Advertising Policy
Our advertising policy provide guidance on what types of ad content are allowed. When advertisers place an order, each ad is reviewed against these policies. If you think your ad was mistakenly disapproved, you can request a review of the decision by emailing adsreview@ekobridge.com
Keep in mind that violating our ad policies may lead to enforcement action against your Profile, associated Pages, and/or ad accounts. Enforcement actions may include:
Common Points of Confusion
To help you build a compliant and user-friendly ad experience we've highlighted some common areas of confusion.
Ads must not contain content that asserts or implies personal attributes. This includes direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, medical condition (including physical or mental health), financial status, voting status, membership in a trade union, criminal record, or name.
Ads must not contain adult content. This includes nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative. Ads that assert or imply the ability to meet someone, connect with them or view content created by them must not be positioned in a sexual way or with an intent to sexualise the person featured in the ad.
Ads linking to Ekobridge (including Pages, groups, events or sites that use Ekobridge Login) may make limited reference to “Ekobridge” in ad text for the purpose of clarifying the destination of the ad. Ads should not represent the Ekobridge brand in a way that makes it the most distinctive or prominent feature of the creative. Ekobridge brand assets should not be modified in any way, such as by changing the design or colour, or for the purpose of special effects or animation.
Before ads show up on Ekobridge, they’re reviewed to make sure they meet our Advertising Policies. Typically, most ads are reviewed within 24 hours, although in some cases it may take longer.
What We Consider
During the ad review process, we'll check your ad's images, text, targeting, and positioning, in addition to the content on your ad's landing page. Your ad may not be approved if the landing page content isn't fully functional, doesn't match the product/service promoted in your ad or doesn't fully comply with our Advertising Policies.
What Happens After an Ad is Reviewed?
After your ad is reviewed, you'll receive a notification letting you know if your ad is approved. If it’s approved, we'll start running your ad and you can see your results in the ads manager.
Edit Your Ad
If your ad isn't approved for not fully complying with our policies, you can edit it and resubmit for review. To edit your ad:
Appeal the Decision
If you can't edit your ad or feel it was a mistake that it wasn't approved, you can request a review of the decision by emailing adsreview@ekobridge.com
Ads must not violate our User Terms and Listing Rules.
Ads must not constitute, facilitate, or promote illegal products, services or activities. Ads targeted to minors must not promote products, services, or content that are inappropriate, illegal, or unsafe, or that exploit, mislead, or exert undue pressure on the age groups targeted.
Ads must not discriminate or encourage discrimination against people based on personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition.
Ads must not promote the sale or use of tobacco products and related paraphernalia. Advertisements must not promote electronic cigarettes, vaporizers, or any other products that simulate smoking.
Ads must not promote the sale or use of illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs.
Ads must not promote the sale or use of unsafe supplements, as determined by Ekobridge in its sole discretion.
Ads must not promote the sale or use of weapons, ammunition, or explosives. This includes ads for weapon modification accessories.
Ads must not promote the sale or use of adult products or services, except for ads for family planning. Ads for contraceptives must focus on the family planning features of the product, and not on sexual pleasure or sexual enhancement, and must be targeted to people 18 years or older.
Ads must not contain adult content. This includes nudity, depictions of people in explicit or suggestive positions, or activities that are overly suggestive or sexually provocative. Ads that assert or imply the ability to meet someone, connect with them or view content created by them must not be positioned in a sexual way or with an intent to sexualise the person featured in the ad.
Ads must not contain content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights. To report content that you feel may infringe upon or violate your rights, please email us on infringement@ekobridge.com
Ads must not contain shocking, sensational, inflammatory or excessively violent content. For example:
Ads claiming a person or group of people are a threat to the physical safety, health, or survival of others on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, caste, sex, gender, gender identity, serious disease, disability, or immigration status
Ads promoting violent or dehumanizing speech, statements of inferiority, or contempt or disgust based on protected characteristics or immigration status
Ads must not contain praise, support, or representation of individuals or groups that support organizations and movements with ties to violence, including non-state militia groups and QAnon
Ads must not contain content that asserts or implies personal attributes. This includes direct or indirect assertions or implications about a person’s race, ethnic origin, religion, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or practices, gender identity, disability, medical condition (including physical or mental health), financial status, voting status, membership in a trade union, criminal record, or name.
