Essential Doctrines - Gabriel Hughes - WWUTT.com

This meme purports to tell us essential doctrines needed for salvation. None of this is referenced with the Bible, however.

It should be obvious, but a sinner does not need to believe or understand any of these doctrines in order to be saved. He does not need to be a Calvinist (some of these doctrines are Calvinistic). Understanding them or adhering to them is not a component of salvation. We do not teach doctrine to the sinner, we preach the Gospel. We show the way to life, not by explaining doctrine, but rather by explaining Jesus and the cross. 

Salvation occurs with the preaching of the Gospel, which is

• Repentance (Lk. 5:32, 2Co. 7:10)
• Faith (Ac. 2:21, Ac. 20:21)
• Receiving new life (Jn. 3:3, Ac. 5:20)

When the Holy Spirit brings conviction to a sinner's heart (1Th. 1:5), that person, now in awareness of his sinful state, responds with repentance (Mt. 4:17). Having repented, the person is now called to faith in Jesus Christ as savior (Ro. 3:22). The Holy Spirit comes to take up residence in the new believer (Ro. 5:5), which is when the Old Man dies (Ro. 7:6) and the New Man is born (Ro. 8:10, Ro. 8:16, 2Co. 5:17).

The person is now a Christian. Yet he knows next to nothing about doctrine. The process of learning about the faith once given, proceeding to maturity, is subsequent to salvation. That is typically known as sanctification (Jn. 17:17). The acquisition of godly knowledge is one of the duties of the new Christian (2Co. 2:14, Ep. 4:13, Ph. 1:9). It does not precede or accompany salvation.

A Christian can be in error regarding every one of these doctrines (and of course should be corrected), but such error does not revoke or determine one's salvation. Doctrine does not save a man. Perfection in doctrine is not a requirement for being a Christian, let alone for salvation.

One of the items in the list in particular, eschatology (the study of end times), may be the most irrelevant, not only for the new believer, but even for the mature person of faith. What someone believes or doesn't believe about eschatology is mostly an intellectual exercise. Nothing in the pursuit of obtaining an understanding of a particular scenario of the end times contributes to salvation or to sanctification. 

We say this because our calling as Christians to be generous, holy, to worship, to evangelize, to be obedient, is not informed by eschatology. On some level it is of passing importance to know that Jesus is coming again, but it changes nothing about living the Christian life.

We realize some of our statements may be controversial. Our purpose is to challenge ourselves and the reader to study the Scriptures apart from preconceptions. It is our settled opinion that too much of what we have been taught is man's opinion. We should not seek to add to, modify, or negate God's requirements in the name of doctrine.