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The Bible

We believe the Holy Bible, and only the Bible, is the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible and inerrant. It is the one of the primary ways God speaks to us. (2 Timothy 3:14-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21, Proverbs 30:5; Romans 16:25-26)

 

God

We believe God is the Creator of the universe. He has eternally existed as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the Trinity. The three are coequal and are one God. Perfectly equal in their divinity, however, subordinate in responsibility; the Son submits to the will of the Father & the Holy Spirit is submitted to the will of the Father & the Son. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in His love and in His holiness

(Genesis 1:1, 26, 27, 3:22, Psalm 90:2, 2 Corinthians 13:14)

 

Jesus Christ           

We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  Incarnate, in one person Jesus was fully God and fully man.   He is the only man ever to have lived a sinless life. He performed miracles, died on the cross for mankind, and thus, atoned for our sins through the shedding of His blood. He was buried, and He rose from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, appeared to many witnesses, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. He holds the position of absolute power and authority and will return again in power and glory. This will be the Second Coming of Christ and is the “blessed hope” of the Church.   (John 1:1,14, 20:28; I Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 9:6; Philippians 2:5-6; I Timothy 2:5 (Luke 1:30-35; John 1:1; Hebrews 2:9-16 and 1:5-12; Philippians 2:5-8 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Romans 8:34; Mark 12:36; 14:62; 20; Luke 22:69; Hebrews 8:1, Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:27; 1 Corinthians 15:15-53; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Revelation 22:7; 1:7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

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The Gospel 

The word “Gospel” means “good news.” It is the good news of God taking on flesh through the person Jesus Christ and rescuing mankind by His perfect life that we could never live, His substitutionary death that we deserved, and the resurrection that now gives us true life through His Spirit. While the Gospel can be stated in a sentence, it is also the grand narrative that is told throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Gospel is the lens in which we should view theology, ministry, and all aspects of life.

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Paul defined the word, “Gospel” concisely in 1 Cor 15:3-5 “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

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The Gospel is the glorious story of how God is reconciling the whole world back to Himself through the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. It is personal, yet cosmic. It is simple, yet infinite.

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The Church 

The church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of Jesus’ Great Commission.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the lord of everything and has been appointed as the head of the Church.  Every person who is born of the Spirit is an integral part of the church as a member of the body of believers. There is a spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, and unity in heart is something we strive for. We recognize that the true Church is not confined to any one local church or denomination.  (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15-16; Colossians 1:18, 24 Hebrews 12:22-24; 1 John 1:7; Ephesians 3:3-10; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 10:32)

 

Salvation   

Every living individual has sinned and is guilty before God.  Mankind, by nature, is depraved and incapable of saving his soul through efforts of his own. (Romans 3:10; Ephesians 2:8-10). Yet, salvation can be obtained because God loved us so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us. (John 3:16). Christ’s death on the Cross has achieved Reconciliation to God (Romans 5:10), Redemption through Christ’s blood (Ephesians 1:7), Justification i.e. ‘being declared innocent’ (Romans 3:24)

 

Through Jesus Christ alone mankind can receive freedom - forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ: His death, burial, and resurrection. Salvation is a gift from God, not a result of our good works or of any human efforts. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16, 3:8; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9-10; Acts 16:31; Hebrews 9:22)

 

Repentance

Repentance means turning from sin to God, a change of heart, attitude, thinking and lifestyle. It is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Thus, through repentance we receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation. (Acts 2:21, 3:19; I John 1:9)

 

Sanctification

Sanctification is the ongoing process of yielding to God’s Word and His Spirit in order to complete the development of Christ’s character in us. It is through the present ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the Christian is enabled to live a Godly life – to stand firm. (I Thessalonians 4:3, 5:23; II Corinthians 3:18, 6:14-18, II Thessalonians 2:1-3, Romans 8:29, 12:1-2, Hebrews 2:11)

 

Baptism by Immersion in Water

We believe in baptism by full immersion in water of all believers.  We do not baptize infants but only people old enough to understand repentance and the implications of making Jesus Savior and Lord.  Baptism is the next step following salvation; an outward declaration of an inward transformation.  (Matthew 28:19; 3:13-17; Acts 2:38-41; 10:47; Hebrews 10:22; 1 Peter 3:21)