Ekobridge prohibits ads that include claims debunked by third-party fact checkers or, in certain circumstances, claims debunked by organizations with particular expertise. Advertisers that repeatedly post information deemed to be false may have restrictions placed on their ability to advertise on Ekobridge.
Ads must not contain content that exploits crises or controversial political or social issues for commercial purposes.
Ads must not direct people to non-functional landing pages. This includes landing page content that interferes with a person’s ability to navigate away from the page.
Ads may not promote products or services that are designed to enable a user to engage in cheating or deceitful practices.
Ads must not contain profanity or bad grammar and punctuation. Symbols, numbers and letters must be used properly without the intention of circumventing our ad review process or other enforcement systems.
Ads must not contain images that portray nonexistent functionality. This includes imagery that replicates play buttons, notifications, or checkboxes, as well as ads containing features that do not work, such as multiple choice options in the ad creative itself.
Ads must not contain "before-and-after" images or images that contain unexpected or unlikely results. Ad content must not imply or attempt to generate negative self-perception in order to promote diet, weight loss, or other health related products.
Ads may not promote payday loans, paycheck advances, bail bonds, or any short-term loans intended to cover someone's expenses until their next payday. Short term loan refers to a loan of 90 days or less.
Ads promoting income opportunities must fully describe the associated product or business model, and must not promote business models offering quick compensation for little investment, including multilevel marketing opportunities.
Ads may not promote penny auctions, bidding fee auctions, or other similar business models.
Ads must not contain deceptive, false, or misleading claims like those relating to the effectiveness or characteristics of a product or service or claims setting unrealistic expectations for users such as misleading health, employment or weight-loss claims.
Ads must not contain content leading to external landing pages that provide an unexpected or disruptive experience. This includes misleading ad positioning, such as overly sensationalized headlines or prompts for users to inauthentically interact with the ad, and leading people to landing pages that contain minimal original content and a majority of unrelated or low quality ad content.
Ads must not contain spyware, malware, or any software that results in an unexpected or deceptive experience. This includes links to sites containing these products.
Ads must not contain audio or flash animation that plays automatically without a person's interaction or expands within Ekobridge after someone clicks on the ad.
Ads must not promote products, services, schemes or offers using deceptive or misleading practices, including those meant to scam people out of money or personal information. For example:
Permitted:
Not permitted:
Ads must not use tactics intended to circumvent our ad review process or other enforcement systems. This includes techniques that attempt to disguise the ad's content or destination page.
Ads must not promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices.
Not Permitted:
Ads must not promote the sale of human body parts or fluids.
Ads must not discourage people from vaccination or advocate against vaccines.
Permitted
Ads which discuss vaccine legislation
Not Permitted
Ads that claim vaccinations are unsafe or unhealthy, or will result in death or injury
Ads that are inconsistent with health authorities (including local health authorities) guidance on vaccination.
Ads that promote or reference alcohol must comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals, and include age and country targeting criteria consistent with Ekobridge's targeting requirements and applicable local laws. Note that our policies prohibit ads promoting or referencing alcohol in some countries, including but not limited to: Afghanistan, Brunei, Bangladesh, Egypt, Gambia, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Ads for online dating services are not allowed.
Ads that promote online gambling, and gaming where anything of monetary value (including cash or digital/virtual currencies, e.g. bitcoin) is required to play and anything of monetary value forms part of the prize, are not allowed.
Ads must not promote the sale of prescription pharmaceuticals. Ads for online and offline pharmacies are only permitted with prior written permission. Email us adconsent@ekobridge.com
Ads that promote over-the-counter medicines must comply with all applicable local laws, required or established industry codes, guidelines, licenses and approvals, and include age and country targeting criteria consistent with applicable local laws.
