CONFESSION OF FAITH
Stephen Tong
God
I believe in one only living and true God, eternal and Self-dependent
God who transcends and proceeds all creation. In His eternity He exists
in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit; who creates
heaven and earth out from nothing through His mighty Word; who sustains
and governs everything that He has created by His eternal decrees.
Bible
I believe that the Bible, as revealed
in the Old and New Testaments, is God's perfect revelation inspired by
the Holy Spirit. The Bible is inerrant in the original text. It reveals
the testimony of Holy Spirit and is the only supreme and absolute
authority of faith and conduct, both for person, church as well as for
community. I believe that the Bible is inerrant in all that it teaches
including both history and science.
Man
I believe that man is distinctively
created after the image and likeness of God, with true knowledge,
righteousness and holiness; commanded to understand God's thinking as
the faithful and obedient keeper of the covenant. Man is given
authority to govern and cultivate over God's other creatures in order
to glorify God. I believe that all aspects of life must submit to God's
commandment as the manifestation of obedience to the laws of God.
Sin
I believe that men had fallen into sin
and death in Adam, the representative of all mankind. Man is
spiritually dead, and subject to the righteous wrath and judgment of
God, is without hope and helpless to obtain salvation, neither from
himself nor from the world.
The Covenant of Grace
I believe that God in
eternity has made a covenant for His elects, with Jesus Christ as the
Head. I believe that through Christ's perfect active and passive
obedience and His substituting death on the cross for men, He has
satisfied God's righteous wrath to His people. Through Christ's power
of resurrection God continuously calls and gathers His people of all
ages and all nations to become a royal priesthood and a holy nation for
his glory.
Jesus Christ
I believe in Jesus Christ, the
second Person of the Trinity, true God and true Man, the only Mediator
between God and men, and the only savior of mankind. He was conceived
by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. He was sinless, crucified,
and risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sat on the right
hand of God the Father; He makes intercession for His people as the
Great High Priest. He is coming again imminently in His glorious body,
to judge the quick and the dead.
The Holy Spirit
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the third Person of the Trinity, the revealer of the Bible. He convicts
men for their sins through His Words and regenerates them to grow in
faith and converts men to Jesus Christ for their salvation. He empowers
believers to obey the laws of God and endows gifts of ministry to the
saints in the Church of Christ. He makes intercession with groans that
words cannot express for the believers until the day of consummation.
Church and Mission
I believe in the holy
catholic church, which consists of all God's elects through all ages,
in which a part is gathered in the local church. The local church is
the manifestation of the holy catholic church, and must keep the sound
doctrine according to the Bible, by insisting unity and love among the
local churches, to reflect the glory of God in worship, in preaching
and teaching the Word of God, in baptism and holy communion, in
fellowship and discipline, in ministry and mission.
I believe that the existence of Church in the world is to preach the
Gospel fo Jesus Christ and express His Deity through real action. The
mission of Church is to establish the Kingdom of God in the world and
to renew it through mission and the efforts of expressing truth and
righteousness in love.
I believe that the Church, as the people of God, is the key to
evangelization and discipleship of the nations until the consummation
of Christ's Kingdom at His second coming.
[@more@]信仰告白
唐崇榮
上帝
我信永活的獨一真神﹐超越並先於一切創造物的永活自主的上帝。在永恆裡﹐祂顯示三個位格﹕聖父、聖子、聖靈。祂藉著至上的道﹐從無到有創造天地。祂以永恆的諭令托住並掌管一切所造的。
聖經
我信舊、新約的記載而成的聖經是上帝藉著聖靈的完美啟示。聖經之原本是無誤的。它顯示聖靈的見證﹐且是個人、教會、群體中信仰與行事唯一的至高、絕對權威。我信聖經所教導的一切﹐包括歷史和科學﹐都是無誤的。
人
我信人是照著上帝賦有真知識、真公義、和真聖潔的形像而特別創造的﹔身為信實和順服的守約者﹐奉命去明瞭上帝的旨意。為了榮耀自己﹐上帝賦與人管理和培育其它受造物的權柄。我信人對上帝律法的順從必需顯示在生活每方面對上帝誡命的降服。
罪
我信人在亞當裡墬入罪惡和死亡﹐因為亞當是全人類的代表。人在靈性上已死﹐且應受上帝公義的忿怒和審判。人是無望的﹐也無力靠自己或從世界獲得拯救。
恩典之約
我信上帝在永恆中已經和祂以耶穌基督為首的選民立了約。我信基督藉著祂主動和被動的完美順服和祂在十字架上代替人的死﹐基督償還了神對祂子民公義的憤怒。藉著基督復活的能力﹐上帝不斷地呼召並聚集祂來自各國和各年齡的子民﹐成為尊貴的祭司和聖潔的國度來榮耀祂。
耶穌基督
我信耶穌基督。祂是三一神的第二位格﹐擁有完全的神性和完全的人性﹐且是上帝和人之間的唯一中保﹐也是人類唯一的救主。祂由聖靈感孕﹐藉著童女馬利亞而
生。祂以無罪之身被釘十字架﹐從死裡復活﹐升天並坐在天父的右邊。祂以大祭司的職位替祂的子民祈求。祂快將再來要以榮耀之身，審判活人和死人。
聖靈
我信聖靈。祂是三一神的第三位格﹐聖經的啟示者。祂以上帝的道定人的罪﹐重生了他們﹐使他們在信心中成長﹐且使他們轉向耶穌基督而得救。祂使信徒順從上帝的律法並授與基督教會的聖徒宣教的恩賜。直至最後成就的那一天﹐祂用說不出來的嘆息替信徒禱告。
教會與宣教
我信歷世歷代上帝的選民所組成﹐聖而公的教會。這些選民分佈在各個地方教會﹐而地方教會是聖而公之教會的具體顯示。地方教會必需藉著教會之間的和諧與愛護來堅持聖經所述的正確教義﹐為了要在敬拜、宣講、教導神的道﹐洗禮和聖餐﹐團契與教導﹐教牧與宣教中來彰顯神的榮耀。
我信教會的存在是為了傳講耶穌基督的福音和藉實際的行動見證祂的神性。教會的使命是為了在世上建立神的國度﹐並以宣道與愛心，見證真理與公義，藉此不斷更新上帝的國度。
我信教會是上帝的子民﹐是在各地傳福音和建立門徒的關鍵﹐直到基督再來成就祂的國度。
