Essential Doctrines

Apathy will never be an excused when it comes our eternal destinies. Hence the warnings in scripture, this is why we must not simple glean over them but rather study them in depth and learn from them. Use the lessons behind such caveats to shape our decisions. And such a caution as this one that the Lord Jesus gives us, is crucial and we must gather from it to equip ourselves for what lies ahead; “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7: 13-14) – There is a narrow and a wide gate and the Christian needs to ensure that they can differentiate the wide from the narrow and then to enter the correct gate, period!

 

Here are some essential doctrine that I believe will help us stay on the right road. Obviously we need the grace of God to get us home and one of the functions of God the Holy Spirit is to lead us into all truth and I trust this will help…

   

·    The Essential Doctrines we need to latch onto to ensure we are on the right road, which in turn leads to our salvation.

·    We need to be truly saved, we can’t attach ourselves onto an organization that miss these essential doctrines.  That is where we will fall into the devil's playground. It is obvious many are being swept up by his trickery. The way many are disregarding the Word of God and referring to it as dated. 

·      It’s no use getting bent out of shape on the application issue behind baptisms. Some sprinkle, whilst others submerge. Or structure and the way churches are run and then lastly, the way people differ on spiritual gifts and their methodology behind their application and the technique they use is not an essential doctrine that is needed to be saved.

 

SO WHAT IS ESSENTIAL - WHAT MUST WE EMBRACE WITH BOTH ARMS TO ENSURE SALVATION? We cannot miss these truths. As John MacArthur calls it the “drivetrain” behind Essential Doctrines. I like that!

 

1.   The Word of God, the Holy Bible and the authority it carries, we must believe that it is inherent, if we land on questioning its authority, then we are playing into the hands of Satan. Just like they did in the Garden of Eden. It’s crucial we embrace the voice of God, through the written Word. This is where we find safety. – What if I don’t understand or I can’t relate to certain aspects of the scriptures? God has graciously afforded me freedom in this area of my life and I hope it will free you, if I don’t understand or feel something is harsh, I rest in the fact that God knows what He is doing and I believe what has been penned, even if I can’t get my head around it, end of story!  Romans chapter 9 a case in point, as I struggled with this chapter for a very long time. I don’t try and understand it on a carnal level, if it is to be discerned spiritually; “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8: 6-8) - With this understanding and my application to it, I can honestly say that the Spirit of God has settled me on this topic and I am at peace. The Bible and only the Bible is the revealed Word of God and this is the first essential we must embrace. I want us to consider what is attacked the most in the Christian world, is it not the Word of God? It certainly is! Why? Bring doubt into what has been penned and what happens? It undermines people confidence in God. Satan’s objective from the beginning. I trust this point is clear. We need to latch onto the Word of God with all we have.  

2.    We must get to grips with the God’s nature, any god outside the trinity is a false god. We know that God is a triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they all have their specific roles in our salvation. One in nature, three in person, and this is the true God revealed in scripture. It's the first essential that has already been discussed that prove this, it’s the Word of God through the Bible which communicates these truths. The Father as the creator and the giver of life, the Son as Redeemer, the Spirit, the power behind salvation and sanctification. This must be our understanding of God. We also have to believe these truths about Christ, He was born of a virgin and that He is God and Man, 100% God and 100 % man; that’s who he claimed to be in scripture and that is who He is. He live a sinless life and died in place of others, His death was substitutionary. He also rose from the dead endorsing God the Father confirmation in His son’s sacrifice. His resurrection by the Father proves the validation for all those who have and will still repent and cry out to Jesus for their salvation. We also believe in His ascension into heaven and that he will return again to fetch His church.

3.   We must believe that salvation is by faith in Christ alone and by grace, it is a gift from God! We cannot earn it by our own works. In other words our own effort will never save us or get us to heaven.

 

Let me conclude like this; we start with a true understanding of the Bible, it is the unadulterated Word of God. The true understanding of God the trinity and the roles HE (three in one) plays in our salvation. These are the essential doctrines that we must make our own to stay on track and make it to heaven. The rest will be sorted by God when we are with Him in heaven.

 

To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone