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4.      We believe and uphold the three ecumenical creeds of the Ancient Apostolic fathers. These teachings were formalized into creedal statements through a series of ecumenical councils. We fully embrace the Apostles, Nicene-Constantinopolitan, and Athanasius in union with these councils.

 

5.      We believe in the Father, the fountainhead of the Holy Trinity. From the Father, the Son is begotten before all ages, and all time. It is from the Father that the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds. God the Father created all things through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, and we are called to worship Him. The Father loves us and sent His Son to give us everlasting life.

 

6.      We believe in the Only eternally begotten Son of God-Christ Jesus, The Only Messiah and Savior of the World born of the Blessed Virgin Mary whom we hold as Theotokos.

 

7.      We believe in the Holy Spirit, one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, and is one in essence with the Father. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who, together with the Father and the Son, is worshipped and glorified. He is called the "promise of the Father", given by Christ as a gift to the Church, to empower the Church for service to God, to place God's love in our hearts, and to impart spiritual gifts and virtues for Christian life and witness. We believe in the biblical promise that the Holy Spirit is available to all believers after conversion Holy Spirit. We are to grow in our experience of the Holy Spirit for the rest of our lives.

 

8.      We believe in Ancestral Sin, the sin committed by Adam and Eve. While everyone bears the consequences of the first sin, the foremost of which is death, only Adam and Eve are guilty of that sin. Humans are born innocent.

 

9.      We believe that sin literally means to "miss the mark." As St. Paul writes, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. We sin when we pervert what God has given us as good, falling short of His purposes for us. Our sins separate us from God, leaving us spiritually dead. To save us, the Son of God assumed our humanity and being without sin. "He condemned sin in the flesh.” In His mercy, God forgives our sins when we confess them and turn from them, giving us strength to overcome sin in our lives. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

 

10.    We believe that salvation is the divine gift through which men and women are delivered from sin and death, united to Christ, and brought into His eternal kingdom. Those who heard St. Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost asked what they must do to be saved. He answered, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". Salvation begins with these three steps: 1) repent, 2) be baptized, and 3) receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. To repent means to change our mind about how we have been, to turn from our sin, and to commit ourselves to Christ. To be baptized means to be born again by being joined into a union with Christ. And to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit means to receive the Spirit Who seals and empowers us to enter a new life in Christ, to be nurtured in the Church, and to be conformed to God's image. Salvation demands faith in Jesus Christ. People cannot save themselves through their own good works. Salvation is "faith working through love". It is an ongoing, life-long process. Salvation is past tense in that, through the death and Resurrection of Christ, we have been saved. It is present tense, for we are "being saved" by our active participation through faith in our union with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is also future, for we must yet be saved at His glorious Second Coming.

 

11.    We believe that justification is a word used in the Scriptures to mean that in Christ, we are forgiven and actually made righteous in our living. Justification is not a once-for-all, instantaneous pronouncement guaranteeing eternal salvation, regardless of how wickedly a person might live from that point on. Neither is it merely a legal declaration that an unrighteous person is righteous. Rather, justification is a living, dynamic, day-to-day reality for the one who follows Christ. The Christian actively pursues a righteous life in the grace and power of God granted to all who continue to believe in Him.

 

12.    We believe that sanctification is being set apart for God. It involves us in the process of being cleansed and made holy by Christ in the Holy Spirit. We are called to be saints and grow in God’s likeness. Having been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, we actively participate in sanctification. We cooperate with God; we work together with Him, so that we may know Him, becoming by grace what He is by nature, also known as the process of Theosis.

 

13.    We believe that all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are active today and available to uplift all true believers.

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14.    We believe there are three main Sacraments: Water Baptism, Sealing of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord's Supper. These sacraments bring the believer into full participation and identification with the essence of the Gospel message revealed through Christ:  His Death (Lord’s Supper), Burial (Baptism), and Resurrection/Ascension (Sealing of the Holy Spirit) are reaffirmed through the participation of these means of grace.

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15.    We believe water baptism is full immersion for both adults and infants. Baptism is the way in which a person is united to Christ. The experience of salvation is initiated in the waters of baptism. The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 6: 1-6 that we experience Christ's death and resurrection in baptism. In it, our sins are truly forgiven, and our union energizes us with Christ to live a holy life. Currently, some consider baptism only an "outward sign" of belief in Christ. This innovation has no historical or biblical precedent. Others reduce it to a mere perfunctory obedience to Christ's command. Still, others, ignoring the Bible completely, reject baptism as a vital factor in salvation. We maintain that these contemporary innovations rob sincere people of the most important assurances that baptism provides – namely, that they have been united to Christ and are part of His Church.

 

16.    We believe that the Lord’s Supper, also known as Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, is the Real Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper. Because Jesus said of the bread and wine at the Last Supper, "This is my body", "This is my blood", and "Do this in remembrance of Me", His followers believe - and do - nothing less. In the Eucharist, we partake mystically of Christ's Body and Blood, which impart His life and strength to us. The celebration of the Eucharist was a regular part of the Church's life from its beginning. Early Christians began calling the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality" because they recognized the great grace of God that was received in it.

 

17.    We believe that the sealing of the Holy Spirit (Chrismation) is a time when the Holy Spirit is given as a distinct gift to man after conversion and regeneration; as uniformly expressed in the Gospels, Acts and the Epistles; that He was promised by the Father, and was, and is, given through Jesus Christ to the church in a unique sense; not as an automatic gift at conversion, nor as an one-time gift to the church, but as a free gift available to individual believers throughout every generation since Pentecost; that at this baptism, the Holy Spirit indwells believers as He did in the early church, manifesting His divine presence by give each one the continuous ability to speak in languages they have never learned, and that these languages are for the purpose of edification, prayer and praise, not for preaching; that the primary purpose of this baptism is to empower God’s people to be faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth; provided that they grieve not, quench not, nor disobey the Holy Spirit within them; This is what it means to be sealed by the Holy Spirit.

 

18. We believe in and uphold the Sanctity of Life. All Life begins at the moment of conception up to natural death.

 

19. We believe in and uphold the sacredness of Marriage and Family Life. Our firm belief is that marriage is a union of an adult man and an adult woman who join each other in love out of consent, and to bring forth children. The family is the first unit of the church.

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