What we Believe...
About God’s Plans
God’s ultimate purpose of creation, the central, unifying theme of the Bible, is the establishment under His loving sovereignty of a KINGDOM comprised of those reborn in His image, with whom He will dwell forever in eternity.
Steps of God’s plan:
- Establish a kingdom based upon His loving sovereignty (which He has done);
- Redeem to Himself a people reborn in His image (which He is doing); then hereafter
- Give the redeemed immortal bodies like that of the Son of God (the Rapture);
- Reward Christian service with honorable roles in the Kingdom (the Bema-Seat);
- Conquer the earth for the homeland of His kingdom (the glorious Second Coming);
- Judge all the unsaved by their works (the Great White Throne Judgment); and
- Dwell eternally with the saved as their God and they His people (the Age of Ages).
Turning to God through Christ is our entrance into faith. However, a thorough knowledge of Bible truth is essential for a strong faith, therefore we hold these Bible truths:
About God
We believe that there is one God; the author, sustainer and judge of all things, eternally existent in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Father: We believe that God the Father has His abode in Heaven. That He is Light and Love in His essence. That He sent His Son to die for us, and He answers prayers that He hears from His Son.
The Son: We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, His Virgin Birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His vicarious, atoning death, The efficacy of His shed Blood, His bodily resurrection as the firstfruits of the resurrection of all believers, His ascension to the Father's right hand as our High Priest and as intercessor for the prayers of the saints, His physical return to gather (Rapture) to Himself His Bride (Church), His pre-millennial, glorious return with His saints to conquer the kingdoms of earth, judge the nations and move His Kingdom to the earth for eternity.
The Holy Ghost: We believe in the Deity and the present earthly ministry of the Holy Spirit; that He restrains Satan and his demons until the rapture of the Church; convicts the sinner; regenerates the one who believes; indwells, seals, illuminates, instructs, reproves and guides the believer; and that He fills and controls every saint that is wholly yielded to God.
About Satan
We believe in the person of Satan; in his power and present earthly kingdom of evil; in his wiles; in his judgment at the cross; and in his eternal destruction in hell.
About the Bible
We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures which is complete and preserved in the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament which make up the entire Word of God. The Scriptures are inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed, and therefore are the final authority for faith, life and practice. The Scriptures are the divine revelation of God to man to be interpreted according to their literal and normal grammatical meaning and in their contextual and historical setting. The King James Version of the Bible is the official Bible in English of Efata Ministries.
About Man
We believe that man is a sinner both by nature and practice, and therefore is estranged from God and in need of the convicting and regenerating ministry of the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the saved unto ‘Life', and the bodily resurrection of the lost unto ‘judgement and condemnation'.
About Salvation
We believe that salvation is a free gift by God’s grace, and that it is received through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, plus nothing and minus nothing. There is absolutely no other way of salvation but through the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work on the Cross of Calvary.
About Heaven and Hell
We believe in a literal heaven with golden streets and a literal hell with fire and brimstone.
We believe Hell is a temporary holding place for the damned until the Great White Throne Judgment where upon Death and Hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity.
About the Local Church
We believe in the local church, which is a body of baptized believers who, through the power of the Holy Ghost, assemble together for worship, preaching, Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and to carry out the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ to preach the gospel and to send missionaries throughout the world.
About Separation
We believe and practice both ecclesiastical and personal separation on the basis of the Word of God.