“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” (2 Timothy 1:13-14)
One of the principal functions of the visible church is to testify God to the present generation. Through her belief and practice, the Church proclaims to the world the attributes and works of God. With adequate knowledge of the substance of our beliefs, we shall have strength to keep our faith. Through clear understanding of the implications of our beliefs, we can live out our faith in sound principles. We have precisely listed the fundamental truths that we believe in our constitution, as a code of belief for all the members of the church. It is the foundation for our faith and unity as well as the reference for our walk and service.
We may summarize this code of beliefs into the following four main aspects: (1) We believe in the Triune God. (2) We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (3) We believe in the redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. (4) We believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of God with supreme authority. The purpose of this article is not to give a detailed interpretation of Christian doctrine, but rather a simple but vital presentation of the content of our beliefs to the members of our church. With reference to these fundamental doctrines, we shall understand the vital difference between the Church of God and other religions in the world. We shall realize how the emphasis of cults has deviated from the spiritual pursuits of authentic doctrines. Then we would “know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)
(1) The church believes in and worships the Triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Bible shows us that there is only one God. He is one Being, but exists in three Persons: God the Father, the Holy Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The declaration made by the Lord Jesus Himself: “Baptizing them in the name (singular) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19), significantly verifies the recognition of such doctrine. In the Old Testament, God had also personally declared His name: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’.” (Exodus 3:14) and “Jehovah … is My name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3:15) God is eternal and self-existent. His self-existence signifies that He is transcendent, above and beyond all His creations, whether substantial or otherwise. The self-existence of God also demonstrates that He is absolutely perfect. Therefore, He needs nothing beyond Himself to signify His perfection. God’s eternal existence implies that He is infinite, unceasing, and forever unchangeable, that He and all His abundance in glory exist eternally, surpassing time and space.
The Bible also shows us that God has personality and attributes. He is not an impersonal force, but He has authority, freewill, thoughts and feeling. Strength wise, He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, as described in the Scriptures: “How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out.” (Rom. 11:33). He creates and controls all things. “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” (Romans 11:36) He creates all lives in the spiritual and the physical realms. For His special purpose, He created man after His own image and likeness, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Being the Lord of life, He also actively controls and intervenes in both of these realms. Nothing can disturb His eternal plan and will. Quality wise, “God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5). Hence the holiness and righteousness of God, as well as His kindness and love, are absolute and unchangeable. While God by no means clears the guilty, He is also full of grace. Consequently, from these attributes come His judgment, condemnation, redemption, and justification of mankind.
(2) The church believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He became flesh and was born into this world by the virgin birth and through the conception of the Holy Spirit.
Before His incarnation, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was pre-existent and eternally existent. His personality as the Son of God shows that He is one of the Persons of the Triune God, sharing the same dignity and glory with the Father. He existed before all the creations, being the master craftsman of them. But He “became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14) through incarnation. This Jesus Christ, Son of God, Who had executed God’s will and plan on earth, did manifest in His flesh the fullness and perfection of both His divine and human natures. Jesus’ deity revealed the power and authority of God, so that we may come to know God through Him - “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.” (John 1:18) His perfect humanity illustrated the perfect integrity of the man God originally created. He also brought along grace and truth that surpass the requirements of the law.
Jesus Christ had no sinful nature, for He was not born of Adam’s race. Nor did He sin, for Satan could find nothing to accuse Him of. He is the Lord of all believers and the head of the Church. His speeches and teachings were full of authority, for His teachings came from God. What He had heard from God, He preached to the world. His acts were also full of authority, for “the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing; because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19) In all, He is our sole object of worship and service.
(3) The church believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sin of the world, was buried and then resurrected on the third day, ascended to heaven later, and will come again in the future. Whosoever believes in Him as personal Saviour shall have everlasting life.
The redemption by Christ is a vital part of the church’s belief. Both the content and the effect of redemption are perfect and complete. Once Christ was offered for the sin of mankind, as an eternal sin offering, the call to redemption by grace will never change throughout this dispensation of salvation by grace. Redemption is by God’s grace and is entirely initiated and achieved by God alone. It is independent of any human deed. Redemption shows God’s requirement for holiness and His righteous judgment. It also reveals God’s unfathomable love and is the foundation of total forgiveness. Redemption requires the faith of the person. Such faith includes our confession of sins, and our recognition and acceptance that the Lord Jesus died for us. Redemption implies the function of propitiation, which is to save the fallen mankind from sin, making them into a new spiritual creation, abiding in God’s authority and attributes that enable them to become free from the power and law of sin. Redemption denotes the necessity of a price. It is the sacrifice of the priceless life of Christ, “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18), that our case may be closed after we have been freely justified. Furthermore, the relationship between God and man is re-established, that we may be reconciled to God in Christ and therefore can rejoice in Him.
Christ “through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4), that we may be justified. After the resurrection, He ascended to the Heavens to prepare a heavenly home for us. However, through the coming of the Holy Spirit, He still dwells in the hearts of the Christians and guides our lives and service through His teachings and the leading of the Spirit.
The Bible promises that those Christians who have fallen asleep shall wait for their bodily resurrection, and that the living ones shall wait for their bodily change, and to be taken in rapture. All these events will be accomplished in sequence when the Lord comes again. He will lead us into the heavenly kingdom and eternity. This will be the result of our faith. Therefore, we have hope not only in this present life, but the blessing that we will also abide with God in eternity. Such hope will become the encouragement of our lives and pursuit, as it is written: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)
(4) The Church believes that the Old and New Testaments are revelations from God and are the only authority of our beliefs and daily walk of life.
There are altogether 66 books in the Biblical Canon. All of them have undergone verification, acknowledgment and declaration by the early churches. All these books display one or more of the following characteristics: (a) God’s personal revelations, through the inspired writings of His prophets and servants in the Old Testament, and the apostles and servants in the New Testament; (b) the authority of the teachings by the Lord Jesus Himself; (c) harmony through the inspirations of the Holy Spirit; (d) cross references among the books themselves in the Bible.
The revelations of the Bible have been completed at the end of the book of Revelation. There are no more extensions, supplements or any other revelation. The Bible covers all the fundamental truth regarding salvation and sanctification. To those who seek God, the Bible is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15) To Christians, the Bible directs us toward the walk of holiness. To this present generation, the Bible declares God’s absolute standard on morality and daily behavior, and the separation between righteousness and evil.
This overview of beliefs for our church outlines the principles that we believe and keep. It is also the framework recognized by churches of fundamental beliefs. God has opened a door of gospel preaching for us that constantly there are visitors coming to seek salvation. Therefore we have such a solemn commission to pass on, accurately and clearly, the contents of the gospel and of our belief that these sincere and earnest seekers would come to believe in the Lord and receive the everlasting life. Through having the life of God, we can demonstrate His noble character that mankind longs for. By sharing the divine nature of God, we can enjoy true fellowship in love and care. In having God’s presence and promises, we can experience His protection and blessings. By casting our hope into eternity, we shall be rewarded with a real security.
The Bible teaches us to “build yourselves up in your most holy faith” (Jude 20). May we keep learning in His grace that we can have a deeper understanding about God and His word: to know why we believe, how we believe, and to what extent we have been keeping our faith. May God edify us to become believers, keepers and preachers of the faith that in time He will use us to pass on what we have kept “to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).