Welcome to His Chosen Ones (HCO) Church

Statement of Faith

I. SCRIPTURES

1. We believe that the Bible, consisting of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament is the verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in its originals, infallible in its teachings and perfectly preserved from corruption. Names of the 66 books constituting the Bible are:

Of the Old Testament:

Of the New Testament:

(Luke 16:29; 24:27,44; 1 Timothy 5:18; 2 Peter 3:16; 2 Samuel 7:28; 23:2; Psalms 12:6; 25:5; 111:7-8; 119:43,89; 138:2; Daniel 10:21; John 17:17; Acts 3:18; 1 Corinthians 2:4,12-16; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:15; Psalms 19:7-9; 2 Corinthians 1:18-20; Hebrews 6:17-18; Deuteronomy 31:11; Psalms 12:5-7; 111:7-8; 119:152; Isaiah 40:8; 59:21; Acts 15:21; Romans 3:1-4; Ephesians 2:20).

2. We believe that the Scripture alone is the all-sufficient revelation from God, and that God will not reveal anything in addition to the Scriptures, until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(Ephesians 2:20; Hebrews 1:1,2:3-4; 2 Peter 1:19; Jude 1:3; Revelation 22:18-19).

3. We believe that the Scripture alone must be the rule of faith and conduct for Christians individually and for the Church collectively, and that all doctrines, experiences and writings, including this Statement of faith, must be tested in the light of Scriptures, and that the Church must unconditionally reject and condemn as falsehood, any such thing which is not consistent with God's Word.

(Deut 4:2; 11:18-21; 12:32; Joshua 1:8; Psalms 19:7-11; Proverbs 30:5-6; Isaiah 40:6-8; Matthew 15:5-9; Luke 16:31; Galatians 1:10-17; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4; Revelations 22:18-19).

II. GOD

1. Triune God: We believe that God is one, endowed with such attributes as are infinitely distinct from and utterly incommunicable to anyone else, as he is the all sovereign creator and sustainer of all things, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, immaculately holy, incomparably loving, immeasurably just, immortal, immutable, infallible and the eternal one.

(Genesis 1:1-31; 8:22; Exodus 20:10-11; 1 Samuel 2:8; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 16:26; Nehemiah 9:6; Job 9:5-9; 26:7-14; 28:24-27; 38:1-41:34; Psalms 8:3; 19:1; 24:1-2; 33:6-9; 74:16-17; 89:11-12; 90:2; 95:4-5; 102:25; 104:1-32; 121:2; 124:8; 136:5-9; 146:6; 147:7-9; 148:3-12; Proverbs 3:19-20; 8:23-31; 30:4; Isaiah 40:26-28; 42:5; 44:24; 48:13; Jeremiah 10:12-13; 27:5; 31:35; 32:17; 51:15-16; Amos 4:13; 5:8; 9:6; Zechariah 12:1; John 1:1-3; Acts 4:24; 14:15; 17:24-28; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 3:9; Revelations 4:11; 10:6; 14:7; Exodus 20:5-6; Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; 1 Kings 8:27; Job 26:6-14; Psalms 44:21; 90:2-4; 103:17; 136:1-26; Proverbs 8:22-31; Isaiah 6:3; 57:15; Lamentations 3:22-23; Habakkuk 1:12-13; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; 1 John 4:8).

2. We believe that this one God subsists in a plurality of no more or less than three distinct, coequal and coeternal persons as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

(Exodus 3:14; Psalms 110:1; John 1:1; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30-33; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 10:9; 15:47; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:3; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 4,20-21).

3. We believe that the Father is fully God, and that the Son is fully God, and that the Holy Spirit is fully God, and yet that they are not three Gods, nor one person enacting three distinct roles, but that He is one God subsisting as three distinct persons, which is a mystery consistent with His transcendence, a uniqueness, consistent with His absolute exclusivity.

(Deu 6:4; Mar 12:29; Gal 3:20; 1 Kings 8:27; Job 9:10; Isaiah 40:28; 46:9; John 1:3; Acts 17:24-25; Romans 11:33-36; Isaiah 40:18,25; 46:5).

III. MAN

1. We believe that man was originally created in the image of God's holy character, endowed with a free will, privileged to fellowship, worship and commune with God.

(Genesis 1:26-30; 2:7; 21-25; 9:6; Exodus 20:11; Ecclesiastes 7:29; James 3:9).

