During my time in The Fellowship Residency Program, I will be reading a long list of powerful books. To read more about my residency experience click here. One aspect of my assignments is to summarize and write key takeaways from each of the books.
The following paper is a summary of the book Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne Grudem. I sorted the paragraphs by each chapter that tackles one of the basic beliefs.
The Bible - The Bible is a book of God’s word that tells us the story of God. As we read the scriptures, they are transformed into conviction on our hearts through the Holy Spirit. God’s authority over all of His creation is reflected and supported time and time again through the scripture’s truths. His scripture becomes clearer over time as a result of the reader’s spiritual health. The Bible is a necessity for Christians to be able to know God and live out His commands. The Bible is not dependent on cultural norms for interpreting God’s truth and defining sin. We need not add to or take away from his word as it contains all that is necessary and lacks nothing. The scriptures are the filter through which each aspect of our life must pass through. It has been and always will be the foundation for all our Christian beliefs.
God – We are told God exists from Genesis 1:1 and can read scripture after scripture that support his existence. He has been and always will be. He holds all necessary traits and lacks nothing. As humans, though not to the same level and perfection of God, we have the ability to display some of God’s characteristics. However, there are also characteristics that are only true for our God to uphold including but not limited to omnipresent, unchangeable, eternal, and many many more. Who is God? He is knowable, independent, unchangeable, eternal, omnipresent, invisible, omniscient, wise, truthful, good, holy, righteous, just, jealous, wrathful towards sin, free, omnipotent, blessed, beautiful, limitless, and most importantly, perfect. God is spirit. God is love. God wills what he wills and is “fully and completely every attribute” at all times. Due to our limited human minds, we will never fully know or understand our limitless God. However, in reading the Bible and spending time with Him, God will begin to reveal more and more about who He is to us.
The Trinity – The concept of The Trinity is one of mysteries of God that our limited human minds may never be able to fully grasp. However, it is important that we recognize that The Trinity is true, real, and serves a purpose. Although the term is never mentioned in the scriptures, there are instances where we see God mentioned as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all at one time. Each of the three distinct persons serve a unique and diverse role with equal deity while also submitting to God the Father. It is clear each of the persons are independent of one another as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. However, the three make up our one God. Analogy-Body, Mind, and Sprit, all make up one person, but each serve a distinct role and submit to the will of the mind. Although this is not a perfect analogy, as there never will be one, this is similar to the function of The Trinity.
Creation – All things were created for God, and by God. Though God did not need us, he chose to form us as man in his own image. He has since decided to remain in intimate relationship with his creation even though we have tainted his creation with sin. God takes delight in his creation and believes that it is good. We too are to celebrate his creation and glorify him through it. Finally, it is also important to note that creation is not in opposition with science. Instead, God is the creator of creation and from his creation, man has created through science.
Prayer – Prayer is the communication from us to God that allows us to grown in our knowledge of Him. We are able to share requests, thanksgivings, praise, and confessions through our prayers to God. We do not pray to inform, because God already knows all things (omniscient). Instead, each time we pray our trust grows and therefore our dependence on God grows in response. Prayer glorifies and delights God while allowing us to be active participants in the eternally significant events. The first step in prayer is to ask in his name, and he promises to answer us. We must pray in humility and ask for what he desires for us and not what our selfish hearts desire. If we are unsure of what to pray, the scriptures can guide us on what God desires for our life. His answers to our prayers are perfect even if we do not recognize the perfection in the moment. Even in the silence, He may be preparing us for something greater. When prayers are not answered, we must humbly declare that “God is still good.”
Angels, Satan, and Demons – Angels are spiritual beings that hold high levels of intelligence and moral judgment but are not to be worshipped as God or in place of Him. They are strong and mighty examples that model for us how to carry out the plans of God, worship Him, and glorify God continually on Earth. Demons are evil angels that have sinned and work evil in the world. However, they are not solely responsible for the sin and evil that takes place in the world. Though demons have power, they are limited by God and will never be more powerful than He who created them. Satan is the head of the demons. He is great in power but cannot know the future or read our thoughts. Satan and his demons are not to be feared, because they will never overpower the strength of our God.
Man – Although God did not purposefully need us, he created us to spend our lives glorifying Him. All of creation was made to glorify, but only man was made in the image of God. The more we come to understand ourselves, the more we come to understand God and vice versa. Sin has tainted the image of God in us, but we will ultimately be restored to the image of him when we meet in Heaven. While we are on Earth, we were made to be a representation of him, be fruitful and multiply, take care of his creation, and work to restore it back to the initial purpose for which it was created to be.
