Belief Statement
What We Believe
Preamble
Toronto-West Christian Assembly (TWCA) is a gathering of Christian believers who come together in the name of Jesus Christ, as witness to the principles taught by Jesus. We intend to fellowship with like-minded Christians and work for the furtherance of the Gospel in the GTA and beyond. As an evangelical, fundamental, independent, pre-millennial, pre-tribulation, non-charismatic and non-denominational Christian fellowship, our basic statements of faith comprise the following:
The Bible
We believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of the Scriptures as given in the sixty six books of the Bible without error in the original documents, and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We believe that the Bible is God-breathed and is sufficient for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in all righteousness.
References: I Corinthians 2.13, II Peter 1:19-21, II Timothy 3:16-17, I Thessalonians 2:13
God
We believe that the Godhead eternally exists in three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These three are the One True God. They have the same nature and are co-existent, co-equal, and are worthy of the same worship, confidence and obedience.
References: Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 28:19, John 1:18, Ephesians 4:6, Hebrews 9:14
Jesus Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, being truly God and Man born of a virgin, is sinless and perfect. By His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross and His physical resurrection from the dead, He is the substitute for sinners. He is the one and only mediator between man and God and the only one who can bring about reconciliation between sinful man and Holy God. He ascended into Heaven where He now ministers as the Head of His mystical body, the Church and as our High priest.
References: I John 5:20, John 1:17, Acts 2:31-32, Matthew 1:23, I Timothy 2:5-6, Luke 24:39, Luke 1:35, II Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 1:20, 22-23, I Peter 2:22, 24, I peter 3:18, Colossians 1:18, II Corinthians 5;18-19, I John 2:1-2
Depravity of Man
We believe that man, through Adam, was originally created in the image and after the likeness of God. Through Adam’s willful sin, man fell and died spiritually. This spiritual death and the totally depraved sin nature have thus been transmitted to the entire human race through Adam, the first man. Therefore, every human being is born into the world with a nature which does not possess divine life but is sinful, which is unchangeable apart from the grace of God found in and through Jesus Christ. We also believe that the physical death of a human being is a result of the original sin.
References: Genesis 1:27; 2:16-17; 3:6, Isaiah 59:1-2, Psalms 51:5, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12, 19, Ephesians 2:8-9
Salvation
We believe that no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless one is born again. This involves faith and repentance by man and regeneration by the Holy Spirit. This is essential to the salvation of man and there is no other way to be saved from the penalty of sin. Redemption is wholly by the blood of Christ, shed for sinners on the cross of Calvary, and salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood. Each born again Christian possesses the security of eternal life.
References: John 3:7,8, 26, John 16:8-11, Luke 13:3, II Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5, Hebrews 9:12-14, I Peter 1:18-19, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:24-25, John 1:12, John 10:24-30, John 5:24, Acts 3:19
Priesthood of Believers
We believe in the priesthood of all born again believers. As such they have privilege and responsibility, as empowered by the Holy Spirit to offer worship and prayers, without a human mediator between them and God.
References: I Peter 2:9, I Timothy 2:5
The Holy Spirit
We believe that each born again believer is united to the Body of Christ, the Church, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and is indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. The believer has the anointing of the Holy Spirit and has received the earnest of the Holy Spirit. The believer, yielding to the Holy Spirit, can live a life pleasing to God and obeying the Word of God (The Bible) through the power imparted by the Holy Spirit. The believer is commanded to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
References: I Corinthians 6:19-20, Ephesians 1:13-14, Acts 1:8, Galatians 5;16; 22-23, Ephesians 4:30, I Corinthians 12:13, I John 2:27, II Corinthians 1:21, Ephesians 5:18
Christ’s Second Coming
We believe in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulational and imminent bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His Church and the return of the Lord as the Judge of the unbelievers.
References: Acts 1:11, Titus 2:13, I Thessalonians 4:14-18, Revelation 20:11-15
Resurrection
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just (believers) and their everlasting life with Jesus Christ in Heaven. We also believe in the bodily resurrection of the unjust (unbelievers) and their everlasting conscious punishment in hell which is reserved for the devil and his angels.
References: John 5:28-29, Revelation 20:12-13, Philippians 1:23, Revelation 22:4-5, Revelation 20:10-15, II Thessalonians 1:8-10
The Church
We believe that all born again believers are members of the Church, the body of Christ which comprises of all believers since Calvary till the rapture of the Church, irrespective of race, gender, language, country of origin and color of their skin. It is a living organism and will be on this earth until the rapture. The local church or assembly is the local expression of that Church Universal. The local assembly gathers by the leading of the Holy Spirit, primarily for breaking of bread, worship, prayer, fellowship, edification and evangelism. Each local assembly is independent and functions directly under Jesus Christ as its Head.
It is the responsibility of the church to equip the saints for ministry. The local assembly is run through the administration of the spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit who raises up believers with necessary gifts to minister to the spiritual needs of the assembly, for shepherding, leading, guiding, teaching, encouraging, counseling and such other ministries as deemed necessary for the growth of the assembly and its believers. So one finds men with spiritual gifts, like elders (under-shepherds of the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, who are also known as pastors), deacons, evangelists and teachers. These gifts and gifted men are appointed by the Holy Spirit and are made known to the assembly through the demonstration of their spiritual gifts in the ministries they undertake among the believers and in the community around the local assembly. The ministering brethren are not ordained by any human methods and they need not have specific qualification of theological education and experience to minister.
We believe in servant leadership in the assembly and in the ministries of leading, guiding and teaching the believers in love and in truth. As such we believe the assembly should emphasize shepherding and spiritual feeding of the believers and not administration and management as seen in secular organizations.
References: Ephesians 1;22-23, Colossians 1:18, John 17:20-21, I Corinthians 10:16, Philippians 3:16, II Timothy 4:11-12, Hebrews 13:17, Matthew 18:15-17, I Corinthians 12:12-27, Matthew 18:20, Romans 8:14, I Corinthians 11: 23-30, Acts 2:42, Ephesians 4:11-12, Acts 20:28
Ordinances of the Church
We believe in the two ordinances given to the local assembly by the Lord Jesus Christ, which are Believer’s Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
- We believe that all believers should be baptized by immersion. Only those who have been born again, testifying as such and request to be baptized should be baptized. Baptism declares a believer’s obedience to the Lord’s command. It is a public expression of personal salvation. It identifies a believer with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. We believe in baptism by immersion after the public confession of faith.
- We believe that all born again and baptized believers (as mentioned under (a) above) should partake in the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis and thus remember the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, by eating of the bread and drinking from the cup. Those who partake in it must examine themselves.
References: Matthew 26: 26-29, Acts 2: 41- 42, Matthew 28:19, Acts 20:41, Mark 16:16, I Corinthians 11: 23-32, Romans 6:3-5, Acts 8:36-38