Statement of Faith
Bible Church of Nelson, New Zealand focuses on proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. We meet regularly on a Sunday to fellowship together and informally at various times during the week to encourage one another in the faith. We also encourage evangelistic outreaches and we support other Christian missions and organisations who also proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We operate as an informal fellowship in that we have no paid staff or pastor but are guided by elders and Bible teachers.
For the benefit of keeping ourselves on track and to avoid compromise with unbiblical positions, we have outlined a number of positional statements by which we are guided. These are outlined here.
Who is God?
There is one God, self-existent and eternal, infinitely perfect, the Creator, Sustainer and Ruler of all things.
The Godhead is triune: one God, three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each Person of the Trinity is fully God, their glory equal and their majesty coeternal (Genesis 1:1–2; Matthew 3:15–17; John 1:1–3).
Who is Jesus?
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the uncreated Creator and only begotten Son of God, took on human flesh to be fully man without ever ceasing to be fully God (Luke 24:39; John 1:1–3, 1:14, 1:18, 3:16, 8:58; Colossians 1:16; Acts 2:22; 1 Corinthians 15:47; Philippians 2:5–8; Hebrews 1:1–3).
Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life (Isaiah 7:14, 53:4–6; Matthew 1:16–23; John 8:29, 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21–22).
Jesus died on the cross, making a full and satisfactory atonement for man’s sin. (Matthew 1:16–23; Luke 1:30–31; John 19:30; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Hebrews 9:11–12, 10:12–14; 1 Peter 1:17–19; 1 John 2:2).
Jesus Christ rose bodily from the dead, ascended to heaven, is currently seated at the right hand of God the Father as our Intercessor and shall return in person (bodily and visibly) to this earth as Judge of the living and the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–5; Acts 17:31; Ephesians 1:17–23; 2 Timothy 4:1; Hebrews 7:25).
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, is Lord and Giver of life, who glorifies our Lord Jesus Christ and convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 15:26, 16:8–11, 16:14).
The Holy Spirit’s work is necessary for sinners to repent and believe in Jesus Christ through the gospel call (Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 2:6–14, 12:3; Titus 3:3–7).
The Holy Spirit lives and works in each believer to produce the fruits of righteousness (John 14:16–17; Acts 1:8, 4:31; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:18–20; Galatians 5:22–23; Ephesians 2:19–22).
Who is Man?
Mankind is created in the image of God. Both male and female reflect the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27, 5:2, 9:6; Matthew 19:4–6; Mark 10:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9–10).
The special and unique creation of Adam from dust and Eve from Adam’s rib was supernatural and immediate. Adam and Eve did not originate from any other preexisting lifeforms (Genesis 2:7, 2:21–23, 3:19; 1 Corinthians 11:8–12, 15:47–49).
The life of all men and women is sacred and begins at conception (defined as the moment of fertilization). Each unborn child is a unique, living person, created in the image of God, and must be respected and protected both before and after birth. The abortion of an unborn child or the active, intentional taking of a person’s life through euthanasia or assisted suicide constitutes a violation of the sanctity of that life and is a crime against God and man (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17; Psalm 51:5; 1 Corinthians 15:49; James 2:11).
There is only one race of mankind. Adam was the first man and Eve was the first woman. All people alive today are the descendants of Adam and Eve and subsequently Noah (Genesis 1:26–27, 3:20, 10:1, 10:32; 1 Corinthians 15:45–47; Luke 17:27; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5).
Since all mankind is made in the image of God, all mankind have equal dignity and value regardless of age (including the unborn), intelligence, male or female, physical ability, shade of skin tone, religion, ethnicity, or any other characteristic (Genesis 1:26–27, 3:20, 11:9; Acts 17:26–28).
How are we saved?
All mankind are sinners, inherently from Adam and individually (by choice), and are therefore subject to God’s wrath and condemnation (1 Kings 8:46; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 116:11; Proverbs 16:5; John 3:16–18, 12:48; Romans 3:23).
Since all of mankind is made in God’s image and also fallen, all mankind is equally sinful, equally deserving of eternal punishment, and equally able to receive salvation in Christ (Isaiah 53:6; John 12:32; Romans 3:23, 5:12; 2 Peter 3:9).
Freedom from the penalty and power of sin is available to mankind only through the sacrificial death and shed blood of Jesus Christ and his complete and bodily resurrection from the dead (Luke 24:39; John 8:12, 8:36, 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:3–6; 1 Peter 1:3).