Sin – Sin entered the world through Adam, but all have sinned before God. Although we all sin, we are not to make a “practice of sinning” (1 John 3:9). A practice of sinning may indicate that the sinner never truly put their faith in Jesus to receive their salvation. Sin is any behavior, attitude, or motivation that is in conflict with God’s moral law and therefore God himself. Sin does not overpower God or surprise him, but he does allow us as humans to freely choose to sin. God is grieved by our sins, and our relationship may suffer as a result of our sin. However, our individual sin is able to be removed by the sinlessness of Jesus. As sinners, we must confess our sins to God, and in return we will receive forgiveness for our transgressions.
Christ – Jesus was both fully man and fully God. He had all the same human needs and felt the human emotions that we too experience. However, the difference between our humanity and his deity is that he was free from all sin. Christ came as the mediator between God and man and ultimately had to experience human death in order to fully sanctify us and redeem our sins.
Atonement – “The work Jesus did in living and dying to earn our salvation.” God sent Jesus to Earth due to his love, mercy, and a desire to seek justice for our sins. In living, Jesus led a life of perfect obedience so that His sacrificial death would cover our multitude of sins. Throughout his life and particularly towards his death, he suffered tremendously. Even with his sinless life, he suffered to the point of death as a punishment for our sins. In living and dying, Jesus paid the penalty, endured the wrath of God, and “bore the guild” for our multitude of sins so that our sin would no longer separate us from God.
Resurrection – Jesus’s death on the cross was followed by a resurrection to a new and perfect physical body that no longer was culpable to suffering. His resurrection confirms our cleansed standing before God, prevents us from being overruled by sin, and gives us the power of the Holy Spirit within us as Christians. After Jesus’s resurrection, he ascended into Heaven where he currently resides as his work on Earth was then temporarily complete. When we as believers say “yes” to the call on our heart for salvation, we are immediately born again with the hope of Christ and understanding that we will eventually be resurrected to a perfect body in the perfect place of Heaven with Jesus.
Election or Predestination – It is important to note that there is great debate about this particular belief. Election is the idea that an individual’s salvation was predetermined by God during creation as an act of his overall goodness. A key belief of election is that one’s salvation is as a result of God’s goodness and not the idea that we were “good enough” to earn his protection. Election does not mean we are not to spread the gospel. God has already planned who will be saved, and many of those salvations will occur as a result of our obedience to evangelism. In other words, we are not to be lazy and assume God will take care of the salvations. Instead, we are to share the Gospel to all with the understanding and comfort that only some will be hungry enough to hear. On the other hand, it is not God’s fault that some people will not be saved. It is their own choices that prevent them from receiving the gift of salvation. However, even for those who will reject God and remain unelected, God will pour out blessings onto their lives on Earth in the intellectual, moral, creative, societal, and religious realm through common grace. We all are sinners who deserve immediate death as a result of our sin. God is gracious enough to predestine some for a lifetime of perfect eternity with Him,
Becoming a Christian – It begins with the predestination mentioned above and moves through the process of being called, justified, and glorified in Christ. The call is unique to the elected and comes from God directly to his chosen ones. He is “effectively calling” them to step out of their dark lives of sin and into the light of Christ. How do we as Christians take part in the Gospel call? We must explain the facts of salvation (All have sinned, the penalty for sin is death, and Jesus died to pay the price for our sins), invite them to respond to a personal walk with Jesus through complete repentance and faith, and remind them of the promise of eternal life with Christ through salvation. Initiating the call is our responsibility, but it is completely up to God to initiate regeneration or the process of allowing that call to take root and change their heart towards Christ. The final step is known as conversion. Conversion is when someone places their trust in Jesus to not only forgive their sins, but also offer eternal life with Him in Heaven.
Justification and Adoption – After a person responds to the call on their heart through conversion, they are justified by God as a response to our faith. Justification is when God looks at our sins as forgiven, believes Christ’s righteousness belongs to us, and, therefore, judges us to be righteous or “just” before him. We are no longer expected to serve our penalty for our past sins as they are forgiven by the blood of Christ. Justification is an act of God’s grace and dependent on our faith and not our works. In other words, we do not deserve or earn justification, but God gifts it anyways. Another gift as a result of our faith is adoption as one of God’s children. As a member of his family, we are given the opportunity to experience an intimate relationship with our Heavenly father on Earth and in Heaven.