Ads for subscription services, or that promote products or services that include negative options, automatic renewal, free-to-pay conversion billing products, or mobile marketing are subject to our subscription services requirements:
Ads promoting credit card applications, or financial services with accredited institutions must clearly provide sufficient disclosure regarding associated fees, including APR percentages, transaction fees, interest rates and the physical address of the entity offering the product within the ad's landing page. Ads promoting credit cards, loans or insurance services must be targeted to people 18 years or above. Ads promoting credit cards, loans or insurance services must not directly request the input of a person’s financial information, including credit card information.
Ads promoting branded content must tag the featured third party product, brand or business partner. Branded content within ads is defined as a creator or publisher's content that features or is influenced by a business partner for an exchange of value.
9.a Ads About Social Issues, Elections or Politics
Advertisers can run ads about social issues, elections or politics, provided the advertiser complies with all applicable laws and the authorization process required by Ekobridge. Where appropriate, Ekobridge may restrict issue, electoral or political ads. In addition, certain content related to elections may be prohibited in specific regions ahead of voting;
Ads with the following content aren’t allowed:
9.b Disclaimers for Ads About Social Issues, Elections or Politics
The disclaimer you submit for your ad about social issues, elections or politics must comply with all of Ekobridge’s guidelines, User Terms, Listing Policy, Advertising Terms and other community guidelines. This information is provided by you during the ad authorization process and will be displayed on your ad’s header.
Ads may not promote cryptocurrency trading or related products and services without prior written permission. Advertisers planning to run ads promoting cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency exchanges, cryptocurrency mining software and hardware, and cryptocurrency investment advice must first receive confirmation for eligibility. The cryptocurrency products and services ads policy requires advertisers to be approved in order to help prevent misleading advertising for these products and services. Ads promoting other products, such as blockchain technology, cryptocurrency industry news, education, events, ancillary services, payment methods, digital payment tools, and merchandise, do not require prior written permission and may advertise, as long as the ad adheres to the Advertising Policies.
Ekobridge requires advertisers who wish to run addiction treatment ads to be certified with LegitScript, and apply to ekobridge for permission to advertise.
Addiction treatment ads include, but are not limited to: Clinical addiction treatment services or websites providing information about in-person treatment, online and in-person support groups, and crisis hotlines for those in recovery or who are seeking information about addiction treatment.
Advertisers can apply for certification with LegitScript here.
Ads marketing weight loss products and services must be targeted to people at least 18 years or older. Ads marketing cosmetic surgeries and procedures must be targeted to people at least 18 years or older.
Ads for social casino games, which are online games that simulate casino gambling (e.g. poker, slots, roulette etc) where there is no opportunity to win money or money’s worth, are allowed only if they are targeted to people 18 years or older.
Video ads and other dynamic ad types must comply with all of the rules listed in these Advertising Policies, including the Community Standards, as well as the policies below:
Videos and other similar ad types must not use overly disruptive tactics, such as flashing screens.
Ads for movie trailers, TV shows, video game trailers, and other similar content intended for mature audiences are only allowed with prior written permission from Ekobridge and must target people who are 18 years or older. Depictions of the following content within these ads are not allowed:
7. Targeting
You must not use targeting options to discriminate against, harass, provoke, or disparage users or to engage in predatory advertising practices.
All ad components, including any text, images or other media, must be relevant and appropriate to the product or service being offered and the audience viewing the ad.
Ads must clearly represent the company, product, service, or brand that is being advertised.
The products and services promoted in an ad's text must match those promoted on the landing page, and the destination site must not offer or link to any prohibited product or service.
Advertisers must not create Lead Ads questions to request the following types of information without our prior written permission.
Ads must not request account numbers, including frequent flyer numbers, loyalty card numbers, or cable or telephone account numbers without our prior permission.
Ads must not request information regarding criminal or arrest history without our prior permission.
Ads must not request financial information, including bank account numbers, bank routing numbers, credit or debit card numbers, credit scores, income, net worth or how much debt someone has without our prior permission.
