Statement of Faith

1. What do we believe about God?

God is a holy, merciful and True Tri-une God.

We believe that the God of Israel is the One true God (Deuteronomy 6:4). The God of the Bible is a Tri-une God; meaning He is One God in three persons: the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Each person in the Godhead is fully God. The Father is fully God, Jesus is fully God (Colossians 2:9) and the Holy Spirit is fully God (Acts 5:3-4). But the Father is not the Son, & the Son is not the Father. Though they are distinct persons they are all the One God. But neither are they three gods; they are One God.

God alone is to be worshipped as prescribed in Scripture (Exodus 20:3-6; Leviticus 19:31). God is holy, good, love, merciful, righteous, compassionate and true (Exodus 34:6-7; 1 John 4:8). He cannot sin, cannot be tempted to sin, does not tempt anyone to sin & cannot lie (James 1:13; Titus 1:2).

So what do we believe about the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit? The Father is the Head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3), the One who sent His Son into the world to reconcile sinners back to Himself (1 John 4:9; 2 Corinthians 5:19).

The Son, Jesus the Messiah, is eternally one with His Father & pre-existed all things (Philippians 2:6; John 17:5). He was the agent through whom, and with whom, the Father created all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17). Jesus became fully human in the incarnation (John 1:14; 1 John 4:1-3), being born of a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25; Galatians 4:4), & he lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). He died for our sins, was buried & was raised from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). He then ascended to heaven and will one day return to judge the world (Acts 3:19-21; 17:31).

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, but is a person within the Godhead, who can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to believers, the One through whom believers are born again into the kingdom (John 3:5-8; 20:22). The Holy Spirit empowers believers to be Jesus’ witnesses (Acts 1:8) and to build up the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7 & Romans 12:3-8). The Holy Spirit also seals believers for their future redemption at the return of Messiah (Ephesians 1:13-14).

2. What do we believe about the Bible?

The Bible is fully inspired & the authority for all doctrine and morals.

The Bible is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21). We believe in the doctrinal infallibility (that the Bible cannot have error) & inerrancy (that the Bible does not have error) of the original manuscripts of the Old & New Testaments, in the original languages. We also believe in the historicity of these Scriptures (Matthew 5:18; Psalms 19:7). Therefore, when we read a translation which faithfully translates the meaning of the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek of those manuscripts, we are reading God’s authoritative word in those languages. God has preserved The Truth in all faithful translations of every language into which the Bible has been translated.

We believe in the complete Bible of 66 books, 39 books in the Old Testament & 27 books in the New Testament. The Bible constitutes the supreme authority for our fellowship, our lives, our faith & our ministries. The Bible is the only basis of doctrine (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Whilst the Old Testament apocryphal books may be helpful at times as a historical source, they are not part of God’s Word and are not authoritative for establishing Christian doctrine.

Ultimately our attitude to God’s Word should be one of humble submission, receiving the Word with all eagerness (Acts 17:11), & being effectual doers of the Word; not only hearers (James 1:22-25).

3. What do we believe about Humanity?

Though made in the image of God, Humanity is innately sinful & in need of salvation.

All of humanity is one race, the human race, because we are all descended from Adam & Eve (Acts 17:26). Humanity is equal in two ways.

Firstly, humanity was created in the image of God, & as such, people retain worth & dignity as image bearers of God. It is on this basis that murder of innocent life is condemned (Genesis 9:6-7; James 3:9). Being made in God’s image, humanity was intended to rule the created order under God (Genesis 1:26-28).

But, secondly, that image has been broken by the fall. When Adam fell, sin came into the world, & death came by sin (Romans 5:12). We believe that all of humanity is fallen because all people have been descended from Adam. Death spread to all of Adam’s descendants and in that state of spiritual death we all sinned (Romans 5:12). We inherited Adam’s sin nature from conception so, naturally speaking & apart from God’s grace, we cannot help but sin (Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:3; Psalms 58:3).

When man fell, God subjected the whole creation to decay & degradation in order to redeem it in the end time (Romans 8:20-23). This will coincide with the glorification of all believers who have trusted in Jesus for salvation.

4. What do we believe about Salvation?

We cannot be saved by anything we do. Salvation is fully the work of God. It is received by faith in the New Birth experience. Soon after salvation believers should be baptised & start to walk the Christian life, which they continue in till they get to glory.

It is impossible for man to justify himself before a perfect God (Romans 3:20; 8:8). Salvation can only be received as a gift (Romans 6:23) by those who recognise their sinfulness & turn from their sinful life to follow Jesus, seeking forgiveness and righteousness (Acts 26:19-20). We believe in salvation through the New Birth experience (John 3:5-8) by repentance & faith in Jesus’ death as the only provision for man’s sin (Luke 24:46-47; Acts 20:21). Jesus shed His blood on the cross, and it is on this basis that we can be forgiven (Ephesians 1:7).

Jesus lived a perfect life (Galatians 4:4-5; Matthew 5:17; 1 Peter 2:22; Romans 5:19), and satisfied God’s righteous wrath (demanded by His holiness) by taking the punishment of our sin on the cross. Our sins were like a debt. The wages of sin is death but Jesus paid that debt with His blood, dying for our sins on the cross (Romans 8:3-4; 3:24-26). We are granted Jesus’ righteousness when we personally accept Him, confess Him & trust in Him, calling on His name (Romans 10:5-13).

