Are you interested in joining our weekly Zoom Fellowship? Please read on.
WHO ARE WE?
We are regular people from across the globe. Different backgrounds, cultures and ethnicity who are led by and walking in God’s Holy Spirit. We follow the head of the body – Jesus Christ.
Of course, no person can claim to be perfect in knowledge over every little matter. However, we are convinced of and deeply grounded in the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness 1 Timothy 6:4. This is where our group’s core beliefs come from and have been refined over many years – there is no wavering from them. That said, in choosing to fellowship with us we ask that you agree with or are at least open to the following core beliefs.
OUR FELLOWSHIP NORMS
On our Zoom calls we have a few “standards”. The base being peace. When the Spirit of God leads our hearts and minds there is no room for contentious debate, especially while engaging in robust discussion on biblical matters. Christians who love their fellow Christians can and should be able to discuss any matter yet keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Ephes. 4:3). We must be respectful of others and let them have their chance to speak.
The Spirit of Christ, which is love, should always be at the centre of our conversation. “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone” (Col. 4:6)
If a person is disrespectful, overly disruptive, cannot let a non-salvation matter rest, or is subversive, attempting to undermine our core beliefs, that person will be asked to leave, in following the sound words of Paul in Romans 16:17 “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”
TRANSACTION VS TRANSFORMATION
We believe Jesus gave himself to redeem us, that is deliver us from the power of darkness and translate us into the kingdom of his dear son (Titus 2:14, Col. 1:13&14) the evidence of which is a transformed heart/life.
Redemption apolytrosis means liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.
Christ paid our ransom, not our debt.
Having one’s debt paid to fulfil the wrath of God or satisfy his need for justice is different to having one’s debt forgiven by a compassionate God on the grounds that one has forsaken all known sin (Matt. 18:27)
Having one’s debt paid is also different to being bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20, 7:23, 2 Peter 2:1) or purchased (Acts 20:28) from a slavery situation, to become the servant of God.
There is NOT ONE scripture that says Jesus died to pay our debt but there are NUMEROUS scriptures which say he died to redeem, ransom or purchase us.
The notion that Jesus was punished “in our place” to pay our debt or the penalty for sin, like some cosmic legal transaction which requires no change on our part, only that we “trust” and “believe” in what HE did, is unbiblical.
The bible teaches that Jesus died as an EXAMPLE for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21). In following his example and dying to self through repentance, redemption takes effect and one is set free from sin (Rom. 6:7).
The power of darkness is really a person’s will, the fact they don’t WANT to stop sinning, therefore it’s in submitting one’s will to God’s will through repentance that one is delivered, translated and transformed into a new creature by the Spirit (2 Cor. 5:17).
Salvation is NOT a legal transaction rather a heart/life transformation.
Hence there is no such thing as “positional salvation”, neither is Christ’s righteousness magically transferred or imputed to a person when they give mental ascent to his death and resurrection (1 John 3:7).
One partakes in salvation by being crucified WITH Christ (Gal. 2:20). This is “eating” his flesh and “drinking” his blood (John 6:51-56) or participating IN the cross that one may be resurrected WITH Him (Rom. 6:4&5) meaning “born-again” (John 3:3).
GRACE AND REPENTANCE
Grace charis is not simply God’s unmerited favour towards mankind rather, God’s divine influence upon the heart, convicting people of their sin and drawing them to Christ (Titus 2:11&12).
Grace does not mean “easy forgiveness” and forgiveness is not based on a mere confession or “repeat after me” prayer.
Forgiveness is CONDITIONAL upon one forsaking all known sin (ie. forsaking rebellion to God) and continuing in steadfast obedience to God (Pro. 28:13). This is why Paul wrote, our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Rom 6:6). Service to sin ends in repentance that a service to righteousness may begin for we belong to that/whom we serve (Rom 6:16-18).
Jesus did NOT die to provide a cover or cloak for ongoing wilful sin (Heb. 10:26). If that were the case, his death and resurrection would be a license to sin, establishing Satan’s first lie ye shall not surely die (Gen 3:6) as truth.
Hence there is no sin, confess cycle in genuine salvation.
Repentance is part of the first works (Rev. 2:5) one does when coming to Christ. Once having laid that foundation we are not to lay it again (Heb 6:1) rather we patiently continue in doing good (Rom 2:7, Rom 11:22).