Ads must not request government-issued identifiers, including Social Security numbers, passport numbers or driver's license numbers without our prior permission.
Ads must not request health information, including physical health, mental health, medical treatments, medical conditions or disabilities without our prior permission.
Ads must not request insurance information, including current insurance policy numbers, without our prior permission.
Ads must not request information regarding political affiliation.
Ads must not request information regarding race or ethnicity without our prior permission.
Ads must not request information regarding religion or philosophical beliefs without our prior permission.
Ads must not request information regarding sexual orientation or information about the sexual life of the individual, including what gender(s) the person prefers to date, without our prior permission.
Ads must not request the same or substantially similar information that you could use a Template Question to request.
Ads must not request information regarding trade Union membership status without our prior permission.
Ads must not request usernames or passwords, including usernames and passwords for existing and new accounts, without our prior permission.
Ads must not imply a Ekobridge endorsement or partnership of any kind, or an endorsement by any other Ekobridge Company or affiliate.
Ads linking to Ekobridge (including Pages, groups, events or sites that use Ekobridge Login) may make limited reference to “Ekobridge” in ad text for the purpose of clarifying the destination of the ad. Ads should not represent the Ekobridge brand in a way that makes it the most distinctive or prominent feature of the creative. Ekobridge brand assets should not be modified in any way, such as by changing the design or color, or for the purpose of special effects or animation.
All other ads and landing pages must not use our copyrights, trademarks, or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by Ekobridge or with our prior written permission.
When featuring the Ekobridge, Messenger (UI) in an ad, it must accurately depict how the UI currently appears and functions in product. If an action or functionality depicted cannot happen in the current product or within the current UI then it cannot appear to happen in an ad.
Depictions of the UI in ads must be featured within the context of a relevant device (ex, mobile or desktop) and as permitted by Ekobridge. The UI may not be modified in any way, including, but not limited to: adding special effects, interference or animation. Glyphs or elements of the UI may not be used separately or individually.
12. Notable points
Market listing Rules
It is Ekobridge’s mission to inspire Christians worldwide to engage the market place, including trading activities such as selling and buying because we believe these simple transactions, underpinned by Christian values in how we go about transacting with one another and the wider human populace, can create all sorts of possibilities for the Body of Christ.
To that end, Ekobridge moderates posts in the community market. Our listing rules are designed to protect the integrity of the marketplace, and to create an enjoyable, effective and inspirational environment to buy and sell. As a seller, it is important that you abide by the listing rules as we aim to create an inspired and engaged community.
Listings that do not comply with the listing rules will be removed from our platform. Users who violate these rules may also be subject to a range of enforcement actions, from restrictions to a permanent suspension from the platform.
Whereas we respect other personal views an individual is entitled to hold, we are a Christian community, hence, content that seek to undermine our faith in Christ Jesus or directly/indirectly encourages actions in any way, shape or form contrary to the Word of God as contained in the Bible is prohibited. People of all ages use Ekobridge, so let’s keep it clean and safe. Dangerous, inappropriate, or illegal products are prohibited from our marketplace.
At Ekobridge, we also respect the intellectual property rights of others. Any content that infringe on copyrights will be removed from the platform. Please ensure that you are the rightful owner of all images and content used. You are also responsible for ensuring the authenticity of all products posted under your account.
Help us foster a fair marketplace, and keep browsing enjoyable and relevant for everyone by listing each product or service only once.
Listing the same product under different districts, towns, villages, cities in the same country and/or under other accounts are considered duplicate listings.
Use only relevant and accurate keywords to describe your products/services to create a better browsing experience for all users.
Please refrain from adding keywords that are irrelevant or in large quantities as this would affect the relevancy of buyer's search results.
You may embed links to the product’s information on the internet and promote your Ekobridge listings. You cannot link to other e-commerce or classified platforms.
Ekobridge is a marketplace where people come to buy or sell products and services. Every listing for sale should advertise a specific product or service. Here are examples of listings that are not allowed on Ekobridge:
If you are interested to advertise your brand on our platform, please contact our team at sales@ekobridge.com
We encourage every Ekobridge member to maintain one account on the platform. This improves the trust in the community and helps you to be more successful in selling. With longer time on the platform and more positive reviews, it builds trust and confidence from buyers.
