Foundations of Faith: Essential Christian Doctrines Explored

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **2 Timothy 3:16-17** - "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
2. **John 14:6** - "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
3. **Romans 3:23** - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

#### Observation Questions
1. According to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, what are the purposes of Scripture? How does this align with the sermon’s emphasis on the authority of Scripture? ([47:19])
2. In John 14:6, what does Jesus claim about Himself? How does this statement relate to the sermon’s discussion on the exclusivity of salvation through Jesus? ([01:05:29])
3. Romans 3:23 states that all have sinned. How does this verse connect to the sermon’s explanation of the problem of sin? ([01:02:10])
4. What analogy did the pastor use to illustrate the inconsistency of professing to be a Christian while rejecting core doctrines? ([40:40])

#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why is it important to understand that all Scripture is "breathed out by God" as stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17? How does this impact the way we view and use the Bible in our daily lives? ([47:19])
2. How does Jesus’ claim in John 14:6 challenge the idea that all religions lead to heaven? What implications does this have for how we share our faith with others? ([01:05:29])
3. Considering Romans 3:23, what does it mean for every person to have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? How does this understanding shape our need for salvation? ([01:02:10])
4. The pastor mentioned that not all doctrines are essential to the Christian faith. How can we discern which doctrines are essential and which are non-essential? ([41:52])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your personal study habits. How can you ensure that you are engaging with Scripture regularly to understand its authority and teachings? ([38:57])
2. Jesus said He is the only way to the Father. How does this belief influence your interactions with people of other faiths or those who believe in multiple paths to God? ([01:05:29])
3. The sermon emphasized the problem of sin and its consequences. How can you cultivate a deeper awareness of sin in your life and seek God’s forgiveness and transformation? ([01:02:10])
4. The pastor spoke about the importance of holding tightly to essential doctrines while being open to differing views on non-essentials. How can you practice this balance in your discussions with fellow believers? ([41:52])
5. The sermon encouraged proving our repentance through our actions. What specific steps can you take this week to demonstrate your repentance and commitment to following Jesus? ([01:10:35])
6. How can you use the analogy of the vegan eating a chicken sandwich to explain the importance of consistency in professing and living out your Christian faith to someone who may be struggling with understanding core doctrines? ([40:40])
7. The pastor mentioned the need for ongoing study and discussion of the essentials of faith. What resources or strategies can you use to continue growing in your understanding of these essential doctrines? ([38:57])

Day 1: Scripture's Authority Affirms Faith
The Bible stands as the ultimate guide for believers, a divine compass that points to the truth of God's word. It is the foundation upon which all other teachings must be measured, ensuring that they align with the divine narrative laid out from Genesis to Revelation. As believers, it is imperative to immerse oneself in the Scriptures, to understand its precepts, and to allow it to shape one's life and beliefs. The authority of Scripture is not merely an academic concept; it is a daily commitment to live by the Word, to let it correct, teach, and guide. It is through Scripture that one can discern the voice of God amidst the cacophony of the world's philosophies. [07:40]

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

Reflection: How does your current engagement with Scripture reflect its authority in your life, and what practical steps can you take to deepen your interaction with the Bible?

Day 2: Embracing the Mystery of the Trinity
The nature of God as a triune being is a profound mystery that lies at the heart of Christian doctrine. This essential belief shapes the understanding of God's character and His relationship with humanity. The Trinity is not a concept to be fully comprehended but to be embraced in faith, recognizing that God's nature is far beyond human understanding. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct yet one, working in perfect unity. This foundational truth calls for humility and awe, as it speaks to the infinite complexity and majesty of the Creator. Believers are invited to explore this mystery, knowing that it will lead to a deeper reverence for God and a more robust faith. [49:06]

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 (ESV)
"These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."

Reflection: In what ways can you cultivate a greater appreciation for the mystery of the Trinity, and how might this deepen your worship and understanding of God?

Day 3: The Centrality of Christ's Identity
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of Christianity, His identity being multifaceted and essential to the faith. He is fully God and fully man, born of a virgin, crucified, resurrected, and He will return. These truths are not just historical facts but are the pillars that support the entire structure of Christian belief. To misunderstand or misrepresent Jesus is to risk the integrity of one's faith. It is through the person of Jesus that one can experience forgiveness and enter into a restored relationship with God. His life, death, and resurrection are the embodiment of God's love and the means of salvation for humanity. [53:25]

Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV)
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

Reflection: How does your understanding of Jesus' identity shape your daily life, and in what ways can you honor His centrality in your personal walk with God?

