STATEMENT OF FAITH
The following statement of faith shall be the foundation of all programs and activities governed by New Harvest Church and its ministries. The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice. Therefore, agreement with the statement of faith shall be the common criteria for fellowship among us (i.e. that we all speak the same thing, 1 Corinthians. 1:10, Acts 2:42). No claim is made that it contains all Biblical truth, only that it covers our need as to these fundamental doctrines.
1. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
We believe the Bible, both Old and New Testament, is the inspired, inerrant, infallible, irrevocable and complete Word of God. It is the sufficient rule of faith and conduct and guide for all Christian worship and service. Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13.
2. THE ONE TRUE GOD
We believe that there is one and only one true and living God, eternally self-existent in three persons: God the Father as the Creator of heaven and earth, God the Son who is our Redeemer and Savior, and God the Holy Spirit who is our Comforter and Hope. The three in one – the same in essence, though distinct in personality. [Deuteronomy. 6:4; Isaiah 43:10-11; Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22]
3. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
We believe in the pre-existence, incarnation, and virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to reveal the Father, and was the express image of His Person. He was very God and very Man, the I AM, the Jehovah of the Old Testament. We believe in His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, and His bodily ascension into Heaven at the right hand of God, and His literal, visible return to earth – known as the Second Coming of Christ. We acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all things in Heaven, in Earth, and under the Earth. [John 1:1,2,14; Matthew 1:23; 1 Peter 2:22; Acts 7:37,38; Philippians 2:9-10; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Corinthians 15:4]
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT
We believe that the Holy Spirit, omnipresent from all eternity, after the glorification of Jesus Christ, was sent to the Church on the day of Pentecost. He dwells in every believer, uniting all to Christ in one body, and is the source of all power and all acceptable service to God. We believe that He is an instrumental segment of the Godhead. God’s works are committed to the Holy Spirit, including the restraining of evil in the world, the convicting of the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, the regeneration of all believers, the sealing of all believers unto the day of redemption, and the continued filling for power and service of those among the redeemed who are yielded to Him and His will.
We believe the fruit of the Spirit is the manifestation of the character of Christ in the believer’s life. We further believe that all of the gifts of the Spirit are available today and that all the gifts of the Spirit should be and must be operative in the Church for the Church to manifest her full glory under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. [John 3:6; 14:16-17; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:8-11; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 2:22; 4:11-13]
5. THE FALL OF MAN
We believe that man was created in the image of God. He was upright and the only tendency of his nature was to do righteousness. However, man by voluntary disobedience to the commandment of God, fell (sinned) and thus incurred not only physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from God. Hence, no one, by virtue of any natural goodness or work of their own becomes a child of God. [Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:12-21; John 6:44]
6. THE SALVATION OF MAN
The Basis of Salvation
We believe that man’s only hope of redemption is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, signing the pardon of all who believe on Him and confess Him as their Lord. [John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Romans 10:9-10]
The Condition of Salvation
We believe that before salvation we have no righteousness of our own and must come with repentance towards God and faith toward Jesus Christ and that upon sincere repentance and wholehearted acceptance of Christ as Lord, we are justified before God. [Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Titus 2:11]
The Evidence of Salvation
INWARD EVIDENCE: We believe that the change which takes place in the heart and life of an individual at conversion is a literal one and is the result of being born of the Spirit of God and is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit in their heart. [Romans 8:16]
OUTWARD EVIDENCE: We believe that it is the will of God that we live a sanctified and holy life, demonstrated by the fruit of the Spirit, growing continually in the faith. [John 13:35; Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 4:24]
7. SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil and of dedication unto God. [Romans 12:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12] The scripture teaches a life “of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord,” Hebrews 12:14. Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit. [Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:12,13; 1 Peter 1:5; Philippians 4:5]
8. THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS
We believe the New Testament teaches at least three Baptisms:
First, there is the baptism whereby the repentant sinner, upon trusting Jesus Christ as his Savior, is baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. [1 Corinthians 12:13]
Secondly, there is water baptism by immersion for believers only. This we believe is an outward sign of an inward work of salvation whereby the believer experiences the reality of co-crucifixion and co-resurrection with the Lord Jesus Christ. [Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 6:3-6]
Thirdly, there is the baptism in the Holy Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ, which may occur at or subsequent to conversion. We believe that speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance is the normative evidence of this Baptism. We further believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is to endue the believer with power to witness and to live according to the will of God. [Acts 1:5-8; 2:4; 10:46; 19:6]
9. DIVINE HEALING
We believe that Divine healing, the deliverance from sickness and disease, is for the whole man, provided for through the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ and is the privilege of all believers. [Isaiah 53:4-5; Matthew 8:16-17; Mark 16:17-18; James 5:14-15]
10. THE CHURCH
We believe that all who are united by the new birth to Jesus Christ are members of the Universal Church, the body of Christ. We also believe that the local congregation of Christian believers is divinely instituted and is the chosen instrument of God for the furtherance of His work here on earth.
