1. THE SCRIPTURE
We believe that the 66 books of the Scripture (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books) are the revealed word of God. He inspired His holy men to proclaim, write, and pass them down. The Scripture is the infallible revelation of God’s saving will and a reliable source of His historical acts. It contains God’s eternal truths. Through it, we can know God and the way to eternal life. The entirety of the Scripture is the foundation of our faith, the regulator of our lives, and our primary counselor. It is the sole authority by which we can examine teachings, traditions, and practices.
2. THE HOLY TRINITY
We believe in one living, eternal God. This one God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, a perfect unity of three persons of the same essence, inseparable and of equal dignity. We profess that God is eternally living, infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign over all, omnipresent, a personal spiritual being. His perfect nature transcends human understanding. He alone is worthy of our worship, unconditional love, and obedience.
2.1. THE FATHER
We believe that the Father is the source, cause, and purpose of all existence, having created everything. He sustains and governs the universe. He is just and holy, merciful and compassionate, good and providential, a hearer of prayers. He is love. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and wise.
2.2. THE SON
We believe that the image of the invisible God is the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the living God. He is the eternal God who took on a real human body for the redemption of humanity. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, He lived as a man, experienced real temptation but remained sinless. His teachings, miracles, and obedience testify that He is the promised Messiah. He took upon Himself the punishment for our sins and died on the cross for us. He rose in a glorified body and ascended back to the glory of heaven. He sits at the right hand of the Father, intercedes for us, gives gifts to the church, and reigns over all creation. We believe He will return in power and glory to judge the nations.
2.3. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person. He ensures the order of creation, gives and sustains life; He draws and convicts people; He gives rebirth, baptizes into the body of Christ, sanctifies, resurrects; He empowers, comforts, teaches, guides, intercedes for us; He glorifies Christ, produces the fruit of the Spirit in us, and gives gifts. We profess that the various names of the Holy Spirit refer to His nature and work: the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the eternal Spirit, the Spirit of comfort (Paraclete), the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of grace, the Spirit of life. Symbols express certain aspects of His personality and work: fire, wind, water, seal, pledge (guarantee), anointing (oil), and dove.
3. CREATED SPIRITUAL BEINGS
3.1. ANGELS
We believe that God created angels to serve Him. They are spiritual beings but can appear in physical form. They continually glorify God. They are obedient messengers and executors of God’s will, serving the plan of salvation. They protect the godly. They are holy, wise, powerful, and gentle. The number of holy angels is significantly greater than that of fallen, evil angels. The worship of angels is forbidden by the Scripture.
3.2. SATAN AND THE FALLEN ANGELIC BEINGS
We believe that God created Satan as an angelic prince. However, he became prideful and turned into God’s enemy. He led a third of the angels in rebellion; he is a conscious, personal spiritual power, the leader of the fallen, evil angels. He was cast out of heaven and brought the spirit of rebellion to the earth. He deceived Eve and Adam. He continually works against the knowledge of the true God; for his evil purposes, he can masquerade as an angel of light. He knows his destiny is in the lake of fire and brimstone, so he strives to drag people down with him. His work is extensive, but God has set limits to his activity, and Christ won an eternal victory over him at Golgotha.
4. THE CREATION
4.1. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
We believe that the universe was created by God; at His command, the visible came forth from the invisible. The Father, working together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, carried out the creation. He created the spiritual – unseen – world, as well as the material world, including the earth and its living beings, and mankind.
4.2. THE CREATION OF MAN
We believe that God created man in His own image and likeness, male and female. He blessed them and endowed them with authority. It is man’s honor, duty, and responsibility to rule over the earth, populate it, care for it, and protect it. Man’s free will means that he is an independent personality, given the ability and freedom to think, judge, decide, and act, and is responsible for these.
5. MAN’S SIN AND FALL
We believe that God created man to live in communion with Him. This communion was broken due to the disobedience of our ancestors, and man came under the law of sin and death. His innocence was lost, the divine image was distorted, and his descendants inherit this nature inclined towards sin. Because of this inclination, every person sins, is incapable of saving themselves, and needs redemption.
