JABULANE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY STATEMENT OF FAITH

Preamble:

As a Christian school ministry that seeks to serve the church and community, Jabulane

Christian Academy’s Statement of Faith serves to guide and guard our mission, to provide a

clear foundation for partnership with those who are committed to the gospel, and to

articulate sound doctrine to be taught and followed by our staff, families and children.

I. CONCERNING THE SCRIPTURES

We believe that the 66 books of the Old and New Testament Scriptures, were originally

written by men who were so influenced by the Holy Spirit of God, that they are the writings

of God. We believe that because these Scriptures are the complete and only written

revelation of God to the people of God, these Scriptures are true in all they affirm and

trustworthy and without error, and are therefore the final authority in all matters. We

believe the Bible is the only infallible guide for faith and practice.

(Matthew 5:17-18; Mark 12:36; Acts 1:16; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Timothy

3:16-17; Hebrews 5:12; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 3:15-16

II. CONCERNING THE TRUE GOD

We believe in one God, who is the creator of all things and upholds all things by the power

of His Word. We believe in the unity of the Godhead. There are three eternal and coequal

persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who execute distinct and harmonious offices in the

great work of redemption. They have precisely the same nature, attributes, and

perfections, and are worthy of the same worship.

(Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; Isaiah 46:9; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19-20; John 1:1-3,

14; Acts 5:3-4; Romans 1:19-20; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 1:3-14; 4:4-6; Hebrews 1:1-3;

Revelation 1:4-6)

III. CONCERNING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

We believe the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was conceived by the Holy Spirit

and born of the virgin Mary. He is fully God and fully man, yet without sin. He voluntarily

laid down His life on the cross of Calvary as a substitute in the sinner’s place to make full

atonement for our sins, was buried, and on the third day rose bodily from the dead and

triumphed over sin, death, and all the forces of evil, and that He purchased for Himself a

people out of every tribe, language, and nation. On that cross the Son of God received in His

person the due penalty of God’s wrath against our sin. His shed blood is the sole basis for

our salvation and the greatest revelation of the grace of our God. We believe that Jesus was

glorified as the first-fruits of God’s new creation. Forty days after His resurrection, the Lord

Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father as

ruler over all things. We believe that He presently intercedes as High Priest and Advocate for

all who draw near to God through Him and that He will return personally, visibly, and

gloriously to judge the living and the dead.

(Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Matthew 1:18-25; 28:6; John 1:1, 14; 14:3; Acts 1:9-11; 15:16; 2

Corinthians 5:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Peter 2:22-24; 3:18)

IV. CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe the Holy Spirit is a Person of the Godhead because He possesses all the

attributes of personality and of deity. He is equal with the Father and the Son and is of the

same nature. He convicts unbelievers of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He is the agent of

the new birth who immediately places the new believer into the Body of Christ. He seals,

indwells, infills, guides, and teaches believers the ways of righteousness. We believe there is

a distinction between the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament and His ministry in

the New Testament. There is a new and unique work of the Holy Spirit in relation to the

Body of Christ.

(John 3:6; 7:39; 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-11; Acts 1:5; 4:8; Romans 8:9; 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 6:19;

12:4-13, 28-31; 13:8-13; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:7-11, 30; Titus 3:4-7; 1 John 2:20-27

We believe that the Holy Spirit endues believers with gifts for service, upon their

conversion. These gifts are given for the mutual good of the Body of Christ, the Church and

never to elevate or glorify any specific individual but to bring glory to God. While we allow

for liberty in these matters, we do believe that the scriptures indicate that use of sign gifts

vary according to the need that each gift meets, and we seek to emphasize the more

excellent way of love, as well as zeal for the more edifying gifts.

(Ephesians 4:11-12; Romans 8:9-17; 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-5, 11-26; 31; 13:1-13; 2

Corinthians 12:12; Galatians 5:22-26).

V. CONCERNING MAN

We believe the Scriptures teach that man was created by a direct act of God and not from

any previously existing form of life. We believe that in the beginning God sovereignly

created all things visible and invisible and took delight in all that He created. Life is sacred

to God and begins at conception, therefore it should not be unnecessarily terminated at any

stage. We believe that by voluntary transgression man fell from his state of innocence, in

consequence of which all men are now sinners by nature and by choice, are utterly devoid

of the holiness required by God’s standard, are positively inclined to evil, and therefore are

without defence or excuse under just condemnation to eternal punishment and to

everlasting existence separated from God.

(Genesis 1:26-27; 6:5; Psalm 14:1-3; 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; John 5:25-30; Romans 3:10-12, 23;

5:12-19; Revelation 20:11-15)

VI. CONCERNING SALVATION

We believe the Scriptures teach the salvation of sinners is divinely initiated, wholly by grace,

and accomplished only through the shed blood of the Son of God; that it is wholly apart

from works and comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that in order to be saved

the sinner must be born again, being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through

faith in God’s Word and becoming the recipient of a new nature; that the believer who has

exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is completely justified and possesses a

salvation which is eternally secure.

(Matthew 26:28; John 1:12-13; 3:3-18, 36; 5:24; 6:29; 10:28-29; Acts 13:39; 16:31; Romans

1:16-17; 3:26; 4:5; 5:1, 9-11; 10:9-13; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Timothy 2:5-6;

Titus 3:5; Hebrews 4:2; 1 Peter 1:18-23; 2 Peter 1:4)

VII. CONCERNING THE CHURCH

We believe the Scriptures teach the Church of Jesus Christ was inaugurated at Pentecost

and must be considered in two aspects: the local church and the “church which is His body.”

