Grace Evangelical Fellowship

 

Basis of Doctrine

  1. HOLY SCRIPTURES. We believe that the Scriptures, as originally given, were inspired in every detail by God, and ever since by his particular care and providence have been kept pure. They are, therefore, authentic and the church's only authority in all matters of faith and practice. The Holy Scriptures consist of those 66 books, excluding the Apocrypha, which together make up the Old and New Testaments.

  2. THE TRUE GOD. We believe that there is one living and true God. He is Sovereign and the creator and sustainer of all things. He is almighty, eternal, holy, loving and merciful; yet he hates sin and will not overlook guilt or spare the guilty, but is perfectly just in executing judgement.
    Three divine persons constitute the Godhead: Fahter, Son and Holy Spirit. Each is fully God and yet the Godhead is one and indivisible. They are equal in every divineattribute and execute distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
  3. JESUS CHRIST. We believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God; his virgin birth and his real and sinless humanity; his death on the crossand his bodily resurrection and ascension into heaven. We look forward to the bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ at his sceond coming.
  4. FALL OF MAN. Man was originally formed after the image of God, but rebelled against God at the instigation of the devil and by his own free will. He became wicked, producing children in his own likeness. Hence, by the propagation of this vicious nature all people are corrupt. Therefore, all men are conceived in sin and are by nature children of wrath, incapable of salvation througth good works, and are prone to evil, dead in sin, and under the just judgement of God.
  5. WAY OF SALATION. It has pleased the Lord to make a covenant of Grace, in which he freely offers salvation through Jesus Christ to sinners. This salvation is wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God; who according to the will of the Father, assumed our nature, yet without sin; honoured the divine law by his personal obedience, and by his death made a full atonement for our sins.
  6. REGENERATION. This is the change brought about in a life by the Holy Spirit, by which aa new nature is implanted and the person becomes a new creation in Jesus Christ. It is evidenced bya changed pattern of thinking and lifestyle.
  7. REPENTANCE. This is a personal act, prompted by the Holy Spirit, consisting in a Godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God. It is seen in a sincere hatred of sin and an abandonment of all that is evil and unholy. Since no one is sinless in this life repentance needs to be often repeated.
  8. FAITH. Faith is a gift from God and is the medium through which Christ is received by the soul as it's Saviour.
  9. JUSTIFICATION. God freely justifies those whom he effectively calls by pardoning their sins and accepting them as righteous. This he does for Christ's sake alone. Christ's righteousness is reckoned to their account and those thus justified receive and rest by faith on Christ's righteousness.
  10. ADOPTION. All justified persons are numbered among God's children. God's name is put upon them; they receive the spirit of adoption and are thus enabled to cry "Abba, Father." They are cared for by God as by a father. He never casts them off, but as they remain sealed to the day of redemption they inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation.
  11. SANCTIFICATION. This is the process by which we are made partakers of God's holiness. Sin's mastery is broken and the evil desires to which it gives birth are weakened and overcome. This extends to every part of man and yet remains incomplete in this life.
  12. PERSERVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. All those truly regenerate, being born of the Spirit, will not utterly fall away and perish. They will endure to the end, being kept by the power of God until they come to the enjoyment of Heaven itself.
  13. THE DEVIL. The devil is a personality, who is the enemy of God and the deceiver of mankind.
  14. MAN'S STATE AFTER DEATH. The bodies of men after death return to the dust and suffer decay, but the soul is immortal. The souls of the righteous are recieved into heaven where they are with Christ. The souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness. Souls seperated from their bodies are in either heaven or hell.
  15. RESURRECTION. At Christ's second coming all the dead will be raised and united to their souls forever. The bodies of the unrighteous will be raised to dishonour, while the bodies of the righteous will be raised to honour.
  16. THE LAST JUDGMENT. God has appointed a day in which the world will be judged in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom the Father has given all authority and power to judge. At that day the apostate angels will be judged; so too will all persons, both righteous an unrighteous, who have lived on the earth.