Our Belief

The New York City Church of God holds the same belief as what was traditionally recognized and believed by Christians of past generations. Below is the summary of our belief.

The Matchless Book

We believe every word of the Bible is faultless. It was written under God’s inspiration, and it is the word of God. We rely on the Bible as the foundation of our belief and the way to carry out the truths.

We earnestly love the Bible and take it as our treasure. Through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, the Bible lets us understand God Himself and His purpose. We also feed on His word. Moreover, God speaks to us through the Bible. This causes our spirit to be lively and lets us have deep fellowship with Him, so we become His close friend.

The Glorious God

The God in whom we believe is a real Person. He is the infinite Spirit. He has no beginning and no end, He is self-existent and lives forever.

God is the Creator of the universe and all things in it. He is also the preserver, the ruler and the overseer.

He is omnipresent, omniscient, all-loving, almighty and all-wise. He is the fountain of all blessings and beauty. He is our strength, our portion and our rest.

He is the Trinity God: the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God. They are of equal deity, and equal rank and glory. They exist from eternity past to eternity future. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, but at the same time They are One and inseparable.

Man is Priceless

God created man in His own image so that man can have fellowship with Him. Man can be like Him, be of the same mind as Him and work with Him. He also desires man to have the deepest relationship with Him. So man is the most honoured of God’s creations, , having been given great value and potential.

In the eternal plan and purpose of God, man is the focus of everything that God does.

Among all of God’s creation, only man has both a spirit and body.

The Fall of Man and His Ultimate Need

God gave man his intellect, affection, conscience, and free will. However, man misused his freedom and sinned.

We believe that all have sinned and are separated from God. Human life is marked by vanity, suffering, darkness and ruin. In the future, man will have to face death, judgment and eternal punishment.

As a result, everyone is in great need of the Lord Jesus’ glorious salvation.

Christ, the Most Precious One

God loves man deeply. To save man and accomplish His glorious purpose for them, He sent His beloved Son whom the virgin Mary conceived through the Holy Spirit. The Son’s name is Jesus. Once He was born, He forever became God and Man at the same time. He is completely God and completely man. These two entities are inseparable but are united in one Person—Christ. He is the only Mediator between God and man.

Christ declared the Father throughout His whole life on earth. Christ is perfect and without blemish, and He is the One in whom God is well pleased.

The Lord Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us. He indeed suffered on the cross, shed His blood and bore the punishment for our sins. He was also forsaken by God and died for us. He bore all our sins. We are truly thankful for His abundant grace! In fact, we will thank Him forever!

Christ was buried after His death. But on the third day, He arose from the dead! His body did not see corruption but became glorious. Hallelujah! He has overcome death and brought us endless hope!

Furthermore, He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right of God. He is head over all things for the church. He lives in glory for us and makes intercession for us. He is preparing a better home for us!

The Coming of Christ

The Lord Jesus will surely come back. In fact, He is coming quickly. He will take His saints to meet with Him in the clouds and to be with Him forever. Then in heaven, there will be a reward ceremony and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Wow! Our joy will be overflowing!

Afterwards the Lord Jesus will come in the clouds with might and glory, descend to the earth and end the world war. He will judge those who are living and establish His glorious, jubilant and peaceful Millennium. We will reign with the Lord and share His joy and glory.

Finally, He will execute His judgment at the great white throne. The dead will rise and be judged at that time. All those who have sinned and whose names are not in the Book of Life will be imprisoned in the lake of fire burning with brimstone. There they will receive the due reward of their deeds. Thus, all the wicked people and the angels who sinned will forever be imprisoned in hell. No more will they be able to disturb the eternal blessedness of the universe.

God has prepared the new heaven and new earth for us. The most beautiful holy city will descend and God’s tabernacle will be with man. We will reign with the Lord forever and ever!

Our love life with Him will have no end! God’s glorious plan will progress continuously!

The Work of the Holy Spirit

When Christ ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent. On Pentecost, the Lord poured down the Holy Spirit on the disciples. The Lord baptized them with the Holy Spirit during that occasion. They received power from above and bore witness for the Lord.

The Holy Spirit has come. He testifies for Christ and works in man. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment so that the world will turn to Christ.

The Holy Spirit causes believers to be born again. They are baptized with the Holy Spirit into one body and become united together. The Holy Spirit lives in their hearts forever, to be their Comforter and their ready Helper. He also guides them into the truth and the unsearchable riches of Christ. He causes believers to grow in spirit. The focus of the Holy Spirit’s work is to glorify the Lord, and to raise up and build the Church after the Lord’s heart throughout the whole world.

The Journey Home

The Lord Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man. He is the only way to go back to the Father, and He alone can save us.

We are saved by grace through faith, not by our own good deeds. Through Christ Jesus’ redemption, our sins are forgiven and we are justified.

Because we are justified by faith, we will not perish but have everlasting life.

Our faith is more than simply knowledge. We believe in our salvation with all our hearts (Rom. 10:9-10).

This kind of faith leads us to receive Christ. Just as the Bible says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

When we have faith, we also rely on Christ. We rely on His redemption: He died for our sins so that our sins can be forgiven, and that we can be rid of our sinful living (Acts 13:39, Matt. 1:21).

This faith to God makes one experience being born again by the Holy Spirit. It leads one to have life and Christ’s indwelling. It also causes one to change from within. This faith brings forth love; it changes one from the inside out (Gal. 5:6, Acts 15:9).

The Beautiful Heavenly Home

The church is not a building or an organization. It is the assembly of a group of people whom God has called from the world. The Holy Spirit has united these born-again people into one body of Christ. They are united to one another and to God. These people have manifested themselves as churches in various places of the world.

The church is the core of God’s purpose in His eternal plan. It is God’s greatest treasure.

The Bible uses different names to describe the church and illustrate her quality, preciousness and glory.

The church is the field that God cultivates, and she is the house that He is building. (I Cor 3:9)

The church is the pillar and foundation of the truth, the golden lampstand. (Rev. 1:12)

The church is God’s kingdom and army.

The church is a royal priesthood and God’s chosen people. (1 Peter 2:9)

The church is the flock of the Lord. (John 10:27)

The church is a new man. (Eph 2:15)

The church is the body of Christ. (I Cor 12:12)

The church is God’s temple, a spiritual house and a dwelling place. (Eph 2:22)

The church is so precious! It is also the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:2) and the house of the living God! (I Tim 3:15)

We are members of the household of God. We have the deepest and an eternal relationship with God as well as with brothers and sisters.

We must love one another with the deepest love and be deeply rooted in God’s family.

The Focuses of a Believer’s Life

1. Faith
After we believe and are justified by faith, we must continue to live by faith in God (Gal. 2:20). We see and experience God’s work through His word and the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and teaching. Moreover, when we have deep fellowship with God and pursue Him together with brothers and sisters, we will know God more and more. Our faith and love towards Him will also be stronger and stronger.

We show our faith in God when we desire Him, pray to Him, rely on Him, trust in Him, draw near to Him and obey Him.

We should draw near to God often, both on our own and together with brothers and sisters. We should frequently read His word and pour out our hearts to Him. Doing so will deepen our relationship with the Lord. Our spirits will be strengthened and glorious when we know Him, when we are face to face with Him and draw near to Him. Moreover, by faith we enjoy the Lord’s providence, overcome the world, march forward and do great things! (Heb. 11)

2. Love
Love is the greatest! To love God and man is our greatest and ultimate goal. When we rely on the Lord and draw near to Him, we have His love. This is an unselfish and unconditional love. This love brings forth various desirable attributes and labours of love. But we need to continuously learn to love with wisdom and knowledge. We also need to equip ourselves so that we can grow up and be trained up in different aspects.

3. Hope
Through God’s Word, we know the mystery of God, man and the universe. We also know about the second coming of the Lord Jesus and the glorious, eternal plan of God. This is why we can be full of hope for the days ahead. We see what the meaning of life is because we know our days on earth will affect our eternity. We know that in the Lord, our toil will not be in vain. Because we have hope, we can also have perseverance. We can smile even when we are facing storms and dark valleys, and face all sufferings with joy.

We believe in the resurrection of the body.

We are waiting for the second coming of our dear Lord and the sweet reunion in heaven.

We desire our better home, our Father’s home in heaven.

We hope for the new heavens and new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Come, Lord Jesus!