The local church is a congregation of believers, observing the two ordinances of Baptism and

the Lord’s Table, and where biblical church discipline is exercised. Its Scriptural officers

(pastors, sometimes called bishops or elders, and deacons, etc), whose qualifications,

claims, and duties are defined in the Scriptures. The “church which is His body” is the entire

company of believers in Christ in this age, whether Jew or Gentile, regardless of

denominational affiliation and present position in heaven or on earth.

(Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:5, 2:1-4, 41-42; 10:44-48; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; Ephesians

1:22-23; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9)

VIII. CONCERNING BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER

We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit is a solemn and beautiful emblem through which we identify with the crucified,

buried, risen Saviour and by which the believer illustrates his death to sin and his

resurrection to a new life.

We believe the Lord’s supper is the commemoration of His death until He comes and should

be preceded by solemn self-examination. Observance of the Lord’s supper is for believers

only. The ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper must be observed under the

discipline of the local church. They do not have any saving merit.

(Acts 2:41-47; 8:36-39; Romans 6:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-28)

IX. CONCERNING THE RETURN OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

We believe in the “blessed hope”: the personal return of our Lord Jesus Christ to set up His

kingdom on earth. His return has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the

believer.

(Matthew 24:29-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8; Revelation 20:1-4, 6) (1

Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:34; John 14:2; 2 Corinthians 5:1; Revelation 2:7;

Matthew 8:11; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 13:49-50; Mark 9:47-48; Luke 12:5; Revelation

21:8).

X. CONCERNING THE ETERNAL STATE

We believe the Scriptures teach the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust. All those

who are justified through faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will spend eternity in full

enjoyment of God’s presence, and those who refuse to accept God’s offer of mercy and

grace will spend eternity in everlasting torment in conscious separation from God. We

believe that the terms heaven and hell refer to both, literal and distinct places , as well as a

condition or state.

(Luke 16:19-26; John 5:28-29; 14:2-3; Philippians 1:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 20:

11-15, 21: 1-4)

XI. CONCERNING SATAN

We believe the Scriptures teach there is a personal devil who is “the god of this age” and

“the prince of the power of the air,” who is full of all subtlety, who continually seeks to

frustrate the purposes of God and to ensnare the sons of men, and who was conquered by

Christ on the cross and condemned to everlasting punishment.

(John 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; 11:13-15; Ephesians 2:2; 6:10-12; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews

2:14; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9; 20:1-3, 10)

XII. CONCERNING PERSONAL SEPARATION

We believe the Scriptures teach that every believer should be set apart by God in the

world and should walk by the aid of the Holy Spirit in Christian love and holiness, exhibiting

qualities of honesty, integrity, forgiveness, and loving-kindness. We further believe that any

achievement in these characteristics will be evidenced by sincere humility and genuine zeal

for the advancement of the cause of Christ. We also believe the Scriptures admonish every

believer not to love the world or the things in the world, but rather to flee evil desires, avoid

every kind of evil, and refrain from questionable practices which destroy one’s testimony,

offend one’s brother, and fail to glorify God.

(Romans 6:11-13; 14:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; 8:9-13; 10:23, 31-33; 2 Corinthians 7:1;

Galatians 5:22-25; Ephesians 4:22-32; 5:1-21; Philippians 4:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; 1 Peter

1:14-16; 5:5-6; 1 John 2: 15-17)

XIV. CONCERNING GENDER & SEXUALITY

We affirm that God created two genders, male and female, and that both are equal in

dignity and value before God as persons created in (and reflecting) His image. According to

Scripture, gender is not determined by “an inner sense of identity,” rather, gender is rooted

in the genetic distinctions between male and female, our God-given distinct, inherent

dispositions, and His design for complementary roles (or functions). We believe that

struggle with gender identity and disordered sexual desires are a result of the fall, which has

distorted us in body and in mind. We believe that both men and women are naturally fitting

together in mutuality and complementarity. As part of the goodness of God’s creation, each

of us should joyfully embrace and express our God-given biological gender

distinctions, whether male or female. Further, we believe that God created marriage as a

gift for some, and it is a sacred, exclusive, and lifelong covenant between a natural man and

a natural woman. We believe that together, both men and women are critical,

indispensable, and essential to fulfilling the Great Commission, exemplifying the Kingdom of

God on earth, and doing all that God has instructed us to do. Though equal, God did ordain

that men and women would be distinct in their roles, and complementary in their sexuality

for the sake of human flourishing.

(Genesis 1:24-28, Genesis 2, Genesis 3, Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 5:15, 20, Titus 2:2,

Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 14:12, Gal 3:28, Ephesians 5:15-18)

XV. CONCERNING AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION

There are wide range of cultures and traditional practices all over the world, but all men

from all cultures and traditions of the world are in desperate need of the Saviour. We

express appreciation and honour to God for the lives of elders who lived and gone before

us. However, we believe that God is the only one worthy of our worship. Jesus Christ is the

only mediator between God and humankind.

(Romans 3:23; Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1-3; Exodus 20:3-6; Mathew 4:10; 1 Timothy 2:5 /

Hebrew 7:24-25 / Hebrew 9:11-15)”