STATEMENT OF BELIEFS

OF THE

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS

CONGREGATION OF GOD

 

GOD

Our God is the only Eternal Being.  He has always existed, exists now and will continue to exist forever (Psalm 90:2 & 3, Daniel 7:9, Revelation 4:8 to 11).  God is the source of all life, the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists and lives (Exodus 20:11, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 147:7 to 11).  He is all-knowing and His power is unlimited (Job 38:1 to 40:5, Matthew 19:26). His name in Hebrew is JHVH (יְהׂוָ֨ה pronounced Jehovah) which means the ‘Eternal Creator’ (See Exodus 6:2 & 3 in the King James [KJ] translation).  Jehovah is composed of a spiritual body, (Daniel 7:9) a soul (Leviticus 26:11 [KJ] & Matthew 12:18 [KJ]) and a spirit (Genesis 6:3 [KJ] & Zechariah 4:6), meaning that He is Triuneone person composed of three parts.  Jehovah is the Law-giver and Judge of all His creation (Psalm 19:7 to 11, Ezekiel 18:30 to 32).  He is merciful and loving, willing to pardon those who seek His mercy and desire to obey Him (First John 4:10, Isaiah 55:7 to 9).  He is the Father of Jeshua, His anointed Son.

 

JESHUA THE MESSIAH

Jeshua the Messiah (יֵשֻׁוּע משׁׅיחׇא in Aramaic, aka Jesus Christ) is God’s only true son (John 1:14 & 18, First John 5:20).  Jehovah God created the universe through Jeshua (Colossians 1:15 to 18).  Jeshua temporarily gave up his God-nature to become a man, born through the virgin Mary (Philippians 2:5 to 11, Luke 1:26 to 38, Luke 2:6 & 7).  Though he was tempted in every way, he lived a sinless life, giving us a pattern to model our lives on (Hebrews 2:17 & 18, Hebrews 5:8 & 9, First Peter 2:21 to 25).  He died for our sins, freeing us from our death sentence (Luke 23:46 to 48, Romans 5:6 to 11, Romans 6:23).  After three days and three nights in the tomb, He was resurrected to life in an incorruptible body (Matthew 12:38 to 40, Romans 6:9, First Corinthians 15:42 to 49).  He ascended into Heaven to become our High Priest at the right hand of our Heavenly Father (Hebrews 4:14 to 16, Hebrews 10:5 to 18).  Jeshua the Anointed is the Messiah of the Hebrew Scriptures (Isaiah chapter 53, Daniel 9:20 to 27).  He is returning soon to remove our destructive human governments and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.  Jeshua shall reign for One Thousand Years, after which his Father, Jehovah God, will take direct control again (Acts 1:9 to 11, Zechariah chap. 14, Revelation 22:20 & 21, Revelation 19:11 to 21:4, 1 Cor. 15:23 to 28).

 

THE HOLY BIBLE

God’s Word is Truth (John 17:17).  The Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation through the faith which is in Jeshua.  All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16 & 17).  God has preserved His Word for us in the original languages: Hebrew and Aramaic.

 

CREATION

In six standard length days Jehovah God and His Son Jeshua made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day (Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, John 1:1-3).  Biblical chronology shows that the universe is about six thousand years old. (Genesis to Revelation)  There is solid scientific evidence which supports a rapid, recent creation.  Jeshua supported the Biblical Creation account (Mark 10:6 & John 3:12).

 

MANKIND

God created man in His own image, and the first woman from the man (Genesis 1:27, 2:7 & 2:18 to 25).  Man, who resembles God, is also composed of a body, soul and spirit, and therefore is also a triune being (First Thessalonians 5:23).  To be made in God’s Image is to have many of His attributes: like Him, we have intelligence, imagination, creativity, a conscience, determination, free will, language, an appreciation of beauty and joy, a nurturing and forgiving nature, a sense of fairness and the ability to love.  And beyond all of this, Jehovah has given us the opportunity to become His Children and live with Him forever in Paradise (Romans 8:16, Revelation 22:14).

 

THE FALL

Adam and Chavvah (Eve) were not given everlasting life when they were created.  They needed to eat from the Tree of Life to prevent ageing and death (Genesis 3:22-24, Psalm 146:4 [KJ], Ezekiel 18:4).  When they disobeyed God, Adam and Chavvah were denied access to the Tree of Life and began to age and die.  No other humans (or animals) were given access either, so we all age and die.  We also inherited their corrupted sinful nature (Romans 5:12 to 21).  John says sin is the transgression of God’s Instructions, and that all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 3:4, 1 John 5:17).  The wages of sin is death.  Everlasting Life is a gift that God gives to those who love and obey Him (Romans 6:22 & 23).  We are adopted as Jehovah God’s own children when we accept Jeshua the Messiah as our Saviour (Romans 8:15 to 17).  The final penalty for unrepentant sinners is the Second Deathtotal, permanent destruction (Revelation 20:12 to 15).

