Essential Biblical Truths
God the Father:
“The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He is the Creator and Lord of all. He eternally exists, “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:20). “The Lord is full of compassionate mercy” (James 5:11). God reveals himself to man through three personas, or attributes, of the One triune God. He is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each of these three attributes of God are co-equal and One.
Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3:22; Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; James 5:11
Jesus Christ – God the Son
Jesus Christ is one with the God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus has eternally existed and came into the world, born of a virgin. As the Son of God, “the image of the invisible God” (1 Col. 1:15), Jesus came clothed in flesh as the Son of Man. He lived a sinless life and offered himself as the only acceptable substitutionary atonement for the sins of His people by willing laying down His life, allowing himself to be crucified on a cross. For, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” for sin (Hebrews 9:22). Jesus is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life [and] no one comes to the Father except through” Him (John 14:6). Jesus arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return again to resurrect all from the dead, some to reign with Him in everlasting glory, and others to eternal damnation and everlasting torment. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-10).
Isaiah 9:6; Matthew 1:23; John 1:1:2; John 8:58; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 1:3-4; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossian 1:15-17; Colossians 2:9; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 9:22
Holy Spirit – The Spirit of God
The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son of God. He convicts men of their sins and makes them aware of their need for salvation in Jesus Christ. At the very moment of salvation, the Holy Spirits comes into and dwells in every Christian as a “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession” (Ephesians 1:14). The Spirit of God is the divine helper and counselor. He instructs believers in all righteousness and reveals an understanding of Scripture. He gives spiritual discernment to believers and empowers them to live in godliness. He provides every believer with at least one spiritual gift when they are saved, so these may be used in building the Lord’s Church.
Matthew 28:19; John 14:6-17; John 14:26; Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:10-12; 2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 1:13-14;
God’s Word – the Holy Bible
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is God’s Holy Word to us. All Scripture is inspired by God and is absolute truth without any portion of error. Scripture was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs and living.
Psalm 119:89; Proverbs 30:5; Isaiah 40:8; Romans 15:4; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21
Mankind
Human beings are made in the spiritual image of God. As the supreme object of God’s creation, we were designed for dignity. However, Adam’s sin plummeted all creation into a fallen state and plunged all his descendants into depravity. Thus, all of us are separated from God because we have a carnal nature of rebellion and disobedience, which is called “sin,” toward God. Sin separates people from God and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Apart from Christ, men are spiritually dead in their sin.
Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 53: 59:1-2
Salvation
God does not “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). But God’s allows man a free will to receive Christ as his personal Lord and Savior or to reject Christ. (The failure to receive Jesus is an act of rejection.) Salvation is God’s free gift, available to all who accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We receive this gift through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance means turning away from our sin and turning toward Christ, surrendering to His Lordship over our life. Faith means trusting in Christ alone for the remission of our sins. There is no other way to be reconciled to God the Father except through Jesus Christ. “There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). No man merits or can earn salvation. It is by grace we are saved, through faith in Jesus Christ, solely because of His atoning sacrificial death, as a gift of God. Salvation is maintained by the grace and power of God, not by the works or effort of any man. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, His perfect obedience is credited to us so that God sees us as the righteousness of Christ. Every person who is truly saved is eternally secure in the Lord Jesus Christ and will spend eternity in heaven, while those who die in their sins will spend eternity in Hell.
John 3:16; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:8-10-13; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; 2 Peter 3:9
Eternity
People were created to exist forever. The physical death of the body is temporary because all “who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12: 2). “People are destined to die once and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Every person who has ever lived will either exist eternally separated from God by sin or eternally with God through forgiveness and salvation. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence.
Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; 1 Thessalonians: 16-17; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:12-15
