Apologist Nancy Pearcey, in her book Finding Truth, describes a worldview as an “explanation of those inescapable, unavoidable facts of experience accessible to all people, in all cultures, across all periods of history.” The Christian worldview explains that God has chosen to make himself known to humanity through all he has made. “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).

The gravity that holds us to the earth isn’t a social construct. The sun, which gives us light and warms our faces, is not an illusion. And the desire for wrongs to be made right isn’t derived from a test tube. The purposeful design of creation points to an intentional creator. And the implication is that the Creator is our moral authority as well. As Pearcey notes, “No matter how hard people work to suppress their knowledge of God, creation itself keeps challenging them.”

One worldview that suppresses the knowledge of God’s authority is secular humanism. Secular humanists view issues of morality and justice as problems to be solved apart from God’s intervention. Such people are predominately unified in their belief that the critical intelligence of humanity is enough, without seeking any aid from God or the Scriptures. “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Rom. 1:22).

“The tragedy of the last hundred years has been due to the fallacy of imagining that you could shed Christian doctrine but hold on to Christian ethics.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones summarizes it this way: “The tragedy of the last hundred years has been due to the fallacy of imagining that you could shed Christian doctrine but hold on to Christian ethics.” As seen in human secularism, borrowing from God entails just that: the dismissal of God and a denial of biblical authority. Foregoing God’s authority means abandoning his leadership. And neglecting God’s leadership equates to choosing a counterfeit option of justice and freedom.

Romans 1

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, ³ concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴ and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you ¹⁰ always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— ¹² that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. ¹⁵ So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³² Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

When we read not to follow the “desires of the flesh” in Galatians 5:16-26, it’s incredibly necessary to understand that Paul is not blaming the physical body. We were made human, by God, as a body and soul (Genesis 1). Both are important!

To quote Christian Apologist, Francis Schaeffer, from his book “Escape from Reason:”

“The soul is not more important than the body. God made the whole man & the whole man is important. The doctrine of bodily resurrection of the dead is not an old fashion thing. It tells us that God loves the whole man & the whole man is important.”

Francis Schaeffer

Paul isn’t blaming our bodies as the source of our sinful nature, but instead points out that our bodies and thoughts either follow the direction of the Holy Spirit, or we choose the old sinful nature by which we, as Believers and new creations in Jesus, are no longer controlled. With this in view, the flesh in this chapter most often refers to “sinful desires,” not the body. Please check this out for yourself.

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine powerto demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Friends, God wants to renew our minds, not bypass them. This is critical! Our feelings shouldn’t lead our thinking, but should rather follow right thinking about God and relation to Him. We are not to lean upon our own understanding (Proverbs 3), nor are we to follow our hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). We are to walk by the guidance of God through His Holy Spirit. And friends, the Holy Spirit will never contradict God’s Word (Scriptures). If you have a vision or experience which is emotionally significant…Check it alongside the Scriptures (1 John 1:4; 1 Thes 5:21). Emotions are fickle and the heart is a deep, deep well. Please don’t build your life upon the shifting sands of fickle,…following every whim, and appeasing every desire. Slow down. Pray. And bathe your mind in Truth (Scripture). What you know to be true is the One Who is True (John 14:6). Follow Him… His Word points to Him, and is all about Him (Luke 24:44-47).

Galatians 5

 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

² Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

⁷ You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? ⁸ This persuasion is not from him who calls you. ⁹ A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰ I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹ But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹² I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Will our pastors make mistakes? Indeed! They are human, after-all.

And we will error as well, Sisters!

So what do we do when a fellow brother or sister in Christ needs correction? Galatians 2 really speaks to this important inquiry for all of us.

You see, if Peter, a man who walked and talked with God in the flesh (Jesus), would need corrected by another brother (Paul),…we most certainly will too at various times in our lives.

As demonstrated for us in Galatians 2, Peter needed a lovingly bold correction. It’s necessary to reiterate that this will be the case for all of us…whether providing the correction respectfully, or receiving it, as Peter did, humbly.

How should we correct one another?

Jesus viewed the Scriptures as the Word of God, assigning authority to the Scriptures (Mt 5:17-18; 22:29; Lk 24:44; Jn 545-47). And therefore as Christians, we need to have the same view of the Scriptures. To downplay the authority of Scripture is placing too much authority into human hands, allowing for the heart tendency to pleasing man to supersede the preaching of the Word (2 Tim 4:2).