Day 4: Sin's Problem, Grace's Solution
Sin is the transgression against God's law of love, and it is a universal condition that affects every person. It leads to spiritual death, but the gospel offers a powerful antidote: the grace of God through Jesus Christ. This grace is not cheap; it cost the life of God's Son. Understanding the gravity of sin is essential, as it magnifies the beauty and necessity of grace. The free gift of salvation is available to all who believe, a testament to God's unending love and mercy. This truth should not only bring comfort but also inspire a life of gratitude and a desire to live in a manner worthy of the sacrifice made. [01:02:10]

Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV)
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."

Reflection: How does the reality of sin and the gift of grace influence your view of yourself and others, and what changes might you need to make to reflect this understanding in your relationships?

Day 5: Faith Alone, Christ Alone
Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned but is received through faith in Jesus Christ alone. This fundamental truth is the bedrock of the Christian faith, and any deviation from it distorts the gospel message. The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice on the cross is complete, and believers are called to trust in His work, not their own. This understanding liberates from the futile pursuit of self-righteousness and leads to a life of freedom and joy in Christ. The exclusivity of Christ as the way to heaven is not a message of exclusion but one of profound hope, for it is in Him that the fullness of God's love is revealed. [01:04:54]

Galatians 2:16 (ESV)
"Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

Reflection: What does it mean for you to live out the truth that salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone, and how can you communicate this central gospel message to others in a way that is both loving and clear?

I've got some technical difficulty up here.

Here, Ruben, if you can come back out. We are on the wrong input or in the wrong place. Your adapter snapped in half, so we had to get rid of it. I don't know, one of those things is busted. All right, we're going to get that fixed shortly.

Hey, we got it. Ruben, you fixed it already. Look at that. We're going to throw this back at you, Sol. All right, there we go.

Hey, we're here. Yeah. So here's... Here's what we're doing today. We have a series called "You Asked For It," and boy, oh boy, did you ever. We got 250 questions submitted last week, and I made the promise that I would answer every single one of your questions. And I am a man of my word, so we're doing that.

And here's how that's working out, okay? So last Sunday in our two services, we answered a few questions. Then on Wednesday, I put out a video on YouTube where I answered a few questions, and I answered 20 of your questions. I'm going to do that same video three more times, which if my math is right, that gets us to 80 questions.

And then in our podcast between sermons this past week, Pastor Sol, Pastor Asa, and myself, we answered 70 of your questions in what is officially the longest podcast we’ve ever recorded. So bite-sized, like listen to a little bit and then go do something else and then listen to a little bit because it will take you over two hours to get through the whole thing.

And we're going to answer more of those questions in our podcast each week of this series. So over the next three weeks, we'll answer a few questions and discuss the sermon in between sermons until I believe after, by the end of this month, we should get through all 250 of your questions, and that's not even counting the ones you just emailed me that I've been responding to.

And if you emailed me and didn't get a response, you might have emailed the wrong person. Hopefully, you emailed the right guy, brents at clc.tv, because I do want to answer all your questions. I think it's important for us to have answers to people's questions, especially when it comes to matters of the faith.

And so you can get all that content at go.clc.tv forward slash YouTube if you're not already subscribed to our YouTube channel. But there were a lot of questions that came in that were very similar in nature. They kind of covered the same topics or the same big ideas.

And we felt that those questions actually needed more than just a one or two minute response. We wanted to give them a little bit more. And so over the next three weeks, we're going to tackle those issues or those questions in our Sunday sermon.

And so next week, we're going to look at mental health from a biblical perspective. And then the week after that, yeah, so the week after that, we're going to talk about the three most incendiary, divisive topics around today. In one message, we're going to address politics, abortion, and LGBT issues in the church.

Yeah, that silence is exactly what I was expecting to happen. So at the last message of the series, I think you should either bring your popcorn or your pitchforks because it should be, it's going to go either way depending on how you feel about those things.

But we're going to let you know what we believe here at CLC, what the Bible teaches us. And yeah, we're going to navigate those. So it should be fun. Fun might not be the right word, but it should be helpful, educational. Educational, we're going to see what happens.

But that means that today, we're going to look at actually my favorite question that came in. So whoever sent this one in, this was my favorite of the 250. So pat yourself on the back.

The question was, what are some basic steps I can take to better understand the essential doctrines of the Christian faith? And the reason why this is one of my favorite questions or is my favorite question is because not enough people ask it. Not enough Christians actually know what they believe and why they believe it.

They just kind of grab this title of Christianity and then they start adding to it all of the random things they hear or see or how they feel. And it ends up creating this kind of this weird monster of a thing that isn't even Christianity sometimes by the time we're done adding to it.

