What doctrines are Essential/Non-Essential?

[Jim B]

Hi all.

I am preparing a series of messages for our church on Essential Doctrine. I thought it would be an easy study, but I am bogged down.

I am trying to separate the doctrines that are necessary for us to believe in order to be “Christian” (i.e., to go to heaven) from those that are marginal (non-essential). It seems believers spend a lot of energy fighting over the peripherals.

I have decided to limit my study only to those beliefs the New Testament expressly tells us are necessary. My criteria is that these are the things Scripture declares we MUST believe in order to be Christian.

So far I have found only five:

1. Belief in the One True God.

Hebrews 11 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

John 5 19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. 24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.​

2. The Deity of Christ.

1 John 4:2-3: "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."​

3. Salvation by Grace through Faith.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2:8-9, NIV).

"You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace" (Gal. 5:4).

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin" (Rom. 3:20).​

4. The Resurrection of Christ.

"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Cor. 15:14).

"And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins" (1 Cor. 15:17).​

5. The Gospel.

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" (Gal. 1:8-9, NIV).​

What do you think?

 

[Momzilla]

I'm always wary of lists like this... IMHO, the essentials are identified in the Nicene Creed.

I have particular concerns about #3 and #5. WRT #3, There are numerous indications in scripture that salvation is a process, not a moment; for example, St. Paul says that he will work out his salvation in fear and trembling. If it's a moment--if all that is required is the decision/realization that you believe--why did Paul need to "work out" his salvation? Also look at James 2:14-17 regarding the place of works in faith.

WRT #5, if you are saying that "sola scriptura" is essential for Christianity, then there were no Chrisitians until Luther came along and first propounded that principle. The early Christians--including the apostles--assigned a significant place to tradition. In fact, in Orthodox Christian thought, there is "Sacred Tradition" (note the capital "T"), the heart but not the whole of which is scripture.

I hope these thoughts are helpful.

 

[Momzilla]

One additional thought--why isn't the trinity on your list of essentials?

 

[Jim B]

I'm always wary of lists like this... IMHO, the essentials are identified in the Nicene Creed.

I have particular concerns about #3 and #5. WRT #3, There are numerous indications in scripture that salvation is a process, not a moment; for example, St. Paul says that he will work out his salvation in fear and trembling. If it's a moment--if all that is required is the decision/realization that you believe--why did Paul need to "work out" his salvation? Also look at James 2:14-17 regarding the place of works in faith.

WRT #5, if you are saying that "sola scriptura" is essential for Christianity, then there were no Chrisitians until Luther came along and first propounded that principle. The early Christians--including the apostles--assigned a significant place to tradition. In fact, in Orthodox Christian thought, there is "Sacred Tradition" (note the capital "T"), the heart but not the whole of which is scripture.

I hope these thoughts are helpful.

One additional thought--why isn't the trinity on your list of essentials?

Thanx for responding Momzilla (I love your name, Mom)

Actually, I somewhat agree with you that salvation is a process. The New Birth is the end of the process – conception, gestation, birth. But I also believe that there is a moment when faith comes alive and a person lays hold of eternal life. This point is essential because without salvation one cannot be saved!!

As far as the Gospel (#5) the scripture does say that the true gospel must be preached and believed for a person to be a Christian. If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!" (Gal. 1:8-9, NIV). I will admit, this is my weakest point among the five. I did not have sola scriptura in mind. In fact, the Bible doesn’t say you have to believe the Bible to be a Christian … go figure!!

Why not the doctrine of the Trinity? Because the scriptures do not tell us anywhere (that I am aware of) that one must believe in the Trinity in order to be a Christian (saved).

Why not the Nicene Creed? Because it is a creed of man. I prefer the Apostle’s Creed and noticed that as time progressed the creeds got longer (Nicene, Athansius) as men began adding their pet doctrines to the essentials.

\o/

 

[good4u]

Actually, salvation is not a process. I beg to differ here.

Santification is the process and salvation is the initial deposit.

At any rate, the Nicene Creed is a good start. The Apostle's Creed was not of man and the Apostles were not men? Either are good to me.

Other essentials are: the virgin birth and the return of Christ to earth.

 

[Reformationist]

Actually, salvation is not a process. I beg to differ here.

Santification is the process and salvation is the initial deposit.

I think they were just speaking of salvation in the full sense of its usage in the Bible, i.e., we are eternally saved by the obedience unto death of Christ, we are progressively saved from our sinfulness by the indwelling work of the Spirit, and we are finally saved by the miraculous work of God in our glorification.

God bless

 

[Jim B]

Actually, salvation is not a process. I beg to differ here.

Santification is the process and salvation is the initial deposit.

At any rate, the Nicene Creed is a good start. The Apostle's Creed was not of man and the Apostles were not men? Either are good to me.

Other essentials are: the virgin birth and the return of Christ to earth.

My question is, does Scripture tell us explicitly that belief in these doctrines are necessary to be a Christian?

I can find no passage that says that either belief in the virgin birth, the return of Christ, or the Nicene (or any other) Creed are a requirement for one to he of the “household of faith.” I believe that you can be a child of God without any knowledge of, or even faith in these doctrines (IMO). Are they important doctrines? Of course. Are they essential? No.

\o/

 

[jesusson1]

The Deity of Christ

Salvation by Grace

The Resurrection of Christ