We, at Emmanuel Church Farnham, are committed to the everlasting truths of the Word of God as found in the Bible and believe that this Word of God is infallible and without error.
We believe that salvation is found in Jesus Christ, who
"….who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."
Titus 2v14
"...who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."
Galatians 1v4
Sin
We believe that we have all rebelled and turned away from God by disobeying and ignoring Him. Instead, we have built our lives on other things. The Bible calls this rebellion sin. The word sin comes from archery. It means missing the mark, missing the bull’s eye. When you miss the bull’s eye, they say you have sinned. We have all missed God’s standard, His perfect law. No man is perfect, we are all law breakers. Whether we accept it or not, God says so. They refuse to believe that they are sinners and that they need their sins forgiven and that they need to live life as God intended them to before sin came. All people are sinners.
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 1v8
Separation
The Bible tells us that we are created in the image of God, to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever. However, sin has separated us from God because God is Holy. He has no sin and cannot live with sin. The sin in us has left a ‘God-vacuum’ only God can fill. We all try to fill this vacuum with all sorts of things such as money, relationships, work, selfishness – looking only after number one, drugs or alcohol. None of these can deal with the problem of sin.
The Bible calls the separation of sin from God, death – referring to what will happen when we die and finally stand before God.
"For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God."
Roman 14v10-12
On that day, the verdict will be guilty, condemned by the sin in us. Sin is a problem for us all.
We believe as the Bible says that God is the God of love. He so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3v16).
Jesus Christ is ‘the (visible) image of the invisible God and He is before all things and in Him all things consist (or hold together)’. (Colossians 1 v 15, 17). Jesus was given to the world by God as the solution for the problem of sin. The Bible tells us that; ‘…God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’ (John 3 v 17). The Lord Jesus said this; ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14 v 6). When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He bridged the gap, the chasm that sin had created and provided a way for sinners to come to God and have the relationship we were meant to have with God as our Father.
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit."
1 Peter 3v18
He did not only die on the cross, but three days later God raised Him up from the dead. His resurrection was proof that the penalty for sin had been fully paid and that He was God.
We believe the teaching of the Bible that knowing about who Jesus is and what He has done is not enough to make one a true Christian, a born-again child of God. Salvation is response to the invitation by Jesus to a personal experiential relationship with Him as your Lord and your Saviour. This involves three important things that must happen in you;
Turn
"Repent therefore and be converted (or turn to God), that your sins may be blotted out (or wiped out), so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."
Acts 3v19
Trust
"But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy..."
Titus 3v4-5
Take
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
Revelation 3v20
Jesus is willing and able to save you from the penalty, power and ultimately the presence of sin. He loved you enough to die for you. When you buy a new bike, you have no idea of how good and reliable as a bike it is. You may absolutely believe that it is a good bike, based on its looks, cost, the materials used and the manual description. The only way to know, is to put what you believe about the bike to the test, get on the bike and ride it. Only after you have ridden it do you truly know. Knowing all the truth about Jesus and God the Father, is not enough to save you and make you a true believer, born-again child of God. You need to believe that Jesus did all this for you personally. You need to take Jesus at His word, believe in Him, put your whole life in his hand in surrender to Him as your Lord and live your life for Him. When you do this, you will know that your life has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven and you are accepted as a child of God. Believe in Him for all your life, now and for eternity to come.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...”
Acts 16v31
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10v13
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ..."
John 1v12
You may be saying, I want to be a Christian but what do I do? You need to come just as you are. If you earnestly seek Jesus in your heart, He will hear you and save you, just ask Him to make you His child and He will come into your heart as your saviour and Lord, just as He promises.