And that can be very, very dangerous for us. We need to know what the essentials of our faith really are. And so, over the next 30 or 40 minutes, I'm gonna do my best to walk us through the five essentials of the Christian faith.

And I kind of already lied to you because I said we're gonna walk through it. We're not. We're gonna sprint. Because five essentials in 30 minutes is a tall order. And so what I hope today is we will give you a solid foundation, a solid understanding that then you can build off of.

And it's gonna be good. And so here's what we have to understand as we're going through this conversation of these essentials, there's some groundwork we need to do first. There's a few things you need to be aware of.

First of all, you need to know that today is going to be an intellectual Sunday, okay? This is gonna be the kind of Sunday where you need to put your thinking cap on. You need to get your notes ready. Pull up the CLC app. Get ready. Pull out your camera because if you don't write fast enough, you can always just snap a picture of what's on the screen.

And then you can go back and study it later. This is the kind of Sunday that you're gonna need to, not just want to, not just should. You need to talk about it later with other people. This is the kind of Sunday that I know you don't like homework, but you really should continue your study and continue your research after we're done preaching today, okay?

Now, that means that today is probably not going to be the kind of sermon that gives you goosebumps. While I'm preaching, you're probably not gonna wanna jump up and down and shout at the preacher and run a lap around the room. Maybe you're gonna want to jump up and down. Maybe Jason will, but for the rest of us, that's probably not what's gonna happen today.

However, I do want you to know that this, at the same time, this also might be the most important sermon you ever hear. Not because I'm preaching it and I'm so amazing and the sermon's gonna be fire. No, no, no. But because the essentials are that important to us.

They lay the foundation for everything that we believe and everything that we do as Christians. And when you have the wrong foundation built, it crumbles, right? And your faith is built on the wrong things. And so we have to get these essentials right.

Or you could actually think you're following Jesus on the path that leads to life. And really you're on a path that leads to death when you get these things wrong. So we're gonna focus on this today because not all religions lead to heaven.

And not everyone who uses the name Jesus is talking about the same God, okay? And we gotta be real careful with that. So we're gonna go through these essentials because they are the defining qualities of what it means to be a Christian.

They are the dividing line between Christian and Muslim, between Christian and New Age, between Christian and Mormon, between Christian and not Christian, okay? These are the essentials.

Let me put it like this. If I claim to be vegan, and then later this week, you bumped into me at Chick-fil-A, and I'm halfway through a spicy deluxe, aka the greatest chicken sandwich you can buy, okay? And you stop and you go, whoa, Brent, what happened? I thought you were a vegan.

And my response was, what do you mean? Of course I'm a vegan. I mean, obviously I still eat meat, but that doesn't mean I'm not a vegan. And I'm sure all the other vegans around would support me in my meat-eating habits as a vegan. That doesn't work, right?

Well, the same is true in Christianity. There are some things that if you reject, then by definition, you're no longer actually Christian. You might call yourself a Christian, but that don't make you one, okay?

So does that mean that every doctrine we hold is essential? No. There are both essential and non-essential doctrines. In other words, there are some things that are essential to the church at large, the body of Christ as a whole.

But then there's also some things that are important to this church, Christian Life Center, right? So a multicultural expression of worship is super important to this church, but it's not an essential.

The full ministry of the Holy Spirit, including the supernatural spiritual gifts are super important to this church, but they're still not an essential of the faith. Generosity and missions and reaching the next generation are all very, very, very, very important.

Please hear me. Those are vitally important to this church, but they're not part of the essentials of the faith. And so what we do is we approach church doctrine like this. There are some things that we hold tightly to, closed-handed.

There are some things that we hold loosely with an open hand, right? So there are some things that we do not adulter, we do not change, we do not twist, we do not get rid of, we don't add to. We hold tightly to those essential doctrines.

And then there's some things that may be important to us, but if you believe something different than I believe, we can agree to disagree. And it's okay. We can still be in fellowship. We can still call each other brothers in Christ, okay? Those are open-handed issues.

Then there's the things that we have to hold tightly to. So the question is, what's in this hand? So here they are, the five essentials of our faith: the authority of Scripture, the nature of God, the identity of Jesus, the problem of sin, and the price of salvation.

And as we walk, as we run through these five essentials, what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at a lot of Scripture today. We're gonna look at over 40,000. We're gonna look at over 40,000 verses in the Bible because this is so important to us.

And we're gonna give your brains a really good workout today so that we can all grow in the faith. And ultimately, we wanna not just feel about God, more feeling about God. We wanna have more knowledge of who God is and more understanding to accompany our feelings. We should have both.

So we're gonna jump in with what I think is kind of the linchpin for a lot of our foundational beliefs, and that is the authority of God, the authority of Scripture.