We believe the local church is God’s chosen vehicle for world evangelization and the nurturing of believers. We further believe in the spiritual unity of all believers and in working together with others, for the purpose and will of God, who believe in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. [Matthew 16:16-18; John 17:21; Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 3:14-15]
11. ORDINANCES OF THE GOSPEL
BAPTISM IN WATER – Water baptism is for believers only and should be administered by the mode of immersion and in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We further believe that water baptism is commanded of every believer and is the means whereby we receive the new Covenant sign of circumcision of the heart. We also believe that water baptism is the means whereby we identify with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection and is a statement to the world that we have died with Christ and are being raised with Him to walk in newness of life. [Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38; Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:11-12]
HOLY COMMUNION (THE LORD’S SUPPER) – The Lord’s Supper, consisting of the elements, bread and the fruit of the vine, is the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, a memorial of His suffering and death, and a prophesy of His second coming, and it is enjoined on all believers “till He comes”. [Luke 22:15-20; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 Corinthians 11:26]
12. THE LAYING ON OF HANDS
We believe in the doctrine of the laying on of hands for:
- the confirming of believers to commitment and ministry in the local church.
- the confirming of one’s call by God to special ministry in the body of Christ.
- the imparting of spiritual gifts.
- the experiencing of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- the ministry of healing to the sick through the Lord Jesus Christ.
- the blessing and dedication of children to the Lord.
- ordination.
[Mark 16:16; 10:13-16; Acts 8:16-18; Acts 13:1-3; 1 Timothy 4:14; Acts 14:22]
13. THE BLESSED HOPE
The resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain unto the second coming of our Lord is the blessed hope of the church. [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Romans 8:23; Titus 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52]
14. THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST
The second coming of Christ includes the “catching away” of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by Christ return with His saints to reign on the earth for one thousand years. [Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27,30; Revelations 19:11-14; 20:1-6]
This millennial reign will result in the establishment of universal peace. [Isaiah 11:6-9; Micah 4:3-4; Psalms 72:2-8]
15. THE ETERNAL STATE
We believe that at death, the spirit and soul of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious happiness and bliss until the resurrection of the glorified body, when Jesus Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body are reunited to be with Him forever in Glory. The spirit and soul of those unbelieving shall go immediately to a place of torment, where they remain in a consciousness of condemnation and misery until the final judgment at the Great White Throne when their resurrected body shall be reunited with their soul and cast into the lake of fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. [Luke 16:19-26; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Jude 6; Revelations 20:11-15]
16. THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH
We believe that according to the promise we are to look for “a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.” [Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelations 21:22]
17. EVANGELISM AND MISSIONS
We believe that it is the explicit message of our Lord Jesus Christ to those whom He has redeemed, that they are sent forth by Him into the world to be witnesses of His saving grace and that their primary purpose in life should be to glorify God by obeying the Lord’s command to preach the Gospel to every creature (culture and ethnic group) and that Christ has given to every believer the ministry of reconciliation. [Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; 1 Peter 2:11]
18. TITHING, OFFERINGS, & ALMS
We believe that the method ordained by God for the support and furtherance of His purposes and causes is through the giving of tithes and free-will offerings. We also believe it is the intent of the Gospel that alms be given for the needy and destitute, both saint and unbeliever, caring for them in the name of the Lord. [Malachi 3:8-10; 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Hebrews 7:8; Luke 11:41; Isaiah 58:7-8; James 1:27]
19. WORSHIP & PRAISE
We believe that the whole purpose of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. We believe that the bible clearly prescribes what is “acceptable” and “true” worship. This embodies individual and corporate expressions of praise and thanksgiving and reverence in holiness. [Psalms 149; 150; Mark 12:29-31; Ephesians 5:18-21; John 4:24]