptized in water in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, and associated for worship, work, and fellowship. We believe that God has laid upon the members of the local church the task of discipling all the nations by evangelizing them, baptizing them in the name of the Triune God, and teaching them to obey all Christ commanded.
1 Corinthians 7:14; Ephesians 2:19-22; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 5:19-21; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:23-25; Matthew 28:16-20
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has committed two ordinances to the local church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. We believe in Christian water baptism administered in the name of the Triune God. We believe in the Lord’s Supper as instituted by Christ for the commemoration of His death. We believe that these two ordinances should be observed and administered until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
We believe God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. Until that day, Christ is reigning on his throne until all his enemies are put under his feet at which point he will present the Father with his glorious kingdom and destroy death. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Matthew 16:27; Mark 14:62; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; 2 Timothy 4:1; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15
Because the “Prosperity Gospel” has infected African thinking so deeply—even in sincere, Bible-loving Christians—we believe it important to include our stance on the following issues.
We reject any claim that suffering, sickness, and even death is never the will of God for His people in this age. While we believe that it is good to pray for the healing of illnesses, we reject the claim that—when God does not grant petitions for physical healing, material blessing, or other genuine requests—this result is always due to a weakness or lack of faith on the part of the petitioner. In other words, while we believe that “…the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up,” we reject the notion that God’s will to heal is contingent upon a certain “amount” of faith, which somehow activates movement from God, but rather believe that this faith trusts in God’s sovereign will for life, whether that be to suffer or to abound.
We reject any claim that wealth and material prosperity is always God’s will for his people, the notion that wealth is a sure sign of God’s blessing and poverty a sure sign of God’s judgment or displeasure.
We reject the claim that faith is an active or creative force, but rather believe that faith is an attitude of the heart which trusts, treasures, believes, and depends upon God as the all-satisfying, omnibenevolent Lord, Savior, and Satisfier. This faith is humble and childlike, yet bold in its assurance of things not seen. True faith comes to God with hands empty to be filled, soul thirsty to be quenched, and heart hungry to be satisfied. True faith does not come to God to command or control his will, but to discover, delight in, and submit to his will. Faith does not itself move mountains, but trusts in the God who can.