5 Essential Christian Doctrines or Beliefs

There are certain core beliefs that cannot be trimmed down, short-cut, or glossed over. They are non-negotiable.  I have been thinking about this since my last post and the responses I got to it. After doing some research and some thinking I think I've come up with a pretty good answer to what those core beliefs are. A quick Google search of the terms, “core Christian beliefs” will give you web sites listing 10, 12, 25 or more beliefs. Some are statements of belief like the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed, others are lists of individual doctrines and scriptural passages that support them. I would propose that there are five core beliefs that cannot be compromised; The inerrancy of the Bible, the deity of Christ, man's sinful nature and need of salvation, Christ's death for our sins and resurrection, and that salvation is by grace through faith.

If we don't believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God then we have no basis for our faith. The book we have today was written over a period of approximately 1,600 years by around 40 different people, and yet it is internally consistent. The Old Testament is extremely accurate, and the New Testament is 99% accurate. Most of the differences that make up the remaining 1% are misspellings or word order changes. Beyond that we have the record of many of those who were eyewitnesses to the events written about in the New Testament who went to their deaths proclaiming it to be true.

The fact that so many were willing to die for what they knew to be true is very strong evidence that not only has the Bible been handed down accurately, but that what is contained in it is also true. Internally the Bible has its own proofs of divine inspiration. There are about (depending on how you count) 40 Old Testament Prophesies that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ as one example. The combined proof leaves little doubt as to the inspired nature of the Bible and the truth it contains. Implicit in this belief is that no other writing has the same authority as the Bible, and no person or organization has the unique ability to interpret the Bible.

The fact that Jesus was at once fully human and also fully God is another core belief that cannot be compromised if one is to call himself a Christian. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis; you cannot say that Jesus was just a wise and moral teacher. He was either a madman or He was what He claimed to be, God. In John 8:24 Jesus says, “...if you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” John also writes In Philippians 2:5-8 that Christ was both God and man. Though there are many heresies that denied that Christ was God, questioned his humanity, or some combination of these two, it is a recognized precept of Christianity that he was both God and man at the same time. Intertwined with this is the doctrine of the Trinity, or the Triune nature of God (I wont try to explain this, the provided link has a good overview).

Man is sinful and in need of salvation. The Bible says that "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) I fail to see how this can be argued with or denied, perhaps due to a lack of imagination on my part. Even neglecting to doctrine of Original Sin there is no doubt that all of us fall short. If you are in doubt, a quick read through the Sermon on the Mount should clear that up for you. Yet, there is hope because the Bible also tells us, "[T]he wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) This leads nicely into the next core belief.

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived for about 33 years, was crucified under Pontius Pilot, died and was buried, and rose bodily from the grave and ascended into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand of God, and he will return to Earth one day. This is attested to by all four Gospels and also, in whole or part, by near contemporary non-believers such as Flavius Josephus and many other sources. While none of these non-Biblical sources gives a complete history or understanding of the life of Christ this should not be a surprise. A small religious sect in a backwater of the Roman Empire would hardly rate much mention at the time. The fact that there is any mention in these remaining writings is significant.

Beyond the historicity of Christ and the factual events, the meaning of those events is also vital for Christians to believe. His death was the penultimate sacrifice to atone for our sins. He died the death that we all deserve for our sins, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) Christ’s death was payment for our sin, in advance.

Salvation is by grace through faith alone. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." He also writes in Romans 10:9 that if someone will say, “Jesus is Lord”, and they believe that God raised Him from the dead they would be saved. Paul took this right from Jesus’ own words(see cross reference). We cannot be good enough nor do enough “right” things to save ourselves. (Romans 3:20, 28)

I think that I have covered the minimum set of beliefs that almost every Christian denomination would require a person to understand and agree with. I have no theological training whatsoever, so, as an amateur I welcome comments, complaints, and constructive criticism. 

* Edits in bold 

Salvation, a beginning not the end

If you've gone to an evangelical Church for any length of time, read any books by Bible believing Christians, or listened to/watched much current Christian radio or television you have heard people give their testimony. If you aren't quite sure what that term means, it's the person's salvation story. How they came to believe in Jesus as their personal savior. I have had the opportunity to hear quite a few and to give mine a few times. Most times they follow a similar pattern; either they were saved as a child or they spent years living a life of dissipation and then found God. The narrative ends shortly after their salvation event. This tends to give the wrong picture of what it means to be a Christian.

Telling about ones life prior to salvation can help to show, as yet, unbelievers that we Christians used to be just like them, lost. There is value in this, that's for certain. However, I think by not continuing the story we do a disservice to our audience. Finding your way to salvation is a very good thing, but it's only the first, very short, act of a very long play. I feel that where we have gone from that point and what we have learned is something that needs to be told as well. Without that part of the story it makes it sound like once you saved you are done, everything after that just comes naturally. Salvation is as much the beginning of a story as it is the end.

If it is the beginning of a journey, then there must be a goal at the end and trials along the way. Sometimes it becomes difficult to keep our focus on the direction we should be heading. There are just so many distractions in our lives.  Even in the "Church" part there are always programs, studies, sermon series that can distract us.  I know I find myself needing guidance, a roadmap so to speak sometimes. I would like to suggest reading The Sermon on the Mount at these times. It is three chapters of “red letter” instructions on how we should think and act as Christ followers.

I think more time spent applying this to our lives will go a long way to improving our walk with Christ, helping to guide us and giving us a way of measuring our progress. This cannot help but improve the testimony we give others by the example of our lives. It's application to our lives and our struggles/successes with the guidance laid down in The Sermon should be something we share with others as well.  We all need to be reminded that God's work in us began at our salvation and that we all have a long way to go.