The core beliefs of the Christian faith are pretty basic. They are found in Scripture both directly and indirectly. I will list them out and then discuss them.
- There is only one God in all places and all time.
- God is a Trinity.
- Jesus is God in the flesh.
- Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.
- Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead bodily.
- Jesus is the only way to be saved.
- The Gospel
- Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
- You must be born again.
- The Bible is the word of God.
There is only one God in all places and all time.
This is a pretty basic doctrine. In Christianity, there is only one God in all places, in all times, in all locations, in all dimensions ((Isa. 43:10; 44:6, 8; 45:5). He has always been God and cannot stop being God. Also, the Christian God is unique in that he is a Trinity (discussed below). He is independent of all things and is without beginning or end (Psalm 90:2). He is the ultimate source (Rom. 4:17) of all truths (Psalm 31:5; Eph. 1:11), all actualities (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 44:24), and all potentialities (Luke 10:13; John 15:22). He created the universe (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 42:5).
God is a Trinity.
The Trinity is one God in whom are three eternal, distinct, and simultaneous persons – the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. All three are the one God, coeternal, coequal, etc. Yet there is only one God, not three gods, and not one person who took three modes, offices, or forms. (Isa. 44:6,8; 45:5; Gen. 1:26-27; 3:22; Matt. 3:17; 28:19; Luke 9:35; 2 Cor. 13:14). Personhood relates to the characteristics of identity, such as having a will, being able to love, recognizing others as well as oneself, etc. It is not saying that each person is human or that each person is a god.” https://carm.org/about/carm-statement-of-faith
Jesus is God in the flesh.
Jesus Christ is the Word (God) who became a man and dwelt among us (John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9). He has two natures: human and divine. Yet, He is one person, not two. He is presently a man in a glorified body (John 2:19-31; 1 Cor. 15:34-45). Without Jesus, we don’t have Christianity. In fact, the Bible is about Him (John 5:39).
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary.
Jesus Christ was miraculously conceived and born of the virgin Mary (Luke 1:42) by the work of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35). Mary was a virgin after the birth of Jesus until Joseph, and she had relations and had other children (Matt. 1:25; 13:55; Mark 6:2-3; John 2:12; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:4-5; Gal. 1:19).
Above, I mentioned that Jesus was God in the flesh. The fancy term for this is the hypostatic union. Again, it means that Jesus is both God and man at the same time. This is difficult to maintain if Joseph, Mary’s husband, had relations with her and produced Jesus. Instead, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and she conceived (Matt. 1:18). She remained a virgin until after the birth of Christ (Matt. 1:25).
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead bodily.
Jesus rose from the dead in the same body He died in after being in the grave for three days (John 2:19-21). His resurrected body is called a glorified body. It retained His crucifixion wounds (John 20:25-28). Without the resurrection of Jesus, the Christian faith is not true. 1 Corinthians 15:14, “and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”
Jesus is the only way to be saved.
Because Jesus is God in the flesh or died on the cross and rose from the dead, it proves that what He said was true. In light of this, Jesus claimed to be the only way to salvation. John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Therefore, another core belief of Christianity is that there is no other way than Jesus to be saved. Of all the prophets out there in the world, none of them can save you. Only Jesus can.
The Gospel
The gospel is a core belief because of what it says in Galatians 1:8, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” Okay, so what is the gospel? It is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, died, and rose again. Again, let’s take a look at scripture.
1 Corinthians 15:1–4, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
Salvation is being saved from the righteous judgment of God that will be upon all who have not trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Salvation is obtained by grace (unearned favor) alone, through faith alone, in the work of Christ alone (John 3:16; 14:6). This salvation is not by any of our good works (Rom. 3:28; 4:1-5; 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-4; Matt. 7:22-23).
You must be born again.
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3). But, what does it mean to be born again? Basically, it means that we are “regenerated.” This means we are changed because Jesus and God the Father live inside of us (John 14:23). Because of this, we are made new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17). In other words, we are different because God then lives in us. We are the same people we used to be, but when we become born again, we seek to live like Jesus. Praise God
The Bible is the word of God.
According to Christianity, the Bible is the inspired word that came from God (2 Tim. 3:16). Ultimately, everything in it points to Jesus (John 5:39). So, we learn from the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. The totality of 66 books written over about 1600 years on three continents and in three languages is full of wisdom, history, and prophecy. The latter points to Jesus who is the fulfillment of Scriptures (Luke 24:45).
Conclusion
So there you have the core beliefs of Christianity. These are basic, but they will give you a proper understanding of what Christianity teaches and what it is about. But basically, it’s about Jesus, who he is, and what he did on the cross. This is the only way we can be forgiven of our sins. So, without Jesus, there is no Christianity. He is our Savior
