ESSENTIAL DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
The Holy Bible itself reveals what is foundational and essential doctrines of the Christian faith, which are:

• Only one God exists. 

• God is made up of three distinct Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. 

• The Gospel

• The full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ

• The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ

• Salvation is through Jesus Christ alone.

• Salvation is by God’s grace and not by our works.

• Repentance from dead works 

• Faith in God

• The doctrine of baptism

• The laying on of hands

• The resurrection of the dead

• Eternal judgment

 

These are the main “essentials” that we should understand and believe if we are believers and followers of Yeshua the Messiah [Jesus the Christ].

 

GOD

There is only one God who is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has revealed Himself as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal, co-eternal, and are one God.

Genesis 1:1,26,27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14

 

GOD THE FATHER

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. …God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

 

GOD THE SON: YESHUA / JESUS

Yeshua [Jesus] is the Son of God. He is the Messiah [the Christ]. He is co-equal with the Father. He is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ, He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and He was still entirely God. He never ceased being God, never gave up His Godhood, never lost His Divinity nor did He give up any Divine attributes. He took on the nature of a human being thus making Him fully God and fully Man. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross, He made provision for the redemption of men from sin.  Jesus lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on the cross. He arose from the dead on the third day to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again someday to earth to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Matthew 1:22,23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14; 15; 1 Corinthians 15:3,4; Romans 1:3.4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14,15; Titus 2:13; 1 John 4:1-21

 

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force, energy, or influence; He is a Person. In fact, He is a divine Person. He is not like God; He is God. Therefore, He possesses all the characteristics of God. As a Person, He has thoughts, feelings, and a will. As a divine Person, He is eternal and omnipresent and He knows everything and He is Almighty. The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. As Christians, we seek to live under His control daily and to be filled with His presence and power.

1 Corinthians 3:16; John 16:7-13; 14:16,17; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:16; Ephesians 1:13; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18

 

THE HOLY BIBLE

The Holy Bible is God’s Word to us. Human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote it. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any mixture of error. As a Christian, I embrace the entire Holy Bible, the Old Testament, and the New Testament as the inspired Word of God and authoritative in matters of belief, theology, doctrine, and practice.

2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20,21; 2 Timothy 1:13; Psalm 119:89, 105, 160; Proverbs 30:5

 

MANKIND

Humans are made in the image of God, to be like Him in character. People are the supreme object of God’s creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called “sin”. This attitude separates people from God and causes many problems in life.

Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1,2

 

SIN

Sin is any behavior that is against God and His teachings. Sin can only be forgiven through faith in the Person, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5)

 

SALVATION

Salvation is God’s free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ [Yeshua the Messiah] as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty (death). When we turn (repent) from our self-ruled sinful life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith and makes a commitment to Him as Savior and Lord.

Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8,9; John 14:6, 1:12; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1

 

GOD’S PURPOSE OF GRACE

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ Jesus, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

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BAPTISM

Immersion in water, just as John the Baptist practiced in the New Testament is a representation of a believer’s acceptance and confession that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. (Acts 2:38)

 

THE NEW COVENANT AND THE SINAI (MOSAIC) COVENANT

The Holy Bible and the New Covenant clearly show that Christians are not under the Sinai Law (the Law of Moses), which was instituted at Mount Sinai (the Sinaitic Covenant) with the nation of Israel. Jews and Gentiles who put their faith in Christ Jesus [Yeshua the Messiah] are under the new agreement (the New Covenant). We as Christians are to keep those universal moral obligations from the Mosaic/Sinai law that are repeated in the New Testament.

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THE LAW

Believers of Jesus / Yeshua are not under the jurisdiction of the Law of Moses (Torah) and therefore are not obligated to practice the Law of Moses. However, both Jewish and non-Jewish believers have the freedom in Messiah to enjoy those aspects of the Law of Moses (i.e., The Sabbath, the Feasts of the LORD, the law of clean and unclean meats), which are non-salvific in light of the New Covenant revelation. These aspects of the Law are not, nor ever were, a means of justification or sanctification, which are by grace through faith alone. For non-Jewish believers, such observances are a means of expressing one's love towards God, practicing the Biblical roots of the Christian faith, and relating with the Jewish community.

 

Believers and followers of Christ Jesus (Messiah Yeshua) are to obey the law of Christ which is simply to focus on loving God and loving others. (Isaiah 8:20; Matthew 22:34-40; Acts 15:1-35; Acts 21:24-25; Romans 6:14-15, 8:2-9, 10:4-9, 13:8-13, 14:1-6; 1 Corinthians 9:20-21; 2 Corinthians 3:1-11; Galatians 3:1-29; Colossians 2:16-17).

