Core Beliefs
The following are the core beliefs of Tree of Life Church based on the foundational truths taught in the bible. All of our teaching and ministry is rooted in and flows out of these biblical doctrines.
- The Nature of God
We believe in one God (Deut. 6.4) who has eternally existed as three persons (Matthew 28.19).
We believe the nature of God is unconditional love (1 John 4.8)
We believe God is the creator of all things, and the source of all life and truth (Genesis 1.1, Colossians 1.17, Titus 1.2)
We believe God is spirit and exists in a spiritual realm (John 4.24) and that He is omnipresent (Proverbs 15.3) and omniscient (Acts 15.18)
We believe God is personal and humans can relate to God (James 4.8)
We believe the nature of God is unconditional love (1 John 4.8)
We believe God is the creator of all things, and the source of all life and truth (Genesis 1.1, Colossians 1.17, Titus 1.2)
We believe God is spirit and exists in a spiritual realm (John 4.24) and that He is omnipresent (Proverbs 15.3) and omniscient (Acts 15.18)
We believe God is personal and humans can relate to God (James 4.8)
- Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human (John 1.1, 14; Col. 2.9, Heb. 1.8)
We believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and lived a perfectly sinless life (Isaiah 7.14, Matt. 1.18; 1 Peter 2.22, 2 Cor. 5.21, Hebrews 4.15)
We believe that Jesus Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit and power and went around doing good and healing all who were sick (Acts 10.38)
We believe Jesus Christ died on a cross and was resurrected on the third day, and ascended to Heaven after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15.3, Luke 23.33, 1 Cor. 15.5, Acts 1.9, 1 Tim. 3.16)
We believe that Jesus Christ was the penal substitute for all of humanity on the cross (1 Peter 2.24, Isaiah 53.5-6) making Him our Saviour, Redeemer and Mediator.
We believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and lived a perfectly sinless life (Isaiah 7.14, Matt. 1.18; 1 Peter 2.22, 2 Cor. 5.21, Hebrews 4.15)
We believe that Jesus Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit and power and went around doing good and healing all who were sick (Acts 10.38)
We believe Jesus Christ died on a cross and was resurrected on the third day, and ascended to Heaven after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15.3, Luke 23.33, 1 Cor. 15.5, Acts 1.9, 1 Tim. 3.16)
We believe that Jesus Christ was the penal substitute for all of humanity on the cross (1 Peter 2.24, Isaiah 53.5-6) making Him our Saviour, Redeemer and Mediator.
- The Holy Spirit
We believe the Holy Spirit was sent to the church on the day of Pentecost and is with all those who have received the new birth.
We believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a subsequent event to the New Birth, which changes the status of a believer from having the Holy Spirit with them to in them, and is accompanied with both the power to witness and glossolalia (Acts 1.8, Acts 2.4)
We believe that Christians should be led by the Spirit (Romans 8.16) and are able to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit wills (1 Cor. 12.7-11).
We believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a subsequent event to the New Birth, which changes the status of a believer from having the Holy Spirit with them to in them, and is accompanied with both the power to witness and glossolalia (Acts 1.8, Acts 2.4)
We believe that Christians should be led by the Spirit (Romans 8.16) and are able to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit wills (1 Cor. 12.7-11).
- The Bible
We believe in the verbal (word for word), plenary (on every topic it touches) inspiration of the Bible (Acts 10.38, 2 Peter 1.21)
We believe the Bible is both reliable and sufficient for faith and practice (Matthew 4.4, John 10.35).
We believe the Bible is truth (John 17.17) and where the clear statements of the Bible rightly divided contradict our experiences and circumstances, we can trust the Bible to be true and by standing on that truth we can change our experiences and circumstances to line up with the truth of the Word of God (Psalm 119.160, 2 Peter 1.16)
We believe the Bible is both reliable and sufficient for faith and practice (Matthew 4.4, John 10.35).
