Confession of Faith 
This Confession of faith does not constitute the only
beliefs and practices of Pilgrim Community Ventures. Although we do not have any established Statement of Faith per say - because
we believe that we must always be open to the teaching and guidance of the Holy
Spirit, concerning doctrine and practical application, in order to change and
adjust our lives as the Holy Spirit brings us into a fuller work of
sanctification and purification - we do believe and affirm the Scriptural
truths confessed by every authentic Christian born again of God Himself,
for they are all members of the Holy Universal Apostolic Church of Jesus
Christ! We are irrefutably for the common faith of
Christ and seek to be and remain most orthodox as such. We have received the Lord Jesus Christ as
our Saviour, as our Lord and as our only King.
He is living in us as our life, and we only wish to serve Him and bring
others to a saving knowledge of Him too.
This is but
a brief statement of our Scriptural beliefs and practices. We, ourselves, have learned truths by many
different methods, because the Holy Spirit used many different ways to teach
us: by simply listening with an open
heart and mind during our own Bible Studies, in reading and studying Christian
books written by men and women of God from several denominational backgrounds,
and by receiving and implementing preaching messages from men and women of God
from churches where we sometime visit.
We have been taught of the Holy Spirit also by reading the writings from
men and women of God of old, inspired by the Holy Spirit, since the time of the
primitive Church. There has been a lot
of them over the last 2000 years, and the Holy Ghost had taught them many
truths. We are not close-minded to our own
version of the truth only.
As
ministers of the Word we do not believe that we have acquired all understanding
and knowledge of the truth. We humble
ourselves before the Lord and continually seek to be taught by the Holy Spirit,
as He directs the methods. It is
written in the Gospel of John, that the Comforter when He comes, He will guide
us into all truth and will teach us all things. Having an intellectual understanding of the Bible does not
constitute true knowledge in the sight of God, but every truth must be
accompanied by a revelation given by the Holy Spirit, in order that we be
transformed into the likeness of Christ, renewed in our mind and walk in true
love. Learning academically is not
enough; we must be enlightened on every aspect of truth. Our mind must be renewed thoroughly if we
are to really understand and know something of the truth of the Word.
“If you continue
in my word, you shall be my disciples indeed.
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:31-32
“Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth.”
I
Corinthians 8:1
We believe
that Scripture teaches, among other things, the following divine truths:
1.
The
Holy Bible is the only complete, verbally and Holy Spirit inspired, infallible,
inerrant and authoritative Word of God.
1.
There
is only one true living God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, who are the same in essence and coequal in power and glory.
2.
God
must be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and therefore truth is only truth if
what we believe is in agreement with what God says and considers to be true, as
revealed in Holy Scripture.
1.
Jesus
Christ is God Himself, a person of the deity (trinity).
2.
He has
become a man, born of a virgin. He is
the only Mediator between God and man; He died upon the Cross as a propitiation
for our sins. He is the only Saviour of
mankind, because no other name was given to us by which we should be saved.
3.
He is
ascended into Heaven, sits at the right hand of God and intercede for the
Church so that we reach spiritual maturity.
4.
He will
return to take his own with Him at the rapture and to establish His kingdom on
earth for one thousand years, where He will reign with the overcomers as kings
and priests.
5.
At the
end of the world, He will judge the living and the dead - believers and
unbelievers alike.
1.
The
Holy Spirit is also divine, and was sent to convict the world of sin,
righteousness and judgment.
2.
It is His
divine work to bring us to know and confess Jesus as Christ, Lord and Savior.
3.
He
regenerates, indwells, seals and baptizes the believer into the Body of Christ
at conversion.
4.
As the
seal of God, He assures us of a full and complete salvation.
5.
It is
His task to guide and instruct believers into all truth and into all things,
and to open our minds and hearts to see and understand all these truths as He
sanctifies and purifies us.
1.
Man
was created male and female in the likeness and image of God; man was tempted
by Satan, rebelled, disobeyed and sinned against God, and became lost.
2.
Man's
sin incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is
separation from God.
3.
One of
the consequences of sin is that man was declared by God to be totally depraved,
having inherited a sinful nature and became a sinner in practice by attitude,
motive, thought, word and deed.
4.
This
sinful nature is passed on to our children, who are born in sin (with a sinful
nature, a sinful bent).
5.
Because
of this spiritual condition, man must be redeemed or else he will spend
eternity in Hell, as a just punishment against the holiness of God, His
Creator.
6.
Heaven
Hell and the lake of fire do exist as real and actual places.
1.
Satan
is a fallen angel who rebelled against God, and brought with him a multitude of
fallen angels called demons. They
really exist, but they are invisible to the human eye.
2.
He is
called the prince of this world. He
rules over the world through a network of principalities, powers, rulers of
darkness and spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies (firmament).
3.
He is
the archenemy of God, of the good angels, and of the Church. He seeks to blind and capture mankind, so
that they will not believe in Jesus-Christ to be saved.
4.
He
seeks to destroy true born again believers one at a time, and to take captive
the Church through divisions, spiritual contentment, complacency, worldliness,
disobedience and sin.
5.
The
Church has been given authority over all power of the enemy, in the finished
work of Christ at Calvary, in order to bind the strong man, spoil his goods and
deliver the captives from spiritual fortresses, by bringing their thoughts
captives to the obedience of Christ.
Only obedient and consecrated believers succeed in spiritual warfare.
