Beliefs - Centenary Evangelical Church

What we believe

Centenary Evangelical Church is a reformed evangelical church and we subscribe to the FIEC Statement of Beliefs:

Men and women together are created in the image of God, and therefore enjoy a unique dignity in creation and a unique relationship with God. Men and women together have dominion over the created order. Marriage is a gift of God and is modelled on the union of Christ and his church. It is the union of one man and one woman voluntarily entered into for life. Tragically, human nature is universally sinful since the Fall and all are guilty before God. This leaves us under the wrath and condemnation of God. We are unable, without the prior regenerative work of God's Spirit, to turn ourselves to God.

There is no other way to know God except that he reveals himself to us. The Bible is God’s revelation to us. The words of the Bible are divinely inspired and infallible, as originally given, and have supreme authority in all matters of faith, conduct and experience. The Bible is sufficient for knowing God. It is not only central to the wellbeing of the church but is able to thoroughly equip the Christian community for life and godliness. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments alone constitute the divinely inspired Word of God.

Here's a sample of what we preach each Sunday.

Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He is both fully God and truly human. He entered fully into human experience. He endured temptation and he suffered and died. He was perfectly obedient to God his Father. Jesus took on himself the consequences of human sin. He died and was buried. On the third day he rose from the dead bodily. He ascended to the right hand of God the Father and is now exalted as ruler over all. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

There is only one name under heaven by which people can be brought into relationship with God: the name 'Jesus Christ'. It is only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, that the guilt, penalty and power of sin can be removed. In that death, God demonstrates his love to us most perfectly and establishes his victory over Satan and all his foes. The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary to make the death of Jesus effective in an individual's life. This work is only applied to those ‘appointed to eternal life’ by the Father; an appointment that occurred before the creation of the world and not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those appointed. The Spirit irresistibly enables the sinner to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ, and persevere in that faith, so that salvation is entirely of God's grace and not of human merit or works. We enjoy now the blessing of union with Christ and secure relationship with God, while we await the final consummation of our hope with the return of Christ, the resurrection of our bodies and life with him eternally. God has destined that there be only one people of God (Jew and Gentile) united by faith in Jesus for all time.

The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son, and indwells all true believers. His role is to bring glory to Jesus Christ, thus making Jesus Christ central in all things. The Spirit works to illuminate believers’ minds to grasp the truth of the Bible, producing in them his fruit, granting them his gifts and empowering them for service. He grants his gifts for the purpose of service, not self-indulgence. Their use is determined - not by personal desire for fulfilment, or satisfaction - but by the principle of building the church. Not every gift of the Spirit is given to the church at every moment of its life, only those necessary for building Christ's body.

The visible church is the gathering of believers around Christ in his word. The people of God who gather are intended by God to bear witness to him and actively seek the extension of his rule. Within the church community both men and women are to seek proper expression of their gifts as they work to build the church in love. In church, as in marriage, the roles of men and women are not interchangeable. The differences between men and women are to be expressed within relationships of mutual dependence and service. Only biblically qualified men are to take on the role of elder or to preach in the regular public assembly.

As a church, we hold to the gospel of Jesus Christ above all else — the essential truths that define every true church and every true Christian. Beyond that, we also hold to a number of theological distinctives that shape who we are as CEC, while recognising that faithful, gospel-believing churches can differ on these matters.

CEC's Doctrinal Positions (PDF)

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