We believe the Bible is truth (John 17.17) and where the clear statements of the Bible rightly divided contradict our experiences and circumstances, we can trust the Bible to be true and by standing on that truth we can change our experiences and circumstances to line up with the truth of the Word of God (Psalm 119.160, 2 Peter 1.16)
- Humanity and Sin
We believe humanity was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1.26-27)
We believe that all of humanity was included in Adam’s fall, and the consequences involve spiritual death, mortality, toil, pain in childbirth, and living in a fallen and broken world. All humans since the fall have been born in sin, spirituality dead, and incapable of pleasing God through their works (Genesis 2.17, Romans 5.12, Romans 5.15, 1 Cor. 15.22, Gen. 3.17-19, Romans 8.20, Ephesians 2.1)
We believe the only hope for humanity is the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross as our substitute and to believe in that work (Heb. 11.6, Isa. 64.6)
We believe that all of humanity was included in Adam’s fall, and the consequences involve spiritual death, mortality, toil, pain in childbirth, and living in a fallen and broken world. All humans since the fall have been born in sin, spirituality dead, and incapable of pleasing God through their works (Genesis 2.17, Romans 5.12, Romans 5.15, 1 Cor. 15.22, Gen. 3.17-19, Romans 8.20, Ephesians 2.1)
We believe the only hope for humanity is the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross as our substitute and to believe in that work (Heb. 11.6, Isa. 64.6)
- Salvation
We believe salvation is the restoration of the human spirit to the life and communion that Adam’s spirit originally had before the fall. We believe that this restoration event is called the new birth, and the restoration of the human spirit is called eternal life and is a gift of God received at the instant of salvation. (2 Cor. 5.18, Eph. 2.13, 1 Pet. 3.18, John 3.3, 1 Peter 1.23, John 17.3, 1 John 5.11).
We believe salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in the redemptive death and resurrection of Christ alone, and not by any works that any human has done (Ephesians 2.8, Romans 3.24, Acts 4.12, 1 Cor. 15.3-4, Titus 3.5)
We believe that those who have believed in the redemptive work of Christ and His resurrection and confessed Jesus as Lord are now born again, and should have an assurance of eternal life, that they cannot lose their salvation or forfeit their salvation through sinning after the new birth event (1 John 5.13, John 3.36, John 10.28-29, Eph. 1.13-14)
We believe salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in the redemptive death and resurrection of Christ alone, and not by any works that any human has done (Ephesians 2.8, Romans 3.24, Acts 4.12, 1 Cor. 15.3-4, Titus 3.5)
We believe that those who have believed in the redemptive work of Christ and His resurrection and confessed Jesus as Lord are now born again, and should have an assurance of eternal life, that they cannot lose their salvation or forfeit their salvation through sinning after the new birth event (1 John 5.13, John 3.36, John 10.28-29, Eph. 1.13-14)
- The Church
We believe the church is the body of Christ called to gather in unity, make disciples, and be equipped to preach the gospel and demonstrate God’s love and power to all nations (Col. 1.18, Eph. 4.11-13, Acts 2.42).
We believe that being part of a local church, being in both temple meetings for equipping and house meetings for fellowship and discipleship, and serving and investing in that local church is essential for developing and maturing as a Christian (Acts 2.42, Hebrews 10.24-25, Eph. 4.11-16). We believe that as the church gathers, each member is strengthened and built up in love, producing maturity and discipleship (1 Cor. 12.12-27, Col. 2.19).
We believe that being part of a local church, being in both temple meetings for equipping and house meetings for fellowship and discipleship, and serving and investing in that local church is essential for developing and maturing as a Christian (Acts 2.42, Hebrews 10.24-25, Eph. 4.11-16). We believe that as the church gathers, each member is strengthened and built up in love, producing maturity and discipleship (1 Cor. 12.12-27, Col. 2.19).
- Eschatology (End Times)
We believe in the rapture of the church, that on one day of unknown and unknowable timing, those who have had the new birth experience will be caught up together with Jesus Christ in the air. We believe that there will then be a seven-year tribulation on earth followed by the physical return of Jesus Christ to earth.
There will be a millennial reign of great peace and prosperity on the earth until one last assault on humanity from satan. Following that, there will be a new heavens and new earth, and those of us who have had the new birth experience will live forever in the new heavens and earth with Jesus Christ in peace and harmony for all eternity.
