Introduction to Faith and Grace

.... The church of today is characterized by many ‘denomi- nations’, which came into existence through a series of doctrinal disagreements (1 Corinthinas 11:19). So let’s take a moment and think about what that means:
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.... Even though there are several ‘versions’ of the church, there are not several versions of the truth (Ephesians 4:21). If each denomination has a different belief on the same subject, they could all be wrong but they could not all be right. At most, only one such doctrine could prevail in each case (hint: it would be the one that points to Jesus - Ephesians 4:13-14). So this begs the very important question of just how much error our relationship with God could tolerate, and we would still be considered Christians? Or at what point would it be said that we’ve crossed that line, to be considered a cult?

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... In the Scriptures, six subjects play an essential role in our doctrinal understanding. They are so vital, in fact, that we must understanding them purely in order to be saved. We don’t need to know much about them, but whatever we do know has to be correct. These subjects include our beliefs over the nature of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit (and thus, between them, the doctrine of the Trinity,) as well as our basic understandings of faith, grace, and the gospel. Please refer to the chart, below:

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A little thoughtfulness will illuminate the importance of these six areas. These are the doctrinal counterparts to our real, actual, living relationship with God, in it’s most basic terms; the ‘paperback’ understanding of the real thing! As such, a proper understanding in these areas will guide us into a pure relationship with God in actual, real life; but an error in one or more of these areas would have the effect of guiding us away from Him, resulting in estrangement (see Galatians 5:4).

.... Organizations that claim to be Christian, yet fail in one or more of those doctrinal areas, are referred to as cults. This would include groups like Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, and the Way International. Other groups, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, have significant doctrinal disagreements with the mainstream church yet those six vital areas of their doctrine remain sound. Since those other areas of difference are not enough to exclude them, they are still Christians and should not be considered a cult.
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.... In the beginning of this course we discussed the gospel in several of our modules. In the days to come we’ll discuss the Doctrine of the Trinity as well, which describes the nature of the person of God. But in this module we’ll address the two remaining vital topics, faith and grace, and the role they play in our walk with the Lord as we hold them purely.

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Daily Bible Reading: Romans 6