What are the Basic Beliefs of Christianity that Most all Christians can agree upon?
The basic universal beliefs are:
- There is only one God. He has always existed and always will exist. There never were, nor will there ever be, any other gods.
- Everything else is His creation. The creation is separate from Him, became only because He caused it for His pleasure, and continues to exist only because He sustains it. All existence, and all life, whether physical or spiritual, is a gift given and sustained by, God.
- God exists as one Supreme being, that exists in three distinct persons, that are each co-eternal and co-equal: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.(Often called the Holy Trinity or the Godhead)
- Separation from God (the source of life) causes death. Mankind was created in the spiritual image of God, to have a loving relationship with Him, but through free will has fallen into a state of rebellion against God (sin). Sin has progressively corrupted all of mankind into a state of perpetual separation from God.
- Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God. He is the eternal Word of God, the second person of the trinity, who became a man, conceived through the Spirit of God and born of the virgin Mary.
- Jesus was sent to pay the penalty of sin for man by being the sacrifice for us, dying for us as our replacement, and taking the weight of the penalty of all of our sins to the grave with Him.
- Jesus defeated “death” (figuratively & literally) and rose from the dead in the same body He died in. He was raised in His same physical body, but not exactly as before. He was risen in His glorified body, the first one of the eternal, resurrected bodies God promises to give all who go to Heaven after death.
- Salvation, or being saved from your sins, is obtained by grace alone, through faith, in the substitutionary death of Christ. No one deserves it, and you can’t repay old debts by trying to be good now. God desired a blameless (perfect) sacrifice to repay the debt of our sins and reconnect us to God.
- To be saved, you must be “born-again.” You recognize the absence of God’s presence, confess your own sinfulness, have a sincere desire to draw near to God, and turn away from your life of rebellion. Loving God more, you turn away from your love of sin, place your faith in Jesus’s death on the cross for your sins, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and invite the Holy Spirit into your heart.
- Live a Christ-centered life that brings glory to God. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Wage war against sin and evil. Spread the good news. Let the light of Christ shine through you into the dark world.
I bless this article and pray that it finds you well and begins to stir in your heart a desire to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior!
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