HATFIELD CHRISTIAN CHURCH STATEMENT OF FAITH
What we believe:
About God:
We believe in one uncreated, infinitely perfect God, creator of all things who exists eternally in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, equal in essence and Divine perfection². We believe that God the Father is omnipotent, omniscient, holy, righteous, loving and infinitely good, having life in Himself and giving life to all things³. We believe that Jesus Christ, God's only son, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary and was true God and true man. He was crucified and died as a substitute for our sins ¹⁰, was buried and bodily resurrected ¹¹. He ascended into heaven ¹² from where He will return to judge both the living and the dead ¹³. We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit¹⁴ and His ongoing ministry ; by whose indwelling the Christian is empowered to live a godly life and be increasingly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ ¹⁵.
About the Scriptures:
We believe the entire Bible, 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, in its original writings, is the inspired Word of God and accept it as the final authority of truth for Christian beliefs and living ¹⁶. We recognize that in the context of our local church the Executive Team and Eldership carry the final authority on matters of scriptural interpretation.
¹ Please note all scripture references are illustrative and are not intended to be comprehensive ² Exodus 3:14; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 40:28, 44:24; Matthew 5: 48, 28:19; Mark 12:29; John 8:58, 15:26, 20:28, Romans 16:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy 1:17 ³ Psalm 139:7-10; Isaiah 6:3; John 5: 26; Romans 11: 36, 16: 27; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Hebrews 4:13; 1 John 3:20, 4: 8; 1 Peter 1: 16; Revelation 19:6 ⁴ Matthew 16:16; Luke 4:41; John 11:27 ⁵ John 1:14; John 3:16; 1 John 4:9, 15 ⁶ Matthew 1:18-25 ⁷ Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:34 ⁸ John 1:1; John 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:17 ⁹ Matthew 27:26, 35; Luke 23:33 ¹⁰ Isaiah 53:5; Romans 4:25; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 John 2:2, 4:10 ¹¹ Matthew 28:5-6; John 20:27-29; 1 Corinthians 15:3-58; 1 Peter 1:3 ¹² Mark 16:19; Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9 ¹³ John 5:22-30; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 19:11 ¹⁴ Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5, 8, 2:1-4 ¹⁵ John 14:16-17, 16:13-15; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:26-30; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Galatians 5:16-26 ¹⁶ 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21
About Humanity:
We believe that all people were created in the image of God, male and female ¹⁷, to have fellowship with Him and with one another ¹⁸ but became alienated in those relationships by the inherited sinful nature and through personal sinful disobedience ¹⁹. Thus, all people require salvation, but are incapable of regaining a right relationship with God through their own efforts ²⁰. We believe that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, provides the sole basis for the forgiveness of sin. Therefore, God freely offers salvation to all who repent of their sin and place their faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ²¹. We believe that God's will for every believer is their sanctification. Sanctification is a disciple's journey towards conforming their lifestyle to Christlikeness and holiness. This is accomplished by the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in and through believers. It is expected that a believer's life will be characterized, among many, by battle with sin, repentance, sexual purity, gracious speech, prayer, suffering, persecution, being different from the world, living justly and living for the glory of God ²². We believe that God has instituted marriage as a holy and permanent union between one natural man and one natural woman, and that that is the only context in which Biblical sexual intimacy, should be engaged in²³. Accordingly, we also believe that God's design for romantic relationships follows the same pattern. We believe there will be a future resurrection of both believers and unbelievers for judgement²⁴. Believers will live eternally in the presence of God and those who have rejected God's offer of salvation will be assigned to eternal separation from God²⁵.
About Ordinances:
We believe that Jesus Christ established believer's baptism by immersion ²⁶, as well as the Lord's Supper²⁷ as ordinances to be observed by the church during the present age.
¹⁷ Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 5:1-2 ¹⁸ Leviticus 26:12; John 14:23; John 15: 1-17; 1 John 1:3; Revelation 21:3-4 ¹⁹ Psalm 14:3; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:18-21; 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 ²⁰ Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10,23 ²¹ Mark 16:16; John 3:16; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-11; 2 Timothy 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 1:9 ²² Micah 6:8; John 17:17,19; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 3:8; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 10:10,14; 1 John 3:9 ²³ Genesis 2:24-25; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:22-33; Hebrews 13:4 ²⁴ Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 17:31; Acts 24:15; Revelation 20:12-13 ²⁵ Matthew 25:46; John 3:36; John 10:27-30; Romans 6:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; Revelation 21:3-4 ²⁶ Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:4-5; Galatians 3:26-27 ²⁷ Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:18-20; Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
About the Church:
We believe that the church is the body of Christ ; a community of believers of which Jesus Christ is the head ²⁸. The purpose of the church is to glorify God by loving and obeying Him. The task of the church is to preach God's gospel of salvation and reconciliation of all things, to make disciples and in so doing extend God's Kingdom on earth ³⁰. We believe that the new birth³¹, a personal confession of Christ³² and an ongoing journey of discipleship toward holiness³³ are necessary for continued church membership. We believe that those who become members of the local church agree to participate in processes of Biblical discipline should they deviate from Biblical standards of conduct³⁴. We believe that, in order to protect the local church, the Eldership has the final authority in matters of Biblical discipline. We believe that the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to the church to build up the body of Christ and make disciples of the lost. ³⁵ We believe God gave the church the ministry gifts of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher whose role is to equip believers for their works of service³⁶.
Other:
We specifically subscribe to the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms, which is deemed to be incorporated herein in its present form³⁷.