by Hadley Robinson
These five are basic to the integrity of the Christian faith. Those who cannot affirm them are unlikely to be Christians. They often take the symbols and language of the
Christian faith and apply them to some devilry such as Mormonism, Christian Science, Islam, nationalism, or humanism. The Messiah,
Jesus Christ, and His blood atonement and bodily resurrection from the dead are the foundations of anything truly Christian. The rest of the religions deny these or add something,
usually works. For them, what Christ did on the cross never really happened, He is not who He said He is, or what He did was insufficient to save men from eternal Judgment (Roman
Catholicism).
The Inspiration & Authority of the Bible – This provides us the sole authority in describing who God is, what He has done, who we are, His attitude
toward His creation (including us), where the creation came from, what is its purpose, and where it is all going. All men will be judged by God according to their response to the
Prophets of the Bible, not by any man or institution here on earth. In the Book of Judges every man did what was right in his own eyes and the consequences were often dreadful. In
our own time, we already see some of the same results caused by this attitude. If we doubt the Bible in whole or in part, we become like the people in Judges. For example, we will
be unable to correctly understand what government is for and what are the respective duties and roles of men and women. The most critical area of the authority of the Bible for
Christians is the Book of Genesis. Because our culture (and most of the church) has rejected large parts of Genesis, we are gradually descending into social chaos where increasing
numbers of people have nothing in common but their lusts.
The virgin birth and divinity of Christ
– What if there had been no virgin birth? Jesus would be just a man like us in all respects, but maybe a very good man. If God is His father then He has unique authority. In
particular, He could forgive sins as the offense of sin is against God, not against a particular man. His death would not be of the value it is for us if He were not the Son of God and
could not meet the price needed to take away sins, past, present, and future. If He were not an actual human being – a man – in every respect, He could not have offered real blood and a
real life for the sacrifice and it would have been of no value.
The death of Christ which paid in full the debt owed for the sins of His elect – There is no other
payment required or needed. “To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.” 1 Pet. 1:1-2
The literal bodily
resurrection of Christ from the dead – He was completely dead. No blood flowed through His vascular system, He did not breath. He was dead for days. Then nature reversed
itself: A dead man took back life. He could do this because He is the Author of life and has life in Himself. Only God the
Creator has this power. Everything else has life only
because He gives it to them – and they lose it, as each of us will find out sooner or later.
The literal bodily return of Christ at the End of the Age – Just like our
lives, the life of the universe is finite and will have an end. It will be extremely violent and be the final witness to all of His
power and authority. It will result in justice being given most of the human race who want nothing to do with Him but want to be gods on
their own. There is no sharing of authority or judgment with other so-called “gods” or institutions of men. Jesus Christ is the
beginning and the end. His true Church, on the other hand, will receive mercy.