CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this class is to establish the students firmly on the principles of the word of God (gospel), so that they will be no more children tossed to and fro and carried by every wind of doctrine. And to disabuse their mind of some wrong basic tenets of the gospel, which they may have had. This class is very important as it forms the cradle of their understanding of ministry. More so a good understanding of this class would make their Christian lives joyous and struggle –free in the Holy Spirit.
MEANING OF DOCRTINE
Doctrine is a set of teachings of the basic tenets of the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Biblically, doctrine is defied in the following scriptures as:
(Deuteronomy 32:2). Translated doctrine as “instructions” culled from the GREEK word LEQACH.
(Acts 16:4). “Ordinances and decrees” culled from the Greek word Dogma
(1 Timothy 4:13, 16 and Titus 2:1). Translated doctrine as” learning and teaching” culled from the Greek word Disdaslia.
BEING ESTABLISHED UPON THE TRUTH (Eph 4:14; Acts 20:28-32)
In John14:6, Jesus said “I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE”, and in John 1:14 he was revealed as the Word of God who became flesh (Matthew 16:15-18). When Peter revealed the person of Jesus by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost “Jesus said, “Thou art Peter” upon this rock I will build my Church’. This Rock literally means ‘THE TRUTH that was revealed. It can be deduced from this that Jesus Christ intended to find and build his church and people upon an unshakable truth whose author and inspiration is the Holy Ghost.
FOUNDATIONAL DOCTRINES OF CHRIST (1 Cor 3:22; Hebrews 6:1-2)
The book of John 1; 4 reveals Jesus as the Word of God made flesh that dwells amongst us, and we know it is impossible to separate a person from his word. No wonder Jesus said in John 10:30.”I and my Father are one”. Peter reveals him as Son of God (Matthew 16:15b).
Repentance from dead works (Hebrews 9:12-14; Luke 5:32; Luke 24:47)
Repentance is remorse of the mind leading to a change of heart from sinful and wrongful actions and ideas towards the relationship with God”. While dead work is anything we do, not initiated by God or devoid of the life of God.
Steps in Repentance
Hear the Word (Rom 10:17)
Believe (Rom 10 :9)
Confesses Jesus as your Lord (Rom 10:9-10)
Faith towards God (Hebrews 11:1-6; Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:17)
This is the total truth, reliance, assurance, confidence and submission to God and His word (Hebrews11:1-6). It is interesting to note that throughout the ministry of Jesus on earth to the cross, His doctrine was predominantly on teaching people to have faith towards God. And through this he could discern people’s levels of faith. The different levels of faith, such as:
Faith not found in Israel Matthew 8:10
Great faith Matthew 15:28
Little faith Matthew 8:26
Faithless generation Mark 9:19
Note: Faith comes only by the hearing, hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Baptism (Matthew 28:19; John3:5)
The word baptism is culled from the Greek word “Baptizo” which means to immerse, to dip or bury. There are two types of baptism:
Baptism of The Holy Ghost (new birth) (1Cor 12:13; Eph 4:4-5; Act 1:5).
This occurs at conversion, i.e., when a person gives his life to Christ (Romans 10:9-10). At this point the Holy Ghost comes and over shadows the person and reactivates the person’s spirit, which was dead to sin (Act 1:5).
Water baptism (1 Peter 3:21;Matthew 3:13-17; Romans 6:3-5)
It takes place by dipping a believer into water and raising him up in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Baptism represents an outward sign of the inner grace to fulfil all righteousness, indicating that we identify with Christ in the reality of his Death, Burial and Resurrection.
In conclusion, both baptisms are pre-requisite to enter heaven (John 3:5). The baptism of the both Spirit and Body guarantees the salvation of the soul i.e. to see heaven (John 3:3; Romans 10:9-10), because in heaven there are 3 witnesses that bear record: the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost.