The Six Doctrines of Christ- Part 1

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. Hebrews 6:1-3 (New International Version, NIV)

So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. Hebrews 6:1-3 (New Living Translation, NLT)

This website is called a Deeper Word, and we endeavor to go beyond the basic fundamentals of Christianity. However, from time to time, we choose to cover foundational truths for those who may be new to the faith or for those who have not had the benefit of sound foundational teaching. Without a solid doctrinal foundation, we cannot progress to the deeper things of God. Today’s post deals with the six basic doctrines of Christ, which are listed in Hebrews 6:1-3, provided above in two translations to give us more understanding.

Doctrines are teachings. These six basic doctrines, or teachings, are the building blocks of our Christian faith:

1. Repentance from dead works

2. Faith in God

3. Baptisms

4. Laying on of hands

5. The resurrection of the dead

6. Eternal judgment

In today’s post, we’ll discuss the first three, and tomorrow we will wrap up with the other three. And remember- God expects us to understand these and then go on to greater maturity in our knowledge of Christianity and the Word.

Repentance From Dead Works

The NIV renders this repentance from acts the lead to death and the NLT translates it as repenting from evil deeds. In addition, the KJV calls it repentance from dead works. As Christians we are to repent, meaning to turn away and go in the opposite direction, from anything that does not bring life. Sin brings death, according to Romans 6:23, therefore, we must renounce and turn away from sin. This doctrine also refers to any action that does not produce worthwhile results. For example, following empty traditions and trying to work our way into heaven are considered dead works. And once we have turned away from sin and empty works, we are able to be saved by moving on to the second doctrine. Also, once saved, we are to continue in Christ by a continual rejection of sin and meaningless works.

Faith In God

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (New International Version, NIV)

We place our faith in God by believing in the One He sent: Jesus Christ, and by receiving Him as our personal Lord and Savior. Faith means we trust in God to save us from our sins and not by our own works. It also means we trust Him to provide for us in every area of our lives, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, relationally, spiritually. Faith comes to us from hearing the anointed teaching and preaching of the Word of God. Without the Word, our faith remains puny and ineffective. We are saved by faith, and God expects us to live by faith (Romans 1:17), so this doctrine is essential.

Baptisms

This is noted differently in different versions and translations of the Bible. Some call this the doctrine of baptisms, while some call it cleansings. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were instructed to wash their hands, containers and other things to purify them. Also in the Old Testament, the priests had to go through ceremonial cleansing to serve in the temple. According to Revelation 5:10, we are kings and priests before God and therefore, remaining pure is still important. However, I believe the primary focus of this statement in Hebrews 6 refers to actual baptisms. Baptism is from the Greek word baptizo, which means to submerge or immerse. We actually partake in three baptisms. The first is that we are baptized into Christ and into His body when we receive Him as our Savior. The second is the baptism in the Holy Spirit, when we are immersed in the Holy Ghost and speak with other tongues. The third one is actual water baptism, which is an act of obedience where we are submerged in water to represent the death of our old man and the resurrection of our new man in Christ.

These are three of the six doctrines that are essential to Christianity. Tomorrow, we will cover the remaining three and conclude our discussion of the six basic doctrines of Christ.