Articles Of Faith

Corpus Christ, the Body of Christ, is an autocephalous Christian Church. We are Apostolic,* Orthodox^☦ Preterists.^‡

We believe …

We believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God,
the only-begotten,
begotten of the Father before all ages.
Light of light;
true God of true God;
begotten, not made;
of one essence with the Father;
by Whom all things were made;
Who for us and for our salvation
came down from Heaven,
and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit
and the Virgin Mary,
and became a Man.
And He was crucified for us
under Pontius Pilate,
and suffered, and was buried.
And the third day He arose again,
according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into Heaven,
and sits enthroned as Messiah
at the right hand of the Father; and
He promised to come again with glory
during the lifetime of His apostles
to judge the living and the dead;
Whose Kingdom has no end.

And in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the Giver of Life,
Who proceeds from the Father;
Who with the Father
and the Son together
is worshipped and glorified;
Who spoke by the prophets;
and animates the Church
with boldness, to witness,
and with gifts of grace.

I acknowledge one baptism
for repentant believers
for the remission of their sins,
and for their regeneration
and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

And such regenerated believers
– and none else –
constitute the one Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church.

I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

The “majority” doesn’t determine the Truth. Remember, the majority of humans were outside Noah’s Ark!

Articles of Faith

The True God who has revealed himself in the Holy Bible; the One God is One divine Godhead of Three Persons—the Father, The Son Jesus Christ ﷺ, and the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus Christ ﷺ is the eternal Son of God; born of virgin Mary, he lived a sinless life to offer his life as a ransom for sinful humanity destined for eternal destruction; he died, was buried, and rose again from the dead to be exalted above every other name and power as King of kings and Lord of lords; there is no other name by which humankind may be saved from their sins.
The sixty six books of Holy Bible, in their original form, are divinely inspired and they constitute a standard for life and teaching of the Church.
Salvation is a free gift of God available to anyone who, in repentance, places his/her trust in the atonement accomplished by the risen Saviour Jesus Christ ﷺ. Salvation is the offer of eternal life in Jesus Christ ﷺ; it includes forgiveness of sins, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, adoption into the family of God, deliverance from the effects of sin, and a commission to follow Jesus Christ ﷺ in the power of His indwelling Spirit.
The Church of God is the universal fellowship of Christ’s followers—forgiven, regenerated people who live in active fellowship with God through Christ. Jesus Christ ﷺ is the Head of this Body, which is the renewed “Israel” of God. She is the new humanity that Christ created to include people from all races and tribes. In its local expression, Church is a dynamic, organic family of Christians who are committed to each other; they meet frequently for worship, fellowship, and service.
- The Church is called to participate in God’s Mission.
- The primary calling of the Church is to glorify God in praise, worship, and through the display of God’s reign in their lives.
- All members of the Church are called to serve one another, like parts of the same Body, using manifold gifts of the Spirit, speaking the truth in love, till all reach unity of faith and spiritual maturity.
- They are also called to participate in God’s mission to save the world from sin, decay, and suffering through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ ﷺ and through service; God desires that no one should perish in unbelief. The Lord promised to supernaturally empower each of his followers with the baptism of the Holy Spirit to fulfill God’s mission.
Baptism in water, by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is an ordinance established by the Lord Jesus ﷺ for all who believe in Him. Those who believe in Christ and are baptized are born-again (born of water and the Spirit) as God’s children. They, thus, become members of God’s Church.
The Lord’s Supper is a meal of remembrance. “Do this in remembrance of me,” commanded the Lord Jesus ﷺ. He and His Twelve observed the fulfilled Passover in anticipation of the suffering and death that Jesus ﷺ was about to endure. Christians must observe a fulfilled Passover meal to remember Jesus ﷺ and the exodus He accomplished through His death. The Afikomen (unleavened bread) demonstrates the unity of the body of Christ, the Church (1 Cor 10:17); its unleavened state teaches us that the church should be free from sin (1 Cor 5:6-8).
The Lord Jesus Christ ﷺ promised to come back to his apostles (John 14:3) before they exhausted all the cities of Judea while fleeing from persecution (Matthew 10:23). Accordingly, the apostles and the early church expected the Parousia (appearance) of the Lord in their lifetime (Matthew 16:27,28; 24:34; John 21: 22-23).
The blessed hope of Christians is that they will share the glory of Jesus Christ ﷺ . They will be raised from the dead and transformed to inherit immortal, glorious bodies to be with the Lord forever.
The Final Judgment: Although God executes judgment at all times, He will judge all humanity—both dead and alive.

There is no place for innovation in Christian doctrine. The Church’s sacred duty is to guard the Gospel that has been handed down to her once and for all.

Notes

* We are Apostolic: ☩ We are Apostolic because we are committed to the doctrine and teachings of Jesus Christ ﷺ and His apostles, which are enshrined in the New Testament.
☩ We are Apostolic because of we faithfully proclaim the very Gospel the apostles preached. That fidelity affords us a far superior and direct spiritual succession from the apostles than any historic “unbroken succession” via ordination of bishops. The apostles believed what they saw. We believed without having seen the Lord Jesus ﷺ with our physical eyes. “Have you [Thomas] believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” These words of Jesus Christ ﷺ elevates every believer and gives them a seat at the apostolic table. BACK ↩
☦ We are Orthodox: ☩ As far as our Christology goes, we are Orthodox because we do not subscribe to the Chalcedon Christology of the Western Church. Instead we uphold Miaphysitism, the view that the human and divine natures of Jesus ﷺ were inseparably united into a single, composite nature.
☩ We agree with the Orthodox view of Baptismal Regeneration and stand with them in the rejection of the Western notion of “original sin” as inherited guilt. However, we are credo-baptists. Baptismal Regeneration is effective only in those who repent of their sins and believe in the Gospel. We do not think that a person can be regerated without faith in Jesus Christ ﷺ. A body of unregenerate people do not deserve to be called the Church, regardless of their adherence to outward Christian spiritual exercises. BACK ↩
‡ We are Preterists: ☩ We uphold a consistent preterist eschatology, in line with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ ﷺ. BACK ↩