The price set on your listing should reflect the price you are willing to sell the product at. Displaying a fake or unreasonable price on your listing is not allowed.
The image(s) displayed on your listing must be representative of the product or service you are advertising. You are encouraged to take actual photos of the product or service.
Do take photos of any defects/ damages of the product so that buyers are fully aware of what they're buying. This helps to build trust with potential buyers, manage expectations on both sides and results in faster and more efficient transactions. Avoid uploading low quality or low-resolution images.
The following images are not allowed on Ekobridge:
Titles should describe the product or service provided clearly, including basic details about the product advertised. For example, the condition, size, etc. They should not include phone numbers, price, links, and irrelevant keywords
Listing descriptions are important in providing key details about your product and/or services. You are encouraged to provide a complete and accurate description. For products, do specify the condition of the product, such as if the product has any defects or flaws. For services, do specify the type of service in details and your terms and conditions. This helps you to build trust with potential buyers, save your time from answering common questions from buyers, and enable faster and more efficient transactions.
Listings must not be defamatory or contain any content that is offensive or harassing in nature. It must also not contain any personal information about another individual.
Listing irrelevant listings into Ekobridge Groups is not allowed. Please ensure that your listing is both relevant and compliant with the rules of the Group that you are listing in. (e.g. Do not put a clothing listing in the British Snacks Lovers Group). We will take enforcement action on users spamming or abusing the Ekobridge Groups.
Before listing, do take note of the content that is prohibited and restricted here at Ekobridge.
There are certain items or services that are not allowed on Ekobridge at all. They may not necessarily be illegal, however, they do not fit our selling criteria, and aren't in the spirit of Ekobridge. These include:
PRE - CONDITION
Ekobridge adopts in full the Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition and the beliefs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God of the Redeemed Christian Church of God which are in total sync with our values and beliefs in Ekobridge pertaining to the Gospel and the word of God; It is these shared beliefs and values that bind us all in the Ekobridge community and shall be the standard by which all users interact with and within the Ekobridge Community. These Foundation Documents were adopted by the Council of The Gospel Coalition on May 22, 2007, and revised on April 12, 2011, and used here with the permission of The Gospel Coalition (thegospelcoalition.org), Deerfield, IL 60015. The beliefs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God which we have adopted is not an endorsement by it of Ekobridge; our decision to adopt same is totally unilateral; we also unilaterally choose to identify with the Winners Chapel International Mandate.
However, we emphasise we are not a movement but a community that points mankind to the true vine (Jesus -John 15:5) and together we are the branches whose identity and confidence is not linked to any one individual or group in their human capacity, rather, to the knowledge and power of who we are in Christ Jesus; that our faith, hope, salvation and conviction might be firmly established in Jesus alone and not conditioned on man who is inherently and forever will be imperfect.
CHRISTIAN PARTNERS: By signing up to Ekobridge, you acknowledge and confirm that you share these values and beliefs in your profession of faith as a Christian, breach of which, Ekobridge reserves the exclusive right in its absolute discretion to delete such contrary or offensive communication and impose user restrictions which may include an outright ban from the Ekobridge community.
NON-CHRISTIAN PARTNERS: Where you do not identify with the Christian faith at the moment, you acknowledge and unequivocally agree to respect these collective values and beliefs that govern our association in this community and undertake not to engage in any activity, communication, representation, presentation, dissemination or any other ancillary act which offends or seeks to undermine these values or beliefs, breach of which, Ekobridge reserves the exclusive right in its absolute discretion to delete such offensive communication and impose user restrictions which may include an outright ban from the Ekobridge community.
Where you as a partner fail to adhere to these terms, Ekobridge retains the exclusive rights to take action which may include but not limited to suspension or outrightly termination of your partnership status, and to delete all or any such content within our community associated with you as a violating partner.
