LESSON
5
Six Foundational
Doctrines of
Christ
When studying
scriptures, always keep in mind that every word is there for a purpose. In order to fully understand certain passages
we need to take it apart word by word.
The following passage is going to be the foundational scripture from
which we will learn, over the next six
lessons. READ IT CAREFULLY
Heb.
6:1-2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us
go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on
of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
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The word
‘principles’ here means the first or beginning. The writer of this book was rebuking the
Hebrews for not having grown beyond the beginning doctrines of Christ
The word
doctrine in this passage is a unique word.
There are three words in the New Testament that we translate to the
English word doctrine. This particular
translation of the word as ‘doctrine’ is used only once. The word translated here comes from the Greek
word LOGOS.
Circle the
word LOGOS, we will come back to it.
Most
Christians don’t even understand the principles of the doctrines of Christ and
yet they are to be the foundational doctrines of the church.
The following
are the six beginning words or teachings of Christ. Remember, order is always important in
scripture. First is first, second is
second, etc.
THE SIX FOUNDATIONAL DOCTRINES OF CHRIST
1) REPENTANCE FROM DEAD
WORKS
2) FAITH
3) DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS
4) LAYING ON OF HANDS
5) RESURRECTION FROM THE
DEAD
6) ETERNAL JUDGMENT
2 Pet.
1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God,
and of Jesus our Lord, According as His divine
power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:Whereby are given unto exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Grace and
peace are multiplied unto us through the KNOWLEDGE of God.
All the things
we need for life and for Godliness, that give us the power to escape the
corruption of the world, come through the KNOWLEDGE of God.
The writer of
Hebrews is saying the six doctrines listed in Hebrews chapter 6 are the first
or beginning teachings of the KNOWLEDGE of Christ.
Therefore if
we want to receive grace and peace, we need to seek after the knowledge of God,
beginning with the teachings mentioned in Hebrews 6.
Remember the word LOGOS which you circled. That is the same word that is translated as
‘WORD’ whenever the scriptures speak of Christ. The word logos literally means the very thoughts of God.
John 1:1-3,14
(amp) In the
beginning was the Word (LOGOS),
and the Word (LOGOS) was with
God, and the Word (LOGOS) was
God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made... And the Word (LOGOS) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.
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Jesus was the
visible, tangible, literal manifestation of who God is and how God thinks.
The writer of
Hebrews is telling us that these six truths are the beginning ways or the
foundational ways Christ thinks.
God's
intention is that you understand how He thinks and that you begin to think like
Him.
Phil. 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus.
Let His same
thought patterns be in you.
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If we combine
these two principles, we can see that grace and peace are multiplied to us
through the KNOWLEDGE of how God thinks.
We must
realize that this is a foundational principle of the gospel. We must grasp these to understand how God
thinks, but we are not to stop there.
They are just the beginning. We
have to continue on to maturity.
Soon we will
return to Hebrews 6 and the six foundational doctrines of Christ, but first we
need to gain an understanding of ‘GRACE’.
GRACE - is
that characteristic of God through which everything we need is supplied.
Everything you
will ever need for life and for Godliness comes through this characteristic of
God called grace. Lets look at just a
few examples in scripture.
YOU ARE SAVED BY GRACE.
Acts
Eph. 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God.
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YOU HAVE THE POWER TO BELIEVE BY GRACE.
Acts
YOU ARE BUILT UP AND RECEIVE YOUR INHERITANCE BY GRACE.
Acts
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YOU HAVE THE POWER TO OBEY BY GRACE.
Rom. 1:5 By whom we have received
grace and apostleship, for
obedience to the faith among all nations, for His name.
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YOU ARE JUSTIFIED BY GRACE.
Rom.
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YOU CAN STAND FIRM AND REJOICE THROUGH GRACE.
Rom. 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God.
THE GIFTS OF GOD ARE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH GRACE.
Rom. 12:6-8 Having then gifts differing according to
the grace that is given to us,
whether prophecy,[let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, [let us wait] on [our]
ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth,
on exhortation: he that giveth,[let him do it] with
simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
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OUR ABILITY TO LABOR FOR GOD IS BY GRACE.
What you labor
for out of your flesh is worthless before God, but what you do out of His
strength and power He will give you a reward for.
1Cor. 15: 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which [was
bestowed] upon me was not in vain; but I laboured
more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with
me.
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ALL SUFFICIENCY COMES BY GRACE.
2 Cor. 12:9 And He said
unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me.
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WE ARE ACCEPTED BECAUSE OF GRACE.
Eph. 1:6 To the praise of the glory of His
grace,wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.
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WE HAVE REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AND ARE FORGIVEN BY GRACE.
Eph. 1:7 In whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace.
EVERYTHING WE NEED COMES BY GRACE!!!!!
We all need
GRACE to be multiplied unto us.
Ephesians 4:7-11 gives us one of the keys to how we get GRACE multiplied
to us. Remember, we know that GRACE is
multiplied by the KNOWLEDGE of God.
Let’s look at these verses.
Eph. 4:7 But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
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Grace is given
in measures according to the GIFT of Christ. To understand what is meant by
‘gift’ in this verse, we must keep reading, keeping things in context.
Eph. 4:8 Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on
high, He led captivity captive, and
gave gifts unto men.
Eph.
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Grace comes
according to the measure of the GIFT.
That gift, God has put inside of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists,
Pastors, and Teachers, the five fold ministers.
The job of the
five fold ministry is to bring forth the revelation of Christ, to reveal the
KNOWLEDGE of Christ into our lives so that we are perfected and fully equipped.
As we submit
to their authority and receive from the gift inside of the Apostle, Prophet,
Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher, grace is multiplied unto us.
Jer.
God has
established a structure through which all His blessings will flow. God has made us mutually dependent one on
another. Many people feel that it's just
them and God, but God has established an authority structure through which He will
flow.
An excuse
people use to not submit to authority, is that we are not to look to men. The Bible however teaches us something
different.
1Cor. 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ.
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Paul said, if
you want to know how to follow Christ, follow me.
Peter walked
up to the man at the gate Beautiful. The
man wanted money but Peter said he had something better.
Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ
of
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Peter had
something. It was on the inside of
him. It was the gift of Christ. Grace was released in accordance to the
measure of the gift. We know that healing
comes by Grace.
Nobody gets
saved outside of this process.
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As people hear
the Word preached, if they submit to that Word, the grace of God is released
for them to be born again. This is the
process of the kingdom. It may seem strange
but even Paul said that God was pleased to use the foolishness of preaching.
1 Cor.
This same principle
applies to our maturing in Christ. As we
receive and respond to the preaching of the Word, GRACE is released into our
lives.
The Devil
wants to keep you from fully receiving from five fold ministers, in order to
keep the fullest measure of grace from coming into your life.
In Review:
1. List the six foundational doctrines of
Christ. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Complete this sentence. Grace and peace are multiplied through the
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3. Define logos.
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4. Grace comes according to what gift?
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5. Describe God’s process for salvation.
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