In this Article we'll go through seven key Biblical Doctrines that shape the Christian worldview.
Inerrancy of Scripture
The Bible, including the 66 Old and New Testament books, is the very word of God, inerrant in its original manuscripts, and is sufficient for us to know and trust God and live as He designed us to. Nothing shall be added or taken away from it. While God can use experiences, feelings, traditions, and various other avenues to reveal Himself to His people, the Bible has the final authority and all else must line up with Scripture in order to be confirmed from God.
(For more info on the Bible and how to study it, check out our “What is the Bible?” and "Tips for Studying the Word" blogs: found in the menu under "Faith Basics")
-2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (ESV)
-Deuteronomy 4:2 “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” (ESV)
-Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” (ESV)
-Matthew 5:18 “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (ESV)Trinity
The trinity is a key doctrine we find in Scripture that is foundational to the Biblical worldview. Although the word “trinity” is not itself found in the Bible, we see evidence for it from start to finish. The doctrine of the trinity is that there is one God who eternally exists as three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Reference 1 Below). The word itself “means ‘tri-unity’ or ‘three-in-oneness’” (1).
The doctrine of the trinity is hard to fully wrap our minds around. A couple analogies, while not perfect, can help capture the concept:
An Egg: Every egg is made up of a shell, an egg white, and a yoke. Each egg has all three parts, but they all makeup the one egg. Although we don’t eat the shell, we know it is necessary for the egg to hold together. The egg white and yoke, are both inside the shell, but can be separated as well. The shell, the yoke and the egg white, while they can all be separated from one another, each make up one egg.
A Father: A father carries the roll of a father, a son, and a husband. Depending on who the father is around at any given moment: their own father, their child, or their spouse; they express themselves in different ways while never changing in person or attributes. From the beginning of Scripture, we see evidence of how God represented Himself not just as the Father, but also both in Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. They always were and always will be three-in-one.
Starting back in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, during the creation account, we read that God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26, ESV)). Then, at the beginning of the account of Jesus’s time on earth, we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5). Jesus was not just a mere man, but was God himself. He is uncreated and eternally existing. Always was, and always will be.
It is important to see and acknowledge Jesus’ deity. First, because if Jesus was not Himself God, the things He said and things others said about Him, would not in fact be true. Second, the Bible confirms over and over that no man can save him or herself. Therefore, if Jesus was merely a man, His sacrifice would not be sufficient for the payment of all man’s sins, that God’s justice would be satisfied.
“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” -Isaiah 64:6 ESV
Consider the words of C.S. Lewis, as they provide such great reasoning why Jesus must not simply be a great teacher, but God Himself;
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”(Reference 2 below)
Evidence for the deity of Jesus is found all over Scripture. Prophesies of the Messiah were made long before Jesus was born, declaring, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God.’” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV) Later, in the New Testament Jesus’ apostle Paul declares, “For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily.” (Colossians 2:9, ESV) In acknowledging the wisdom found in the Bible and the words of Jesus, we must accept the deity of Christ. The two go hand in hand. If we accept certain aspects the Bible records of Jesus, we must accept what the Bible speaks of Jesus entirely.
With that we look at the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit; sometimes referred to as the Helper. “We may define the work of the Holy Spirit as follows: ‘The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church.” (Reference 1 below) We see throughout Scripture the Holy Spirit being spoken of, or lifted up in ways that would only align if the Holy Spirit was God.
Throughout the Old Testament, from the beginning of creation, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). God promises His people, He would give them a new heart and His Spirit would live within them that they may walk in His statutes and be careful to obey His rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) Later in the New Testament, Jesus declares, “it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7).
Once Jesus finished His work on the cross; satisfying the just payment for all sin, in order that justice would take place and freedom be provided from the punishment of our sins; we now have fellowship with the holy and righteous God. As a result, Christ followers would then receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon them (Acts 1:8), and after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came and dwelt in those who believe in Jesus as their Savior. (Acts 2:1-4)
Now, all who believe in Jesus as their Savior have the Spirit of God alive within them. The Holy Spirit brings to remembrance all that Jesus had said. (John 14:26-27). It is through the Spirit’s work within us that we are transformed; our eyes are open, we are given new desires, we have a new awareness of sin and desire to turn away from it. This is otherwise referred to as being born again. In John 3, when Jesus was asked how to enter into the Kingdom of God, He responded by saying,“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8, NASB).
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity; without whom we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct and equal. All have the same attributes, yet are different in how they relate to each other and to creation (Reference 1 Below). That is why, Jesus’ final words to His disciples in the great commission was to make disciples and, “baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19, NASB).