Most “professing” Christians have never experienced true repentance which is why they are caught in a perpetual sin-confess cycle.
However, just as Jesus died ONCE and for all (Rom. 6:10 Heb. 10:10) our old man must die ONCE and for all through repentance.
Grace (God’s divine influence) brings about Godly sorrow (conviction) which brings about genuine repentance (1 Cor. 7:10).
OBEDIENCE IS NECESSARY
Those who not only hear but DO the Word “dig deep” and lay their foundation on a rock (Luke 6:48). Faithfully DOING the Word is essential for salvation.
Obedience is NOT filthy rags (Is. 64:6) to God, neither is it “self righteousness”, rather obedience is proof that one loves and trusts God (John 14:15)
HEART PURITY
In yielded obedience to God one’s heart is made pure (1 Peter 1:22)
A pure heart does not plan to commit sin (Is. 55:7).
As long as one is not planning to commit sin, one can live above wilful sin.
A regenerated person is perfect (Matt. 5:48) in the sense that he has a pure motive towards God but not in the sense that he has all knowledge. We grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18) over time.
Therefore it is possible for someone with pure motives to have secret faults (Psalm 19:12) or commit unintentional sins. There is a biblical distinction between sins of ignorance and sins of intent (Num
15:29-31, Heb 10:26-31).
It is essential that we walk in the light (1 John 1:7) or live according to truth as it is revealed to our heart by the Spirit through the Word. In this way we maintain a pure heart and clean conscience towards God (1Tim 1:5, 1Tim 3:9).
SIN AND THE NATURE OF MAN
Sin is not inherited from Adam. It is not a physical substance that can be passed from one person to another. It does not reside in our physical flesh or blood for sin is a moral choice (1 John 3:4)
Hence we are born innocent (Ecc. 7:29), yet with natural appetites and instincts that make us susceptible to temptation (1Co 10:13, Jam 1:14&15). Temptation is NOT sin but can lead to sin if we choose to fulfil our natural desires unlawfully.
THE ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is received upon, not subsequent to salvation. (Rom. 8:9)
The life of the flesh being in the blood (Lev 17:11) typifies the life of the Spirit which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2), thus it is the Spirit that gives life under the New Covenant (2 Cor 3:6).
Furthermore it is the Holy Spirit that purges our conscience (Heb. 9:14, Heb. 10:22, 2Pe 1:9) and bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:15:16) meaning we can be bold (1Jon 4:17) and confident in the knowledge that our past sins have been forgiven and forgotten because we forsook them in repentance and have been transformed into a “new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17) being established in the love of God (1Jon 4:16).
The Holy Spirit also strengthens and empowers us (Ephes. 3:16 Phil. 4:13) to continually live above sin, for through it the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Rom. 5:5) thus we receive the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) hence we obey God because we love him.
END-TIMES
We reject dispensational teachings such as the “rapture”, a future tribulation period and millennial reign.
The "great tribulation" occurred in 70AD when Roman soldiers destroyed the Jewish temple and slaughtered over one million Jews.
It was also in 70 AD that Jesus came back "in the clouds" (Matt. 16;27&28 Matt. 26:64, Rev. 1:), both to take "vengeance" upon those who beat stoned and slew his servants (Matt. 21, 22, 23 2 Thess 1:6-8) and to receive his bride into his fathers house (John 14), which was the "resurrection of the dead" (Phil. 3, 1 Thes. 4: 1 Cor. 15)
TONGUES
We see tongues in the bible as pertaining to actual languages and reject the notion of an incoherent “private” or “heavenly prayer language”.
The tongues spoken in Acts two were miraculous for the purpose of being a sign (1Cor 14:22) and a means of preaching the Gospel (Act 2:4-12) to a broad range of people in establishing the early church.
The tongues mentioned in Corinthians pertain to actual languages spoken by church members of various nationalities that required interpretation, not the vain and repetitive “babble of confusion” practiced by many Pentecostals today.
Furthermore the evidence of having received the Holy Spirit is a Holy lifestyle, not speaking in tongues.
HEALTH AND WEALTH GOSPEL
We believe that the health and wealth gospel is a corrupted version of the faith that was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3) and that we should withdraw ourselves from those preaching that gain is godliness (1 Tim. 6:5).