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Without Correction and Repentance…

Without providing loving correction when needed, with repentance as a fruitful response, both syncretism of other worldview practices could gain prominence. Holding fast to the teachings of Jesus as shared through all of the Scriptures is Paul’s plea in Galatians 2, 1 Corinthians 15:1-2, and 1 Thessalonians 5:21. If we don’t hold fast to God’s Words to us, we will hold fast to…and prioritize…the words of the culture.

To quote pastor Grant Castleberry: “The world is secularizing so quickly. The churches and religious institutions that feel the need to also secularize in order to win the world and “meet the needs of the day” will actually do the opposite. They will become theologically and morally irreverent. They will become spiritual wastelands, from which Christ removes His lamp stand. They will become religious shadows from which only God’s judgment echoes.

The world doesn’t need a Christianized version of itself. It needs an authentic Christianity that proclaims the truth without apology. An Unashamed Gospel. A Christ that loves sinners and calls them to repentance. A community of saints who are willing to follow Christ despite the world’s reproach. That’s the Christianity the world needs. Because it is true Christianity.”

Both giving and receiving correction is an inevitable part of our walk as Christians. We are all sinners saved by the Grace of God alone… to hold fast to this reality is important (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Galatians 2

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. ² I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. ³ But not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴ This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. ⁵ But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.

⁶ Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)—they added nothing to me. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, ⁸ since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. ⁹ When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ They asked only that we would remember the poor,which I had made every effort to do.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

Paul (v 2:20-21)

Freedom from the Law

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. ¹² For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. ¹³ Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to livelike Jews?” ¹⁵ We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” ¹⁶ and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the lawbut by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. ¹⁷ But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing

“An earlier report from the American Worldview Inventory 2022 showed that just 37% of Christian pastors have a biblical worldview, with the predominant worldview among pastors (62%) being syncretism, a hybrid mixture of disparate worldview elements blended into a customized philosophy of life.

According to this latest report, the widespread absence of biblical worldview among American pastors is resulting in eroding beliefs in areas as basic as salvation through Jesus Christ, the nature of God, the sinful condition of human beings, and the existence of objective truth.

As Barna notes, ‘Our survey demonstrates that large numbers of pastors have abandoned even the most basic and hallowed biblical teachings for ideas that now permeate our culture.’” To read more of this article, click here.

Per the research conducted Arizona Christian and Barna, we are in a time (foreknown by God) of hearts seeking for truth in the midst of a culture told that there is no absolute truth. And tragically, Biblical literacy is immense. Instead of teaching all of God’s Word, as it is written, many pastors are running to pragmatic (doing whatever seems helpful in the moment) attempts to fill the seats. And what might have begun as a means to share the gospel (the gimmicks), soon take over.

“The church is always to be under the Word; she must be; we must keep her there. You must not assume that because the church started correctly, she will continue so. She did not do so in the New Testament times; she has not done so since. Without being constantly reformed by the Word the church becomes something very different.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Shared below is all of Acts 19, Luke’s record of Paul’s 3 month visit to Ephesus. During that season in Ephesus, it was witnessed and documented that Paul had been defending (apologia) the Gospel of God with anyone who would listen. One group who turned an ear were a group of Jewish exorcists. They were in awe of what God was doing through Paul in that place, and later came to an accurate understanding of Jesus as Lord! But these exorcists didn’t continue their magic arts! They didn’t baptize them with Christian-ese, calling them “Gospel Centered” magic. No…Per the ESV Study Bible, these men rejected their old ways, turned from their syncretism, and worshipped God alone…Literally burning their magic books publicly. Nearly $6 million worth of materials! Being followers of the risen Lord was worth the cost!

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”

Philippians 3:7-9

As G.K. Chesterton wisely noted, “Standing in a garage no more makes someone a car than going to church makes one a Christian.” Going to church doesn’t change us, the Holy Spirit does. And how He changes us is through the cross. To understand what Christianity is and why we cannot combine other belief systems, we need to be reading the Scriptures…as God’s Word guides us and teaches us about these things! Please watch at least one of the videos shared below featuring Greg Koukl, pertaining to his book, “The Story of Reality.” I highly recommend it!! It helps iron-out why syncretism isn’t possible when it comes to Christianity.

Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

1 Kings 8:21

Sisters, with all of this in view, we need to praying fervently for our pastors and elders, daily! For they are not only exhausted, but under attack by their old sin nature, the culture, and the enemy. Prayer matters! God’s lead, matters! Because a bigger church does not always equate to a pure one.

