 So what do Christians believe? And why are there so many toxic theology wars and doctrinal disagreements and online arguments? Well, I want to give you fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith around which all believers can unite. But before I do, if you are a professing Christian, I want you to write two simple words in the comment section, write, I believe to declare publicly that you are a believer. Now, we have to understand that there is a difference between a primary and a peripheral doctrine. A primary doctrine are doctrines like I will list in just a moment. A peripheral doctrine is something that Christians can disagree on without having to divide over. So for example, if you've been following this ministry for some time, you know that I absolutely believe in the gift of speaking in tongues. I absolutely believe that healing is for today. I absolutely believe in casting out devils and so forth. But as it turns out, not every Christian still believes in the spiritual gifts. Not every Christian believes in speaking in tongues or at least that it's not for today. Not every Christian believes in modern-day deliverance ministry. So this is why there are so many different arguments. This is why there are so many theological divides. But at least we as believers can unite on the fundamentals, the primary. I'll list those for you now. Number one, the incarnation of Christ. First John chapter four, verses one through three. Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the Spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God. Very interesting there. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the Spirit of the Antichrist which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. So this is how crucial this doctrine is, this fundamental of the faith. Jesus came in a real body. And if that is denied, then the person who denies that is said to be of the Antichrist Spirit. So not just doctrinally in error, but Antichrist. John chapter one, verses one and fourteen. In the beginning, the word already existed. The word was with God and the word was God. So the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. So there in John chapter one, verses one and fourteen, we see that God the Word became flesh. In other words, God the Word took on a physical body. Now, John one, one and fourteen not only shows the incarnation of Christ, it shows us fundamental number two, the deity of Christ. Another good reference for this is Colossians chapter two, verse nine. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. Jesus was always God, is God and will always be God. Jesus the Word always knew he was God. There was never a time, whether in infant form or whether in death, that Jesus was not God. Jesus was in physical form truly God and truly man. That is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. We believe that Jesus is God. He didn't become God. He didn't come to earth and realize himself to be God. Jesus knew he was God. Jesus was God. Jesus knows he's God. Jesus is God. Jesus will always know that he is God. Jesus will always be God. There was never a time, there will never be a time where that is not true. The deity of Christ, Jesus is God. Number three, the bodily resurrection of Christ. Notice there, the bodily resurrection of Christ, meaning he was raised from the dead, not in a philosophical or spiritual form, but that he was raised from the dead in a physical body showing his power over death. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 14 says something very interesting, and if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. In other words, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, there's no point to any of this. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, there's no reason for us to be preaching to you right now. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the entire foundation of our faith crumbles. The resurrection of Jesus is central. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is central to the faith of any true believer. And if someone does not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, they are by definition not a Christian. That's how central this fundamental is. Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form. In fact, not only does this inform us doctrineally, but this acts as an anchor for the soul, this truth of the resurrection of Jesus. Whenever I'm faced with trial and tribulation, whenever I come up against heartache and Jesus said in this world, you will have tribulation. Whenever I face something that seems insurmountable and I become filled with doubt, self-doubt, and I begin to become weighed down by the things surrounding me. I always ask myself this one question. Did Jesus rise from the dead? And if Jesus rose from the dead, then that is the foundation for my faith. And knowing that he rose from the dead, I have hope for the future. Knowing that he rose from the dead, I know that I'm loved by God. Knowing that he rose from the dead, I know that whatever I face now, it doesn't compare to the glory I will experience then. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is fundamental. It's what every true believer believes. Number four, salvation only through Christ. So Christ is the exclusive means to God. There is no other way to heaven, to God, to salvation, to truth than through Jesus. John chapter 14 verse 6 says, Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Now, I know that's not politically correct to say it, but I don't care about being politically correct. I care about being biblically correct. There is no other way. This idea may offend some, but I'd rather offend someone into heaven than comfort them into hell. Salvation comes only through Jesus. There is no name under heaven, whereby we must be saved other than the name of Jesus. Number five, salvation by grace through faith. