THE CHURCH OF GOD

 

 

Sometime in 1977, a missionary from the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, stationed in Bangkok, Thailand Rev. Sidney M. Johnson visited Singapore to have his visa renewed. During his visit, he contacted Dr. G. D. James of the Asia Evangelistic Fellowship and talked to them about the possibility of bringing the ministry of the Church of God to Singapore. Dr. James and also Dr. Tan Kok Beng (who is today the Dean of Bethany Theological University) then introduced him to local missionary/evangelist Neville Tan.

 

Why “Church of God?”

 

 

When Rev Johnson fist spoke to Neville and his wife Anne about the Church of God, their first question to him was “Why do we need another new denomination when there are already so many?” His answer was “We are not another denomination.” His explanation was a brief, scripture-based introduction of the Church of God which set our minds thinking about our own search for the truth. Through the years of serving as in itinerant missionary or evangelist, Neville had become more enlightened to the real goals and purpose of the Church. That it is not just a building for worship or religious meetings, an organisation but all the people who have been saved by grace through in God’s own Son, Jesus Christ. A “called out” people. Called out or darkness into His glorious light. Rev Johnson continued to visit Singapore frequently and during these visits, he shared more and more about the Church of God and his vision to introduce the Church of God to this part of the world.

 

The Church of God by Neville N Tan

 

 

“In 1979, I was invited to the Centennial celebrations of the Church of God in Anderson, Indiana. It was there that I became more enlightened and clear about what the Church of God truly represents, but it was not just the books, writings or literature that I read that struck me most but the practical and experiential living of the people I met that finally convinced me that this was what the Church should be.

I had then not yet identified myself or my ministry with the Church of God officially yet but that did not seem to matter as I was made to feel a part of the movement naturally. There was no official induction or initiation ceremony but a simple introduction at the Conference: “Reverend Neville Tan, from Singapore.” What was most memorable was the opening service on the first night. It was not the huge attendance, the excellent music, the celebrities like Bill Gaither, Ron and Sandy Patty and the Oldhams, the flags being marched in, not even the huge coliseum they called the “dome,” but the hymns and songs that we sang, the words that were so touching and endearing. “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God ...,” “I am a Child of God,” and especially “O Church of God.” The words ministered to me and seemed to beckon and welcomed me into the family.

 

“The light of eventide now shines the darkness to dispel,

The glories of fair Zion’s state ten thousand voices tell;

For out of Babel God doth call His scattered saints in one,

Together all one church compose, the body of His Son.

Refrain:

O church of God, the day of jubilee

Has dawned so bright and glorious for thee;

Rejoice, be glad! Thy Shepherd has begun

His long-divided flock again to gather into one.

The Bible is our rule of faith, and Christ alone is Lord,

All we are equal in His sight when we obey His word;

No earthly master do we know, to man-rule will not bow,

But to each other and to God eternal trueness vow.

The day of sects and creeds for us forevermore is past,

Our brotherhood are all the saints upon the world so vast;

We reach our hands in fellowship to every blood-washed one,

While love entwines about each heart in which God’s will is done.

Oh, blessed truth that broke our bands! In it we now rejoice,

While in the holy church of God we hear our Savior’s voice;

And gladly to His blessed will submissive we shall be,

And from the yokes of Babel’s lords from henceforth we are free.

 

“The Church of God” I realised, was the term frequently used in the New Testament especially by Paul in his epistles, to refer to the body of believers meeting in various places. It was not so much just a name but an “identification” to the Body of Christ. When Paul the apostle wrote to the congregation of believers in different places or provinces in Asia Minor he used the phrase “to the Church of God” in Ephesus, Philippi or wherever the body was meeting. Using this name does not set us apart from other believers on other churches. The Church of God is not separate or exclusive. In fact, is it exclusively inclusive.” We believe that all who have experienced the spiritual rebirth is a part of the Church of God. The church is not a building. The church is ‘us.” Our “we” which includes you. We are not an organisation so we do not have a headquarters or an international governing body to organise, or instruct, or give us directions nor are we controlled by any conference. In other words, we are what the Bible teaches, His body. A living movement of God’s called out people. One of the fundamental beliefs of this movement is that we cannot take members into the Church. One need not subscribe to our organizational book of discipline or creeds; for we have no creeds, other than the Bible, we urge men not to believe what we believe because we teach it - but rather because the WORD OF GOD teaches it. Membership is by identification and participation. The Church of God movement is not a “church among other churches,” we believe and practice many of the things other believers practice everywhere. The Church of God strongly believes in the “Oneness of all Believers” and affirms that everyone in Christ is a part of God’s church.

 

A Holy Life identifies us with God’s Church.

 

We are the “church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the 11 TRUTH" (1 Tim. 3:15). We belong to "the church of God, which he hath purchased with his' own blood. 11 (Acts 20:28). Having answered our “Holy Calling” (ll Tim. 1:9), we endeavour to live in full obedience to God! s Word and Spirit. We are enabled to live such a life, not by our own merits, 'but by the grace of God because we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” (Eph. 2:10). We believe that Jesus who is “the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), is our example and as His disciples, we "follow in his steps” and try to be what He prayed for us to be in John 17: "“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours... I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (John 17:9,14-18) The singleness and resplendent beauty of GOD’S church has been obscured by the various denominational organisations that call themselves "churches"; "but which are actually nothing of the sort! The very term (church) is derived from the Greek expression ekk1esiail• meaning "the called out ones" or "the congregation of saints. The Church of God is this spiritual organism." Each and every soul that has been "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. by the word of God" (I Peter 1:23). takes his place in the HOLY CHURCH OF GOD the body of Christ.

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Statement of Faith

We explicitly affirm our belief in the basic Bible teachings as follows:

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1.  There is one true God eternally existing in three persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit. Each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.

2. Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.

3. He lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitutes, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone.

4. He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died.

5. He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own.

6. Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God, thus, he was alienated from his creator. That historic fall brought all mankind under divine condemnation.

7. Man’s nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

8. The salvation of man is wholly a work of God’s free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation and thereby justifies them in His sight.

9. It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their Saviour. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written Word.

10. The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells in them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer’s life by faith.

11. Every believer is called to live in the power of the indwelling Spirit so that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God.

12. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.

13. God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.

14. At the physical death, the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing.

15. At physical death, the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body into everlasting judgment and condemnation.

16. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth personally, visibly and bodily to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.

17. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the gospel throughout the world and to disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated to a total commitment to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

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