Christadelphian beliefs
Christadelphians believe that:
- There is one God and one person in the Godhead. He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, and the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Christ is the only begotten Son of God, born of the virgin Mary by the personal power of God, His Holy Spirit.
- Christ was all God’s promises and intention made flesh. Sharing fully our nature, he revealed to us what God is like, not in form or feature, but in sublime holiness, absolute righteousness and boundless love, all of which qualities run through every word, every purpose, every act of compassion, every part of the whole life lived by the Saviour.
- Man is mortal and sinful, in need of salvation and unable to save himself. When man dies, his existence ceases and he has no hope except by resurrection from the dead.
- God’s grace and desire to save were made known in the gracious promises revealed to man of which the greatest are those given to Abraham, as well as those subsequently made to David. These promises make known God’s coming kingdom on earth with Christ as King, and the way in which man can share the glory of that age in life eternal by the saving grace of God in Jesus.
- Jesus’s perfect life, sacrificial death and resurrection to glory and immortality are the guarantee that man’s twin enemies, his sinfulness known as the devil, and his mortality known as death, have been altogether conquered by Jesus who, though the only begotten Son of God, shared our nature in everything, but without sin.
- Every believer must acknowledge his faith in the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.
- He must acknowledge his need of help, of forgiveness, and of deliverance from death. This he shows when, believing the truth of the Gospel, he asks for God’s pardon and help, and is baptised by immersion in water, confessing his sins. He then belongs to God, and is in the new covenant through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. As an heir of the promises made to Abraham, he waits in patience for the coming kingdom of God.
- His new life in Christ is a life of fellowship with fellow believers through fellowship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. His life of discipleship must be free from personal selfishness, unsullied by politics and violence, and based upon the love for God and for his neighbour. The life of the believer is one of prayerful confidence in God and His purpose, and in His providential care.
- Week by week, in the breaking of bread, he remembers the saving work of God in Christ, and “shows forth” the Lord’s death by associating himself with it.
- He is convinced that Jesus will personally return to the earth to bring peace to a troubled world and to establish God’s kingdom with Jerusalem at its centre. The regathered Jews are God’s witnesses that God will fulfil this purpose.
- Christ’s disciples claim allegiance to his kingdom, and live today as strangers and pilgrims waiting for his return. They obey all human laws, except where they conflict with God’s clear commands.
- They uphold the sanctity of marriage, and shun all forms of immorality, knowing that an immoral way of life creates a barrier to God’s kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).
- Death has no final sting for the true servant of God. Life’s fitful fever over, he sleeps in peace, knowing nothing of the passing years, until, as though it were but a moment after death, his Lord, returned from heaven, awakens him from death for the day of resurrection and judgement. Then the responsible among men, living and dead, will stand forth to receive the due reward of their deeds: eternal life and endless joy in the kingdom of God for the faithful; and shameful dismissal and oblivion in the second death for those who have been unfaithful to the word of God or knowingly have rejected its call.