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. For by grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast. You see, there's this idea that if we do enough good, that if we perform well enough as a Christian, that we can earn our salvation. Let me tell you very plainly, you didn't do anything to earn your salvation and it's not by your works that you keep your salvation. Now, what does this mean? Does this mean that we can just go on sinning any way that we want, that we can live our lives how we please and not face any consequences by no means? Rather, what this means is that we are saved by simply trusting in the finished work of the cross. And if we truly come to trust in the finished work of the cross, then God transforms our nature. So we put our faith in him and faith comes first and then after faith comes transformation. Religion is the reverse of that. We try to do enough good and we imagine that if I stop sinning now and never sin again and go to church every Sunday and live by a good moral code and I'm very generous and I do a lot of good in this world, then I'll earn my way into heaven, God will be pleased to be. That's not the way it works at all for the scripture tells us that our righteousness is like a pile of filthy rags to God. There is none righteous, no not one. So we cannot save ourselves. You see, many people imagine that if salvation were a tree, that the roots of salvation are good works. When in fact the roots of salvation are not good works, the roots of salvation, that's faith. Good works are the fruit or the result of believing. So then I surrender myself by putting my faith in what Christ did. I acknowledge that I cannot save myself but that I do in fact need saving because of my sin. And then I put my faith in what Jesus did. I bank on that. I tell him I'm going to take you up on that offer. I'm going to receive by faith that salvation and trust that it's good enough to cover my sin. And then that great exchange happens because of faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Jesus gives you his eternal life in exchange for your temporary one. So then when God looks at you, he sees Jesus and when he looks at the cross, he sees your sin. Because we put our faith in him, it's as though Jesus was punished. In fact it is that Jesus was punished as though he had committed your sins. And that's the great exchange that comes by faith. But salvation doesn't come through works. You don't earn it. You don't perform to get it. It's not like a ladder that you climb and then descend depending upon how well you're doing in any given week. Rather it's that I put my trust in God and the finished work of the cross. I believe that that's enough to pay the penalty for my sin. I acknowledge I'm a sinner. Say, God, I put my faith in you. And once I put my faith in him, he saves me. He regenerates me, causes me to become a new creation. And then with that transformation comes new desires. So no, you don't just go on sinning and no, you can't live how you want. In fact, if you truly put your faith in him, you become transformed to the point where you now desire to please him. So faith produces salvation, not works. Number six, the divine inspiration, perfection, authority and sufficiency of scripture. Second Timothy chapter three, verses 16 and 17 say this, all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. The further society moves from the truth of God's word, the more it descends into darkness. It's a mistake to leave the foundation of the word. Scripture, Genesis through revelation, that is the perfect, inerrant word of the living God inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is the word of God. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit, perfect in its message, final in its authority and sufficient unto its purpose. Now, here I need to interject a side note because some people believe that because the scripture is sufficient that we don't need things like prophecy or the Holy Spirit speaking to us directly. Well, that's simply not true. And maybe you've run into this scenario where they ask you, is the word of God not sufficient, you know, very dramatically? Is the word of God not sufficient? And it's almost academic. And they ask you this as if to imply that because the word of God is complete that the Holy Spirit never needs to speak to you. But that just fails to take into account the purpose of the scripture. You see, the purpose of the scripture was to give us revelation with God and put us in right relationship with him. And so I believe the scripture is sufficient unto its purpose. The scripture has, in fact, accomplished what it needs to accomplish. The scripture is sufficient in that it's put me in right relationship with God. So if someone believes that you can't hear from the Holy Spirit, they're the ones who believe that the scripture isn't sufficient. We know it's sufficient, which is why we believe that we're now connected with the living God who didn't go mute and still speaks to us. For example, when we do wrong, we sense conviction in our hearts over our wrongdoing. Now, doesn't the scripture tell us what is right and what is wrong? So if the scripture tells us what is right and what is wrong, why then do we still feel that conviction? Why would we need that? And why would the Holy Spirit convict us personally if the word of God already tells us of our wrongdoing? That's because the Holy Spirit still wants to speak personally to individuals. Number seven, one God, three persons. Second Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14 says, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Matthew chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 say, After his baptism, As Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. And finally, Matthew chapter 28 verse 19. Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now it's on this fundamental that there are a lot of heated arguments that take place among believers and most of these arguments arise simply because they're talking past one another or they're using semantics or there's just miscommunication. Every believer knows there is one God. No one is saying that there are three Gods. Rather we believe in one God expressed in three persons distinct from one another and all equally divine, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Number eight, a literal heaven and a literal hell. Matthew chapter 25 verse 46 says, And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life. When someone dies, they will either spend eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. The scripture is absolutely clear on this and if you'll notice any doctrine that is taught that says that there isn't a literal hell is based entirely on wordplay of the original language of the Bible. Number nine, the return of Christ. Titus 2.13, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. First Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16 and 17, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord. Christians believe that Jesus is going to return, that our Savior is coming again. So let's recap what we have so far. The incarnation of Christ, the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ, salvation only through Christ, salvation by grace through faith, the divine inspiration, perfection, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture, one God, three persons, a literal heaven and hell, and the return of Christ. Now it's inevitable that at this point someone will comment in the comment section of whatever platform that you're receiving this message on, something like, but I'd rather have truth than unity, or someone will say, but Brother David, there are times to call out false prophets, and we should call out false doctrine, and we should call out false teachers. Absolutely we should. What are those false doctrines that we should call out? The doctrines that violate the fundamentals of the faith. It's okay to have conversations with fellow believers about the peripheral doctrines, like for example, the gift of speaking in tongues. I believe in speaking in tongues. Really no one's going to convince me otherwise, but I'm happy to have conversations with people. I have friends who do not believe in the gift of speaking in tongues, but they still unite with me based upon the primary doctrines of the Christian faith. We have to be careful to not become what I would call heresy hunters, people who just constantly look for fault finding. They're begging for a reason to divide, rather than looking for a reason to stay united with other believers. Really heresy hunting is based in fear, it's based in pride, it's based in ego. Sure, they can point to some scriptures that seem to validate heresy hunting, but let's take a look at those now. First John chapter 4 verse 1. Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the Spirit they have comes from God, for there are many false prophets in the world. So we see here that in fact, false prophets and false teachers exist. That's something that Jesus told us, that's something that the scripture tells us. Let's continue to read another portion here. First John chapter 4, let's read now verses 2 and 3. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God. So here the Bible is giving us a very clear instruction on how to know if someone is a true believer. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. We read this portion of scripture earlier. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the Spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. So we see here that in first John chapter 4 that the false prophets that this portion of scripture is talking about are those who claim that Jesus did not come in a physical body. It doesn't say here that you should call people false prophets when they don't agree with you on every bit of doctrine. It doesn't say here that you should call people false prophets because you don't like the method of their ministry. It doesn't say here that you should call people false prophets because they pray for the sick and cast out devils. Yes, we should call out false prophets. Do not hear what I'm not saying. There's a time to divide. There's a time to call people out. I'm with you on that. We all know that. But what in fact is that time to call them out? What is that time to divide? We look to another portion of scripture, very popular portion of scripture used by the heresy hunting culture, Jude chapter 1 verses 3 through 4. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. This is probably one of the most misused portions of scripture in all of the New Testament, that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Okay, so how does this look? Well, let's look at verse 4. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago for they have denied our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. So who are these people against which we should fight for the faith? Well, if context means anything to you, then you should be speaking out against those who say that the grace of God allows us to live immoral lives. That's what it specifically says here when it talks about contending for the faith, not calling out brothers and sisters who do ministry differently than you or who disagree with you on the peripheral doctrines. It's simply those who say that the grace of God allows us to live immoral lives. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 3 also tells us, so I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Of course, the scripture here is not saying that phonetic pronunciation of the phrase Jesus is Lord is the way to determine that someone is a true follower of Christ. But ultimately what it's saying is that that's their message, that Jesus is Lord. That brings us back to the fundamentals. So it's around the fundamentals of the faith that we can unite, give up religious paranoia, give up conspiracy theory like thinking, and instead choose the way of Christ, the way of the Holy Spirit. John chapter 13 verse 35, your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. We can unite around Jesus. We can unite around the fundamentals of the faith. We can unite around beliefs like Jesus is God. Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form. That salvation comes by grace through faith and so forth. And so long as we have these fundamentals of the faith, so long as we agree on Jesus, we agree. So believer, let's stop trying to win arguments and unite so that we can get back to winning souls. Father, I pray you help us to commit your word to our hearts. Lord, thank you for the revelation of your word which grounds us in truth. Your word is truth. And I pray that by the Holy Spirit we would give up fear and embrace the unity of true brothers and sisters in Christ who are of the true faith. Lord, I thank you that you're bringing unity to your true body, those who believe the Scripture, those who believe that Jesus is Lord. We thank you and we love you and we bless you. And I want you to say it because you believe it. Say it in the comment section too. Right amen. Now, before you turn the video off, which is what most people do at this point, I want to invite you to help our ministry spread the gospel all around the world by the power of the Holy Spirit through events, live streams, and media. Will you consider right now becoming a monthly ministry supporter or giving a one-time donation of any amount? Your support, one-time or monthly, large or small, will help us continue to go and continue to grow as we expand the kingdom of God, equip the saints, and win souls. Go right now, davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. Give something out of your love for Jesus. Support this ministry. Everyone's support counts. So you may say, you know, I can't do much but I'll do something that matters because it's all of us together, uniting for the cause of Christ. That's what makes the difference. One more time, davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. You can sign up for a monthly gift or you can give a one-time gift. Again, one-time gifts, monthly gifts, large or small, it all helps us out. And if you enjoyed this lesson, please leave a like on the video. And also, don't forget to subscribe to EncounterTV where we show the power of the Holy Spirit at work. We teach from the Word of God and we are Christ-centered, Bible-based, Spirit-filled. This is the channel for you. Subscribe now and don't forget to click that notification bell when you do. And if you enjoyed this video, then you will love nine gifts of the Holy Spirit clearly explained. In that teaching, I break down the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12 in a simple and clear way.