The House Newcastle bears witness to the following truths of the historic Christian faith from which the beliefs and mission of our community are formed.
The Bible as the Word of God
We believe the Bible tells the universal story of creation, fall, redemption and restoration, and thereby shapes our worldview. We believe both, the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, inerrant as they were originally given, and trustworthy in all it affirms. We depend upon it as the revelation of God’s identity, character, purposes and actions. We are submitted to it as the supreme and unique authority, over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks for our belief and behaviour (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; John 16:12-13; 1 Cor. 2:13).
The Godhead
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they are distinguishable yet indivisible. Each Person of the Trinity is fully God, sharing the same nature and attributes (Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Matt. 3:16-17, 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).
God’s Creation
We believe the universe is the good creation of the one living God and reveals God’s existence, power and glory. Human beings were created in the image of God, male and female, free from sin in order to live in holy and devoted fellowship with God, and to relate to one another in love, justice and compassion, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation (Gen. 1:26-31; Rom. 1:20-32).
Human sin
We believe that the creation has fallen from its original good order, and that the image of God in man has been distorted because of Adams sin. Adams forfeiting of his original blessedness affected not only himself, but all his descendants through the inheriting of his sinful nature, leaving the human race corrupted in every aspect of their beings (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, and spiritually) and we are now sinners by nature and by choice. The consequential effects of sin and the power of evil have permeated the fabric of cultural, relational, economic, social, political and religious life, resulting in mans alienation from God and each other. Unable to remedy his lost condition, man is condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention (Gen. 3:1-19; Rom. 3:23; 5:12-21; 6:23; Eph. 2:1-3).
Human worth
We believe though distorted by sin, the image of God has not been lost completely in mankind (Gen. 9:6,7), and remains the basis of the uniqueness, dignity, sanctity and equality of all persons without distinction. God loves and cares for all people in their cultural and ethnic diversity and has reached out in grace to save them through faith in Jesus Christ (James 2:1-4; Luke 10:25:37; Jn. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:1-5).
Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour
We believe that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Being the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His person, Jesus came to reveal God, inaugurate His Kingdom, and redeem sinful man (John 1:1-2,14; Luke 1:30-35; Heb. 1:3, Mk 1:15). We believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death on the cross, and satisfied God’s justice taking upon Himself the sin of the world, bearing its full cost and penalty, to put right with God all those who come to faith in Jesus Christ by grace alone. Our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3–5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry as Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1–2). We believe Jesus is coming again and at his return he will execute God’s judgement, destroy Satan, evil and death, and establish the universal reign of God reconciling all of creation back to Himself (1 Peter 4:5; Romans 14:9; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Rom. 8:19-21).
God the Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead applying to mankind the saving work of Christ (Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3,4; Jn. 3:5,6; Rom. 8:9). He enlightens the minds of sinners, awakens in them recognition of their need of a Saviour, and regenerates them (Jn. 16:8). By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:15). The Holy Spirit permanently indwells all true believers comforting and empowering them to live in unity, holiness, and love, operating in the gifts that He has uniquely endowed each one of them with, to build up the body of Christ and proclaim the gospel of grace (Eph. 1:13; Jn. 14:26; Acts 1:8; Eph. 3:16, 4:1-3; Gal. 5:22,23; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; Eph. 4:11-16; Lk. 4:18; Acts 4:31).
The church and God’s mission
We believe in one universal Church composed of all those, in every time and place, who through saving faith in Jesus Christ have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:25-27). The church is the spiritual body of Christ of whom only Jesus is the Head (Eph. 1:22,23; Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 12:12-14). The “body” expresses itself in local churches which are gatherings of His people who regularly meet to worship God, grow in His word, build each other’s faith, love one another, serve one another, and practice the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 14:21-27; Heb. 10:24,25; Eph. 4:11-16; Acts 2:41-47; 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:20-34). The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit through whom the world is to witness God’s future kingdom breaking forth into the present, through His peoples love for God, each other and society. Therefore believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it, but rather seek to make disciples of all men (Eph. 2:19-22; Jn. 17:20-23, 16, 1 jn. 2:15; Matt. 28:19,20).
Judgement and Restoration
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ when He will exercise His role as final Judge, and His kingdom will be consummated, restoring all things back to Himself. We believe in the bodily resurrection and the eternal conscious existence of all mankind, in which those who have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness and rejected the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as Saviour, will be consigned to everlasting misery, and all true believers in Christ will enter into the everlasting joy of the Lord (Acts 1:10,11; Matt. 24:30,31; 25:31-46; John 5:24-29; Rev. 20:11-15; 1 Cor. 15:42-44; 2 Thess. 1:5-10; Lk. 16:22-25, Matt. 7:21-23; 10:28; Rom. 1:18; Matt. 25:23; Romans 8:18-25; Acts 3:19-21; Rev. 21:1-5, 22:3).
Summary
The House community believes that there is one living God, revealed through the Bible as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father’s plan for the universe is to bring about, through the saving work of His Son Jesus Christ, a transformed creation wholly governed by God, from which all evil and suffering will be banished and in which God will live with redeemed humanity forever. The present reality and future hope of the kingdom of God, shape and motivate our mission to intentionally engage with the world through the empowering of the Holy Spirit to evangelize, compassionately serve, and actively pursue justice, peace, and care for His creation.