As Christadelphians, quite simply, our aim is to follow as closely as possible the teaching and example of Jesus Christ. We believe in God’s Holy Word the Bible and in no other revelation. Central to Christadelphian belief is that Christ will one day return to the earth to establish the Kingdom of God and grant eternal life to those men and women who have tried to follow Him and the ways of our Heavenly Father, recognising that we are saved by God’s grace and by faith in the Gospel.
More specifically, we believe that:
- There is only one true God who lives in glory in heaven; immortal, invisible, all powerful, compassionate and loving. [Isaiah 45 v 5-6; 1 Timothy 6 v 15-16; Exodus 34 v 5-7]
- God created the entire universe by His wisdom and power and has a great purpose for the world, a purpose which we expect to be fulfilled in the near future.[Genesis 1; Numbers 14 v 21; Luke 21 v 25-32]
- The Bible is the wholly inspired Word of God, given by Him through prophets, kings and apostles, in order to teach us the Gospel, which is the Good News of the Kingdom.[2 Timothy 3 v 16; 2 Peter 1 v 20-21]
- The Holy Spirit is the power of God which He uses to fulfil His purpose, or Holy will, throughout His creation.[Job 33 v 4; Romans 8 v 11]
- Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but he is also the “Son of Man”, through his having been born of the young Jewish woman Mary.[Luke 1 v 35; Romans 1 v 3-4]
- Because of His great love for mankind God sent His son Jesus into the world to be our Saviour and the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins.[John 3 v 16-17; 1 John 4 v 9-10]
- During his life on earth Jesus overcame all temptation and suffered on the cross in order to save his followers from sin and death. (Sin is sometimes referred to as “the devil” in the New Testament.)[Romans 10 v 9-13; 1 Timothy 1 v 15-16; Hebrews 2 v 14-15]
- Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven to be enthroned at the right hand of God, but he will return one day as promised. [Acts 2 v 22-27; 1 v 11; 1 Corinthians 15]
- When Jesus returns in glory, accompanied by multitudes of the angels of God, he will raise the dead who have known the Gospel message and will give eternal life to everyone who has been faithful.[Daniel 12 v 1-2; John 5 v 28-29; Matthew 25 v 31-46]
- From that time onwards Christ will reign over the restored Kingdom of God in Israel, ruling from Jerusalem over the whole world. [Isaiah 9 v 6-7; Zechariah 14 v 9]
- And the followers of Christ, made immortal, will help him to end all suffering and bring everlasting righteousness, peace and happiness to every corner of the world.[Micah 4 v 1-5; Matthew 19 v 27-29; Revelation 21 v 1-4]
- Salvation involves our reconciliation to God, the forgiveness of our sins through faith in the Lord Jesus and the promise of freedom from sin and death at his coming.[Hebrews 9 v 27-28; 1 Peter 2 v 21-24]
- This process of salvation brings us into a close and loving relationship with our Heavenly Father, whom we can approach at any time in prayer through Jesus who has become our eternal High Priest.[1 John 4 v 9-16; John 14 v 23; Hebrews 10 v 19-22]
- When we die we cease to exist. The only hope of life beyond the grave is the resurrection at Christ’s return.[Ecclesiastes 9 v 5-6; Romans 5 v 21]
- Faith in the Bible’s promises about the Kingdom of God and the work of Jesus Christ is essential for salvation.[Galatians 3 v 6-9, v 14, v 16 & v 26-29]
- Repentance and baptism into Christ by full immersion in water and the demonstration of his character in our lives every day are also necessary for salvation.[Mark 16 v 15-16; Romans 6 v 1-13, 22-23; Colossians 3 v 1-17]
- We recognise however that we are saved by God’s grace. This is His wonderful gift to each of us. [Ephesians 2 v 4-9]
- We recognise that Jesus is the Messiah promised throughout the Old Testament scriptures [Isaiah 53; Daniel 7 v 13-14; Luke 24 v 25-27]
- We recognise that God made many promises to the Jewish patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) about their descendants, the Israelites. And that those men and women who commit their lives to Christ become spiritual descendants of Abraham and recipients of the wonderful promises made to him [Genesis 15 v 5,6;17v 4-8; Psalm 105 v 8-11; Romans 4 v 13,16-17; Galatians 3 v 27-28]
Living our Beliefs
As followers of Christ, we endeavour:
- To understand that when we give our lives to God we are called to make faith, hope and love the guiding principles of all aspects of our everyday lives. We endeavour to demonstrate the fruits of God’s Spirit, particularly love in all that we do [Galatians 5 v 22-24; I Corinthians 13; Matthew 12 v 28-31; Colossians 3 v 12-16]
- To express the compassion of Christ to everyone around us, particularly those in greatest need. [James 1 v 27; Matthew 25 v 31-44]
- To bring glory to God in our family life. We believe that God's ideal for marriage is that it be a joyful and loving relationship between believers in the Gospel, one man and one woman, for life. [Matthew 19 v 4-6; Ephesians 5] And we believe that children are a blessing from the Lord, to be loved and cherished in a home where the Bible’s message is taught and celebrated [Ephesians 6 v 4];
When we are baptised into Christ we accept him as our King.
- We take on the principles and citizenship of the Kingdom of God [Philippians 3 v 20] and endeavour to live as "strangers and pilgrims" in the world [Hebrews 11 v 13], whilst respecting human institutions. Consequently, we avoid involvement in politics, government elections, military service, jury duty and protest movements.
- We endeavour to avoid spending our lives seeking worldly wealth or possessions or becoming entangled in earthly affairs [Luke 12 v 18-22; 1 Timothy 6 v 6-11]
- We understand the importance of God’s Word, of prayer and of fellowship with our Saviour and our brothers and sisters in Christ in helping us grow our faith [Psalm 119 v 105; 2 Timothy 3 v 15-17; Philippians 4 v 6-7; Hebrews 10 v 22-25(The Message)]
After we enter into the new covenant with God we share the wonderful news of God’s grace and Kingdom with everyone, as God gives us opportunity. [Matthew 28 v 19-20; 1 Peter 3 v 15]