Acts 19 (CSB)

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples ² and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

“No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ “Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them.

“Into John’s baptism,” they replied.

⁴ Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵ When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues^[a] and to prophesy. ⁷ Now there were about twelve men in all.

In the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus

⁸ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples, and conducted discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

Demonism Defeated at Ephesus

¹¹ God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, ¹² so that even facecloths or aprons^[b] that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

¹³ Now some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ When this became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, they became afraid, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high esteem.

¹⁸ And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, ¹⁹ while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ In this way the word of the Lord spread and prevailed.

The Riot in Ephesus

²¹ After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit^[c] to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.” ²² After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³ About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way. ²⁴ For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen. ²⁵ When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. ²⁶ You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods. ²⁷ Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸ When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. ³⁰ Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. ³¹ Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture^[d] into the amphitheater. ³² Some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander^[e] after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great^[f] Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? ³⁶ Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our^[g] goddess. ³⁸ So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰ In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.” ⁴¹ After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

“I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.”

Paul to the Church in Rome (Romans 16:17)

Romans 16

Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. ¹¹ Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. ¹² Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. ¹⁵ Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. ¹⁹ For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

²¹ Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.

²² I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.

²³ Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

²⁵ Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages ²⁶ but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— ²⁷ to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

What are the Core Beliefs of Christianity?

The Article below was written by Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason on 2/20/2013

https://www.str.org/w/essential-christian-doctrines

A list of the key elements of Christianity

What are the essential doctrines of the Christian faith? There are differences of opinion throughout the history of the church on this issue. For example, you might find a different group of doctrines at different times from the Catholic Church than you might from a Protestant church. As a matter of fact, as I understand it, believing in the primacy of the Catholic Church was an essential doctrine at one time. Now, not only need you not believe in that, but you don’t even need to believe in any of these six doctrines I’ll list to go to heaven now according to Catholic doctrine. I’m just making the observation that there are differences of opinion abut what is an essential doctrine. I’ll give you what I believe are the essential doctrines, and I will give you the verses that I believe support them.

The first one is that you must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him in order to please God (Hebrews 11). But of course, it is clear that it is not enough to believe just in God and leave it at that because the First Commandment condemns those who have other gods before them other than the true God. So the first essential doctrine is that you must believe in God as He is in Himself. You must have an accurate picture about the fundamental nature of God. I think that entails the Trinity. You cannot deny the nature of God, the God of the Scripture, and still call yourself a Christian. In John 4:24 Jesus says, “God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Must. Exodus 20:2,3 says, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

The God of the Bible is a triune God, one God in three Persons. Jesus seems to hint at the necessity of that in John 8 when he says, “Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.” He might have meant, You must believe that I am He (i.e. the Messiah), but it looks like it was probably a reference to His deity because later on He uses the same language and makes a very clear reference to His deity when he says, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” You must believe in God as He is in Himself and He is a Trinity.

Secondly, you have to believe in Jesus as He is in Himself. That entails believing in the deity of Christ and His full humanity. One reason that I can say this is because the Scripture makes distinctions between another Jesus and the true Jesus. It does this in 2 Corinthians, and I believe Galatians does as well. There are at least two places that warn against another Jesus. Galatians refers to another gospel.

So there is Jesus and then there is another Jesus. The Jesus who is an incarnation of the angel Michael is not the Jesus of the Scriptures, but the Jesus of the Watchtower Society. The Jesus who is the spirit brother of Lucifer is not the Jesus of the Scriptures and of salvation, but it is the Jesus of Mormonism. The Jesus who is a Hindu guru is not the Jesus of the Scriptures, but the Jesus of the New Age movement. You cannot believe in these other Jesuses and be saved because you believe in someone who can’t save you.

There is an issue of theology general in the Trinity and an issue of Christology.

Third, you must also believe the bodily resurrection. Paul makes the comment in I Corinthians 15, “If the dead are not raised and Christ is in the grave, our faith is worthless. We are still in our sins and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” Romans 10:9 says very clearly, “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”

What is the resurrection that is referred to here? It is the bodily resurrection, not a spiritual resurrection because a spiritual resurrection is not a resurrection. In a spiritual resurrection nothing is resurrected. A resurrection is when something is revivified, resuscitated, re-surrected. It is done again. The body that was once dead is now alive. It may be that the body has some qualities that are changed, but the original body is the body that is raised. That’s the bodily resurrection. When you say a spiritual resurrection, the spiritual resurrection is not a resurrection. Only a bodily resurrection is a real resurrection.

