articles-of-faith | Zoar Chapel

Church formed 28th March 1843

Articles of Faith Adopted 30th June 1895

Articles of Faith:

1. One living and true God.

2. Three co-equal and co-eternal persons in the Godhead.

3. The Deity and real but sinless Humanity of Jesus Christ.

4. The Deity and Personality of the Holy Ghost.

5. The Eternity and Immutability of the Decrees of Jehovah

6. The eternal Covenant of Grace between the three persons in the Godhead on behalf of the Church.

7. The Eternal Election, Justification and Sanctification of the Church in and through Jesus Christ.

8. Original Sin; that is to say, the entrance of Sin, condemnation and death through the fall of Adam, entailing enmity against God, total depravity of the heart, and entire ruin of all his posterity.

9. The particular, personal, and complete redemption of the Elect, and them alone, by the blood shedding of Jesus Christ.

10. The effectual calling of all the elect vessels of mercy at the time appointed by Jehovah's decree.

11. Efficacious grace in regeneration.

12. The application of the Law to the conscience by the Holy Ghost, convincing the sinner of his guilt and helplessness.

13. The manifestation of Pardon through the blood of sprinkling, and of Justification through the righteousness of Christ, whereby the believer is delivered from the curse and rule of the Law, and is brought under the rule and government of the Gospel, the precepts of which are alone binding as his rule of conduct.

14. Final Perseverance; that is to say, the certain Perseverance of the Saints in Grace and Faith unto Eternal Life.

15. The Baptism of Believers, and none other, by immersion only, upon a profession their faith in Christ, and the exclusive right of such as have been so baptised to a participation of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.

16. That no human power of whatever name possesses the right to ordain rites and ceremonies in the Church of Christ, or in any other manner to interfere in any of its religious or spiritual concerns.

17. That the present authorised version of the Old and New Testaments are the only revelation of the will of God.

Now all and each of these Doctrines and Ordinances we can honestly say it is our desire to maintain and defend in one spirit and with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel.

And we desire, by the grace of God, that our conversation, both in the world and in the Church, may be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ, and that we may live soberly, righteously and godly in the present world.

And as it regards each other in Church Communion, we desire to walk with each other in all humility and brotherly love; to watch over each other's conversation, to stir up one another to love and good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but as we have opportunity, to worship God according to His revealed will; and, when the case requires, to warn and admonish one another according to God's Word.

Moreover we desire to sympathise with each other in all conditions, both inward and outward, into which God in His providence may bring us; as also to bear with one another's weaknesses, failings, and infirmities, and particularly to pray for one another and for all saints, and that the Gospel and the Ordinances thereof may be blessed to the edification and comfort of each other's souls, and for the gathering in of the vessels of mercy unto Christ.

And for every blessing and favour, both temporal and spiritual, we, who are as deserving of hell as the vilest of the vile, desire to ascribe all the praise to the glory of the grace of a Triune God.