The basis for all our beliefs is the Bible, the inspired Word of God.
We believe that our loving and sovereign God created the world. Because of our sin and rebellion, we live in a fallen world and deserve to be rejected by God. God did not turn his back on his world, be instead chose to send a saviour, Jesus Christ. He continues to work out the plan of salvation that will make things right between God and us. Our salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Rather than letting us take the penalty, he took God’s judgment against sin on himself, and paid our debt. We are called to repent of our sins and turn to Jesus. He alone saves us, and then calls us to a life of thankfulness to Him. We believe Jesus’ promise that he will send the Holy Spirit to all who believe. The Holy Spirit works faith and repentance in us.
We believe that God calls us to join a local, faithful church where believers worship God together, where they will be encouraged by sound preaching, and by the sacraments of baptism and Holy Supper.
As a Reformed church we hold to the 5 following principles, sometimes referred to as the “5 solas”:
- By Scripture Alone – God’s Word governs every aspect of our church. All our church’s beliefs and teachings come from the Bible as the inspired Word of God. The Bible contains God’s revelation about himself and his plan of salvation through Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3: 16-17).
- By Faith Alone – Salvation is a gift from God that is received through faith. We cannot earn our own salvation and we must turn to Jesus Christ and put our faith in him (Ephesians 2: 8 – 9).
- By Grace Alone – Our salvation was earned by Jesus Christ. We cannot gain any favour with God through our own works, but only because of God’s grace and love (2 Timothy 1:9).
- Through Christ Alone – Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. He is the only way to salvation (Titus 3: 5-7).
- Glory to God Alone – We worship the triune God alone. No person or tradition can stand in the way of that, or take for themselves the glory that belongs to God. To Him be all the praise and glory! (Romans 11:36)
These basic beliefs are further confessed in our Creeds and Confessions. We adhere to three Creeds that were formulated in the very early centuries of the Christian Church: the Apostles’ Creed; the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
The three confessions we hold dear come were formulated in the time of the 16th Century Great Reformation. These are the Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dort.