Sanctification and Perseverance – Sanctification begins the moment our hearts begin accepting the call of Christ and will continue to take place throughout our entire Earthly lives. Sanctification is the continual removal of sins from our life so that we may become more and more like the image of our God. Sanctification is complete the moment we are face to face with God and our souls are set free from the bondage of sin forevermore. The Holy Spirit in us produces holiness to cleanse us from the inside out. However, we still play a role in our own sanctification. We are to trust in God for the Holy Spirit to work inside of us and actively strive for a life of obedience. With regards to perseverance, “those who are truly Christians will persevere to the end, only whose who persevere to the end are truly Christians.” This does not mean we will not battle sin. It simply means that while we battle, we will persevere with repentance and faith. We can be assured of our perseverance by our trust in Christ for salvation, and evidence of fruits in our life as a result of our own obedience.
Death – Death is the final step of sanctification as our souls will be totally cleansed of sin and evil. However, it is not until Jesus comes back again that our bodies will be made perfect and whole through glorification. At that point, our perfect bodies will be united with our perfect souls and we will fully represent the image of God as He intended at the birth of creation. We as believers are commanded to not fear our own death but instead look forward to our day of being in the presence of God. It is also important to note that if a non-Christian were to die, they are immediately subjected to eternal punishment in Hell. Though we may not always know a person’s final destination, we should not give indications that they are in Heaven as that may decrease the urgency for non-Christians still residing on Earth to seek salvation.
The Complete Process of Salvation
Predestined by God as one of his people à Called to God by man à Regeneration of the heart by God à Conversion by placing our trust in God à Justified or righteous before God as a response to our faith à Adopted into God’s family à Sanctification by the removal of sins in our life à Perseverance in repentance and faith à Death and complete purification of our soul à Jesus’s return and Glorification through our former bodies being made perfect and reunited with our souls
The Church – The Church in its totality is everyone who has ever put their trust in God for their salvation throughout the history of time. Since it is up to God to judge one’s heart, we will never truly know who belongs to the church and who does not. The word church can also describe any form of community of believers. There are many different metaphors used for church in the scriptures including a family, a body, the new temple, a holy priesthood, branches on a vine, an olive tree, and a field of crops. Each of the metaphors help us understand what the role of the church is in the eyes of God. To be considered a church, it is typically believed that there must be accurate preaching of the scriptures and the church must participate in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Additionally, the church should be consistently working to purify itself and its members and strive for unity among other Christians. The church is intended to minister to God through worship, minister to its members through discipleship and equipping, and minister to the world through preaching and serving. The Holy Spirit equips believers with spiritual gifts that are intended to fulfill the overall mission of the church.
When Christ Returns – “eschatology” is the study of the end times. The specific timing of Christ’s return is unclear to anyone, but it is clear that we as believers should be ready at all times. The Bible does share a list of signs that will occur before Christ’s return. There is debate as to if those have happened or not. The most supported argument appears to be that they likely have not occurred, but it is best to be prepared at any moment just in case. There seems to be three different views on the”1,000 years” passage in Rev. 2-:1-6. Amillennial-believes that the 1,000-year period is a metaphor for the current church age and Satan is already bound. Postmillennial-believe the millennium will come gradually and Christ will return after the millennium. In other words, the reign of Christ is slow to build, but eventually Christianity will be a powerful voice in society. Premillennial-the millennium will come suddenly and Christ will return before the millennium. This view also typically believes in the time of great tribulation or suffering on Earth. Regardless of one’s view, it is clear the Jesus will return to battle Satan and his army for one final war and ultimately conquer death. The final judgment will be delivered, and Jesus will become King for eternity.
The Final Judgment – After Jesus’s return, He will sit on his throne and give judgment to believers and unbelievers alike. It is clear that he will be fair in both punishment (for unbelievers) and reward (for believers). Though believer’s rewards will all differ, their joy will be made complete by their ability to be in the presence of God and worship their King. The Final Judgment is not to be feared. Its purpose is to glorify God by recognizing both his justice and mercy to all. “The Final Judgment assures us that regardless of what happens, God is in control and will eventually bring about a right end to every situation.” The Final Judgment should be an encouragement for believers to forgive the injustices of the world and share the good news of Christ to prevent unbelievers from receiving the punishment of eternity in Hell.
Heaven – Although God is everywhere at all times, his glory is made known most in Heaven. After our final judgment, believers will spend our eternity in the new Heaven and the new Earth with God. Once the curse of sin is removed, creation will return to its former glory and again be made “good” in the eyes of the Lord. Although our bodies and souls will be restored to the paradise they were intended for, we will not be God. We will always lack in His infinite abilities, but we will forever delight in growing in our knowledge and understanding of who God is and what he has done for us. Heaven will not only be a place of perfect beauty, but also a place of constant glory and worship of God. We as believers will finally see the fulfillment of his goodness by being face-to-face with our God.