2. We believe that the first disobedience of man is the original sin, in the commission of which, the first man as the representative head of all human race, subjected all mankind to its consequent death, which is a separation from God and a spiritual death.

(Genesis 3:1-8; 16-24; 5:3-5; Psalms 51:5; Romans 3:10-18; 5:12-14,19; 8:5-8; Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19).

3. We believe that on account of this first fall, every man with exception of Christ alone, is born spiritually dead in his trespasses and sins, carrying in himself the sentence of death, devoid of freewill, incapable of doing anything whereby to redeem himself from this state, unable and unwilling to reconcile himself to God, so that should God not make a gracious provision for salvation, all must justly be condemned to an eternal separation from God to be tormented forever in hell.

(Genesis 3:5; Psalms 14:2-3; Proverbs 12:10; 15:8; Isaiah 45:20; 64:6; Jeremiah 13:23; 17:9; Matthew 7:18; John 3:19-20; 6:44-45; Romans 1:20-23; 3:9-12,20; 5:12; 6:16-23; 7:5; 8:5-8; 10:2-3; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Ephesians 2:5; 4:18; Colossians 1:21; 2:13; Hebrews 9:14; 11:6).

IV. GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN SALVATION

1. We believe that Salvation is wholly of God, which He being under no obligation to give unto anyone, and no man having any claim thereunto, God in His Sovereignty is fully justified to give it unto or withhold it from whom He wills, which He does consistent with His justice and love for His own Glory.

(Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Isaiah 65:1; Ezekiel 36:22-32; Romans 8:28-30 9:11-23; 10:20; 1 Corinthians 1:25-29; Ephesians 1:11; 2 Timothy 1:9).

2. We believe that God the Father in eternity past chose unto Himself a people who must be saved by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, by virtue of which the Holy Spirit regenerates and converts them, granting repentance and faith as a free gift in their hearts, in a way that they are reconciled with God, and are eternally secured, so that they can never be lost anymore, but live eternally, all of which do not belong to all, as all Scriptures which teach salvation for the "World" or for "All" only mean all men without distinction but not all without exception, so that these peculiar privileges pertain to no one else than God's elect only.

(Psalms 89:19-37; Isaiah 49:5-6; 53:11-12; Luke 22:29; John 6:37-40; 10:29; 17:2,9; Galatians 3:16-18; 2 Timothy 1:9; Isaiah 44:3-4; 59:21; Ezekiel 36:27; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 Peter 1:2; Psalms 31:23; 37:24,28; 55:22; 66:9; 121:3-8; Proverbs 2:7-8; Jeremiah 32:39-40; John 6:40; 10:28-29; Romans 8:30-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; Phi 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Timothy 1:12; 4:18; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Jude 24).

3. We believe that just as these whom God has chosen unto Salvation are the vessels of His mercy in whom He demonstrates His love, all others are the vessels of His wrath in whom He displays his justice, so that there is no individual that comes in to existence, about whom God is not decided as to their eternal destiny, and to suppose that the number of those elected or rejected can increase or diminish is to say that the eternal plan of God concerning Salvation is imperfect and uncertain, which cannot be true.

(Isaiah 45:23; Romans 9:22-23; 14:11; Exodus 9:14-16; Psalms 73:17-18; Proverbs 16:4; Jeremiah 6:28-30; Habakkuk 1:6-11; Romans 9:17, 21-23; 1 Peter 2:8).

V. HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY IN SALVATION

1. We believe that man is completely responsible for his inability to respond to God's commandment to repent and believe the Gospel, since it is his own sin which rendered him incapable and unwilling to be reconciled with God, so that God is fully entitled by the means of preaching the Gospel to command repentance and faith from all men everywhere, and man fully responsible to yield obedience thereunto, not withstanding his inability to respond and obey the Gospel call.

(Deuteronomy 10:16; Matthew 12:13; 28:18; John 11:43; Acts 17:30-31; Romans 2:12-16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8).

2. We believe that not withstanding the Divine Sovereignty and human inability in salvation, the preaching of the Gospel is the responsibility of the Church, which is the means God has ordained whereby to conform His own unto Salvation, and to confirm the rest in condemnation.