There will be a millennial reign of great peace and prosperity on the earth until one last assault on humanity from satan. Following that, there will be a new heavens and new earth, and those of us who have had the new birth experience will live forever in the new heavens and earth with Jesus Christ in peace and harmony for all eternity.
- Christian Living
We believe that the Christian life flows from grace, not works—that having been justified and made new in Christ, we now live empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in righteousness, love, and good works prepared by God (Romans 6:14; Ephesians 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–12).
Our obedience is the fruit of salvation, not the cause of it, as we grow in holiness through abiding in Christ and yielding to the Spirit (John 15:4–5; Galatians 5:16, 22–23).
We are called to live lives that reflect Christ to the world, relying fully on His grace, which both saves and transforms us (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 13:20–21).
Our obedience is the fruit of salvation, not the cause of it, as we grow in holiness through abiding in Christ and yielding to the Spirit (John 15:4–5; Galatians 5:16, 22–23).
We are called to live lives that reflect Christ to the world, relying fully on His grace, which both saves and transforms us (2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 13:20–21).
- Baptism and Communion
We believe that those who have received the new birth event should be immersed fully in water to both publicly witness that they have received the new birth, as a testimony to their new faith, and as a powerful reminder that they have died to their old life and resurrected to their new life in Him. (Acts 2.38, Romans 6.3-4)
We believe that due to the serious nature of this event, that children under 13 should not be baptized without parental permission and an interview with a pastor (1 Cor. 11.28) so that the significance is both rightly discerned and remembered. For this reason, we do not baptise infants, however we do offer baby and children’s dedication services.
We believe that partaking in communion should normally take place in house groups, and we currently celebrate communion once a month in our house groups. We believe that communion is for the purpose of remembering what Jesus Christ did for every Christian and refocusing on His grace and substitutionary death (1 Cor. 11.23-26, Luke 22.19-20, Acts 2.46, Heb. 9.26-28)
We believe that due to the serious nature of this event, that children under 13 should not be baptized without parental permission and an interview with a pastor (1 Cor. 11.28) so that the significance is both rightly discerned and remembered. For this reason, we do not baptise infants, however we do offer baby and children’s dedication services.
We believe that partaking in communion should normally take place in house groups, and we currently celebrate communion once a month in our house groups. We believe that communion is for the purpose of remembering what Jesus Christ did for every Christian and refocusing on His grace and substitutionary death (1 Cor. 11.23-26, Luke 22.19-20, Acts 2.46, Heb. 9.26-28)
- Healing
We believe that Jesus Christ bore our sicknesses and carried our diseases in His redemptive work on the cross, making healing available for every believer through faith (Isaiah 53:4–5; Matthew 8:16–17; 1 Peter 2:24).
We believe that healing is received by faith in what Christ has accomplished, and remains part of the gospel proclaimed by the Church (Mark 16:17–18; James 5:14–15).
We affirm that God is good and not the author of sickness or disease, but the One who heals and restores (Exodus 15:26; Acts 10:38; James 1:17).
We believe that healing is received by faith in what Christ has accomplished, and remains part of the gospel proclaimed by the Church (Mark 16:17–18; James 5:14–15).
We affirm that God is good and not the author of sickness or disease, but the One who heals and restores (Exodus 15:26; Acts 10:38; James 1:17).
- Prosperity
We believe that Jesus Christ, through His redemptive work, became poor so that believers might share in the riches of His grace, impacting every area of life (2 Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 1:3).
We understand these riches to be spiritual first, flowing into every dimension of life as our minds are renewed to God’s Word and we walk in His wisdom (Romans 12:2; Joshua 1:8).
As we align with His truth, God supplies our needs and empowers us to live fruitful, generous, and overcoming lives, including in the area of provision (Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 9:8; 3 John 2).
We understand these riches to be spiritual first, flowing into every dimension of life as our minds are renewed to God’s Word and we walk in His wisdom (Romans 12:2; Joshua 1:8).
As we align with His truth, God supplies our needs and empowers us to live fruitful, generous, and overcoming lives, including in the area of provision (Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 9:8; 3 John 2).