Those who reject Jesus will face eternal damnation (Revelation 20:11-15; John 3:18-21). Those who are saved will gain eternity with Messiah in His eternal home. We gain a new identity when we get saved, having died to our old life to start a new life in Messiah. Thus, born again believers have a new nature, a new identity and a new destiny (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Therefore, the first step of discipleship is to be baptised, which is the believer’s burial service and indicates that they are starting a New Life in Messiah (Romans 6:1-4; Matthew 28:18-20). When the believer is immersed in the water, they are stating that they have died to their old life, and when they emerge from the water they are stating that they are starting a new life with Jesus. Thus, a new believer should be baptised as soon as water is available (Acts 10:47-48; Matthew 28:18-20). The act of baptism does not save but rather a person is saved through trusting in Jesus and calling on His name (1 Peter 3:21; Romans 10:5-13).

5. What do we believe about the Church?

The Church is Messiah’s Assembly of saved Jews & Gentiles, one in Messiah. Local assemblies are governed by Elders & supported by Deacons. Every assembly should be a functioning body of believers both in outreach to those outside & in employing their gifts for the building of the body. A local assembly should be open to believers of all backgrounds & endeavour to maintain biblical unity.

The Church (or Assembly) is a community of all Jews & Gentiles who are saved, both of those who have already died & those still living (Hebrews 12:22-23; Ephesians 5:25). We are joined to Christ’s Assembly at the moment of salvation, through Spirit baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13), whether there is any charismatic evidence or not at that time (Acts 10:44-46; Acts 9:17-19). The Assembly began as a community of saved Jews, the true Israel, who entered the New Covenant by faith (Jeremiah 31:31-35; Acts 2:41-47; Romans 9:6-23; Hebrews 8:6-13). By grace, God opened the way for non-Jews (Gentiles) to join this Spiritual community without having to become Jews or adopt Jewish customs. Gentile believers are nevertheless grafted into this Jewish community as full partakers with Israel’s spiritual (not national) blessings (Romans 9:23-24; 11:17-24; Ephesians 2:11-22; Romans 15:27). Though we can regard the Assembly as a spiritual Israel, that does not mean that the Assembly displaces God’s election & purposes for national Israel (Romans 11:28; Jeremiah 31:35-37; Malachi 3:6; Acts 1:3-8).

The Assembly is Messiah’s body on earth (1 Corinthians 12:27), the bride of Messiah (Ephesians 5:22-32; Revelation 19:7-8) & the means through whom God reveals His wisdom to the heavenly principalities (Ephesians 3:10).

Born again saints should meet in local assemblies throughout the earth (1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; Hebrews 10:25), existing to evangelise unbelievers (Mark 16:15), disciple believers (Matthew 28:18-20), promote sound doctrine & godliness (1 Timothy 3:15; Titus 2:1-14), worship together & build each other up (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 4:11-16), as well as to attend to the practical & spiritual needs of fellow believers (1 Timothy 5:16; James 2:14-17; Philippians 2:1-4; Galatians 6:1-5).

The gifts of the Spirit continue to operate in the Assembly as the Holy Spirit wills (1 Corinthians 12-14; Romans 12:3-13). However, we reject any form of charismatic or Pentecostal extremism, & totally reject any form of tradition based or experiential theology (1 Corinthians 14:26-33). The gifts are primarily for the edification of Messiah’s Body in the context of the local assembly of which, KFEF is but one (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:7; 14:12).

These local assemblies should be governed by elders who are to preserve the doctrinal and moral integrity of the assembly, spiritually feeding the flock (Titus 1:5-9; Acts 20:17-35; 1 Peter 5:1-5). Deacons are also to be appointed to care for the practical needs of the local assembly (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:8-13; Romans 16:1-2).

Local assemblies should welcome all believers who desire to follow the Lord from whatever ethnic or cultural background. The Lord commissioned His Assembly to make disciples from all nations (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 13:1-3; Revelation 5:9-10). This multicultural expression of Messiah’s body can only be practically realised by establishing Scripture’s supremacy above all culture (Mark 7:6-13; Acts 16:19-21; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). Thus, we yearn for the unity of the Spirit, with other Bible-based evangelical Christians, churches, & ministries – even where we may not share all the same nonessential doctrines (John 17:20-21; Ephesians 4:1-13). However, we reject, as a false unity, ecumenism or unity of any form with non-evangelical versions of Christianity. Non-evangelical forms of Christianity have a different doctrine of salvation. They also have a different basis of doctrinal authority, other than the Bible alone. This authority may be an additional sacred book, the prophetic words of the leader(s) or the tradition of the denomination (2 Corinthians 14-18; Revelation 2:2, 6, 19-25).

6. What do we believe about the future?

God will fulfil His purposes for National Israel when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on the Earth for 1000 years, after which all saved people will live in the New Jerusalem with the Lord, while the lost will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

God’s prophetic plan for the salvation of the world is bound up with His prophetic plan for the regathering and salvation of Israel (Matthew 23:37-39; Acts 1:3-8; 3:18-23; Romans 11:25-31). At the start of Messiah’s coming, the dead in Messiah will rise from the dead & believers who are still alive will be snatched up to meet the Lord in the air. Then Messiah will pour out His wrath on the nations (1 Thessalonians 1:10; 4:13-18), during which time He will reward the saints (2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

At the end of this wrath, Jesus will return with His glorified saints to rescue the remnant of Israel and to save a remnant of the nations also. He will then establish His millennial (1000 year) Kingdom on earth, during which time Satan will be bound and unable to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1-6). Jesus will reign from Jerusalem and fulfill all the outstanding prophecies concerning Israel’s restoration (Revelation 20:9; Ezekiel 40-48; Zechariah 14:16-21).

At the end of the Messiah’s Millennial reign, Satan will be released for a short time and will deceive some of humanity who will then be judged (Revelation 20:7-10).

After this, there will be a brand new heavens and earth where all the righteous will live in a New Jerusalem and the wicked will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, following Satan’s judgment (Revelation 20:10-15; 21-22).