Essential Christian Beliefs
The following is a list of five essential beliefs taught in the Bible. These have been believed by the Christian church since the 1st Century. Understanding these beliefs can be helpful for discerning if a group believes the truth. They also can help in understanding some of the truths God has revealed about Himself.
The five beliefs can be memorized by using the acrostic, DARTS.
D - the DEITY of Jesus Christ
A - the vicarious (substitutionary) ATONEMENT
R - the bodily RESURRECTION
T - the TRINITY
S - SALVATION by grace alone through faith alone
D - the DEITY of Jesus Christ
Jesus is God. He is the Son of God (also God the Son). He has always been God and will always be God.
A belief that necessarily is attached to this is the virgin birth of Jesus. If Jesus was born by normal husband-wife relations, He could only be human. But having been conceived by the Holy Spirit (Who is God) in a miraculous way, He is also God. He is both God and man.
Mt 1:18-20; Lu 1:35-36; Jn 1:1-2, 18; 5:17-18; 7:29; 8:24, 54, 58; 10:32-34; 17:3; 20:28; 2 Pet 1:1; Titus 1:2-4; 2:10-13; 3:4-6; Col 2:9; Isa 9:6; Phil 2:6-11; Heb 1:1-12; Rev 1:8, 17-18, 2:8; 11:15-17; 21:6; 22:12-16
A - the vicarious (substitutionary) ATONEMENT
Jesus died in the place of sinners. He took the penalty of sinners upon Himself by being the sinless sacrifice as the payment to God for sin.
By His sacrifice, Jesus appeased God's just penalty for sin and made it possible for the sinner to be reconciled with God.
Jn 1:17; Rom 3:22-26; 4:24,25; 5:1; Heb 9:26,28; 10:10-14; I Jn 2:2; 4:10
R - the bodily RESURRECTION
Jesus rose in the same body in which He died. New life was given to the dead body.
Note: the term "resurrection" means the restoration of a dead body to life.
Lu 24:13-49; Jn 20:19-29; 21:1-24; Acts 1:2-8; 1 Cor 15:4-8
T - the TRINITY
There is only one God; He consists of three persons*, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each exists with all the attributes unique to God.
* Note: the term 'persons' as used here does not refer to "humans." Rather, it refers to the ability to communicate with another. Each of the three Persons of the one God can relate to the other two Persons and with those whom God has created.
The three Persons are distinct, but they are not separate. Since they are distinct, we do not want to confuse them - the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. Since they are one God, we do not want to separate (divide) them into more than one being.
Is this confusing? It need not be. Though in its entirety, the nature of the infinite God is beyond our finite ability to comprehend, we can have a limited, but correct, understanding of the basic truths (such as the ones mentioned in the above paragraphs) that God has revealed to us in the Bible about Himself.
Here are two historical definitions of the Biblical teaching of the Trinity.
neither confounding the Persons,
nor dividing the essence."
"Within the nature of the one true God,
there are three Persons:
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
They are coequal and coeternal.
Moreover, they are of the same essence and glory
- that is, their nature being divine."
Only one God - Isa 43:10; 1 Cor 8:4-6; 1 Thess 1:9; 1 Tim 2:5; Deut 6:4; Isa 41:4 with 44:6; Isa 41:8 and 48:12, 16; Rev. 1:1-8, 17-18; 2:8; 11:15-17; 21:6; 22:12-16
3 Persons - Matt 3:16-17 (Lu 3:22); 28:19-20; Jn 14:15-16; 15:26; 11:41-42; Acts 2:38; Rom 1:7; 8:27; 8:33-34; Gen 1:26; Isa 6:8; I Jn 2:1
S - SALVATION by grace alone through faith alone
As a sinner, every human is unworthy to be saved. As a sinner, every human owes an enormous and eternal debt for sin. A sinner can never do enough good deeds to pay for the debt of even one sin against the infinite God. Thus, salvation of a sinner can only be an undeserved gift - by grace (giving something good that is not deserved).
When a person turns away from sin and turns toward Jesus Christ in faith, God gives the gift of forgiveness and salvation.
Titus 3:5; Eph 2:8-10
These truths are inseparable from each other, for example:
- Jesus can be sinless only if He is God.
- Jesus could pay the great price for sinners only if He is sinless and is God.
- Jesus could have raised Himself from death only if He is God.
- Jesus could resurrect in a physical body only if He had a body (was a human) when He died.
- Since Jesus has already made the payment for sin, we cannot do anything to be saved. Salvation must be a gift given by the grace of God and received through faith in Jesus.
- Jesus came and died as the payment for sin because we are unable and unworthy to offer anything to contribute to our salvation.
- Since Jesus is God, His perfect love motivated Him to die as the substitute for sinners.
- Since Jesus is God and has perfect wisdom, He knew that His substitutionary death was the only way for sinners to receive forgiveness.
- Since Jesus raised Himself from death, there is sufficient reason to believe He is God.
- Since Jesus was able to raise Himself from death, He is able to resurrect those who are forgiven.
To read more about how to be saved, read the article entitled, "How to Go to Perfect Peace."