(Isaiah 6:9-12; Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:11-12; 2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

3. We believe that not withstanding the divine promise of eternal preservation, every man who repents and believes the Gospel must give all diligence to workout his own salvation with fear and trembling, the failure in which does not forfeit his salvation, but rather proves that he was never saved in the first place.

(John 6:64-65; Hebrews 6:4-6; 1 John 2:19).

VI. JESUS CHRIST

1. We believe that in the fullness of time, God sent forth His son in to the world, who is the second person of the Divine Trinity, who being fully God became fully man, born miraculously of a virgin without any human intervention, lived a life of rendering absolute satisfaction to the law of God, died a literal death on the cross as a substitute for His Church rendering full satisfaction to the justice of God on her behalf, fully justifying her by providing for a flawless righteousness to be imputed to her, and that He bodily rose again victorious over death, seen of His disciples and several others, before He bodily ascended to be seated on the right hand of the Father in Heaven, from there to intercede for His own until the end of time, and from there to return a second time literally to judge the world to eternal condemnation, and to receive His Church in to Eternal Glory, so that He alone is in the truest sense the Prophet, the Priest and the King.

(Isaiah 7:14; 53:9; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:31-35; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26-27; 1 Peter 2:22-23; 1 John 3:5; Psalms 40:8; Isaiah 50:5; Matthew 3:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 2:14-15; 4:15; 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22-23; 1 John 3:4-5; Genesis 22:13; Exodus 12:3-13; Leviticus 16:21-22; 17:11; Psalms 22:1-18; 32:1; Isaiah 53:1-12; Daniel 9:24-26; Zechariah 13:7; Matthew 26:28; 27:35-50; Mark 15:24-37; Luke 23:33-46; 24:46; John 11:49-52; 19:16-30; Acts 17:3; 20:28; Romans 3:24-25; 5:6-11; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 5:7; 6:20; 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:4; 2:20; 3:13; 4:5; Ephesians 1:7; 2:13-17; Colossians 1:14,20-22; 2:13-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:10; 1 Timothy 2:6; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 2:9-10,17; 9:12-14, 26-28; 10:10-18; 13:12; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 1:7; 2:2; 3:5; 4:10; Revelations 1:5; 5:9; Job 29:14; Psalms 32:2; 85:10-11; Isaiah 53:11; 61:10; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Romans 3:21-22; 4:6-8; 5:9-11, 17-19; 8:1, 31-39; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 1:21-22; Titus 3:6-7; Job 19:25-27; Psalms 16:10; Luke 24:4-7; Acts 1:22; 2:24-33; 3:15; 4:10,33; 5:31; 10:40; 13:30-37; 17:3,31; Romans 1:4; 4:24-25; 5:10; 6:4,9-10; 8:34; 10:9; 14:9; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 2:8; Hebrews 1:3; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 1:21; Psalms 96:13; 110:1,6; Matthew 25:31-46; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 8:34; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Timothy 4:1).

2. We believe that the subservience of Jesus Christ to God the Father is only between His incarnation and resurrection, when He had emptied Himself of His equality with the Father as to be consistent with the role of the servant which He had taken upon Himself, but that after His mission was fully finished, He was restored to the Glory which He had with the Father from all eternity.

(John 17:5; Matthew 28:18; Philippians 2:6-9).

3. We believe that when Jesus Christ became fully man, He did not cease to be fully God, but that He added humanity to His deity, so that in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and that though He was subject to all human frailties and limitations in His human nature with the exception of sin alone, His frailties and limitations do not extend to His divine nature, so that He is the complete Godman since His incarnation, and will remain as such for all eternity, except that His humanity after His resurrection is a glorified one, free from all frailties and limitations unto the perfection of which the Church will eventually conform.

(Deuteronomy 18:15; Psalms 2:7; 110:1; Isaiah 9:6; Luke 2:7; John 1:1,14,18; 3:16,18; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30-33; Acts 20:28; Romans 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:47; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:6-8; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:1-5; 5:5; 1 John 4:9,15; Revelations 1:17-18; Romans 8:29, 1 John 3:2-3).

VII. THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person as against a power or some abstract divine influence, and that He being the third person of the Eternal Godhead is fully God and as such partakes in all divine attributes and actions.

