It is crucial we always return to the basics or fundamentals of our faith. The apostle Paul balanced preaching the simple gospel with deeper mysteries, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith would not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began” (1 Corinthians 2:1-7). He knew that we need a dose of remembrance and revelation; we need the cross ever before us and close relationship with Christ that reveals Him more deeply; the fundamentals of our faith are intrinsic to the deeper wisdoms. The apostle mentioned the purpose of Communion, is to remember, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), and yet also to commune with Christ. You cannot separate deeper revelation from realization of the truth that we are Saved by Grace (Acts 15:4-11) through Faith (Phil 3:9) in Christ Alone (Acts 4:10-12), according to the Scriptures alone (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and to God’s glory alone (Philippians 2:4-11, Romans 5:4-11). If we lose sight of these truths we lose sight of who Christ is and what our faith is about, this is why we remember and repeat over and over the facts of our faith.
Our salvation should excite us! Our response should be shouts of jubilance. Before us should always be wondrous truth that Jesus Christ has saved us from death and damnation. That nothing can separate us from God’s love now that we believe in Jesus who is God and Son of God! The fundamentals of our faith are always before us, for Christ our Savior bears the marks in His body, “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:26-28) and all revelation and wisdom is in Jesus, “knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3).
So let us revisit these fundamental truths:
Sola Gratia: Grace Alone
We are saved by God’s Grace in the person of Jesus Christ. Grace means unmerited (not earned) favor. These means that when we were enemies of God, Jesus who is God the Son came and died for our sins, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” (Romans 5:6-11). We did not earn our great salvation and acquittal by good works, but rather Jesus alone earned it for us by His sacrifice and blood once for all time, “24For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
25Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him,” (Hwbrews 9:24-27), and “1For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins.
3Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
but a body You prepared for me.
6In burnt offerings and sin offerings [animal sacrifice]
You took no delight.
7Then I said, ‘Here I am, it is written about Me in the scroll:
I have come to do Your will, O God.’”
8In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). 9Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:1-10). We are called to respond to God’s Propitiation with the next Sola:
Sola Fide: Faith Alone
By having faith, which is putting our trust in Jesus and His Sacrifice to save us unto eternal life. There is no work we can do (Eph 2:8-9), that is the point of Grace, but we do respond to this grace through faith or belief:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten (not made, not created) Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the [b]only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
“For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."” (John 6:40)
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
And this faith is of course in Jesus:
Solus Christus: Christ Alons
The grace comes from Christ once and for all, “4But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:4-10) and our faith is in Christ Alone who is One with God the Father and The Holy Spirit. Christ alone has saved us by His grace and our faith is in Him alone, not our presumptuous good works or a acts of piety, and there is no other name by which we are redeemed and allowed entrance into heaven and into God’s presence:
“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’[
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”” (Acts 4:10-12 NIV)
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT)
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,” (Hebrews 10:19)
“from Jesus, the Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins with his own blood and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5-6, Jubilee 2000 Trans)
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11)
This is all confirmed to be true according to Scripture:
Sola Scriptura: Scripture Alone
The Holy Bible confirms that these truths are infallible and trustworthy:
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation. For no such prophecy was ever brought about through human initiative, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Peter 1:20-21)
Which in always brings glory to God:
Soli del Gloria: Glory to Be To God Alone
For the glory belongs only to God because He could have left us doomed to our grim fate, but instead He lowered Himself:
“6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,[d]
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2 NLT)
Our Lord could have given up on us in our sins, but thanks be to Him that He chose to save us while we were His sinners and enemies!, “” (Romans 5).
Our Lord Jesus Is One with The Father and Holy Spirit, One Triune God, One God in Three Persons:
“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,” (Matthew 28:19)
“According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” (1 Peter 1:2)
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those all those who will ever believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us (1 John 4:15) so that the world may believe that you have sent me,” (John 17:20-21),
“Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21-22
“There is one body and one Holy Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord Jesus (Phil 2:5-11, Romans 10:9), one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6)
“Jesus said, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you,” (John 14:26)
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing.” (Genesis 1:26)
“God said, Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” (Genesis 11:7)
There is the fundamentals! Which has the word fun in it. We should rejoice when we reexamine our beliefs as Christians. In fact, these truths should ever be on our hearts and minds, daily rejoicing in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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