And so what we hold to this idea that the Bible is the very word of God, that it is the final authority in our lives, and it is how we come to understand and accept the other four essentials, okay?

So when we remove Scripture from Christianity, Christianity can become corrupted by personal opinions, by desires, by bad actors, right? You give a good-looking, charismatic guy a platform, and they can get a lot of people to believe a lot of things that aren't true.

And so what we always have to do is say, does this book say what that guy just implied or just said or just quoted from? Like, is this the same as that? And if it's not, take notice, okay?

And so there's a lot more that could be said, not just about this specific doctrine, but all five doctrines. There's a lot more that could be said or should be said than we're gonna have time for, than we're gonna have time for today.

That's why you need to study a little bit more. But what I hope to do is give you some of the most important aspects of each of these so that you can kind of have a solid foundation.

And so our first understanding of the authority of Scripture is that it is the word of God, okay? It's not just a book. It is the word of God. Take notice of what Jesus says in Matthew.

There's some Pharisees that are asking him a question about resurrection and what's gonna happen there. But look at what Jesus says. He says, have you not read what was said to you by God? He didn't say, have you not read what was written by Moses?

Which would have been technically accurate. But instead, he connects this idea that the writings are actually the words of God. That when we read Scripture, we are hearing the voice of God.

So if you say that you wanna hear the voice of God, open up your Bible. Because it's still today, it is the number one way that God speaks to his people. So we have to open up the Bible. It is his word.

In fact, 2 Timothy 3 says, all Scripture is breathed out by God. This is his words, his breath. And it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

That equipping happens. That completion happens. That profitability. The teaching, the reproof. All of that happens, not because it's a good book. It happens because it is the word of God. It's breathed out by God.

And so men may have been the ones who put pen to paper, but it was God who put words in hearts. Okay? And because it is the word of God, it has the final authority in our lives.

Okay? There are only two options when it comes to our knowledge of the divine creator. There is either revelation or speculation. Either God speaks or we guess. And he's spoken.

Okay? Man is fallible. We make mistakes. We can be in error. God is not. So that means that his word carries a lot more weight and authority than my word does.

And maybe one day what we'll do is we'll turn this one message into like a five-week series so we can really dig into this because I want to give you all of the reasons why we trust the Bible as the word of God and why it has authority.

And I just don't have enough time today to do that justice. But there's a great YouTube channel, Mike Winger. If you're not subscribed to Mike, you totally should. He's got great content.

But he did a series like seven or eight years ago called "Evidence for the Bible." It's about 20 videos. It's like 20 hours worth of teaching. And so if the authority of scripture or whether or not we can trust the Bible is something you personally are struggling with, it is worth the 20 hours that it would take for you to go through that content.

It is valuable in your life. So take a look at that. But as you're gonna see, as we go throughout each of these essentials, we're gonna keep going back to God's word because it is God's word that allows us to understand and accept all the other essentials.

It's God's word that leads us to that understanding of who he is, the problem of sin, and the price of salvation. And so as we look at each essential, we're gonna be going back to a lot of Bible verses.

So with that said, let's jump into essential number two, and that is the nature of God. So we worship a monotheistic, triune, eternal creator God.

Okay, let me put it like this. We believe in one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are co-equal and co-eternal, meaning that they are all fully God.

One didn't create the others. Present before time began, yet there is no God. There is only one God. That's a lot. So we're gonna break this down starting with one God.

This is a monotheistic religion. There is only one God. He told us that in Deuteronomy 6:4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

So you can't call yourself a Christian and believe in multiple gods. It's incompatible based on scripture. In fact, God doesn't even give us the option. In Isaiah 43, he says, Before me, no God was formed. Nor shall there be any after me.

Like, it's just God. There's only one, okay? And that one God eternally exists in three persons. And if that statement hurts your brain, welcome to the club, okay?

Because that is called the doctrine of the Trinity and it is very complicated. In fact, there's a book called "The Handbook of Christian Life" or "Christian Truth." And in it, the authors say, The mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity.

He who has tried to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind. But he who would deny the Trinity will lose his soul, okay? What that's saying is this thing is both essential and a mystery, okay?

And so we're actually going to dedicate three Sundays to talking about the Trinity right after this series ends. So the month of May, we're gonna be looking at the Trinity.

And so I wanna give you just a little bit of a teaser for what we're gonna be talking about in that series. Because the Trinity is one of those things that is not, that word is not found in the Bible.

It's a concept, this three-in-one God that isn't even represented fully by one single verse. But it's a principle that is present from Old Testament to Gospels to the letters of Paul.

Like it's all throughout the fabric of scripture. You just have to look for it in order to find it. So I'm gonna give you three quick verses.

