What Christadelphians Believe
Who are we?
The name “Christadelphian” is Greek for “brothers (and sisters) in Christ”. We are a world-wide community of Bible students, taking our distinct name in the middle of the nineteenth century. Our fellowship is based on a common understanding of the Scriptures and a shared commitment to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no paid-clergy, or central organization, but maintain friendships and fellowship across the world through Bible Schools, Youth Gatherings, outreach activities, Bible magazines and lots of hospitality!
Our commission from Jesus Christ is to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” and “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart…and thy neighbour as thyself.”
Wherever you live in the world, email us and we will gladly give the location of the nearest Christadelphians to you.
Matthew 12:50; 1 Corinthians 9:14-19; Matthew 23:8-11; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 10:27
The Bible
We believe the sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired word of God, complete and sufficient to instruct us in the way of salvation. It is only through sustained and prayerful reading of the Scriptures that we come to an understanding of the purpose of God in our lives, and how He would have us conduct ourselves from day to day.
2 Timothy 3:16; Psalm 119:9,11,105; John 6:63
God the Father
We believe the Bible teaches that God is One. We believe God is the Creator of the universe, the only source of immortality, the giver of all good things and the controller of calamity. God is a God of love, who gave His beloved Son to suffer and die for our sins that He might reconcile the world to Himself.
Deuteronomy 6:4; John 17:3; Isaiah 40:12-28; 1 Timothy 6:15-16; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Isaiah 45:5-7; 11-12; John 3:14-18; 1 John 4:9-10
Jesus the Son of God
From the Scriptures we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus is the deliverer and ‘seed’ (offspring) who will sit on David’s throne as promised by God in the Old Testament promises made to Eve, Abraham and David.
Luke 1:27-35; (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 17:4-8, 2 Samuel 7:12-14)
We believe Jesus shared our nature; was tried and tempted as we are, yet resisted sin completely. He willingly submitted to crucifixion and death, “laying down his life for his friends”, as the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. He asks us to take up our cross and follow him, in giving our lives in service to God. Jesus was raised three days later by the Father and made immortal. After 40 days, Jesus ascended to his Father’s side to wait the appointed time for his return.
Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:15; Acts 3:15; 1 John 3:16; Hebrews 7:22-28; Luke 9:23-25; 1 Peter 3:22; Acts 1:3,9-11
The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in the Bible, is the power of God. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary that she might conceive Jesus in her womb. The Spirit of God cannot be seen, yet like ‘the wind’ we see the change that is effected by God’s presence, whether in directing the affairs of the world, sustaining Creation, healing power, the living Word, or the transformation of our minds to bring us to a ‘new birth’.
Luke 1:34-35; John 3:5-8; Daniel 2:21; 4:17; 5:21; Job 34:14-15; Luke 4:18; 1 Peter 1:10-12; John 6:63
The Kingdom of God
As Jesus and the apostles preached both ‘the kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ’, we also believe and teach that Jesus will soon return and establish God’s Kingdom on earth. This coming ‘king’ and ‘kingdom’ is the subject of much Old Testament prophecy and New Testament hope.
Acts 8:12; Luke 4:43; Isaiah 2:1-4; Psalm 72; Zechariah 14; Matthew 5:5,34-35; Acts 1:6-11; 26:6-7; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
The Hope of the Resurrection
Christadelphians believe the Bible teaches that when we die, we sleep in the grave until we are resurrected at the return of Christ. After the resurrection, Jesus will judge the ‘just and the unjust’ and grant eternal life to those he determines are ‘faithful’.
Job 14:13-15;19:25-27; Daniel 12:1-3 ; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Acts 24:15; John 6:39-40; 44,55; Matthew 25:31-46;
Our Nature
God tells us that Adam was created ‘in the image of God’ and ‘very good’. However, Adam and Eve sinned in disobeying God’s command. Because of sin, the creation was cursed and needed redemption to restore a relationship with God. The redeemer was promised to Eve, foreshadowed in the law of Moses and is the only hope of salvation to everyone looking forward or back towards the Messiah.
Since partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, our nature has been inclined to evil. When we choose to commit our life to God, we must make a prayerful effort to ‘put to death’ those evil inclinations and follow the example of Jesus Christ. God knows we are weak and at times will fail. Forgiveness is graciously extended through His Son’s sacrifice to all who are ‘in Christ’, who confess and forsake their sin.
Genesis 1:27-31; 3:1-7,11-19; Hebrews 9:9-10;10:1-12; Galatians 3:8,19-24; Mark 7:20-23; Colossians 3:4-10; Romans 8:1-5,31-39; Proverbs 28:13; 1 John 1:6-9
Baptism and Salvation
We believe the Bible teaches that salvation is attained through faith in Christ. It is through faithful obedience that we are baptized into Christ for forgiveness of sins, and thereby participate in the promises to Abraham. We demonstrate our love to Jesus by obeying his commands.
Romans 3:28-30; John 3:3-5, Galatians 3:27-29; Acts 7:2-5; Genesis 13:14-17; John 15:8-14
If you wish to know more about what we believe and preach, we will gladly send you “Bible Basics”, completely free of charge. Just e-mail an address we can post it to.
We are also always happy to answer any questions concerning the Bible. You ask and we’ll do our best to give a Scriptural answer!