Sin
“Sin is anything (whether in thoughts, actions, or attitudes) that does not express or conform to the holy character of God as expressed in His moral law.” (Reference 3 below)
As a result of our broken nature, every man and woman is a sinner in need of salvation. Sin entered the human race as a result of the rebellion of Adam and Eve, causing a curse to be brought on them and their offspring, both of physical and spiritual death. As a result humanity lives in a fallen and deprived nature. Due to this fallen and corrupted nature, every person is unable to save themselves.
-Genesis 3:14 “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all the livestock, And more than any animal of the field” (NASB)
-Romans 5:12 “just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned” (NASB)
-Romans 3:10-11 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (ESV)
-Isaiah 43:11 “I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.” (ESV)Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone
Salvation has been given to us by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (ESV)
Scripture has made it clear that we cannot do anything to add to the work Christ did on the cross, yet every other religious system besides Biblical Christianity, has added to Christ’s work on the cross; teaching that it is faith plus works, grace plus merit, Christ plus me, that leads to Salvation (Reference 4 below).
The Bible writes, however, “For whoever keep the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty all of it. For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” (James 2:10-11, ESV)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28, ESV) God not only cares about our actions, but our hearts, soul, minds, and strength as well (Luke 10:27). Even more, if we attain to certain parts of the law, but not to others, we still are still guilty of breaking the law.
This can leave us defeated, and make us wonder what the point of the law is if no one is able to keep it? Romans 3 is a great place in the Bible to find the answer to this question. “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, ESV). Therefore, we see that the point of the law was not to justify us, but was to reveal sin.
This is where the Good News of the Gospel comes in as, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, ESV). The result is that, “now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26, ESV).
This is powerful, because it makes known that it is completely by grace through faith that we are saved, and in this we are free from the bondage of sin! Romans 3:27 finishes out by saying, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” (ESV)
Going back to Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast;” (ESV) we see that we cannot even take credit for the faith we have in Christ, for even our faith is a gift from God and not our own doing. God, our Creator, gave us the ability to even accept this gift; all is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone!
God has given us this wonderful gift in His grace. Justice for our sin was already justified in Christ’s finished work on the cross (John 19:30). In Galatians 5:1 we read, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (ESV)
For this reason, as you seek to get plugged into a local church, it’s important to do so at one who holds to Biblical Christianity: the only religious system that does not add to Christ’s work, as doing so discredit the work Christ did on the Cross, taking the glory that belongs to God, and attempting to place it on ourselves.
Our salvation has nothing to do with us. It has been given as a gift, and this is a beautiful thing! If our salvation even remotely is due to our good works, thoughts, accomplishments, or words, we would be burdened daily by the uncertainty of where we fall on the line of salvation and where we are on that line would never be known. Through Jesus, the weight of our sin is lifted by grace. He gets all the glory, and we receive the free gift of salvation and are freed from the curse of sin!
Now, having been freed from the bondage of sin; we desire to live according to God’s law, but not for salvation, but from salvation. If one is a genuine believer, the Spirit living within them will fill them with a desire to live according to God’s ways, yet this does not earn salvation, it is a reflection of the salvation already received.
Church
The Church is ultimately a global community of believers, yet it takes the form of countless local churches. The Bible speaks of Christ as being the headship of the Church; His body, which are it's members. The members are those chosen by God; who have truly trusted in Christ alone for salvation, which make up the Church body. The local church is an important place for Christian to have fellowship and encourage one another. Each member of the church has been given their own spiritual gift for the purpose of displaying God’s kingdom on earth and making disciples of all the nations. (Reference 3 below) It’s important to remember that Christ came not for those who are well and righteous, but for those who are sick and in need of a Savior (Mark 2:17). With that in mind, seek a local church with solid Biblical doctrine, who's teachings are rooted in the Bible, to have fellowship with other believers and worship. Due to the fallen nature of humanity, we will never find a “perfect church” here on earth, yet that does not negate the importance of being plugged into a local church and living in fellowship with other believers in that community.
-Colossians 1:18 “And He is the head of the body, the church.” (ESV)
-Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (ESV)
-Romans 12:4-5 “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” (ESV)
-1 Corinthians 12:18-20 “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.” (ESV)
-Ephesians 3:10 “…so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made know to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (ESV)
-Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good words, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (ESV)Men and Women
God made man and woman in His own image, designed to represent Him on earth. Both equal in value yet distinct. Our first parents were Adam and Eve. God gave them dominion over the creatures and the earth. Men and women are designed to complement one another in their distinct God ordained rolls for the glory of God. Every man and woman has value, dignity and worth because they were created in the image of God Himself.
-Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” (ESV)
-1 Corinthians 11:11-12 “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.” (ESV)Marriage
From the beginning of creation, God instituted marriage (Genesis 2:24), as one man and one woman joining together in a covenantal relationship for life. The marriage relationship is to reflect to the covenantal relationship between Christ and the church; in the Bible otherwise referred to as His bride. (Ephesians 5:31-32) Both the husband and wife are equal in value and dignity, and in that have different rolls given to them.
Christ’s love for the church cost Him everything, He laid down His life for His church, sacrificing Himself on the cross that she may be cleansed from her sin. He nourishes His church and cherishes it, and in that the church is called to respect and submit to Him. In the marriage relationship, the role of the husband and wife are established in a way that when followed, reflect the unconditional, loving and powerful relationship between Christ and the church. The husbands are called to love, nourish and cherish their wives unconditionally, and the wives are called to respect and submit to their husbands.
Note: The Biblical meaning for submission is different than the initial presupposition people often have to the word. The submission of wives is not the same as children showing obedience to their parents, or students to their teachers. Rather this submission provides a healthy order to a marriage relationship in which the husband leads his wife in a loving, nurturing and self-sacrificial way and the wife responds in submission and respect; both equal in value and dignity, yet different in their harmonious roles. We can read of God’s design for marriage in Ephesians 5:22-33,
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (ESV)
As husbands and wives live out their God given roles in the marriage covenant as God designed, it gives a powerful picture of Christ’s love for His church, and reflects the Gospel in a way no other human relationship can.
For more about the covenant of marriage you can read the Ligonier Ministries article: Defining Marriage, (Reference 5 below).Sacraments or Ordinances
There are two sacraments or ordinances: Baptism and Communion, that were given by God to those who have received the gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. These “are visible signs and seals that we are bound together as a community of faith by His death and resurrection. By our use of them the Holy Spirit more fully declares and seals the promises of the gospel to us.”(Reference 6) Jesus commands His believers to be baptized and regularly take of the Lord’s Supper, however, participating in either of them does not in any way change our standing with God, nor is it the cause of our salvation. Rather they are a seal of our salvation and what was already done for us through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Baptism:
The word baptism itself means “to plunge, dip, immerse.”(Reference 1). It “is the washing with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; it signifies and seals our adoption into Christ, our cleansing from sin, and our commitment to belonging to the Lord and to His church.”(Reference 6)
In the gospel of Matthew we read that Jesus called for believers; those who have received the good news of the gospel and trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation, to be baptized. It is “a symbolism of union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection….it is a picture of going down into the grave and being buried. Coming up out of the water is then a picture of being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life. Baptism thus very clearly pictures death to one’s old way of life and rising to a new kind of life in Christ.” (Reference 1) The waters of baptism also symbolize the washing and purification from sins. (Reference 1). Baptism does not bring salvation, rather it is an act of obedience that reflects the salvation already received through belief and repentance.
-Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (ESV)
-Romans 6:3-11 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)-Communion:
Communion is “a term commonly used to refer to the Lord’s Supper.” (Reference 1). “Christ commanded all Christians to eat and to drink from the cup in thankful remembrance of Him and His death. The Lord’s supper is a celebration of the presence of God in our midst: bringing us into communion with God and with one another, feeding and nourishing our souls. It also anticipates the day when we will eat and drink with Christ in His Father’s kingdom.”(Reference 6). Believers take of the bread and wine (or juice) in remembrance of Jesus’ death on the cross and the new covenant of grace we now live under. The bread and wine are not actually the blood and body of Jesus, neither are they the cause of our right standing with God or of our salvation. Rather they are taken in remembrance of Jesus’ body broken and poured out for us, and the new covenant of grace we now live under.
-1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” (ESV)
-Luke 22:19-20 “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.'” (ESV)References Used:
Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. 2000. Pg. 254, 634, 967-969, 1238, 227,
C.S., Mere Christianity, HarperCollins Publishers. 1952.
ESV Study Bible. Crossway Bibles. Wheaton, IL. 2008. pg. 2530
Ligonier Ministries, “Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Christ Alone.” 2019. https://www.ligonier.org/posts/faith-alone-grace-alone-christ-alone
Ligonier Ministries, “Defining Marriage.” 2021. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/basis-christian-marriage
New City Catechism, 2021, New City Catechism.
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