Our Beliefs

SOT is a Christian institution that is grounded in Christian faith and beliefs that are summed up in the following statements:

1. We believe in the plenary-verbal inspiration of the accepted canon of Scriptures as originally given. The Scriptures are infallible, inerrant and the sole and final authority for all matters of faith and conduct (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:13).
2. We believe in the eternal Godhead who has revealed Himself as one God existing in three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, distinguishable but indivisible (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).
3. We believe in the creation, test and fall of man as recorded in Genesis; his total spiritual depravity and inability to attain divine righteousness (Romans 5:12,18).
4. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born by the Virgin Mary, very God and very Man (Luke 1:26-35; John 1:14-18; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6).
5. We believe Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day, and personally appeared unto His disciples (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 4:25).
6. We believe in the bodily ascension of Jesus to heaven, His exaltation and personal, literal and bodily coming again the second time for His Church (John 14:2,3; and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
7. We believe in the salvation of sinners by grace, through repentance and faith in the perfect and sufficient work of the cross of Calvary by which we obtain remission of sins (Ephesians 2:8-9; Hebrews 9:12,22; Romans 5:11).
8. We believe in the necessity of water baptism by immersion in the name of the eternal Godhead in order to fulfil the command of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:34-36; 19:1-6).
9. We believe in the baptism in the Holy Spirit as a real experience at or subsequent to salvation, with the scriptural evidence, namely, speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance (Acts 2:1-4; 8:14-17; 10:44-45; Galatians 3:14-15).
10. We believe in the operation of the gifts and ministries of the Spirit as enumerated in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and Ephesians 4, as manifested in the early Church.
11. We believe in the Spirit-filled life, a life of separation from the world and perfecting of holiness in the fear of God as expressing the true Christian faith (Ephesians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 7:1).
12. We believe in the healing of the body by Divine power, or divine healing in its varied aspects as practised in the early Church (Acts 4:30; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 12:9; James 5:14) and by deliverance in the name of Jesus (Mark 16:17).
13. We believe in the table of the Lord, commonly called the Communion or the Lord’s Supper, for believers (1 Corinthians 11:28-32; Matthew 26:26-28).
14. We believe in the reality and personality of the Devil and eternal judgment in the Lake of Fire for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:14-15).
15. We believe in the eternal life for believers (John 5:24; 3:16), and eternal punishment for the unbelievers (Mark 9:43-48; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10-15).
16. We believe that there is one true universal Church, made up of genuine believers, but this one universal Church is also composed of many local Churches in given localities. These Churches are under the sovereign headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, exercising autonomous government under Him, administering all its local affairs and ministry, as well as the propagation of the gospel (Acts 15:22; Matthew 16:18; 18:15-20).
17. We believe that Government is ordained of God, and the powers that be are ordained as ministers of God to us for good. To resist the powers and the ordinances is to resist the ordinance of God. We are subject not only for wrath sake but for conscience sake, rendering to all their dues, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour. We declare our loyalty to our Government and its leaders, and will assist in every way possible, consistent with our faith in the Scriptures as Christian citizens (Romans 13).