Our Doctrinal Basis
Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
There is but One living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts or passions; of infinite power, wisdom and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity with this Godhead there are Three Persons, of one substance, power and eternity; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took man’s nature in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures – that is to say the Godhead and Manhood – were joined together in one divine Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man; Who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.
The Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
Of the Resurrection of Christ
Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again His body with flesh, bones and all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven, and there sitteth in His glorified body until He return to judge all men at the last day.
Of the Holy Scriptures
Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.
In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
Of Original Sin
All the offspring of Adam are conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity, and, if left to their own wills, they choose the ways of sin, and therefore are justly obnoxious to the wrath of God.
This sinful nature remains, though not dominant, even in God’s regenerated people, who experience that the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and that the minding of the flesh is death and the minding of the Spirit is life and peace.
Of Free Will
The condition of man since his fall in Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works to faith and calling upon God; wherefore, our nature, being evil, we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by the Holy Spirit working in us to will, and working with us when we have the will.
Of the Justification of Man
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort.
Predestination and Election
Every true believer was, in accordance with the inscrutable purpose of God, chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world, and given to Him by His Father, and also predestinated to the adoption of children and to be conformed to the image of His Son; and whom God predestinated them He also called, and whom He called them He also justified, and whom He justified them He also glorified. Nevertheless, God would have His gospel preached to every creature, and no one is rejected of Him but he or she who rejects His mercy in Christ. And this general proclamation of the gospel is based upon the infinite sufficiency of the atonement made by the Son of God.
Of the Lord’s Supper
The supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but is a symbol of our Redemption by the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, offered on the cross once only; and it is His sweet command to all believers to eat the bread and drink the wine in remembrance of Him, and to shew forth His death till He come.
The Sacrifice of Christ
The sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour was a perfect propitiation and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual, and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone.
Nevertheless, the only begotten Son of God so died for sinners, that those, and those only, who believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Of the Duty of Men to Believe the Gospel of God
Although man’s heart is by nature so evil that he neither will nor can believe the doctrines of the gospel without the Holy Spirit working in him to will and to do, yet it is his duty to believe them; because, if he does not, he makes God a liar. Just as it is man’s duty to keep all God’s commandments, though his natural heart rebels against them.
“He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Of Membership
That an applicant for membership should satisfy the Pastor that he or she depends only upon the grace of God for salvation, and trusts in the blood and righteousness of Christ, and that the applicant’s moral character and conduct are consistent with the precepts of Christ.
No one shall be required to be baptised with water before joining the church, or before partaking of the Lord’s Supper.
