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The Holy
Scriptures as taught by the Protestant churches, and delineated in the historic
confessions of the Reformation, namely:
- The Belgic Confession (1561)
- The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church
of England (1562)
- The Heidelberg Catechism (1562)
- The Westminster Confession of Faith
(1647)
- The Savoy Declaration (1658)
- The Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
The above may be said to be briefly
summarised as follows:
By Grace Alone
The sole exercise of the grace of the
triune God in salvation through faith.
By Faith Alone
The sole sufficiency of faith in our
union with Christ and for participation in all the benefits of redemption.
By Scripture
Alone
The sole authority of the Word of God
being the only rule of faith and life.
Nothing shall be taught or encouraged
contrary to the consensus of the above confessions provided that where the said
confessions are not in agreement each worker shall be at liberty to teach, encourage and
practise whichever of the views he himself embraces.
A SUMMARY OF
WHAT WE BELIEVE AND TEACH
In its ministry to the
Jewish people, Christian Witness to Israel maintains its unreserved allegiance to God's
Holy and inerrant Word, the Bible. Our Basis of Faith requires that we believe and teach
the following:
We believe and
teach that the Creator is one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit.
We believe and
teach that God created all people in his own image. By wilful disobedience
against God human beings fell into the sin and misery in which we all have been born.
Therefore Jews and Gentiles alike are under the condemnation of God, prone to evil and
liable to eternal death; from which we cannot be delivered except through the unmerited
grace of God our Saviour.
We believe and
teach that God has not left the world to perish in its sin but, out of his great
love, decided to deliver an innumerable multitude of Jews and Gentiles out of their sin
and misery and of them to build again his covenant kingdom of righteousness.
We believe and
teach that God has redeemed his people through the promised Messiah, Jesus our
Lord who, though he was and ever continues to be the eternal Son of God, was born of the
lineage of David, born under the law, that he might redeem them that are under the law. He
bore the penalty due to our sins and fulfilled the obedience owed to God, and now presents
believers to his Father, to the praise of the glory of his grace.
We believe and
teach that Jesus the Messiah our Redeemer died, rose again, and ascended into the
heavens, where he sits at the right hand of the Father Almighty.
We believe and
teach that the redemption accomplished by our Lord Jesus the Messiah is applied
to all his people by the Holy Spirit and received by faith. The Spirit is granted to us so
that we may do the good works which God has prepared for us to do.
We believe and
teach that God has one people in the world, his Church, made up of believing Jews
and Gentiles. He has endowed it with the ministry of the Word and his holy ordinances, in
order that the Gospel may be made known to the world.
We believe and
teach that Jesus the Messiah will come a second time in glory, to judge the
world. All who die in Messiah shall be made perfect in holiness and go home to the Lord;
all who do not die in Messiah shall consciously abide under the just and eternal wrath of
God.
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