Upendo Gospel Community Church
Statement of Faith
Being in the historical line of the Christian Church, we highly value the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Chalcedonian Definition, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Three Forms of the Dutch Reformed Church, and other faithful and reformed creeds and confessions.
We wholeheartedly agree with the historic articles of the Christian faith expressed in the five solas of the reformation — the Scriptures alone are our final standard, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone.
This church belongs to the strain of reformed churches historically identified as Particular or Strict Baptists, today being commonly known as Reformed Baptists. Being a church plant of Trinity Baptist Church, Donholm (8th September 2024), we acknowledge the independence of local churches.
This church aligns with the doctrines of Scripture as set forth in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 (1689 LBCF) and adopts this as our confession of faith. We insist particularly on the following points:
The Bible – the Word of God
We believe in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Scriptures as they were originally written; their plenary and verbal inspiration by God; their authority and entire sufficiency, for they not only contain the word of God, but they themselves are the word of God. The Holy Scriptures are our unique and final rule of faith and conduct. They comprise sixty-six (66) books of the Old and New Testaments. Since they were received by the Church, no further revelation has been given, for the instruments of Divine revelation, that is, apostles and prophets, as well as the peculiar gifts that give them their genuineness, have long ago disappeared or ceased. The canon is thus complete.
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – One God
We believe in one God, the Creator, Sustainer, Ruler or Governor, and Final Judge of all things. We also believe in the Trinitarian nature of this God as revealed in the Scriptures — the Father being God neither begotten nor made; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son being God, begotten but not made; the Holy Spirit being God neither begotten nor made but proceeding; all three Persons being equal in power and glory, receiving one honour, one Almighty God.
Jesus Christ – Truly God and Truly Man
We believe in the Divine essence, eternal and absolute, of the Lord Jesus Christ; His unique conception by the Holy Spirit; His corporeal birth of the virgin Mary; His entire or true humanity yet without sin. We uphold the authority of His teaching, His atoning and substitutionary death as a perfect sacrifice for sin, His corporeal resurrection on the third day, His ascension to heaven, His continual intercession for His people, and His singular and personal return in power and glory.
The Holy Spirit – Author and Source of Life
We believe in the personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit, who inspired holy men to write the Scriptures. It is by His action alone that the soul comes to regeneration leading to the graces of repentance and saving faith; it is by Him that the saints are sanctified by means of the truth; it is by Him that we understand the meaning of the Scriptures and are taught by God.
The Creation – Good and Stable
We believe that God created all things by His sole word, Genesis 1 and 2 being historical and not mythical. Thus, God's creation was good and firm, man being created in original righteousness and innocence. Despite the corruption of the Fall, man is still made in the image of God, which makes his person sacred and his being without end.
Fallen Man – A Sinner
We believe in the total and universal depravity of man, bodily and spiritually, before God as a result of the Fall. Mankind is therefore deserving of eternal punishment. Through Adam as a representative head, all mankind who are his descendants are born in the state of sin, called original sin. This means that every man is unable to will the slightest spiritual good leading to salvation, and this is the necessity of the new birth.
The Law of God – Universal and Covenantal Rule
We believe that the moral Law of God, as a perfect reflection of His unchanging character and righteousness, is the universal and perpetual rule of righteousness for all mankind. This Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, was written on the heart of man at creation and continues to bind all men in all places and at all times. We affirm the continuity of the moral law across covenants and the discontinuity of ceremonial and judicial laws.
Salvation – by Grace Alone
We believe that salvation is wholly of God. It is the gracious purpose of God to save a countless multitude of sinners from every race and nation, including the nation of Israel. The elect are graciously and effectually called by God through the gospel and are given faith and repentance by the Holy Spirit. They are justified by faith alone in Christ alone, adopted into God's family, and are preserved by God's power through faith unto final salvation.
The Church – God's Redeemed People
We believe that the universal church is the whole company of the redeemed through all the ages, and that the local church is the visible expression of the universal church in a given locality. Christ has appointed the offices of elder (pastor/overseer) and deacon for the governance and service of the church, and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper as means of grace.
The Last Things – Christ Shall Return
We believe in the personal, visible, bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the resurrection of the body, both of the just and of the unjust. The just shall enter into everlasting blessedness in the presence of God, and the unjust into everlasting conscious punishment, separated from God.