1.
Repentance
is a deep, and complete change of heart, mind and will towards God’s heart,
mind and will. It implies deep
contrition and sorrow for one’s own sins.
Feelings are secondary and do not constitute any certainty.
2.
True
repentance produces a change of life not to be repented of. Repentance produce a lasting change of
attitude, motive.
3.
Repentance
is not becoming better or resolving to try harder to be good.
4.
Repentance
is given by God to man, and man must cooperate with God to receive it, instead
of hardening his heart against it.
5.
Repentance
is necessary in order to be saved.
1.
Man
receive eternal life by receiving Jesus Christ as his Saviour, by believing in
the name of the Son of God. Receiving
Him means to believe on Him by an act of trust in his heart.
2.
This
eternal life is a life, not a religion.
It cannot be earned, merited, won or maintained by good works or
obedience to the commandments, before or after the new birth or conversion.
3.
Consequently,
it cannot be lost either, even if we do not persevere to the end. It is the gift of God. God does not repent of His gifts. He remains faithful even if we are
unfaithful.
1.
Man's
salvation is a free gift of God's grace and love, and cannot be merited or
maintained by anything man does before or after receiving it, for salvation is
solely and exclusively a work of God for man.
2.
Salvation
can only be given through Jesus Christ, for there is no other way to God the
Father.
3.
Salvation
is to include the three parts of man:
the spirit, at and through regeneration; the soul, to be transformed
into the image and likeness of Christ through the ongoing process of
sanctification; and the body, at transfiguration.
4.
In
order to be saved, man must believe in his heart, not merely his intellect, and
confess Christ publicly with his mouth; that salvation is the work of God from
beginning to end.
1.
The
Christian life begins at regeneration.
God Himself declares that unless man is born from above he cannot see
the kingdom of God, here on earth now and later in glory.
2.
Regeneration
means to be spiritually born of the Holy Spirit in our spirit through the
redemption of Christ, and thereby the very life and nature of God is imparted
in our spirit.
3.
Regeneration
makes us to be alive unto God with His very life.
4.
Regeneration
does not change or alter our sinful nature, this is why we need to learn to
live and walk in the Spirit thus activating the life of Christ in us.
1.
Sanctification
has three stages: spirit, soul and
body.
2.
Spirit
sanctification is instantaneous and occur at regeneration.
3.
Soul
sanctification is a continual process, as the disciple walks with God daily,
denying self, taking up his cross and obeying the will of the Lord Jesus Christ
for his life. If the believer lives his
Christian life as he pleases, doing his own will, he will not grow and will
remain in the mental, psychic area of the Christian life, still under the
control of the flesh, the human life, the natural man.
4.
Body
sanctification will occur at redemption, when we will receive our incorruptible
body at the end of the world.
5.
The
Christian life demands a proper separation from the world through water
baptism, public confession and a visible life of separation and consecration
unto God, which is not a Christian's choice but a commandment, but a
consequence of regeneration.
6.
As
Christians we are to keep all of Christ's commandments and ordinances for His
Church, for He did not abolish the Law, but fulfilled it for us to give it back
to us through His indwelling life. We
are no longer under the law of Moses, but we are under the law of Christ, and
the law of Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
7.
These
commandments are not to be kept by the power of the flesh, will and mind of the
natural man, but by learning to live by faith in the Son of God, who is our
Life, our Victory over sin, world and Satan.
1.
Christ is
the one and only rock or foundation upon which the Church is built.
2.
The Church
is a spiritual reality, it is not and cannot be any visible building, any
earthly organization, and that its outline cannot therefore be delimited or
determined with precision.
3.
The
Church is the elect company of believers, baptized in the Universal body of
Christ and by the Holy Spirit.
4.
This
Universal Body, this spiritual reality, is called he Holy Universal Apostolic
Church of Jesus Christ!
5.
The
Church is comprised solely of all the believers who lived and are living on
earth, and as such is known only to God.
6.
The
Church is to be expressed on earth in only two ways: locally and universally and never denominationally.
7.
The
Church is the spiritual family of God and must edify the believers and
evangelise the lost.
8.
The great
commission is to teach all nations to observe all the commandments Jesus Christ
taught the apostles; this means to make disciples of all believers so that they
progress towards spiritual maturity.
9.
God does
not approve of dividing his people into a class clergymen and a class of lay people
because we are all equally brothers in Christ, and called to be a royal
priesthood. All earthly, divisive distinctions
having been done away with at the Cross.
1.
The
work of the ministry of the Church is comprised of apostolic teams of apostles
(missionaries), prophets (preachers), evangelists, as well as pastors-teachers
(itinerant teachers) ministering, confirming the believers in the faith and
helping churches to be united as they should.
2.
Each
local Church should have a local leadership of elders, deacons and deaconesses,
with the same spiritual gifts and priestly functions.
All statements above can be demonstrated in Scriptures, through consistent searching and studying thoroughly, with an open mind and heart to the truth and the Holy Spirit, all the while leaving aside any misconceptions, personal and denominational interpretations. It is imperative to put on humility and to admit that we do not know everything about Bible teaching, in order to learn from others.
A fuller
explanation of our beliefs and practices is available at our Pilgrim Christian
Bookstore. Please feel free to contact
us if any of these points are unclear to you, or if any of these points seem
incomplete or out of balance, and we will try to clarify and answer your
questions in the Light of Scriptures.