Statement Of Faith
TONGHAM CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP STATEMENT OF FAITH
1. We believe in the revelation, inspiration and illumination of the Holy Scriptures, as presented in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, as originally written in the Masoretic Texts of the Hebrew and the Received Texts of the Greek Bibles. That the Scriptures have supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. (Deut 29:29, Isaiah 59:21, 2 Tim 3:16, Prov 6:23, John 14:26).
2. We believe in one Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, co-equal and co-eternal, one God who revealed Himself to Israel and through her to the whole world. (Matt 28:19, Deut 6:4).
3. We believe that God dwells in righteousness and holiness. We believe that He is sovereign as Creator, Provider, Redeemer and Deliverer. He will reveal His righteousness in the final judgement of all mankind. (Gen 1:1, Neh 9:6, Rev 19:16).
4. We believe that unregenerate mankind, as a result of his disobedience and fall into sin, became rebellious and depraved and is subject to judgement and doomed to eternal punishment in hell.
(Gen 3:6, 11 & 12, Rom 3:23, 5:12, 15 & 19, 6:23).
5. We believe in the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, whose only and all-sufficient propitiatory death on the cross made atonement for the sins of the whole world; that he died, was buried and rose again on the third day in bodily form. That he ascended bodily to heaven and is glorified and sits at the right hand of God our Father in heaven, there to intercede for us. ( 1 Cor 15:3&4, Phil 2:5-11, Heb 12:2).
6. We believe that all Christians are those who have been “Born Again” of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ as the only Redeemer and Saviour and who are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit who now fills, controls and sanctifies to produce fruit in the life of the believer. That the Holy Spirit imparts spiritual gifts to the church, the universal body of Christ, to glorify God and edify His body the church to be an effective witness of the Gospel to the world and to make disciples of all men. (1 Cor 6:19&20, Gal 5:22:26, 1 Cor 12:4:11).
7. We believe that believers are to provoke one another to good works, to exhort one another to live lives consistent with the truth and worthy of God. That they, in communion with each other, share in the bread and wine as instituted by the Lord’s Supper. (1 Cor 6:15-19, 1 Cor 11:23-25, Rom 12:1&2, 1 Thess 5:23).
8. We believe in baptism, the baptism of believers by full immersion as taught in the New Testament. (Matt 28:19, Acts 10:47, Acts 22:12:16).
9. We believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message of salvation, revealed first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. That for the sake of the Gentiles, the Jews are temporarily blinded, but that they will be restored to their Messiah Jesus when He returns in the fullness of time. (Rom 1:16&17, Rom 11:25-27).
10. We believe in the rapture of all born again believers, this will bring to an end the church age, releasing the Anti-Christ and heralding the start of the great tribulation (the time of Jacob’s trouble).
11. We believe in the physical return of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. We believe that the book of Revelation gives order to the many Old Testament prophecies about Christ’s reign on His rebuilt earth which it adds will last for 1,000 years. The saved dead of the first resurrection will be priests of God and Christ and will reign with Him. During this time, Satan will be bound. At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan will be released and lead mankind’s final rebellion which God will destroy with fire from Heaven. Then the rest of the (unsaved) dead will be raised from Hell for judgement before the Great White Throne as to the severity of their eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20).
12. Then God will create a completely new heaven and a new earth in which He will reign forever. (Revelation 21 and 22).