6. REDEMPTION
We believe that Jesus Christ, the perfect divine person, became true man in obedience to the will of the Father for the redemption of mankind. He obeyed God in everything during His earthly, bodily form. He lived in a real historical period, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah. He fulfilled the law of love. Through the redeeming work of His Son, God provided the possibility of liberation from the law of sin and death, so that the living communion of the repentant, believing man with God might be restored. Jesus Christ completed His earthly ministry, suffered crucifixion at Golgotha, became a curse and sin (but not sinful), and truly died for us, in our place. His bodily suffering and death were an atoning sacrifice to God for the sins of mankind, aiming to justify man and reconcile him with his Creator. Thus, on the cross at Golgotha, God’s plan was fulfilled, and His power was revealed.
We believe that Jesus Christ rose on the third day, defeated Satan, sin, and death. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, on the “throne of grace.” He is the only true mediator.
6.1. THE ATONEMENT
We believe that due to man’s sinful state, the holy God needed to be appeased. God is holy and just; He cannot let sin go unpunished. While sin rightfully evokes His wrath, God is also the God of love and grace. In Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice, His justice and grace, His wrath and love work together, thus reconciling the world to God. God provided the atoning sacrifice even before the creation of the world. The Old Testament sacrifices served this purpose but could only cover sin. The final solution was brought by Jesus Christ, who “entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” His suffering and death were the punishment for our sins. Thus, the atonement is a finished fact: on the cross at Golgotha, “it is finished.”
6.2. JUSTIFICATION
We believe that justification is God’s gracious decision, by which, based on Jesus Christ’s atoning death and redeeming work, He acquits the repentant sinner from the charge of guilt and the punishment for sins, receives him into His grace, and imputes Christ’s righteousness to him, restoring his communion with God. This can happen if the sinful person accepts Christ as his Redeemer by faith and acknowledges His sole merit for salvation.
6.3. SALVATION
We believe that salvation is given to man by grace through faith based on the completed work of redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation – eternal life – means living in communion with God, the blessings of which begin and can be experienced here during earthly life, but will be perfected in eternity. Concerning the perseverance in salvation, the Scripture emphasizes both God’s sustaining power and the importance of the believers’ obedience.
6.4. REPENTANCE AND REBIRTH
We believe that every person needs repentance and rebirth to become a child of God and to restore the divine image in them through new creation. After recognizing their lost, sinful state through the work of the Holy Spirit, it is their personal responsibility to repent, confess their sins, turn away from their former way of life, turn to God, accept Jesus as their Savior by faith, and begin a new life pleasing to God. Repentance is evidenced by the change in one’s mindset, values, and actions. God grants the repentant person the peace and joy of forgiveness, and through the combined work of the Word and the Holy Spirit, they are “born again” from above. Rebirth is the beginning of a new, spiritual reality and state in a person’s life. Repentance and regeneration are two distinct but closely related events.
6.5. SANCTIFICATION
We confess that the biblical concept of ‘sanctified’ means: set apart. Regarding the believer’s position, it means being set apart from the world, from sin, as one abstains from it, and also being set apart for God, living for Him, hence, holy.
We believe sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer, through which the character of Jesus Christ is increasingly formed in their life. It is not a one-time, defined event, but a process that begins at regeneration and continues until the end of earthly life. The pursuit of practical holiness, living a life worthy of the Lord, is the task of every believer.
7. BAPTISM
We believe that baptism was ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ. After He Himself was baptized, He entrusted the ministry of baptism to all His disciples. Baptism is a symbol of regeneration and incorporation into the body of Christ, an expression of the life change that has occurred in the believer, stemming from love and obedience to the Savior. Through baptism, the born again person testifies to having renounced their sinful way of life, having died and been buried with Jesus in sin, and having risen to new life with Him. Only those whose lives bear the fruits of repentance, who openly confess their faith in Christ, and who willingly request baptism may partake in it. Baptism, following Jesus’s command, is performed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, by immersion of the individual into water.
8. THE LORD’S SUPPER
We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ to commemorate His suffering and death until His return. The elements of the Lord’s Supper, bread and wine, symbolize the broken body and shed blood of Christ. In the Lord’s Supper, we experience and renew our communion with Christ and our fellow believers, our covenant. Only those who are born again, have publicly confessed their faith through baptism, judge themselves with sincere repentance, and accept by faith the efficacy of Jesus’s blood in atoning for sin, may partake in the Lord’s Supper. The participation in the Lord’s Supper is the personal responsibility of each individual.
9. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit cooperated with the Father and the Son in creation and in accomplishing the work of redemption. He worked and manifested Himself through the prophets, in the person of Jesus Christ, in His teachings and deeds, in the apostles, and continues to manifest Himself in believers and their communities, the church. His general outpouring was prophesied by the prophets of the Old Testament. His outpouring is connected to the person of the Messiah: the Spirit of the Lord rests on Him; He (Christ) is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit was in communion with Jesus throughout His human existence: at His conception, birth, baptism, wilderness temptation, teachings and deeds, crucifixion, and resurrection.
We believe that in the New Testament era, the Holy Spirit works in the world, convincing and revealing the truth about sin, righteousness, and judgment. He gives rebirth and sanctifies the believer; He teaches, guides, counsels, rebukes, comforts, intercedes, and seals them for the day of full redemption; He enables them to have real communion with the Lord and the church, and produces the fruit of the Spirit. He is the one who gives gifts. Through the Holy Spirit, the resurrection will also occur. In all His activities, the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ and points to Him.
9.1. BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that in the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Baptism into the Holy Spirit), the believer is completely surrounded by the essence of the Holy Spirit, and at the same time, fully filled with Him, and their heart is subjected to His dominion. This experience has deep, internal significance, and also manifests in external signs. It opens a new period in the believer’s life, just as regeneration and baptism do. Regeneration and Baptism in the Holy Spirit are two distinct events.
We believe that through the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the believer receives heavenly power and anointing for a life of service, to be a witness for Christ.
We believe that the condition for Baptism in the Holy Spirit is repentance and regeneration, faith, the request for the blessing of the Spirit, and obedience. Additionally, there must be a desire, a thirst for the Holy Spirit, which urges the believer to come to Jesus and drink from the living water of the Spirit.
We believe that the filling with the Holy Spirit is supernatural, but it is accompanied by visible and audible external manifestations perceivable by human senses; speaking in tongues is a fundamental sign. Other manifestations may include storms and fire phenomena, exuberant praise of God’s presence, prophecy. These signs are part of the event but are not identical to the event itself.
We believe that being filled with the Holy Spirit is not limited to a single event; one can and must be renewed in it; it is necessary to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.
We confess that the event of Baptism in the Holy Spirit did not end with the apostolic age; it manifested itself in all revival periods of church history and can still be experienced by every born again believer today. The spiritual state experienced at such times is the result of obedient surrender born out of faith, the blessing of the Spirit, the experience of God’s love transcending all understanding – not a state of self-induced ecstasy.
9.2. SPIRITUAL GIFTS
We believe that the manifestations of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the gifts of grace (spiritual gifts), providing heavenly power and authority necessary for the service of the church. The Holy Spirit bestows these manifestations according to His wise determination upon those believers who strive for them and earnestly seek them. The gifted person is not the owner of the gifts; they receive them to serve responsibly, to use them for the benefit of others. No one receives all the gifts. It is necessary for the members to serve in love, in the unity of the Spirit, with propriety, wisdom, and good order, according to the rules of the Scriptures, with mutual respect and willingness to serve. Where this biblical order is realized, there is life, and growth according to God.
We believe that the gifts are given for the benefit of the church, including the gifts of knowledge (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits); gifts of action (faith, healings, miracles); gifts of speech (prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues). The purpose of the gifts is to build up the body of Christ, to work for unity, to shape Christian maturity. The Lord also bestows servants on the church: including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, to equip His people for service. They bear the greatest responsibility for the body of Christ.
9.3. THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
We believe that when the Holy Spirit is present and reigning in the life of a believer, the process of sanctification takes place within them, and, as a result of their fellowship with Jesus Christ, they inevitably bear the fruit of the Spirit and manifest the character of Christ.
We believe that the born-again individual is no longer subject to the will of the flesh but can exercise control over it. Thus, through the work of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control become visible in their life. All of these are characteristics of the divine nature to which we have become partakers.
10. THE CHURCH
We believe that the New Testament church is the community of born-again believers whom God has called out of the world to confess Jesus Christ as Lord with their words and serving love, to proclaim and follow His saving will.
We confess that the church is the body of Christ, a living, evolving organism, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, with Jesus Himself as its head. The church is God’s temple, a building made of living stones, with its foundation and cornerstone being Jesus Christ. The church is the bride of Jesus Christ. The highest unifying force between her and Christ is love.
We believe that the mission of the church is to proclaim the gospel. The Scriptures portray this service of the church on earth through images such as “salt,” “light,” and “a city on a hill.” The order of the church’s service and activities was established under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the apostolic age; its main elements are preaching and teaching, prayer, singing, praise, prophecy, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, voluntary giving, service of love, and all of this requires church discipline. The cohesive bond among the various ministers is the love present through the Holy Spirit, mutual respect, and willingness to serve. Where this biblical order is realized, there is life, and growth according to God’s will can be experienced.