 

Communion

We believe in communion as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ and as practiced by the early church. It is a moment of celebration and community.  (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 11:23-32; Acts 20:7)

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Baptism with the Holy Spirit  

Given first at Pentecost, The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father, sent by Jesus after His Ascension, to empower the Church to preach the Gospel throughout the whole earth. We believe that Jesus Christ baptizes Christians with the Holy Spirit and that this baptism, which is a distinct experience from the new birth, is promised to every believer, and can occur through the laying on of hands. Speaking in a heavenly language is evidence of baptism with the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit, believers are indwelt by Christ, and so can become more like him. (Joel 2:28-29, Matthew 3:11; Acts 10:44-46; 8:14-17; 11:14-16; 2:32-33; 15:7-9)

 

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

We believe that God did not remove the gifts of the Spirit and they are present today. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to everyone as He chooses. We believe that today God still performs miracles of the nature that is recorded in the Scriptures.  He heals the sick just as He did in the days of the early church and Christians are still given the gift of healing and the gift of working miracles in order to impact the lives of people and bring glory to God.   (Hebrews 2:4; Romans 1:11, 12 :4-8; Ephesians 4:16; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6-7; I Corinthians 12:1-31, 14:1-40; I Peter 4:10 (John 14:12; Mark 16:16-18; Matthew 8:16-17; 1 Corinthians 12:9-10; James 5:14-15)

 

The Priesthood of all Believers 

Each individual believer has full and equal access to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, as a believer-priest and can freely communicate with God as he pleases without having to go through the medium of another person. (1 Peter 2:1-9; Revelation 5:9-10; 1:6)

 

Judgment          

We believe that God will judge both the living and the dead.  The believers will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, not for condemnation but for the testing of their works and the receiving of rewards.  The unbelievers and those who professed Christianity but rebelled against the will of God shall appear before the final “White Throne” judgment and thereafter will be consigned to the Lake of Fire forever. (Matthew 7:21-23; John 5:24, 28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15).

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Heaven

Heaven is the eternal dwelling place for all believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 5:3, 12, 20, 6:20, 19:21, 25:34; John 17:24; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Hebrews 11:16; I Peter 1:4)

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Hell

After living one life on earth, the unbelievers will be judged by God and sent to Hell where they will be eternally tormented with the Devil and the Fallen Angels. It is a place of separation from God. (Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43-48; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 14:9-11, 20:12-15, 21:8)

 

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Righteous and Holy Living

For many modern Christians, the topic of holy living is not the most popular doctrine in the Bible. We love to hear of God’s grace, mercy and great power to perform miracles but shy away from the instructions to live a righteous and holy life. We struggle to overcome sin throughout our lives on earth.  (Romans 7:7-25).  Paul writes extensively on the tension between being free, yet wrestling against the flesh.

 

The Power of the Cross of Jesus enables us to break the power of sin and strive to live victorious lives.  We are expected to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) and to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness before anything else in life. (Matthew 6:33) We are required to “flee” from sinful activities and to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”  (1 Timothy 6:11)  Paul describes righteous and holy living as a deliberate “putting off” of the old nature and a “putting on” of the new spiritual nature.  (Colossians 3:1-17)

 

We, therefore, do our best to live holy lives that are separate from the evil that is prevalent in the world.

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The Return of Christ
The Gospel will be brought to fulfillment by the Lord Himself at the end of this age.
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with His holy angels, when He will exercise His role as final Judge, and His kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord Himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of Him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and His people will be enthralled by His holiness, and everything will be to the praise of His glorious grace. 
(Matt. 24:29-31, 36-51, 25:31-46; Lk. 12:35-48,16:19-31; 2 Pet. 3:1-13; Rev. 20:11-15, 21:1-8, 22:6-21)

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Women in Leadership

The question of how men and women relate and engage in church leadership offices (particularly pastor and elder) has been a subject of significant debate at various points in church history.   In summary, the position we hold, with humility, at Free Church is that men and women are equally gifted and qualified to lead and serve as co-laborers in the church. We value, the presence of both men and women in church leadership, including the role of elder.

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Response
The Gospel requires a response that has eternal consequences.
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the Gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen. 
(Jn. 5:24, 3:16; Mk. 9:43-50; 2 Thess. 1:9)