(1 Corinthians 2:10-11; 12:11; Romans 5:5; 15:30; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Timothy 4:1; Revelations 2:7; Psalms 78:17-18, Isaiah 63:10, Hebrews 3:7-11; Deuteronomy 32:12, Isaiah 63:14; 2 Samuel 23: 2-3, Luke 1:68-70, Acts 1:16; Acts 5:3-4; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

2. We believe that the Holy Spirit was sent down by the Father, on the intercession of Jesus Christ, to regenerate, convert, indwell and sanctify everyone who must constitute the Universal Church, working out the inward proof and witness of their Salvation, by producing in them a new nature and fruit of the Spirit, edifying the Church by bestowing upon all her members the gifts of the spirit, and also to reprove the world of sin, righteousness and judgment, until Christ returns.

(John 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-15; 3:3-8; Romans 8:11-26; Galatians 5:22-23; Titus 3:5).

3. We believe that the Holy Spirit who is sent into our hearts is the Spirit of adoption whereby we are made the children of God, so that there are no saved ones on earth who do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, and that there is no such a second or separate work of Grace other than at Salvation whereby to receive the Holy Spirit.

(Joel 2:28-32; John 7:37-39; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:13-17; Galatians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 12:3).

VIII. THE CHURCH

1. We believe in the universal church of Jesus Christ, constituted of all regenerated people of all times and all places, membership into which is automatic by the new birth wrought by the spirit, the members of which are scattered throughout the various local assemblies which conform to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

(Psalms 2:6; 46:4-5; 48:1-2, 11-13; 50:2; 99:2; 102:13-21; 111:1; 118:22; Isaiah 2:3; 28:16; 33:5-6; 35:8-10; 52:7; 62:12; Matthew 16:18; Act 20:28; Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:24,27; Ephesians 1:6,13; 2:20-22; 5:23-32; Colossians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:15; Titus 1:9; 2:15; James 1:21; Revelations 21:12).

2. We believe that every believer must be a baptized member of a local assembly, for the fulfillment of certain Christian duties, which are required to be fulfilled collectively and which are impossible to be fulfilled individually, such as congregational worship, fellowship, exhorting and strengthening one another, loving the brotherhood in Christ, being under the supervision of shepherds who watch for the souls committed to their care, Christian accountability, partaking of the Lord's table, etc, the failure in any of which is an open defiance of God's Word and a violation of proper Christian testimony, so that no Christian at any time may forsake the assembly as to workout his Christian profession in isolation.

(Matthew 18:20; Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24-25).

3. We believe that every local church is a mixed body of believers true and false, not to be separated by any man but the Lord alone, and that not before the end of the world, until which time, they must be allowed to grow together, though this in no wise exempts the Church from maintaining purity of doctrine, uncompromised morals and proper measures of discipline such as teaching in all patience, rebuking, correcting, excommunicating members for reasons prescribed in Scripture, and restoring in love the repentant, all of which fulfill the purpose behind the church discipline which is to obey the exhortation, not to pluck down those we may err in judging to be tares.

(Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; 1 Corinthians 5:1-12; 2 Corinthians 2:6-8).

IX. WORSHIP

1. We believe that God has clearly taught in Scripture how He is to be worshipped, and that it is the duty of the church to worship God only as regulated in His Word, no man being authorized to make any modifications thereto, either by removing from or adding to what has been prescribed therein, any attempts whereof is to be shun as a human devise and an affront to God.

(Lev 10:1-2, Deu 12:30-32, 13:1-4; Isa 8:20; Matthew 15:1-12; Joh 7:24; Act 17:11; Gal 1:8-9; 1Jo 4:1).

2. We believe that prayer, reading Scriptures aloud, praise, singing, playing pleasantly on instruments of music, sharing testimonies of God's goodness, hearing from God's Word and partaking of the Lord's Table as to remember the Savior's death, which is inseparably connected with his incarnation, resurrection and return, are the proper acts of worship as taught in Scriptures, which are to be observed in all gatherings on each Lord's Day, besides which, the Church may come together to give thanks to God on any day for any favor bestowed on the Church as a whole or on any of the members thereof, which must be conducted with decency and order as to celebrate the oneness of members in Christ and to glorify God.

(Malachi 3:16; Matthew 18:19; 21:13; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 5:19-20; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; Psalms 150).

3. We believe that keeping any holiday or doing any act in the name of God or as unto the Lord, which has any pagan roots whether on the pretext of preaching the Gospel, or as commemorating any event in the Bible, is a desecration of the worship of God and is under no circumstance to be allowed, whether for observing Christmas, lent, Good Friday, Easter, all souls' day, or any such thing, nor should there be any toleration of any activity of a pagan origin, done in marriages, births, deaths or in any other occasion of any nature.