We believe that the church encompasses all believers who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
11. THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, SUNDAY
We believe that God created us with a regular need for rest, relaxation, and refreshment, abstaining from ordinary laborious activities. On this day, we dedicate much of our time to studying the Word, prayer, participating in worship, practicing fellowship, and nurturing brotherly love. Therefore, following the practice of the apostolic church, we usually gather on the “first day of the week,” Sunday, to listen to God’s Word and repeatedly celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
12. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
We believe that marriage is ordained by God, blessed by Him, and has a defined purpose. Marriage is a natural life partnership based on covenant between one man and one woman, ordained by God, lasting for a lifetime, and contracted according to the laws of the land. A marriage is holy when it is lived according to God’s will. Its foundation is mutual acceptance and love, sourced in God, and its essence is the spouses’ commitment to God, being faithful to each other in all circumstances, and sharing their lives together.
We believe that in marriage, children are a blessing and a gift from God. Parents and children together constitute the family. The good atmosphere and happiness of the family depend on the practice of the order established by God, the careful upbringing and obedience of the children. The deepest source of the spiritual unity of the family is communion with Christ, which includes family worship. A truly Christian upbringing can take place in homes where this is a continuous practice. If the marriage of believers deteriorates, it is a sin. The solution at this point is not divorce but reconciliation: mutual repentance, asking for forgiveness, forgiveness, and adjusting to each other.
13. FINAL THINGS
13.1. DEATH
We believe that death is the consequence of sin, affecting all humanity equally; it is the last enemy that God will abolish. Through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He defeated the power of death and opened the door to eternal life for all humanity. Death is the departure of the soul, spirit from the body, a state of existence where the person transitions from the visible world to the invisible. For the redeemed, it is merely a gateway to eternal life. The Scriptures liken physical death to sleep, and the period between death and resurrection is described as a state of waiting, of rest.
We believe that death is a transitional state toward eternal life or eternal damnation. Once it occurs, there is no possibility of changing one’s destiny.
13.2. RESURRECTION
We believe in the resurrection of the body. Jesus Christ brought us the hope of resurrection and eternal life. The assurance of our resurrection lies in His resurrection in the flesh. When a person is born again, reconciled with God, their spirit is revived, brought to new life. Therefore, whoever is in Christ, through living faith, has already “passed from death to life” in this earthly existence. Our eternal salvation will be complete with the redemption of the body, its resurrection, and glorification.
We believe in the first and second resurrection. In the first resurrection, those who died in Christ will participate. This is followed by the second resurrection, in which all the dead will be brought to life.
13.3. THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST
We believe that Jesus Christ will return in power and glory. He will personally appear on earth in a visible and experiential manner. This day is near, at the door, but its exact time is unknown.
We believe that at the return of Christ, the first resurrection will take place. At that time, the living believers will be caught up, their bodies transformed into imperishable, immortal ones. However, God’s wrath will be poured out on those left on earth, on all those who rejected the gospel. This will be followed by the second resurrection and the final judgment.
13.4. THE ETERNAL DESTINIES OF THE REDEEMED AND THE WICKED
We believe that those who died in Christ will not experience damnation, but their works, lives, and deeds will be judged by the Lord as a just judge. Subsequently, they will be eternally united with God and dwell in His glory. This reward is heaven, paradise, the Father’s house, the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem. Here, the glory of God and the Lamb shine; here, we will have full knowledge, peace, joy, service, and communion with Christ. There will be no more death, and all earthly suffering will come to an end.
We believe that as infinite as God is in love, grace, and forgiveness toward the repentant sinner, His justice is equally severe in the judgment of those who reject grace. Dwelling with God signifies eternal life, while being eternally separated from God signifies damnation. Hell is a place and a state where eternal torment of missed salvation and guilt is present. Its names are Gehenna, outer darkness, the lake of fire, the second death. Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will end up here. Satan and his allies will also receive their final punishment in the eternal fire.
13.5. NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH
We believe that as the culmination of world history, God will create a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness and peace will reign. Christ will surrender royal authority to the eternal God, that He may be all in all.
Amen.
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead. On the third day, He rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.
THE NICENE-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried;
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; from thence He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.