First of all, in Genesis 1:26, then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. This is the same God that said, there's only one is now using plural language to describe the singular God.

So we take notice of that. You jump over to Matthew. This is what Jesus says. It's to his disciples. This is the last instruction he gives. Probably one of the most important things he has to say.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. There we have all three figures of the Trinity in one passage.

But then Paul even brings some more clarity in 1 Corinthians 12:4. He says, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord, that's Jesus, and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Same Spirit, same Lord, same God, and yet each have a different function. Now there is so much more that could be said and should be said about the Trinity to help us wrestle with that.

So come back in May and we'll talk about it more. But the essential doctrine is that our God is three in one, but he is also the eternal creator, okay?

Another statement that might hurt your head. God is the uncaused first cause of the universe, okay? So we don't worship a created God. We worship a creator God.

And we find that in the very first verse of the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So if anybody ever asks you, what was there before God? The answer is very simple. Nothing, right?

Because he is the creator. He created time, space, and matter. And guess what? You can't use time, space, or matter to create time, space, and matter.

So he's the uncaused first cause of the universe. And so the essential doctrine about God is that we believe in one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and he is the creator of all.

Okay? Good? Essential number three, the identity of Jesus. By definition, a Christian is a follower of Christ, right? Which means there are some things that we need to get right about this Jesus we're following.

Because here's the problem. If I just call this TV Jesus, does that mean this TV is going to save me? No. Just because I call it something doesn't make it that thing, right?

And so no matter how much I call this TV Jesus, and believe that this TV is Jesus, and trust in this TV to save me, it ain't going to save me because it's counterfeit. It's not the real deal.

So when we call on the name of Jesus, we need to know who we're actually calling on. In fact, Jesus said it like this in Matthew. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord. Did we not prophesy in your name? And cast out demons in your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Okay? You don't need to just know the name Jesus. You need to know the person, right? You need to know who Jesus really is. And there are five components to this essential of our faith: his deity and humanity, his birth, his death, his resurrection, and his return.

It's the five essentials wrapped in this one essential. We're gonna take them one at a time, starting with his deity and humanity, that God is, or that Jesus is both 100% God and 100% man.

We're gonna tackle the deity part first. There's a lot of scriptures we could use for this, but we're gonna use Mark 2. It says, When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Right?

He's blaspheming. He's claiming something that is exclusive to God. And guess what? They're right. Man can't forgive sins. Only God can.

And so Jesus saying, I can also do the thing that only God can do, is him saying, Hey, I'm God. Right? And then to prove it, he heals the paralytic man in front of him. Right? Because he's always going extra.

Okay? Then in John 1, we have, In the beginning was the word, and this is how John describes Jesus. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

There you've got parts of the Trinity happening again. And you've got the deity of Christ. But look what he says a few verses later in verse 14. He says, The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus became flesh. So he's 100% God, and he's 100% human. And that's actually, vitally important to our faith as we're gonna get into some of these other essentials.

Because if he's not human, he can't shed blood. If he's not God, that blood has no power. Right? So his deity and his humanity is actually a major component of our faith.

And so Jesus' incarnation, the incarnate form, the God in flesh, comes about through the miracle of a virgin birth. Okay? And the virgin birth is what demonstrates that Jesus was truly human and truly divine.

He can't be God if he's born the same way everyone else is born. When a mommy and daddy love each other very much and they hold hands. There are children present, okay? So we're just...

But if he's born naturally by a man and a woman the way the rest of us are, then he cannot be God. It would also mean that he couldn't be sinless because we're all born in sin.

The solution to those dilemmas or those problems is the virgin birth. That he can be both man and God at the same time because it's through a supernatural process.

And we see that in Matthew 1:23. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.

But Brent, virgins can't get pregnant. Yeah, I know. It's called a miracle. The Bible's full of them. Probably come to terms with that very quickly.

Okay? But the next part of the essential about the identity, the identity of Jesus is his death by crucifixion. Okay? Jesus' death is recorded for us by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and some extra biblical sources.

But it's crazy to me that there's actually an entire religion out there that believes that Jesus was sent by God, that he performed miracles in the name of God, but that he didn't actually die, that he wasn't actually crucified, which is crazy to me because it's actually been historically put to rest.

Like the whole conversation is settled from a historical standpoint. The historian and professed atheist, Gerd Ludman, atheist, doesn't believe in the resurrection, but even he says Jesus' death as a consequence of crucifixion is indisputable as historical fact, Jesus died on a cross.

But our foundation isn't built on what atheists have to say about it. It's on scripture. So Acts 2, men of Israel hear these words. So Peter's preaching the first sermon after the resurrection.

Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

You, what? Crucified and killed him by the hands of lawless men. So an essential doctrine about Jesus is that he really did die on that cross.

But just as essential to the Christian faith is that he didn't stay down. Somebody say he got up. Come on. All right, so the next part of the essentials about Jesus is that the resurrection.

So we don't follow, I said this at Easter, right? We don't follow Jesus because he died on a cross. We follow Jesus because he walked out of a tomb, right?

And the resurrection of Jesus is actually the most important essential that we hold to. This is what Paul said about it in 1 Corinthians 15. He said, If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity, right?

You could hold on to every other essential we talk about today, but if you reject the resurrection, then you're a vegan eating a chicken sandwich, okay?

And then real quickly, because we're running out of time. The final aspect of the essential doctrine about Jesus is that he's coming back.

Now, please understand, when he's coming back, what that looks like when he comes back, how he's coming back, the timeline of events, all that, all of that is open-handed. Those are not essentials.

We can argue and debate. What's not up for debate is the fact that he is coming back, okay? And we need to be ready for him. This is what Hebrews 9:28 says.

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. That's the job of the church, to be eagerly waiting for his return.

And that leads us to the fourth essential, and this is the one nobody likes. This is the problem of sin. And sin simply means to miss the mark or to fail the goal.

In fact, Scripture just defines its sin as breaking the law of God. So 1 John 3:4, anyone who sins breaks God's law. Yes, sinning is the same as living against sin.

Sinning is the same as living against God's law, which makes us ask the question, what is the law that we're breaking when we sin? What is the goal that we're failing? What's the target that we're missing when we sin?

Well, the goal, the target, the law, all of it is to love God and love people, right? The Jewish people were given hundreds of laws, but the most famous are the Ten Commandments.

Have you ever paid attention to the Ten Commandments? Half of them are about loving God. The other half are about loving people. And then that's why Jesus, when he's asked which law is most important, this is his response.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first. Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.

All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands. So when you don't love God and when you don't love people, you're breaking the law of God. You're missing the mark. You're failing the goal. You're committing sin.

And the bad news with that is we all do it. Romans 3:23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Every single one of us is guilty of sin.

And so we got a lot of questions of is blank sin? Well, this is our criteria. Is it loving towards God? Is it loving towards people? And if it's not, then that's sin, okay?

But there's a little bit of an understanding that we have to have when it comes to the loving people part of it. Because I cannot dishonor God in my act of loving people.

I can't spit on God in a way of loving people. So I cannot tell someone that their sin is a good thing that should be celebrated when God calls it sin. We'll save that for another week, okay?

But the problem is with all of us being sinners, here's what happens. There's a penalty for it. When people sin, they earn what sin pays, death. But God gives us people a free gift, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So right here, we have both the problem and the solution. The problem with sin is that it leads us to death. But, quite literally, there's a but right there that God gives us people a free gift.

There is a solution, and that brings us to our fifth and final essential of the faith. Am I talking too fast? You still with me? I'm seeing a lot of pictures being taken, so that's good.

Whew. It's the price of salvation. But what we have to understand about this is the price of salvation is not the price that you have to pay. It's the price that has already been paid on your behalf.

That's the price of salvation. So, we believe that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Because Jesus paid our debt on the cross.

Salvation's not given to us when we earn it by doing good works. It's not about what we do. It's about what he's already done. And the only requirement is for us to put our faith, which is our belief and our trust, not just that he exists, but that he is the way to salvation.

That we're gonna follow him by faith. Okay? So, we are saved by grace. It's not a work that you do. It's not something that you earn. And it's through faith in him on the cross. That's it.

By grace, through faith, in Christ alone. Let's take a look at scripture for it. Ephesians 2 says, It says, It says, It says, It says, You have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

And this is an essential, which means anything that we add to or take away from this path of salvation is heresy. Right? To say that you have to have Christ plus something else is anti-biblical. It goes against Christianity.

But at the same time, to say that someone can receive salvation in any other way other than Christ on the cross is to imply that Jesus didn't have to die. Right. That he did that for nothing.

If there's another way, Jesus didn't have to die. But Jesus doesn't even leave us with that option. In John 14:6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I don't know why this verse gets mistranslated all the time, and people walk around going, Jesus is a way and a truth, and you've got your truth, and he's the other truth, and a lot of people can come to the Father through a lot of different ways other than Jesus.

I don't know how you can take Jesus' words right here and believe that there is another way to heaven. And maybe you're here today, or maybe you're watching online, and you've been banking on your works getting you to heaven.

You've been telling yourself, I'm not Hitler, so I must be good enough to get in. You're not. Right. And maybe you're here, and you've been saying, you know what, I think that a lot of all the religions just really point to the same God, and it'll be okay as long as I'm genuine in my faith.

I'm sorry, but there is only one way, and it is by the name of Jesus. It's the only way. Come on. And that may sound extremely exclusive, and it kind of is, but it also isn't at the same time.

You know why it's not exclusive? Because Jesus doesn't put any barriers to it. He just says, come to me. It doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter how young you are. It doesn't matter your gender, your ethnicity.

It doesn't matter how sinful you were or how righteous you were. He invites all to come to him. So yeah, it's exclusive that it's only through him, but at the same time, it's open to everybody if you will come to him.

And this gift is a gift of grace, which means you don't have to try and prove to God that you're worth it. You know why? Because he already knows you're not. The same way he already knows I'm not worth it.

And yet because of grace, he does it anyways. He offers it to us anyways because of grace and his incredible love. John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Look at the next verse. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. If all you feel from Christians or from God is condemnation, that's not right.

He didn't come to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. But it might be. It's not a guarantee. God loves you and Jesus died for you.

And today can be the day that your entire eternity is changed. Today can be the day that your sins are forgiven and your relationship with God is restored.

And Jesus tells us how in Matthew 4:17, he tells the people to repent of their sins and turn to God for the kingdom of heaven is near. And when you repent and turn to God, that's when you're saved.

That's when you receive that gift of salvation. And this word repentance, this isn't just about being sorry or saying my bad. Repentance is a change of mind. It's a change of heart. It's a change of direction.

It's saying I was walking in this path, in this direction. I was walking into my sins, but now I'm repenting. I'm turning from that and I'm turning to God.

And so right here on a Sunday where I ran through a lot of scriptures and gave you all the essentials, I would be amiss if I didn't give you an opportunity to do that.

And so I'm gonna ask everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes. I just wanna give a moment of privacy for everyone in the room to just allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

If you're here today or you're listening to this message and you would say, Brent, I've been counting on my own works to get me in. I've been hoping that there's other ways, there's other religions that are good too.

Today you've been confronted with the truth, the reality that there is only one way to heaven and it's through Jesus Christ. And he instructs us to repent and turn to God.

And so that's what we're gonna do right now. For anyone that hasn't done that before that is ready today, I'm gonna lead you in a prayer. You can repeat it after me. You can put it on your own words.

But if you're ready to receive the free gift of salvation from Jesus Christ, I want you to pray this with me.

Dear Jesus, I need you. I know that there is sin in my life. I've missed the mark. I've failed the goal. I've broken your law.

But today, Jesus, I repent. I turn from those things and I turn to you. I'm turning my life around today so that I can follow you, Jesus.

I say thank you for the death you paid on the cross. I put my faith and my trust in you today. In Jesus' name, amen.

So yeah, we can celebrate that. It's a beautiful moment that just took place. But, but here's the thing. At CLC, we talk about the fact that that's a starting line, not a finish line, right?

Like that's, that's the beginning of this whole new journey that you're on with Jesus. In fact, you want to know what comes next? Jesus actually tells us what comes next in Luke 3:8.

He says, prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turn to God. So Jesus says, repent and turn to God. And then he says, after you've done that, prove it.

Prove that you really did it, that you didn't just say a prayer, that you didn't just make a gesture, but that you've actually, actually turned your life from sin towards God.

And this is not an easy thing to do, but this is the journey that every single Christian in the room is on. We are all trying to live in a way that proves our repentance and proves that we are living for God now.

And as we walk this journey, I want to help you walk it out too. And so if you prayed that prayer with me today, or actually, because our number was broken for a while and we didn't know it, if you prayed with us several Sundays ago or over the last month, go ahead and text if you haven't got connected by us, but text life to this other number, 708-998-4516, so that we can get some resources to you.

We want to be able to talk with you and guide you in this because there really is so much more that God wants to do in your life and through your life.

And it really does require us to walk a very challenging road, but none of us are walking it alone. And so we want to help you on this. We want to help you on this faith journey.

All right, it took us 38 minutes and 26 seconds, but we got through all five essentials of our faith. I'm out of breath. I need some water and a nap.

But here's the thing. We've got the authority of scripture. What does that mean? The authority of scripture means that the word of God is the word of God.

And it has final authority in our lives. We measure everything against the truth of God's word. And it's how we come to understand the other four essentials.

We talked about the nature of God. What's the nature of God? One God in three persons. He's the eternal creator, God.

The identity of Jesus, 100% God, 100% man, born of a virgin, died on the cross for our sins, but didn't stay dead. He got back up and he's coming back for his church.