(Deuteronomy 32:30-32; 1 Samuel 15:22; Matthew 15:6-7; 16:6,12; 2 Thessalonians 2:15).

X. BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S TABLE

1. We believe that Baptism and the Lord's table are the only two sacraments enjoined upon the Church, the observing of which carry no saving virtue, but are purely symbolic of what they are designed to represent.

(Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-28; Ephesians 2:8-10).

2. We believe that Baptism is to be followed by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and should be the only reasons thereunto, and must under no circumstance be administered to anyone for any other reasons and in any other mode than by immersion, which alone fitly represents the burial of the old man and the resurrected newness in Christ, and that it must be waived when impossible to be administered, either for want of health or water, rather than substitute it by unbiblical alternatives in the form of sprinkling, pouring, immersion in sand, or any such other thing.

(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-39; Romans 6:3).

3. We believe that the bread and the wine in the Lord's supper are purely symbolic of the body of Christ broken and His blood shed for the remission of sin, and must be partaken only by those who have repented, believed and have been baptized, not as the transubstantiated body and blood of Christ, but purely in remembrance of His actual sacrifice made once for all on the cross.

(Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:23-28).

XI. MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

1. We believe that marriage is not only ordained by God, but that it is He who brings every single marriage into existence by joining one man and one woman to be made, not just one mind or one spirit, but one flesh, and that not by a mere covenant or by a mere consummation, but essentially by both, without either of which there is no marriage, and that the marriage thus contracted as authorized either by Christian or any other Marriage Act under the law of the land can neither be annulled at the instance of the parties thereto, nor by any other person, except by the decease of one of the partners, or for infidelity manifested by adultery, threat for life, consistent failure to provide for survival, or intentional failure in regularly discharging conjugal obligations, or if a spouse who is an unbeliever utterly refuses to continue in the marriage despite the best efforts of the believing partner.

(Genesis 2:18, 21-24; Matthew 19:1-12; Malachi 2:14-16; 1 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 7).

2. We believe that without any prejudice to their responsibilities, love, and honor for their parents, a man and a woman must from the day of their marriage be so detached from their control and intervention, as to prayerfully and scripturally make their own family decisions in the best interest of each other, and that they must study and apply to themselves their respective roles and responsibilities at home, and together make good parents to bring their children up in the fear of God and in the knowledge of Scriptures, by regularly maintaining a family time of worship, Scripture reading, and prayer.

(Genesis 2:21-24; Ephesians 5:22, 6:3).

3. We believe that marriage and family is the usual calling, and must be submitted unto by making early settlements and arrangements to be married at an appropriate time to avoid sin and temptation of various sorts, celibacy being a rare gift, not to be taken upon oneself by vow or by any such vain zeal, without a diligent confirmation of such a gift.

(Matthew 19:10-12; 1Corinthians 7:7-9).

Our History

We, the Brethren in "The Assembly of His Chosen Ones", do greatly rejoice in the Lord, in that we have seen His hand taking us through the past five years of our existence as a Church. We bear witness that we have seen and still see His Faithfulness towards us each day, in so much that we know not how we may count our blessings.

We began as a "Little Flock" (Lk. 12:32), with About six like-minded youth, who gathered every Sunday, with no other intent than to Worship God, to know Him intimately, to feed upon His Word, and to fellowship with those who have obtained the "like precious faith" (2 Pet. 1:1). When we first met on the last Sunday of Feb.2004, none of us knew that it would mark the beginning of a Church as it stands today. it was just meant to be a "Youth Fellowship".

No sooner did we thus began to Rejoice in the Lord, than we practically witnessed what the Apostle expressed: "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me (us), and there are many adversaries" (1 Cor. 16:9). The very hands which would have strengthened their youth in thus seeking the Lord, were the first to slam the Church-doors on their faces. But while they meant evil against us, "God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people" (Gen. 50:20). Such hurdles as indicated above, the details of which are not befitting to be elaborated here, helped us tremendously in shaping this fellowship in to a Church for the unchurched, and to bring the Gospel of Salvation to many, through its instrumentality. And the Lord kept adding to us (Acts 2:47) ever-since.

Our Pastors