Statement of Faith of Engadine Congregational Church
The living God
God is almighty, eternal and unchanging. He is just and holy, gracious and merciful. He is the creator and ruler of all things exercising sovereign power in creation, providence and redemption and is deserving of all glory and praise forever.
The Trinity
God is one, existing through all eternity in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Word of God
God can be partially known through His general revelation in nature. But God’s greatness and holiness are such that, without His aid, man can neither understand God nor find the way to a righteous relationship with Him. In His mercy, however, God has made Himself known to man. In many ways and at many times God has spoken through His prophets and revealed Himself by His actions in history, especially the history of Israel. But God has explicitly and finally revealed Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as originally given and divinely preserved are the record of this revelation of God to men. We therefore accept all that was written in the Bible as not merely containing, but being the divinely inspired and infallible Word of God and the final and sufficient authority in all matters of Christian faith and life.
Jesus the Saviour
God alone can deal with man’s sin and bring about a reconciliation with Himself. In God’s great plan of redemption, God the Son became man through the incarnation. Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless human life and taught with divine authority. He suffered and died in the place of sinners, bearing their sin and its guilt and punishment. He thus sets all believers free from the domination of Satan and the corruption of their own sinful nature and removes from them forever sin’s lasting consequences.
Satan, and Man the sinner
Satan is a person, a malicious spirit, the enemy of Jesus Christ and of the saints, deceiving mankind; and he has been condemned to eternal damnation. God created man perfect but after being tempted by Satan man by his own free choice disobeyed God and became a sinner. Man’s whole nature is now corrupted by sin and his fellowship with God is broken.
The Grace of God
God by His grace forgives and reconciles to himself all who turn to Him in true repentance, turning from sin and trusting Christ’s atoning death. God imputes to them the righteousness of Christ Himself and adopts them as His children.
The risen Lord
The Lord Jesus Christ was shown to be the Son of God by His miracles and by His bodily resurrection from the dead. He has ascended in power and glory to the presence of God where He now pleads on behalf of those who call upon Him in truth.
The Holy Spirit
God in the person of the Holy Spirit must work in a man before he can enter into salvation. He leads the sinner into an awareness of his sinfulness and brings him to repentance and trust in Christ. He brings to birth in him a new and eternal life and by his continuing work develops in this new life the fruits of love and holiness.
Justification by Grace through Faith alone
The Scriptures affirm that by this gracious work of the Holy Spirit the sinner is justified by faith alone in the finished work of Christ by His substitutionary death upon the cross. The works of men and the traditions of the visible church are of no avail in the salvation and justification of men.
The Visible return of Jesus Christ
God is bringing all human history to a climax which will be marked by the personal bodily return to the earth of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory.
Jesus the Judge
God has appointed Jesus as Judge and there will be a final judgement. Those who are saved will be raised in a glorified body and enjoy eternally and to the full the presence of their Lord in heaven. Those who have rejected Christ will also be raised and banished from God forever in hell.
The one Church
All who have been personally redeemed with the precious blood of Christ and upon whom God has bestowed his righteousness as a free gift, belong to Christ. They alone may rightly be called Christians. They alone are members of the one universal and eternal Church which is the body of Christ.
The gathered Church
Each local church is a fellowship of believers gathered by Christ and under His sole, sufficient and supreme authority. Through him, as head of the church, it has direct access to God and enjoys fellowship with other like- minded believers in a unity which transcends all barriers.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit equips the body of Christ with gifts as they are required for the building up of the saints and the winning of the lost. These gifts are bestowed for these purposes alone and should be recognised but not given undue emphasis or prominence.
The Christian life
Every Christian is called to love the Lord our God with all of his heart, soul, mind and strength and to love his neighbour as himself. Therefore we are to be living godly lives, doing all things to the glory of God. The indwelling Holy Spirit makes this new life a reality as we yield ourselves to Him.
The Great Commission
We affirm the obligation to fulfil the great commission given to the church by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, as we personally testify of Christ’s salvation and live for Him. Our personal interest, prayer and financial support of public preaching, crusades and mission work at home and overseas are additional ways of fulfilling this command.
Baptism
We affirm the practice of baptising infants and baptising adults who, on personal confession of faith, have not been previously baptised. Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, pouring or sprinkling with water. Although baptism should not be disparaged or neglected, the act of baptism does not in any way affect a person’s salvation or church membership. We uphold the right of each person to act according to their conscience in this matter.
The Lord’s Supper
As the Lord’s supper was instituted by Christ to remember his death till his return, to encourage believers in obedience and for fellowship with Him and other believers, we observe the Lord’s Supper by an open table with ordinary bread and unfermented wine, which are symbolic of Christ’s broken body and shed blood. The Lord’s supper is open to all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ regardless of their age or church membership. No unbeliever should partake of the Lord’s supper and no believer should do so without self examination as commanded in the Scriptures. Partaking of the Lord’s supper has no saving merit.