Where violation is not directly made by you as a partner, however, you identify with such violation in passive or by positive affirmation of same or you as a partner encourage violation through your actions or inactions, such violation shall be treated as if committed directly by the active or passive accenting partner and the same preceding sanctions applicable to culpable parties shall apply which includes but not limited to suspension or an outright ban from the Ekobridge Community.
PARTNERSHIP TERMS
To be a partner with Ekobridge, you must have an identifiable user account with Ekobridge.
Partners for a specified period at Ekobridge's exclusive discretion may be given the opportunity to publicise their organisations to the millions of users worldwide here on Ekobridge (the "Partnership Scheme") (term & conditions will apply).
The Partnership Scheme is solely at the discretion of Ekobridge, and Ekobridge reserves the exclusive right to terminate a Partnership Scheme without prior notice to any partner. Partnership with Ekobridge confers no right on partners to be entitled to an extension of the partnership agreement, and Ekobridge may unilaterally vitiate or terminate such partnership agreement without prior notice to partners.
The main aims of this partnership is to unite the body of Christ locally and around the world, to create a community where we stand for one another in prayer, to fellowship outside of church services, to meet the needs of the body of Christ worldwide, and to maintain an online community that helps to build and develop our knowledge and understanding of the word of God as we share the salvation of Christ with all mankind.
Submission of particulars for partnership vetting with Ekobridge does not expressly guarantee acceptance by Ekobridge of such application. Ekobridge reserves the right to reject or accept such application at its sole discretion. Where approval is granted, Ekobridge retains the express right to vitiate or subsequently reject such partnership agreement without prior notice to such partner and is not obliged to disclose its reasons for such subsequent rejection/cancellation.
All partnership initiatives conducted by Ekobridge shall be subject to Ekobridge's internal process control and dissemination discretion, and Ekobridge shall make best efforts to publicise such initiatives within the geolocation specified by the partner, but, it is not obliged to do so; when such publications are made, Ekobridge reserves the express, unequivocal and unilateral right to vary this to any extent it deems fit or totally withdraw such publication from circulation.
CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT RESTATED
1. The Tri-une God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.
2. Revelation
God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.
3. Creation of Humanity
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage,
and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God. The distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption and must not be sidelined by appeals to cultural developments.
4. The Fall
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
5. The Plan of God
We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them—all to the praise of his glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
6. The Gospel
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is Christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is ⤜Christ died for our sins . . . [and] was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).
7. The Redemption of Christ
We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
8. The Justification of Sinners
We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We believe that a zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.
9 The Power of the Holy Spirit
We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the “other” Paraclete, is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
10. The Kingdom of God
We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as our- selves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.
11. God’s New People
We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.
12. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
13. The Restoration of All Things
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.
If you have an questions or comments, please email us partners@ekobridge.com
God bless you!
EKOBRIDGE CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
Ekobridge adopts in full the Confessional Statement of The Gospel Coalition and the beliefs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God of the Redeemed Christian Church of God which are in total sync with our values and belief here in Ekobridge regarding the Gospel and the word of God; It is these shared beliefs and values that binds us all in the Ekobridge community and shall be the standard by which all users interact with and within the Ekobridge Community. These Foundation Documents were adopted by the Council of The Gospel Coalition on May 22, 2007, and revised on April 12, 2011, and used here with the permission of The Gospel Coalition (thegospelcoalition.org), Deerfield, IL 60015. The beliefs of the Redeemed Christian Church of God which we have adopted is not an endorsement by it of Ekobridge; our decision to adopt same is totally unilateral; we also unilaterally choose to identify with the Winners Chapel International Mandate. However, we emphasise we are not a movement but a community that points mankind to the true vine (Jesus - John 15:5) and together we are the branches whose identity and confidence is not linked to any one individual or group in their human capacity, rather, to the knowledge and power of who we are in Christ Jesus that our faith, hope, salvation and conviction might be firmly established in Him only and not conditioned on man who is forever imperfect.