Fourth, you must believe in man’s fallenness and culpability. This follows from the gospel message. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Frankly, the issue of salvation is that you get forgiven because you’ve sinned. If you say you haven’t sinned and man has no sin and hasn’t fallen, 1 John 1 says that you’ve called God a liar and you are still in your sins. Man in guilty. He may not even feel guilty of certain things, but guilt is not a feeling. Guilt is a judicial reality. If we say that we have not sinned, then the truth is not in us and we call God a liar. Romans 11:32 says, “God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.” Because of the gospel message, if you don’t acknowledge the bad news, you can’t make use of the good news. The bad news is that we have sinned and are guilty before God.

Fifth, salvation is by grace through faith. You must believe in the substitutionary atonement. Romans 11:6 says, “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works otherwise grace is no longer grace.” “This is the work that we are to do, believe in Him whom He has sent,” Jesus says in John 6. We are saved by grace through faith in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. There are quite a number of verses that make that point that Jesus is the only way. This is probably the best substantiated of all of these.

Those are the usual five you get on a list: the Trinity, the deity and humanity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, salvation by grace through faith.

Sometimes people add the Scriptures. You’ve got to believe that the Bible is inspired. That is not essential doctrine, although I would consider the authority of Scripture is a functional necessity because without it none of the other truth could be affirmed or asserted with confidence. Once you get rid of the authority of Scripture, the other ones fall one by one like dominoes. I’ve added man’s fallenness and culpability because it seems to be a necessary qualifier for the gospel, although most don’t include that on other lists.

I will tell you another essential doctrine that the Scripture makes very, very clear that I have never seen included on a list. You must believe that Jesus is the Messiah. If you repudiate such a notion, you cannot be saved. By the way, whenever the word “Christ” appears in the New Testament, that is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew word meshiac. Christ is the Greek for Messiah. When the Bible says “Jesus the Christ” it means Jesus the Messiah. Whenever it says Jesus Christ—by the way, Christ isn’t Jesus’ last name, that’s His title—it means Messiah. 1 John 2:22 says, “Who is the liar, but the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, the one who confesses the Son has the Father.” That’s pretty clear. 1 John 4:2 says, “By this you know the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Messiah has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of Antichrist.” 2 John 7 says, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Messiah as coming in the flesh, this is the deceiver and the Antichrist.”

The Scripture has no kind words for people who repudiate the Messiahship of Christ. A very strong conclusion can be drawn from this. The New Testament teaches that Jews who repudiate Jesus as the Messiah do not ultimately have a love for the Father. That is not my opinion. That is the opinion of the Apostle John, and it is also the opinion of Jesus Christ. “You have rejected Me because the love of the Father is not in you.” Those are strong words.

Someone could say, How can you say that about Jews? You don’t know all the Jews. No, I don’t. God does. This is not my opinion. To be honest with you, I don’t personally like this particular teaching. If it were up to me, I would change it. But it’s not up to me. It is not my opinion. I don’t like it, but there it is. It is God’s opinion. And if we are people who hold the Bible to be revelatory on the issue of salvation, then we cannot at the same time be people who acknowledge that nice people who are Jewish but reject Jesus as Messiah find their way into heaven. That is not in the Bible. If we say that, we are saying something that is contrary to the biblical teaching. The Bible makes it clear that an essential doctrine is a belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

The six essential doctrines would be: the Trinity, the deity and humanity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, man’s fallenness and guilt, salvation by grace through faith by the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and belief that Jesus is the Messiah. And you have a seventh doctrine that strikes me as a functional necessity, that is the ultimate authority of Scripture without which none of the other truths can be affirmed or asserted with confidence.

By the way, it’s really important that people know these doctrines because many Christians are quite kindhearted and they end up not being very careful about drawing distinctions between truth and falsity because they don’t want to disagree. I understand that. But if you were really kindhearted then you would be honest and straight-forward with people about the demands of the gospel on their lives. The demand of the gospel is that you believe particular things to be true. It’s not just a matter of mere belief, as if these are just some incidental details of theology that you might happen to be mistaken about. And if you just happen to be mistaken, why should you go to hell because of that?

You don’t go to hell because you just happen to mistake a doctrine. You go to hell because you have broken God’s law. It is very critical to understand that. God only judges guilty people. People get judged by God not because they mess up on their theology but because they are guilty. People who are guilty get condemned. That’s it. There is a way to get around that but you’ve to know a couple of particular things that are true before you can take advantage of the forgiveness God offers. That’s where the essential doctrines come in.

