Philosophy and Beliefs - MinistryAsia

Sending Church

Supporting Church

Niranjan and Diedree Sundararaj are members of Southland Baptist Church in Sydney, Australia. The church has commissioned and sent them to undertake the ministry that God has entrusted to them through Ministry Asia.

Prior to migrating to Australia, Niranjan and Diedree Sundararaj were charter members of Colombo Bible Baptist Church in Sri Lanka since 1991. The Colombo Bible Baptist Church is committed to supporting them in the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to them through Ministry Asia.

Statement of Faith

The Bible

We believe the Bible to be the revealed Word of God, fully and verbally inspired of God. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible Word of God, as found within the 66 books from Genesis to Revelation. We believe that God not only inspired every word, but that He has preserved them through the ages. We believe that the King James Version is the preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people. (Psalm 12:6–7; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:23-25; 2 Peter 1:19-21)

God

We believe in one God; Who is eternal, self-existent, infinite, and immutable. We believe He has one nature, one essence, and one substance; yet manifests Himself to man in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Timothy 1:17; James 1:17; 1 John 4:4)

Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ to be the one and only Saviour of mankind. We believe Jesus Christ to be eternally God and to possess all the attributes of Deity. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was virgin-born, that He was God incarnate, and that the purposes of the incarnation were to reveal God, to redeem men, and to rule over God’s kingdom. We believe Jesus Christ never relinquished any attributes of His Deity, but merely veiled them. We believe He lived a perfect, sinless life, at the end of which He was offered for all mankind as a substitutionary sacrifice for man’s sin. This sacrifice was a just payment to God for the forgiveness of sin. It was activated by His death through the shedding of His blood on the cross and was accepted by God upon His resurrection. We believe He ascended into Heaven after His resurrection to be seated at the right hand of the Father and is now waiting for the time of receiving His church at the rapture followed by His reign as King for 1,000 years. (Psalm 2:7-9; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 43:11; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1, 1:3, 14, 18, 29; Romans 3:19-25; Romans 5:6-15; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Timothy 3:16; Titus 2:10-15; Hebrews 7:26, 9:24-28; 1 Peter 1:19, 2:2; 1 John 1:3; Revelation 20:1-6)

The Holy Spirit

We believe the Holy Spirit of God is a person who has personality and all the attributes of Deity. We believe the Holy Spirit has always been involved in the affairs of mankind; however, we believe He has a special ministry that began at Pentecost and will continue until the rapture. This ministry includes reproving the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit was also sent to regenerate, sanctify, seal, and fill all who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. (Genesis 1:2; John 3:5-6; John 14:16; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:15; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 12:13)

Sin and Salvation

We believe all men were born with an inherited sin nature received from our common ancestor, Adam. We believe that because of his nature, man is a sinner by choice, and he is totally incapable of reforming himself or ceasing from his sin by his own power. We believe the only hope of deliverance for man is a total change of mind concerning his sinful condition and inability to change it, and a turning to Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. We believe that only through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross can a man be delivered from his sin. We believe that all those who reject Jesus Christ as their Saviour are already condemned to an eternity in the lake of fire. (Genesis 5:1-5; Acts 4:19; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:10-23; Romans 5:6-12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6; Revelation 20:11-14)

The New Testament Church

We believe the local church is composed of members who have been saved and baptized according to the command of Christ, and have voluntarily united together for the purposes of worship, fellowship, service, and observance of the ordinances of baptism and communion. We believe all true believers will be taken up at the rapture, just prior to the tribulation. (Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 1:15; Acts 2:41-43; Acts 11:15; Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 15: 51-58; Ephesians 1:12-14; Ephesians 5:25-30; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Timothy 3:4-15)

We believe that all the saved should live in such a manner as not to bring reproach upon their Saviour and Lord. God commands His people to separate from all religious apostasy, all worldly and sinful pleasures, practices, and associations; and to refrain from all immodest and immoderate appearances, piercings, and bodily markings. (Romans 12:1-2; 14:13; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17; 2 John 9-11; Leviticus 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Missions Philosophy

When God put in place a plan for getting the message of salvation to the entire world, and He chose to work through the local churches!

In Matthew 28:18-20, it states, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

We believes that if a lost man in Asia is to hear the gospel, it will be because a church took the Great Commission seriously, and obeyed the command of God, to take the gospel message throughout the whole world.

This process begins with a person who will be sent by a local church (Acts 13)—someone who will leave the homeland to take the gospel message to the lost and invest time and resources in training nationals to help multiply the work. It then takes a church family to stand behind and support that person both, prayerfully and financially. It also takes individuals within that church family who will say, “Though I cannot go, I will help you go, and I will pray for you as you go.” So one by one, God calls men and women to go, and He leads churches to support by praying and giving. That is God’s formula – and we believe that it works!

In Acts 13:1–3, the Holy Spirit separated Paul and Barnabas from the church at Antioch.
In Acts 14:26–27, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch and reported to the local church body about their work.

The Bible says in Romans 10:15, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” It also says in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” We believe that it is God’s instruction for us to give cheerfully so that people all over the world can hear the gospel.

We want to follow God’s instruction! We want to know His heart and hear His voice. He is calling us to win the world, and we know the truth that the world is waiting for us to answer!

Sending Church

Southland Baptist Church