And between our praying the prayer and him coming back, we are eagerly awaiting him, right? The problem of sin is that we're all guilty. We're all guilty of it.

That sin is a really broad spectrum, actually. There's a lot of things that fall under sin because anytime we're not loving towards God or loving towards people, we are breaking the law of God and we are guilty of sin.

And the punishment that comes with sin is separation from God and eternal death. But even though that's really bad news, there's some really good news.

And that is that the price of salvation has already been paid on your behalf. That Jesus' death on the cross, he shed his blood because he's human.

He shed his blood because he's human. He shed his blood and his blood paid for your forgiveness because he's God.

And all of it works together. All of it becomes the essential doctrines of our faith. And you can't take one away and still call yourself a Christian because these are essential to who we are and what we believe.

And so we're gonna hold onto them closely. We're gonna hold onto them with a tight fist. We're not gonna let them become corrupted or let anybody tell us, no, that's not really all that important. Amen.

All right, let's pray. Father God, we just thank you for today. Thank you for the richness of your word. That we don't have to take my word for anything.

That I don't speak of my authority. I just stand on your authority. And so Father, I just pray right now that as we ran through years of study in just a few minutes, that there would be things that were said today that the Holy Spirit would just remind us of when we need it most.

That as we get into conversations with coworkers and friends and neighbors and the other people in our lives, that we'd be reminded of what is most important.

And we can disagree on a lot of things and still have fellowship, but that we will not let go of these essentials of our faith.

And Father, as we're all on this journey to prove our repentance and prove that we've turned to you, that as we eagerly await your return, God, that you would give us wisdom and strength and courage to be able to walk this path with you.

In Jesus' name, amen, amen.

Hey, so, so because I went a little bit, we're just gonna close the service here. We're not gonna go into a song of worship, but I'm gonna invite you to stand to your feet.

If you still got questions, man, send them in. We wanna give you answers. This whole conversation may have given you a lot of questions.

I hope that you'll be able to find the answers that you need. Check out Between Sermons, check out our YouTube channel this week as we answer more questions.

And if you're ready for the blessing, actually first, if I can invite our altar ministry team down to the front, if you need prayer for anything at all, especially if you pray, provide that prayer with me today to receive salvation.

This team would love to pray with you again and to connect with you. And so you can come on down. But anything that you need prayer for at all, this team is here for you.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May he lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen. God bless. Love y'all. We'll see you next week.

``"This is the kind of Sunday that you're gonna need to, not just want to, not just should. You need to talk about it later with other people. This is the kind of Sunday that I know you don't like homework, but you really should continue your study and continue your research after we're done preaching today." [39:32](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"So we're gonna focus on this today because not all religions lead to heaven. And not everyone who uses the name Jesus is talking about the same God, okay? And we gotta be real careful with that." [40:40](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"That the Bible is the very word of God, that it is the final authority in our lives, and it is how we come to understand and accept the other four essentials, okay? So when we remove Scripture from Christianity, Christianity can become corrupted by personal opinions, by desires, by bad actors." [44:15](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"When people sin, they earn what sin pays, death. But God gives us people a free gift, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So right here, we have both the problem and the solution. The problem with sin is that it leads us to death. But, quite literally, there's a but right there that God gives us people a free gift." [01:03:24](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"We believe that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Because Jesus paid our debt on the cross. Salvation's not given to us when we earn it by doing good works. It's not about what we do. It's about what he's already done." [01:04:02](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"We worship a monotheistic, triune, eternal creator God. Okay, let me put it like this. We believe in one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are co-equal and co-eternal, meaning that they are all fully God." [49:06](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"Jesus' death as a consequence of crucifixion is indisputable. As historical fact, Jesus died on a cross. But our foundation isn't built on what atheists have to say about it. It's on scripture. So Acts 2, men of Israel hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed him by the hands of lawless men." [58:11](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"We don't follow Jesus because he died on a cross. We follow Jesus because he walked out of a tomb, right? And the resurrection of Jesus is actually the most important essential that we hold to. This is what Paul said about it in 1 Corinthians 15. If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." [59:08](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"Jesus became flesh. So he's 100% God, and he's 100% human. And that's actually, vitally important to our faith as we're gonna get into some of these other essentials. Because if he's not human, he can't shed blood. if he's not God, that blood has no power." [56:15](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)



``"But Jesus doesn't even leave us with that option. In John 14, 6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I don't know why this verse gets mistranslated, all the time, and people walk around going, Jesus is a way and a truth, and you've got your truth, and he's the other truth, and a lot of people can come to the Father through a lot of different ways other than Jesus." [01:05:29](Make clip | Crop for social media | Crop + Caption)