FOR PROFESSING CHRISTIAN USERS: By signing up to Ekobridge, you acknowledge and confirm that you share these values & beliefs in your profession of faith as a Christian, breach of which, Ekobridge reserves the exclusive right in its absolute discretion to delete any offensive communication and impose user restrictions which may include an outright ban from the Ekobridge community.
FOR NON-CHRISTIAN USERS: Where you do not identify with the Christian faith at the moment, you acknowledge and unequivocally agree to respect these collective values & beliefs that govern our association in this community, and undertake not to engage in any activity, communication, representation, presentation, dissemination or any other connected or unconnected act which offends or seeks to undermine these values or beliefs, breach of which, Ekobridge reserves the exclusive right in its absolute discretion to delete such offensive communication and impose user restrictions which may include an outright ban from the Ekobridge community.
You expressly acknowledge that you share common values and beliefs and/or unequivocally agree to respect these as captured in the Confessional Statement and that you will not in any way, shape, or form, knowingly or unknowingly, engage in activities or communication contrary to these values. Where you fail to adhere to these precepts, Ekobridge retains the exclusive rights to take action which may include but not limited to, imposing user restrictions or an outrightly ban from the Ekobridge Community and delete all or any such content within our community associated with you or such content itself.
CONFESSIONAL STATEMENT
1. The Tri-une God
We believe in one God, eternally existing in three equally divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who know, love, and glorify one another. This one true and living God is infinitely perfect both in his love and in his holiness. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, and is therefore worthy to receive all glory and adoration. Immortal and eternal, he perfectly and exhaustively knows the end from the beginning, sustains and sovereignly rules over all things, and providentially brings about his eternal good purposes to redeem a people for himself and restore his fallen creation, to the praise of his glorious grace.
2. Revelation
God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel.
3. Creation of Humanity
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God’s agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. In God’s wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God. The distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption and must not be sidelined by appeals to cultural developments.
4. The Fall
We believe that Adam, made in the image of God, distorted that image and forfeited his original blessedness—for himself and all his progeny—by falling into sin through Satan’s temptation. As a result, all human beings are alienated from God, corrupted in every aspect of their being (e.g., physically, mentally, volitionally, emotionally, spiritually) and condemned finally and irrevocably to death—apart from God’s own gracious intervention. The supreme need of all human beings is to be reconciled to the God under whose just and holy wrath we stand; the only hope of all human beings is the undeserved love of this same God, who alone can rescue us and restore us to himself.
5. The Plan of God
We believe that from all eternity God determined in grace to save a great multitude of guilty sinners from every tribe and language and people and nation, and to this end foreknew them and chose them. We believe that God justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that he will one day glorify them—all to the praise of his glorious grace. In love God commands and implores all people to repent and believe, having set his saving love on those he has chosen and having ordained Christ to be their Redeemer.
6. The Gospel
We believe that the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s very wisdom. Utter folly to the world, even though it is the power of God to those who are being saved, this good news is Christological, centering on the cross and resurrection: the gospel is not proclaimed if Christ is not proclaimed, and the authentic Christ has not been proclaimed if his death and resurrection are not central (the message is ⤜Christ died for our sins . . . [and] was raised”). This good news is biblical (his death and resurrection are according to the Scriptures), theological and salvific (Christ died for our sins, to reconcile us to God), historical (if the saving events did not happen, our faith is worthless, we are still in our sins, and we are to be pitied more than all others), apostolic (the message was entrusted to and transmitted by the apostles, who were witnesses of these saving events), and intensely personal (where it is received, believed, and held firmly, individual persons are saved).
