Statement of Faith
We believe that the Bible is the holy, inspired Word of God, given to us by the Holy Spirit through human agency. It bears witness to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and is the sole, infallible standard for faith and practice:
* You search the Scriptures … these are they which testify of me (John 5:39).
What the Scriptures teach and instruct us to do is also relevant for our times, because
* Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8).
We believe in the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit – one God, Who has manifested Himself to mankind as three Persons, each bearing witness to each other.
* In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1,14).
* I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was (John 17:4-5).
* When he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will tell you things to come (John 16:13).
We believe that God’s plan of salvation is fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, as in keeping with the Apostles’ Creed;
“Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried … descended into hell … rose again from the dead … ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Man’s need for salvation is expressed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Church at Rome:
* For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:22-23).
* The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
In the death and resurrection of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, God has made provision for our salvation:
* For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
* Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
* ...being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation by his blood, through faith … (Romans 3:24-25).
We believe that the true Church consists of all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and who serve Him in spirit and in truth, and that this is the fellowship of all believers. They are His Body and
* He is the head of the body (Colossians 1:18).
* As the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).
We believe that it is the duty of every Christian to proclaim in word and deed the saving message of our Lord Jesus Christ, in accordance with Matthew 28:19-20:
* Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.
We believe the ministry and calling of every Christian is to
* Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind … And … love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37,39).
Translated from the German. Bible quotations are taken from the Holy Bible — Revised Authorized Version
Headquarters: Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, P.O.B. 13 01 29, D-64241 Darmstadt, Germany
© 2020 Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary Ltd. PO Box 430, CAMDEN NSW 2570 Australia
www.marysisters.org.au