The core biblical doctrine that forms the foundation of what we, as leadership at Heavenly Grace, stand, practice and teach is:

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GOD – THE TRINITY

There is one God, who exists eternally in a fellowship of three distinct and equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are unchangeable in their holiness, justice, wisdom and love. Each member in the trinity is God. Together, they created, sustain, and judge all things according to their will and for their mutual glory (1Jn 5:7; Jn 15:26).

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THE SON – THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

 
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, was born of a virgin and is both fully God and fully human (Jn1:1, 14). He is the perfect and only mediator between the Father and the human race (1Tim2:5).

Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and living a sinless life in obedience to the Father (Matt 1:18). On the cross he died for our sins, bearing for us the wrath and punishment we deserve from God and thus redeeming us by his blood. He rose from the dead and in his resurrection body ascended into heaven where he is exalted as Lord of all. He intercedes for his people in the presence of the Father and mediates God’s grace for the sanctification of our humanity and the future renewal of the universe (Phil 2:6-11).

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THE BIBLE

The Bible is the only essential, revealed and infallible record of God’s self-disclosure to mankind. It leads us to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Being given by God, the Scriptures are both fully and verbally inspired by God. He has given this testimony to the human race through the Holy Spirit. It is inspired by God in its entirety, without error, and is the final authority in all things. Bible is authoritative and normative rule and guide of all Christian life, practice, and doctrine (2Tim 3: 16). Every doctrinal formulation, whether of creed, confession, or theology must be put to the test of the full counsel of God with in the Holy Scripture (Rev 22: 18, 19).

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THE HUMAN RACE

God made all men and women in his own image, as the crown of creation, that man might have fellowship with him. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God. As a result of the rebellion of the first humans – Adam and Eve – against God, every aspect of our human nature has been corrupted and therefore all men and women are spiritually dead: guilty sinners and hostile to God. Every person is therefore under the just condemnation of God and needs to be reconciled to God and born again into the family of God so as to know and please him (Rom 3:23, 24).

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SALVATION

Salvation is deliverance from sin and its consequences, that brought about by faith in Christ (Jn 3:17). It is a work of God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved (Eph 2:8). It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ in his crucifixion and resurrection and is offered to all mankind. God in his love forgives sinners whom he calls, granting them repentance, deliverance and faith. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted into the family of God – the new family – and will receive eternal life in the New Creation.

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THE CHURCH

The Church universal is the body of which Christ is the head and to which sinful men are called out of the whole human race into the fellowship of Christ’s Body (Col 1:18). The Church is not a religious institution or denomination. Rather, the Church universal is made up of those who have become genuine followers of Jesus Christ and have personally embraced the gospel. This body is made visible in local churches, which are congregations of this new family, the family of God (Eph 2:19). These people are given by God to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, prayer, the administering of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, pastoral care and discipline, and evangelism and the recovery of true community.

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BAPTISM AND COMMUNION

These have been given to the church by Christ as visible signs of the gospel. A believer’s baptism is a powerful public confirmation and seal of our union with Christ as he commanded. Therefore, in obedience to Christ’s command and as a testimony to God, the Church, oneself, and the world, a believer should be immersed in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

As with water baptism, the communion is a commemoration of the cross of Christ and an experience of our ongoing participation in and dependence on Christ as our unifying head. Whilst Christ is powerfully present ministering to believers in this sacrament, it involves no change in the bread and wine (1Cor 11:23-26).

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THE FUTURE

The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory and he will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. In the Consummation, Satan with his hosts and all those outside Christ are finally separated from the benevolent presence of God, enduring eternal punishment, but the righteous, in glorious bodies, shall live and reign with him forever. Amen. (1Cor 15: 51-56).

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