7. The Redemption of Christ
We believe that, moved by love and in obedience to his Father, the eternal Son became human: the Word became flesh, fully God and fully human being, one Person in two natures. The man Jesus, the promised Messiah of Israel, was conceived through the miraculous agency of the Holy Spirit, and was born of the virgin Mary. He perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father, lived a sinless life, performed miraculous signs, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead on the third day, and ascended into heaven. As the mediatorial King, he is seated at the right hand of God the Father, exercising in heaven and on earth all of God’s sovereignty, and is our High Priest and righteous Advocate. We believe that by his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus Christ acted as our representative and substitute. He did this so that in him we might become the righteousness of God: on the cross he canceled sin, propitiated God, and, by bearing the full penalty of our sins, reconciled to God all those who believe. By his resurrection Christ Jesus was vindicated by his Father, broke the power of death and defeated Satan who once had power over it, and brought everlasting life to all his people; by his ascension he has been forever exalted as Lord and has prepared a place for us to be with him. We believe that salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. Because God chose the lowly things of this world, the despised things, the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, no human being can ever boast before him—Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
8. The Justification of Sinners
We believe that Christ, by his obedience and death, fully discharged the debt of all those who are justified. By his sacrifice, he bore in our stead the punishment due us for our sins, making a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice on our behalf. By his perfect obedience he satisfied the just demands of God on our behalf, since by faith alone that perfect obedience is credited to all who trust in Christ alone for their acceptance with God. Inasmuch as Christ was given by the Father for us, and his obedience and punishment were accepted in place of our own, freely and not for anything in us, this justification is solely of free grace, in order that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. We believe that a zeal for personal and public obedience flows from this free justification.
9. The Power of the Holy Spirit
We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the “other” Paraclete, is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
10. The Kingdom of God
We believe that those who have been saved by the grace of God through union with Christ by faith and through regeneration by the Holy Spirit enter the kingdom of God and delight in the blessings of the new covenant: the forgiveness of sins, the inward transformation that awakens a desire to glorify, trust, and obey God, and the prospect of the glory yet to be revealed. Good works constitute indispensable evidence of saving grace. Living as salt in a world that is decaying and light in a world that is dark, believers should neither withdraw into seclusion from the world, nor become indistinguishable from it: rather, we are to do good to the city, for all the glory and honor of the nations is to be offered up to the living God. Recognizing whose created order this is, and because we are citizens of God’s kingdom, we are to love our neighbors as our- selves, doing good to all, especially to those who belong to the household of God. The kingdom of God, already present but not fully realized, is the exercise of God’s sovereignty in the world toward the eventual redemption of all creation. The kingdom of God is an invasive power that plunders Satan’s dark kingdom and regenerates and renovates through repentance and faith the lives of individuals rescued from that kingdom. It therefore inevitably establishes a new community of human life together under God.
11. God’s New People
We believe that God’s new covenant people have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem; they are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. This universal church is manifest in local churches of which Christ is the only Head; thus each “local church” is, in fact, the church, the household of God, the assembly of the living God, and the pillar and foundation of the truth. The church is the body of Christ, the apple of his eye, graven on his hands, and he has pledged himself to her forever. The church is distinguished by her gospel message, her sacred ordinances, her discipline, her great mission, and, above all, by her love for God, and by her members’ love for one another and for the world. Crucially, this gospel we cherish has both personal and corporate dimensions, neither of which may properly be overlooked. Christ Jesus is our peace: he has not only brought about peace with God, but also peace between alienated peoples. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both Jew and Gentile to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. The church serves as a sign of God’s future new world when its members live for the service of one another and their neighbors, rather than for self-focus. The church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit, and the continuing witness to God in the world.
12. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
We believe that baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ordained by the Lord Jesus himself. The former is connected with entrance into the new covenant community, the latter with ongoing covenant renewal. Together they are simultaneously God’s pledge to us, divinely ordained means of grace, our public vows of submission to the once crucified and now resurrected Christ, and anticipations of his return and of the consummation of all things.
13. The Restoration of All Things
We believe in the personal, glorious, and bodily return of our Lord Jesus Christ with his holy angels, when he will exercise his role as final Judge, and his kingdom will be consummated. We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust—the unjust to judgment and eternal conscious punishment in hell, as our Lord himself taught, and the just to eternal blessedness in the presence of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb, in the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness. On that day the church will be presented faultless before God by the obedience, suffering and triumph of Christ, all sin purged and its wretched effects forever banished. God will be all in all and his people will be enthralled by the immediacy of his ineffable holiness, and everything will be to the praise of his glorious grace.