Salvation is by God’s grace alone, a gift received by faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9; Titus 3:3–7).
The one who is born of God has repented, recognized the death of Christ as full payment for sin, and received the risen Christ as Savior, Lord, and God (John 1:12–13; Acts 3:19, 16:31, 17:30–31, 20:21; Galatians 2:20–21; 1 John 3:9).
What is Scripture?
The 66 books of the Bible are the unique, written Word of God. The Bible is divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible, supremely authoritative, and sufficient in everything it teaches. Its assertions are factually true in all the original autographs. Its authority is not limited to spiritual, religious, or redemptive themes but includes its assertions in such fields as history and science (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; Revelation 22:18–19).
The final guide to the interpretation of Scripture is Scripture itself (Proverbs 8:8–9; Matthew 12:3–5, 19:4, 22:31; Mark 7:13, 12:10, 12:26; Luke 6:3; 2 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Timothy 3:16–17).
All things necessary for our salvation are expressly and clearly taught in Scripture including the foundation of the gospel: (Genesis 1:1, 1:31, 3:17–19; Romans 5:12, 3:23); and the presenting of the gospel: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 6:23, 10:9; John 3:14–18; Acts 16:30–31; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:1–2).
Who created the Universe?
The account of origins presented in Genesis 1–11 is a simple but factual presentation of actual events, and therefore, provides a reliable framework for scientific research into the question of the origin and history of life, mankind, the earth, and the universe.
The great flood of Genesis was an actual historic event, worldwide (global) in its extent and catastrophic in its effects. At one stage during the flood, the waters covered the entire surface of the whole globe with no land surface being exposed anywhere—the flood of Noah is not to be understood as any form of local or regional flood. The Noachian flood was a significant geological event, and most fossiliferous sediments were deposited at that time (Genesis 7:19–20; 2 Peter 3:5–7).
Scripture teaches a recent origin of mankind and the whole creation, with history spanning approximately 4,000 years from creation to Christ.
The days in Genesis do not correspond to geologic ages but are six consecutive, 24-hour days of creation; the first day began in Genesis 1:1, and the seventh day, which was also a normal 24-hour day, ended in Genesis 2:3 (Genesis 1:1–2:3; Exodus 20:8–11, 31:17; Hebrews 4:3–4).
What is the Church?
The church of Jesus Christ is composed of all who are united with him in saving faith and who are thus members of the body of which he is the head (John 3:16, 3:36, 11:25; Acts 16:30–31; Romans 10:8–10; Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18).
Those who do not believe in Christ are subject to everlasting, conscious punishment in hell, but believers are secure to enjoy eternal life with God in heaven (Matthew 13:49–50, 25:46; John 3:16–18, 3:36, 5:24; 1 Thessalonians 1:8–10; 1 John 5:11–13; Revelation 21:8).
All Christians are to live in fellowship with a local, Bible-believing church (as portrayed in the New Testament), uniting in its worship of the triune God, supporting the great commission, and loving one another with pure and sincere hearts (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17–33, 16:2; Hebrews 10:23–25, 13:17).
Christ's Return
Our Lord Jesus Christ will personally and bodily return in glory as he has promised, and he will consummate his kingdom. Christ will judge the living and the dead at his appearing (John 6:39–40, 12:48; Acts 1:9–11; 1 Peter 4:5).
All shall be raised from the dead: those who have died in Christ to eternal life in heaven and those who have rejected him to conscious and everlasting punishment in the lake of fire (hell) (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 13:49–50, 25:41–46; Luke 12:5; 1 Corinthians 15:12–26; Revelation 21:8).
Satan, who is a personal spiritual adversary of both God and mankind, will be judged and cast into the lake of fire (hell) for eternity (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).
Rapture
At the end of the church age and prior to the seven year Tribulation, “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (raptured) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thes 4:16,17; 1 Cor 15:51,52).
Israel
God is not finished with Israel. As Paul asks rhetorically in Romans 11, “I say then hath God cast away His people? God forbid.” What started as God’s covenant with Abraham when He said, “…I will make of thee (Abraham’s seed - Israel) a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing…” is reinforced in Deuteronomy 7:6 when it says, “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself; above all the people that are on the face of the earth”. The Abrahamic covenant is unconditional because it is wholly dependent on the faithfulness of God. Therefore, these promises are still valid today.