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About us
EChurch’s beliefs and doctrines
The Word of God
We believe that the canonical books of the Bible are the inerrant word of God, every word recorded by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that these words are the highest standard of doctrine and life.
The Bible provides revelation about God’s person, His plans and His will. Its guidance is complete both for human life as well as for salvation and communion with God.
Jesus Christ is the eternal Word and the central figure of the Bible. In the beginning everything was created by the word of the Lord and he continues to work through his Word. The words of the Bible are spirit and life and become active in those who put faith in them.[1]
God
We believe in an eternal, unchanging and omnipotent God in an indivisible divine nature. God is a Trinity of three unique persons called the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
By the power of the Spirit, the eternal Son took on human nature as he was carried and born by the Virgin Mary.
Jesus was, is and remains fully the Son of God. Through his birth in time, he also became fully human. The divine and human natures in him are never confused, but despite two separate natures, the Son is one person, not two.[2]
The Human
We believe that human beings were created in the image of God and in the beginning were put in charge of creation. In a life of worship, service and true love, she was supposed to be responsible for building the Kingdom of God on earth.
Through conscious and voluntary transgression, man fell into sin, leading to spiritual death and separation from God. As a sinner, she has an inherited fallen nature and lives under the power of sin.
Through the fall of man, the devil became the prince of this world and our world was held in captivity under curse and perdition.[3]
Salvation
We believe that Jesus Christ took responsibility for all human sin and its consequences when he died on the cross in everyone’s place. Through this voluntary sacrifice he reconciled humanity with God and this reconciliation is man’s only hope of salvation.
His resurrection from the dead proclaims that sin is atoned for, death conquered and the devil defeated.
Through repentance and faith in the Gospel, man is justified by grace and born again. Justification means that she stands fully acquitted in an upright position before God. The rebirth makes her a new creation, with a new identity of being a child of God with citizenship in the Kingdom of God. All who are saved are expected to continue living in and through their faith in Jesus and his word.
Through rebirth, man is brought into the new covenant and thus united as one with Christ. In Christ, every believer is blessed and possesses an inheritance that is partly available here and now which fullness is kept in heaven. The victory Jesus won empowers every believer to be an overcomer in this world.
Salvation aims at the total restoration of man’s spirit, soul and body. The Gospel is a lifelong call to discipleship in the footsteps of Jesus, with the goal of each believer growing in maturity and being formed into Christlikeness.
The Gospel offers healing and health for the mortal body and the hope of a future resurrection, as the believer takes on an immortal body.[4]
The mission of the Church of God is to preach the Gospel to all people in all nations, where God promises that signs, wonders, and works of power will confirm the Word and that the Spirit will cooperate with the proclamation of the Gospel for the conviction of faith in the consciences of men. It is Jesus’ explicit desire that all people become his disciples and therefore his church is a missionary church.
The Spirit
We believe that when Jesus left the world, the Helper, the Spirit, was sent to the church in his place. When saved, the Spirit takes up residence in each believer and the continued work of the Holy Spirit leads to a life where the fruit of the Spirit in the form of the character of Christ grows.
The Spirit works in accordance with the Word of God and provides an inner enlightenment in Bible study so that the Word can be properly understood and personally appropriated.
Spirit baptism, with the accompanying sign of the tongue, is experientially distinct from rebirth and is offered to all believers. The Spirit imparts his ability so that all the Lord’s disciples can be empowered to be Jesus’ witnesses in the world.
Further, the Spirit distributes his manifold gifts and equips the church for supernatural ministry, enabling all believers to do the works of Jesus and build up the body of Christ, the church.[5]
The Church
We believe that the Church of Christ is made up of everyone who are saved and that it is one and indivisible.
The church is the temple of the new covenant where the Spirit dwells in the present time.
It is the body of Christ, which, according to the model of marriage, is the expression of the believer’s union with Christ in the new covenant.
Through the presence, power and work of the Spirit in the church, the kingdom of God is manifested on earth in the present time and is the pillar and foundation of truth in this world.
The church is represented locally as a community of believers with shared responsibility under one leadership. God calls people to roles of leadership and proclamation and distributes the grace of ministry gifts according to his will.
The local church meets for worship in prayer, worship and proclamation of the word and administers baptism and communion. As a community, all believers are called to love and care for one another and stand together in building the Kingdom of God.
Those who have come to faith and have been born again are called in Scripture to be baptized into Christ in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Spirit. Baptism is done by immersion in water and represents death and resurrection with Christ. In baptism into death the old man is buried and in resurrection the reality of the new life is proclaimed. Baptism is also an inner circumcision of the Spirit, where the believer is clothed in Christ.
All believers are invited to partake of the Lord’s table by eating the bread and drinking the cup. Modeled on the Passover meal, the Lord’s Supper is celebrated in memory of Jesus, who he is and what he has done. It is a proclamation of his death, with the bread representing the body he sacrificed and the wine the blood that was shed.
The Eucharist is a sacred covenant meal and involves the sharing of the body and blood of Christ with those who receive the gifts. It points prophetically to the coming Kingdom of God, where all believers will share a meal with Jesus.[6]
The order of creation
We believe that God created everything visible and invisible out of nothing and that he sustains creation by the word of his power. God established a creation order in the beginning. It is the basis for the overall functioning of creation and remains the expression of his perfect will.
Marriage is part of this creative order. It is a covenant of God, a union between a man and a woman. The purpose of marriage is to create an intimate, deep and lifelong bond between spouses and to provide a safe environment in which a new generation can be born, grow and be shaped.