 

GOOD NEWS

The Good News (or Gospel) is twofold.  The first aspect of the Good News is that Jeshua the Messiah took on our sins and died in our place, allowing you and I to be cleansed from our sins and have an everlasting relationship with God in His magnificent Kingdom (I Peter 3:8 to 4:19).  The second aspect is that Jeshua, God’s Anointed Son is returning to Earth to set up God’s Kingdom (Mark 1:14 & 15, Daniel 2:44).  That Kingdom will be a Kingdom of joy, peace and justice that will never end (Ezekiel 36:24-36).

 

SALVATION

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  By the free gift of God’s grace we are made right with Him through Jeshua the Messiah, who sets us free (Romans 3:23-26).  If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jeshua is your Lord and that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation (Romans 10:9-13).  Because salvation is a free gift, none are too weak nor too evil to receive it and none can claim to have received it as a reward for their good works (First Corinthians 1:18 to 31, Ephesians 2:4 to 10).  Jeshua promises to enter into all who want to begin living righteously and ask him into their lives (Revelation 3:20).  When Jeshua returns, all those who have been faithful will be given new immortal ‘heavenly’ bodies like Jeshua has now (1 Thessalonians 4: 15 to 18, 1 Corinthians 15:50 to 58, 1 John 3:2 & 3).

 

WATER IMMERSION

Immersion (baptism) symbolizes our death and burial with Jeshua the Anointed and the washing away of our sins.  Going under the water marks the death of our old self, and coming up out of the water symbolises our rebirth as Children of God (Romans 6:1 to 14, John 1:12 & 13).  Jeshua commands believers to be immersed as part of our salvation (Mark 16:16).  Water immersion should always follow belief in Christ, so baptism of pre-teen children is unscriptural (Acts 16:25-34, Acts 8:12).  “Baptism” is by full immersion, as Jeshua showed us with his immersion (Mark 1:9 & 10, Acts 8:35 to 39).  The Greek word ‘baptizo’, from which the word ‘baptism’ comes, means immersion.  It does not mean sprinkling or pouring.

 

IMMERSION IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Immersion in the Holy Spirit is the seal that confirms our salvation (Ephesians 1:13 & 14, 2 Corinthians 1:21 & 22).  This is a separate immersion from water immersion (Matthew 3:11).  It is promised to all believers.  It is not an automatic process which has to happen at the same time as water Immersion (Acts 2:38 & 39, Acts 8:12 to 17, Acts 19:1 to 6).  The Holy Spirit is God’s own Spirit.  The Holy Spirit teaches us and directly links us to God and to His Son, Jeshua the Messiah, who also has His Spirit, and to every other Spirit-filled believer, making us all parts of the one body (Romans 8:1 to 17, John 14:23 to 26, 1 Corinthians 12:12&13).  However, Jehovah warns us to watch out for false spirits, false preachers and false churches (1 John 4:1-19, Matthew 7:15-27, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Revelation 17:1 to 18:8).

 

FAITH

We are saved by God’s grace.  Even our faith is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8, Philippians 2:13, Ephesians 3:16-19).  It is Jehovah’s decision to call us that marks the beginning of His placing faith in us (John 6:44 to 65).  Our decision to respond to God’s call has a part in determining our destiny (Matthew 22:1 to 14).  Jehovah expects our faith to bear fruit in good works (James 2:14 to 26).  God also expects our faith to lead to obedience (James 1:21 to 27).  Our Lord Jehovah commands us to keep our faith pure from pagan practices and festivities, obeying His standards in our worship of Him (Deuteronomy 12:29 to 32, Deuteronomy 6:4 to 9).

 

GOD’S HOLY DAYS

God gives us His Holy Days in Leviticus 23:1 to 43.  The weekly seventh-day Sabbath was established during Creation Week, reminding us each week that Jehovah is our Creator (Genesis 1:1-2:3).  It was reaffirmed before the Ten Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai (Exodus chap 16).  The Annual (Great) Holy Days outline God’s Plan of Salvation, including the Death and Resurrection of Jeshua, the giving of the Holy Spirit, Jeshua’s Return, the resurrection of His Saints and the War with Satan’s armies, the Millennium of Peace, the White Throne Judgement and the coming of New Jerusalem.  Hebrews chapters 8 to 10 explain how Jeshua removed the need for further animal sacrifices.

 

REGENERATION

The moment of committing our lives to God marks the beginning of our walk with Him.  Jehovah God intends us to change as we walk with Him, growing more and more like Him and His Son day by day (Colossians 2:6, 1 Corinthians 11:1).  As we grow more like Him, we become better at keeping His commandments (Ephesians 4:17 to 5:7, Colossians 3:1 to 17, Titus 3:1 to 8, 1 John 2:3 to 6).  Walking with God means living our lives in a way that brings glory to Jeshua: praying and studying so we are able to share our faith with others that they too can receive everlasting life (Philippians 2:12 to 15, 2 Corinthians 5:15-21, Matthew 28:19 & 20, Romans 10:14-17, 1 Peter 3:15).

 

 

 

For further information please contact us:

 

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS CONGREGATION OF GOD

PO Box 236 Creswick Victoria 3363 Australia

Email: info@chcpublications.net

WEB page: https://chcpublications.net/

© 1992, 2002, 2020