The following is a message was written by Christian Apologist, Ken Ham, via Twitter on April 20, 2023:

Who made God?

I have many secularists mock at me as a Christian for believing in an eternal God. They’ve asked me the question “so who made God?” They then claim it doesn’t make sense to believe in an eternal God.

I do give them an answer, but then I ask them about what they believe.

So, what is the answer to the question who made God? The Bible makes it clear that God exists in eternity. He has always existed. He didn’t have a beginning. There are many verses of Scripture that attest to the fact that God is everlasting, eternal:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28).

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2).

“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17).

“The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).

At a conference once I had a young boy about ten years of age come up and ask me, “sir if God created us, who created God?” How do you answer that question for a young child?

I then said to him, “if someone made God then you would have to have a bigger God.” The boy replied, “Yes Sir,” I said, “but now you have a problem, who made the bigger God? You would then need a bigger bigger God who made the bigger God who made God.” I then said, “now you have a problem.” The boy said, “I know.” I then went on, “who made the bigger bigger God? Now you would need a bigger, bigger, bigger God who made the bigger bigger God who made the bigger God who made God.” The young boy understood. We could keep going back with bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger forever and then have to keep going. The only thing that make sense is you would have to have the biggest God of all, the infinite, eternal God of the bible. The only one true God who has always existed. He had no beginning.

Now that is difficult, really impossible for us to understand because we are created finite beings. The space, mass, time universe we live in was created. We think in terms of everything having a beginning because we are finite beings who had a beginning. This means there will always be a faith aspect to understanding who God is. We can’t scientifically prove God exists because we don’t have all information, only God does. That why God’s Word states, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

However it’s important to understand this is not blind faith. It’s a faith that makes sense of what we observe in this world, and observational science in many ways (that’s for another post) confirms this faith over and over again. The history recorded in the bible makes sense of the evidence we observe in the present in biology, geology, astronomy, and so on.

Note that when you begin reading the first book of the bible it states, “In the beginning God…”. In other words, God’s word starts with God. He exists. He was NOT created. God’s Word doesn’t set out to prove God exists, it states God exists! He is and as He quotes states over and over again in Scirpture, “I am.”

I explain all that to secularists, and that about the faith aspect, when they ask me that question about who made God, but then I ask them questions.

After my debate with Bill Nye in 2014, we took questions that were submitted by audience members. One of the questions came from a young boy who asked, “where did matter come from.” Bill Nye responded, “I don’t know, it’s a great mystery.” I answered, “There is a book [the bible] that tells us where matter came from.”

Atheists may mock at Christians for believing in an eternal God, but what do they believe? Where did matter come from? Why does anything exist? Where did energy come from? Why does time exist? Why does space exist? Is matter eternal? Did matter suddenly come from nowhere for no reason? They have no answers! They can have all sorts of opinions and beliefs but the bottom line is they have no definitive answer at all.

I remember atheist Richard Dawkins claiming the possibility life was seeded on earth by aliens from outer space. Obviously, atheists can’t explain how life on earth could arise from matter by chance random processes, so one of their ways around this is to claim life came from outer space. All they did was shift the origin of life on earth to another planet. But then we could ask where the aliens from another planet that seeded life on earth came from? Well, maybe other aliens seeded life on that planet to become aliens to seed life on earth. But then where did the aliens that seeded life on that other planet come from? Were there other aliens that seeded life on that planet so aliens could arise to seed life on another planet so aliens could arise and seed life on earth! I think atheists would be happy to believe in eternal aliens, but not an eternal God. And how do atheists explain the laws of nature that are immaterial? And why do these laws stay that same and not evolve?

It’s the atheists who have a blind faith. They believe that space, mass, and time somehow eternally existed or came into existence for some reason and somehow matter gave rise to life against everything we observe and know about the laws of nature.

As I’ve said many times, atheism is a religion, a belief system. There is no non-religious position. Atheists have a faith, but it’s a blind faith that lacks credulity. Christians have faith, but it’s an objective faith that makes sense of life and the universe, and a faith that observational science confirms.

Where do you put your faith?

In eternal matter?

In eternal aliens?

In the eternal God who created all things and created the first man and woman. But the first man, the head of the human race rebelled against God bringing sin and death into the world. But God loved man so much, he provided a way of salvation for man so his sin could be forgiven and be able to spend eternity with the eternal God.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).