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WelcomeThe First Church of God believes that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). This means that we fully adhere to the teachings of the apostles and the prophets.
Jesus built the first church on the very revelation of His identity that He is the Son of God – the one God manifested in the flesh (Matthew 16:18; John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16). He then said to Peter “And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19, NKVJ). This shows clearly that the church of the day of Pentecost had spiritual authority directly from Jesus to preach the gospel and the same is true even today. Furthermore, Jesus greatly emphasised to Nicodemus that “…unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, NKJV). When Nicodemus could not understand that, Jesus explained further saying “…unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5, NKJV). Such and other keys to the kingdom of Heaven were given to Peter by Jesus Himself. Consequently, it was the only practice in the early church that was recorded in the Bible, one must be born again to enter into the kingdom of God as per John 3:3-5 and Titus 3:5. The fact that Jesus promised the keys to the kingdom of Heaven to Peter (Matthew 16:19) and Peter himself proclaimed these keys for the first time on the day of Pentecost with the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), confirms that repentance, baptism in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit are necessities for salvation. Moreover, the First Church of the living God must continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers (Acts 2:42) to be alive spiritually and bear good fruits in the kingdom of God so that their fruits should remain. This is because Jesus Himself chose and appointed His disciples for this same purpose right from the beginning (John 15:16). |
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