We also believe that the only “sign and wonder” one should seek is the sign of Jonas (Matt. 12:39), meaning repentance from sin and a transformed heart/life through the Spirit, which is the greatest miracle. Hence our message is centred on repentance and ongoing obedience to Christ, not physical healing.
LEGALISM
We do not believe any physical ordinance, ritual or ceremony such as water baptism is required for salvation.
Water baptism, communion and feet washing are physical illustrations teaching us spiritual lessons. It is more important we experience the spiritual reality that these ordinances represent e.g spiritual baptism (Ephes. 4:5 Rom. 6:4 1 Cor. 12:13) than to partake in the ordinances themselves. This is not to devalue the physical ordinances, it is just to put them in their proper context.
The Old Covenant ordinances of dietary laws, holy days, new moons and sabbaths (Col 2:16) were a shadow of things to come (Col 2:17). These ordinances were nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14) and are fulfilled in Christ. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom 14:17). This is why we don’t put any emphasis upon Old Testament feasts, holy days, nor mandate the abstaining from certain foods or use “sacred” names for God as per the “Hebrew roots” or “sacred name” movements.
We do not adhere to man-made rules in regards to dress or hair standards rather follow our own conscience in light of scripture pertaining to modesty (1 Timothy 2:9&10 1 Peter 3:3-5) and distinction between the sexes (Deut. 22:5 1 Cor. 11:14&15).
Furthermore women are free to speak/teach/preach in fellowship meetings (Gal. 3:28, Acts 2:17). Paul’s objection to a woman teaching (1Ti 2:12) is in the context of a woman lording over her husband causing disruption in a fellowship (1Cor 14:34-35). A Christian husband and wife are one flesh (Eph 5:31) and thus serve as an illustration of Christ and the Church (Eph 5:32).
THE CHURCH
We believe that God has ONE church/body. It is a spiritual entity made up of all born-again believers. Therefore we do not identify ourselves as belonging to a particular sect or denomination, rather the “church” or the “body of Christ”.
We also believe that the New Testament church is “spiritual Israel”, God having brought both Jew and Gentile together in one Spirit (1Cor 12:13, Eph. 2:15-18, Eph 3:3-6, Gal 3:28-29).
CHRIST’S DIVINITY/DEITY
We believe that in the beginning was the Word and that the Word was God and the Word was made flesh (John 1:1&14). God directly manifested Himself to humanity through Jesus Christ, "God with us" (Mat 1:23). Jesus didn’t merely show humanity the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus IS the way, the truth, and the life (Joh 14:6). Jesus is “I Am” (Exo 3:14, Joh 8:58)
CONGRATULATIONS
You've read our belief statement! If you feel that you are either like-minded or open to learning and understanding more in regards to our core beliefs and the bible in general, send me a message indicating your interest in joining Ekklesia.
My email address is crystalriver053@gmail.com
HOW OUR FELLOWSHIP WORKS
As per the nature of Zoom, anyone from around the world with a device and good internet can join in our bible study/discussions, which typically last 2-3 hours.
Currently we have people from Australia and the US joining the call on a regular basis. If you do join Ekklesia, a call will come through to you at a set-time, however you can enter and leave the discussion at any point, whatever is convenient.
We communicate through audio only, unless you really want to show us your face. We take turns to speak and often mute our microphones while others are speaking, to eliminate background noise. The subject of study/discussion is indicated well ahead of time so each member can study, mediate upon and formulate thoughts pertaining to that subject during the week, in preparation for the fellowship.
I, Cath Gavin, facilitate the meetings and make sure everyone is given opportunity to present their thoughts and findings, though no-one is obliged to speak, you can just listen.
Meetings are usually recorded. Some of these recordings may be shared to facebook or youtube.
Those used to a traditional church service may be challenged by our interactive style of fellowship, the goal is not to scare people but to help them grow and mature into the spiritual "fathers" they can be, able to help and mentor others.
Though we are friends and sometimes discuss our personal/family struggles Ekklesia is not just a friendship group or counselling service rather a group of people in submission to the Word, who seek to build up one another in the Word.
Hence it is of upmost importance that we stay tightly focused on the portion of scripture or subject of study, so that each member comes away both challenged and edified spiritually.
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