What are the essential doctrines of Christianity?  Â
- Reconciliation: God has reconciled all humanity to Himself through Jesus Christ, inviting everyone to turn away from evil and receive forgiveness. [1]
- The Holy Spirit: The Spirit brings people to repentance and faith, assuring believers they are God’s children and shaping them to be like Jesus. [1]
- Authority of the Bible: The Holy Scriptures are the inspired, infallible Word of God and provide full authority for salvation and faith. [1]
- Salvation by Grace: Salvation is a free gift from God received through faith in Jesus Christ, not earned by human works. [1]
- Future Resurrection: Christians look forward to the final resurrection of the dead and eternal life to come. [1]
From the GCI article, The Importance of Doctrine, by Joseph Tkach …
Our church also has a Statement of Beliefs, developed through much discussion in our doctrinal team. This provides a list of basic doctrines. It doesn’t include everything, but even our Statement of Beliefs is longer than a list of what is essential to Christian faith. We have therefore developed a shorter list of essential beliefs, which we call a Doctrinal Summary. These are the core doctrines. These could form the basis for a series of sermons, and would provide a stable doctrinal foundation. Here is the Doctrinal Summary:
We believe:
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- There is one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- God the Father made all things through the Son, sent the Son for our salvation, and gives us the Holy Spirit.
- The Son of God, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, was born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully human, and is the perfect revelation of the Father and the perfect representative of humanity. He suffered and died on the cross for all human sin, was raised bodily on the third day, and ascended to heaven. Standing in for all humanity before the Father, Jesus Christ provides the perfect human response to God. Since he died for all, all died in him, and all will be made alive in him.Â
- The Holy Spirit brings sinners to repentance and faith, assures believers of their forgiveness and acceptance as God’s dearly loved children, and works in them to conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.
- The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God that testifies to Jesus Christ. The Bible is fully authoritative for all matters of faith and salvation.
- Salvation comes only by God’s grace and not by works, and it is experienced through faith in Jesus Christ. Christians respond to the joy of salvation when they gather in regular fellowship and live godly lives in Jesus Christ.
- We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come.
Friends, I hope that these doctrines never become boring and never seem irrelevant. Granted, we human speakers can sometimes make them sound boring and irrelevant, but the doctrines themselves are vital for us all. These are short and inspiring doctrines. I am thankful that God has given his truth that is worth teaching again and again, as we follow the Teacher, Jesus Christ.
Author: Joseph Tkach