At creation, God placed man as a steward of the earth to use, preserve and govern it. The mission remains and humans have a particular responsibility for both the development and use of the Earth’s resources. As a result, daily work constitutes a service in which God wants to bless the work of our hands. Through active participation in family, work and community life, people fulfill their creative vocation.[7]
Eschatological Kingdom of God
We believe that Jesus will one day return to earth to judge the current world order and establish a global kingdom of justice, peace and prosperity. At his coming, those who have fallen asleep in faith in the Lord will rise in glory and all believers then living will be clothed with immortality.
Israel remains the people of the Exodus and is at the center of the establishment of the Millennium. The messianic kingdom refers to the fulfillment of all of God’s plans for Israel and its people, the liberation and restoration of creation from curse and corruption, and the reign of Jesus until everything is finally placed under his dominion.[8]
Eternal judgment
We believe that after the messianic millennial kingdom comes the day of judgment when all people will be held personally accountable and everyone will be judged completely fairly according to their deeds. Those who have lived faithfully according to God’s law and the dictates of conscience are declared righteous, while those who have violated them in any way are condemned to Gehenna, an eternal existence separated from God and referred to in Scripture as the “second death”.
The righteousness of Christ is imputed to everyone who has received the grace of salvation by faith. Since Jesus has already suffered the punishment of sin in everyone’s place, the believer is thereby freed from his guilt and its consequences.
At the judgment, each believer’s stewardship will be tested in relation to what has been entrusted during earthly life. Anything with lasting value will be rewarded by God, while anything that doesn’t measure up will go unrewarded.
After the judgment, there will be new heavens and a new earth with a new Jerusalem. There the redeemed multitude will live forever in God’s presence and serve him.[9]
EChurch beliefs and doctrines
Bible references
[1] 2 Tim 3:16,17 , Jn 1:1-5, Col 1:9,10,15-17, 2 Pet 1:3,4, Isa 55:10,11, Thess 2:13 , 2 Cor 4:2 , Jn 6:63, 17:17 , Heb 4:12 , Lk 24:26,27
[2] Deut 6:4,5 , 1 Cor 8:6 , 2 Cor 13:13 , Luke 1:30-35, 3:21,22 , Titus 2:13 , Rom 1:3,4, 9:5 , 1 Tim 2:5,6 , John 1:1,14 , Phil 2:6-8
[3] Gen 1:26 , Ps 8:4-9 , Gen 3:1-6, 17-19 , Isa 59:2 , Rom 5:12, 8:20,21 , Eph 2:1-3 , Ps 49:8-10 , Luke 4:5,6
[4] 2 Cor 5:14,15,21 , Rom 3:21-24 , 5:8-10 , Heb 2:14,15 , Acts 4:11,12 , 1 Cor 15:16-21 , Col 2:13-15 , Phil 3:20,21 , John 1:12,13 , 1 Peter 1:23 , 1 John 3:1,2 , Eph 1:11, 5:31,32 , 1 Pet 1:3,4 , 1 John 2:14, 4:2-4, 5:4,5 , 1 Thess 5:23 , Eph 4:12-16 , Rom 8:29 , 1 Pet 2:24,25 , Rom 8:11 , Prov 4:20-22
[5] John 14:15-18, 26, 1 Cor 3:16 , Rom 8:9, Gal 5:22-25, 1 Pet 1:2, , Eph 1:17,18, 1 Cor 2:9-13, Acts 1:4,5,8 , 2:1-4 , 8:14-16 , 19:1-6 , Mark 16:15-17 , 2 Cor 3:6,18, 1 Cor 12:7-11 , Rom 12:4-6 , 1 Tim 4:14 , 2 Tim 1:6,7 , John 14:12-17 , Eph 4:11,12
[6] 2 Cor 5:17,18 , Eph 1:22,23, 2:20-22, 4:3-6, 5:29-32 , 2 Cor 3:16 , Rom 14:17 , 1 Tim 3:15 , Acts 2:42-47 , Heb 10:24,25, 13:17 , Gal 1:15,16 , 1 Cor 12:28 , Phil 2:1-5 , Matt 28:18-20 , Mark 16:15,16 , Rom 6:3,4 , Col 2:11,12 , Gal 3:26,27 , Mark 14:22-25 , 1 Cor 10:16,17,21 , 11:23-29
[7] Matt 19:4-6 , Mal 2:14 , Prov 2:16-18 , Heb 13:4 , Ps 78:3,4 , Ps 112, Ps 127 , Gen 1:26-28 , 2:7,8,15 , Gen 12:2,3 , Gal 3:7-14 , Deut 28:2-12 , Deut 20:9 , 1 Thess 4:10-12 , 2 Thess 3:7-12 , Jer 29:4-7 , Rom 13:1-7 , 1 Pet 2:12-17
[8] Matt 25:31-34,41 , 1 Thess 4:13-17 , 1 Cor 15:21-26, 51-57 , Matt 23:37-39 , Acts 1:6, 3:18-21 , Rom 8:19-22, 11:1-15 , Rev 19:11-20:5 , Isa 2:2-4 , 11:1-5 , Micah 5:2-4 , Hab 2:14
[9] Rom 14:10-12 , Jude v. 14,15 , Rev 20:11-15 , Rom 2:5-13 , Jn 3:16-21, 5:24-29 , 2 Thess 1:5-10 , 2 Pet 3:5-13 , Rev 21:1-8, 22-27