Ask Pastor Jonathan: What Are the Fundamental, or Essential, Doctrines of the Christian Faith?

Introduction:

We are back with another question for this summer. This question seems elementary at first. Yet, it is often the easy questions that are the hardest to answer!

What are the fundamental, or essential, doctrines of the Christian faith.

Let’s pray as we start breaking this question down.

Prayer

I think that there are two layers to this question. The first is:

What doctrinal understanding is required in order for someone to come to a saving knowledge of Christ?

This question can be answered by one of the Scriptures that we ended our last question on - namely the thief on the cross.

Luke 23:40–41 ESV

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Luke 23:42–43 ESV

And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In this Scripture, we see that the thief on the cross recognized a handful of truths.

1 - He recognized that he was a sinner.

This is the first requirement for one to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The very phrase ‘to be saved’ understands that there is something to be saved from. One must understand that he is a sinner and needs saved from the judgment of hell in order to be saved.

2- He repented of his sin.

We see in the parallel Gospel accounts that both men had hurled insults upon Jesus early on. This man turned from his sin, however.

3 - He believed in Jesus Christ for salvation.

After repenting, he placed his faith and trust in Christ as evidenced by his assurance that Christ had the power to save him.

His understanding of Christ was likely not perfect. However, above Jesus read a sign that He was the King of the Jews. This thief would have likely understood Jesus’s claim of deity - that He was God and the Son of God.

So in summary, this short interchange lets us know the essentials necessary for salvation.

You must recognize that you are a sinner. You must repent, or turn from your sin. And you must place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord.

For teaching clarification purposes - we must also understand the power of God in salvation as well.

Salvation is always a supernatural event. Jesus teaches us in John 6:44 that one cannot come to Christ unless he is drawn by the Father. So we see the workings of God in every lost soul being saved.

But now will will get to the other side of this question. Assuming one is saved, what are the essential doctrines of the faith. In other words, what determines whether someone is orthodox in the faith or not.

This is where this question gets much more difficult. Yet, this question becomes a little more simple when looking at the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message. This doctrinal statement of the SBC is a great statement of faith that unites the Southern Baptist Convention. It is broken into 18 different sections. Not all of them would be considered essential doctrines of Christianity, but they are all important however. I am going to list the ones that should be considered essential for orthodox Christian faith.

1 - The Inerrancy of the Scriptures

The understanding of sola scriptura - or Scripture alone - is key for a correct understanding of Who God is and what His will is. Without this foundation, there is no guidance for the rest of Christian faith. We must understand that the Scriptures are the Word of God - not the word of man (2 Peter 1:19-21, Hebrews 1:1-2, Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:15-17).

2 - A Correct Understanding of God

We must be able to rightly relate to God. We must understand that He is one God with three Persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Under this subheading, one must also understand Jesus correctly - namely that He was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, was crucified and buried, and rose again. One must understand as listed above - that salvation is found in Christ alone (Acts 4:12, John 14:6).

3 - A Right Understanding of the Sinfulness of Man

Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, and sin has continued in our world ever since. As Romans 3:10-18 asserts, no one is good - not even one. Apart from salvation in Jesus Christ, righteousness is unattainable.

4 - A Right Understanding of Salvation

This was already explained above.

5 - The Need for the Church

Some might scoff at my inclusion of this essential. Yet, God directly commands believers to gather together in Hebrews 10:25. The gathering of believers in the church is necessary for spiritual growth, protection, and encouragement so that we may persevere.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 clearly articulates the need for the church as well. We are told that the church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head, and we are all parts of the body. The different parts of the body of Christ must work together in order to accomplish His mission on this earth.

6 - Baptism and Lord’s Supper

These two ordinances are commanded in the Scriptures. They also show the importance for the local church as well as these are to take place in the local church body.

7 - The Last Things

Although some may disagree with specifics regarding eschatology (the study of end times), we must agree that Jesus is coming back. He said He was coming back and one must believe this in order to be orthodox in the faith.

8 - A Right Understanding of Evangelism and Missions

Believers must make it a priority to evangelize and support missions. A right understanding of salvation as well as a right understanding of the sinfulness of man and the coming judgment warrants that we spread the Gospel as commanded by Christ (Matthew 28:18-20).

9 - A Right Understanding of Biblical Holiness

This is a broad brush statement that encompasses Biblical sexuality, righteous living, and obedience to the commands of Jesus. As John 14:15 asserts:

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

There are many other important teachings of the faith that we could mention here. However, I think that these 9 pillars make up the foundational or essential Christian doctrines of orthodox believers. There are certainly other very important doctrines. However, these summarize the foundational truths necessary for a true believer to understand and put into practice.

Thanks for listening, and I pray that this has been helpful. Have a wonderful day.