 

THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH AND SUNDAY

The Sabbath, or Shabbat, occurs during the traditional Biblical time starting at sunset on Friday evening until sunset on Saturday, and it is a gift from God to mankind (Mark 2:27-28). God declares that it is His Sabbath, not "the Jewish Sabbath". God calls things what they are. The Holy Bible clearly shows that believers and followers of our Lord Christ Jesus [Yeshua] have the freedom to enjoy the seventh-day Sabbath, but are not obligated, commanded, or mandated to observe/keep the Seventh-day Sabbath. The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic/Sinai covenant. The Mosaic/Sinai covenant and the Sabbath as the covenant sign are no longer applicable now that the New Covenant of Jesus Christ has come.

 

Believers are called upon to honor and respect those who esteem the Sabbath as a special day for believers, and they should not be despised or ridiculed. But if one argues that the Sabbath is “the Christian Sabbath”, or that it is required to be kept by Christians, that it is required for salvation (i.e. legalism), or that not keeping/observing the Sabbath or not going to church services on the Sabbath is breaking the Ten Commandments and the practice of sin, then such teachings are false and contrary to the gospel and should be resisted forcefully (1 Peter 3:15-17, Galatians 2:11-21).

 

While there are several theories on when and why the Christian church deviated from the traditional Biblical day of Shabbat, what is true, is that at some point in time outside of the record of the Holy Bible, Christians decided to dedicate Sunday (the first day) as the day to gather together weekly in order to commemorate the Lord's Resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit, and started referring to Sunday as "the Lord's Day".   

 

BIBLICAL HOLY DAYS AND MAIN-STREAM CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS
The New Covenant does not obligate, require, or command Christians to observe/keep the Biblical Feasts of the LORD. As a Christian, I observe these Feasts (and the Seventh-Day Sabbath) because I’m convinced that the New Testament clearly reveals that these biblical Holy Days prophetically point to Jesus Christ and the things that He did during His first coming, and they also prophetically point to His second coming.

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In the spring, I commemorate the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus [Yeshua] during the Spring Feast days of the Passover (Pesach), the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of First Fruits, which were when these very important events actually occurred. I also celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Shavuot).

During the fall, I celebrate the Fall Feasts of the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and the Feast of Booths / Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) which prophetically points to when the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) Himself will return to this Earth. 

 

Although I believe that Christmas is a tradition established by men, like most Christians, I too celebrate the incarnation and birth of our Lord Jesus (Yeshua) during the month of December and on Christmas day; and I also celebrate Jesus as the Light of the World during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.  

 

DIETARY LAWS
The Holy Bible reveals that under the New Covenant, Christians are not obligated, commanded, or mandated to observe the law of clean and unclean meats (Old Covenant commandments regarding dietary practices). 

 

THE CHURCH

The Church is a living, spiritual body of which Messiah Yeshua is the head and all true believers are members. The Church began at Pentecost (Shavuot) when believers were filled with Holy Spirit after the ascension of Christ Jesus. The "Church Age" will be completed when Christ returns for His bride. The body of Christ (the Church) is distinct from Israel and is composed of both Jewish and non-Jewish (Gentile) believers made into one new man by faith in Messiah Yeshua (Matthew 16:18; Acts 1:5, 2:14-38; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 2:11-15, 5:23-27; Colossians 1:18-20, 3:14-15).

 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD
A “kingdom” can refer to land and people or to the exercise of authority. Since we understand that God is the Creator of all things, the extent of His realm must be the whole world. Manifestly, then, the kingdom of God is wherever God reigns, and since He reigns everywhere, the kingdom of God is everywhere. The kingdom of God is a present reality and a future event (Luke 17:20-21, John 18:36). At the heart of this theme is the idea of God’s messianic kingdom. It is a kingdom that will be ruled by God’s appointed Messiah, Yeshua (Jesus) who will be not just the Redeemer of His people, but their King.

 

The whole Old Testament called attention not to a kingdom that would simply appear in people’s hearts, but to a kingdom that would break through into this world, a kingdom that would be ruled by God’s anointed Messiah. So Jesus’ kingship is not something that remains in the future. Christ Jesus is King right this minute. He is in the seat of the highest cosmic authority. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to God’s anointed Son (Matt. 28:18). 

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ETERNITY

People were created to exist forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. To be eternally separated from God is Hell. To be eternally in union with Him is eternal life. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.

John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:17-18; Revelation 20:15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-9

 

LAST THINGS

God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. …Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly…the dead will be raised, and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell. …The righteous… will receive their reward and will dwell forever in the new heaven and the new Earth with the Lord

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In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity