beliefs

ARTICLES OF FAITH

The doctrinal statement of the   Edmonton Filipino Methodist Church (EFMC) is derived from the Doctrinal Standards and General Rules of the United Methodist Church.

Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

 There is but one living and true    God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things, both the visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three Persons, of one substance, power and eternity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Of the Word, or Son of God, Who Was Made Very Man

The Son who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided: whereof is one Christ very God and very Man, who truly suffered, was crucified, died, and buried, to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men.

Of the Resurrection of Christ

Christ did truly rise again from the dead and took again His body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith be ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last day.

Of the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is one of substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.

Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation

The Holy Scripture contained all things very necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the church.

All the books of the New Testament, as they are community received, we do receive and account canonical.

Of the Old Testament

The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, Who is the only Mediator between God and man, Being both God and Man.

Of Original or Birth Sin

Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, but it is the corruption of nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil and that continually.

Of Free Will

The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and works, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.

Of the Justification of Man

We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deserving. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.

Of Good Works

Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet they are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a vital faith maybe an evidently known as a "tree" is discerned by its "fruit."

Of Works of Supererogation

Voluntary works-besides, over and above God's commandments which they call works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogance and impiety.

Of Sin After Justification

Not every sin willingly committed after justification is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore, the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after justification. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our lives.

Of the Church

The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments duly administered according to Christ's ordinance.

Of Purgatory

The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon, worship and adoration, as well of images as of relics, and also invocation of saints, is absurd, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture, but repugnant to the Word of God.

Of the Sacraments

Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens on Christian men's profession. But rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good will toward us, by which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm, out faith in Him. There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. This provision is unalterable.

 Of Baptism

Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth.

Of the Lord's Supper

The Lord's supper is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death; insomuch that, to such a rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.

Of Sanctification

Sanctification is that renewal of our fallen nature by the Holy Ghost, received through faith inJesus Christ, whose blood of atonement cleanseth from all sin; whereby we are not delivered from the guilt of sin, but are washed from its pollution, saved from its power, and are enabled, through grace, to love God with all our hearts and to walk in His holy commandments blameless.

Of the Duty of Christians to the Civil Authority

It is the duty of all Christians, and especially of all Christian ministers, to observe and obey the laws and commands of the governing or supreme authority of the country of which they are citizens or subjects or in which they reside, and to use all laudable means to encourage and enjoin obedience to the powers that be.          

             This provision is unalterable.