Statement of Faith

The Church is Part of the Universal Church

The Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian, Synod of Livingstonia is part of the Holy Catholic or Universal Church; worshipping one God, All-loving, All-wise, Almighty, in the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and glory; adoring the Father, infinite in majesty, of Whom are all things; confessing our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son, Who for our salvation was made man, died upon the Cross, was raised from the dead and ascended unto heaven, and owing obedience to Him as Head over all things; trusting in the promised renewal and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the source and giver of life and all spiritual gifts, proclaiming the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins, of acceptance with God through faith in Christ, and of eternal life; and labouring in the communion of Saints for the advancement of the Kingdom of God throughout the world.

The Church receives the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God and the Supreme rule of faith and life; and avows the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith as interpreted and taught by the Protestant Reformation.

Historic Confessions of Faith

The Church receives the historic confessions of Faith known as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, as containing the sum and substance of the faith of the Church.  Until such time as the Church shall exercise its right to frame its own Confession of Faith in agreement with the Word of God and the fundamental doctrines of the Christian Faith as set forth in these standards, it also accepts as a subordinate standard the statement known as the “Brief Statement of the Faith” adopted by the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian, in the year 1924; Article 1 therefore being understood in the sense used in Articles 3,4 and 5 of the Larger Catechism (Westminster 1648).  The said “Brief Statement of the Faith” is as follows: –

1. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the supreme rule of faith and conduct.

2. That there is one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  These three are one God, equal in power and glory, and He alone is to be worshipped.

3. All human beings are sinners and therefore in need of salvation, and can be saved only by the grace of God, through the redeeming work of Christ, and the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

4. ‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ The Lord Jesus Christ, being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary yet without sin, was true man and true God.  To save humanity from sin, and reconcile them to God, He perfectly fulfilled the Law of God, offered Himself on the Cross a true and perfect sacrifice, died, was buried, rose again from the dead, and ascended unto Heaven from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

5. The salvation thus wrought for us in Christ is applied to us by the Holy Spirit, who worketh faith in us, and thus unites us to Christ, enabling us to receive Him as He is offered to us in the Gospel, and to bring forth the fruits of righteousness.  In his gracious work, the Holy Spirit useth all means of grace, especially the Word, Sacraments, and prayer.

6. The Sacraments of the New Testament are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Baptism is a Sacrament wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ and partaking of the benefits of the Covenant of Grace and our engagement to be the Lord’s.  The Lord’s Supper is a Sacrament wherein by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christ’s appointment, His death is showed forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.

7. It is the duty of all believers to unite in the fellowship of the Church, to observe the Sacraments and other ordinances of Christ, to obey laws, to continue in prayer, to keep holy the Lord’s Day, to meet together for worship, to wait upon the preaching of the Word, to give as God has prospered them for the support and extension of the Gospel, and at all times to seek the advance of the Kingdom of God.