Essential?
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
No matter what our society tries to say, there is such a thing as absolute, objective, transcendent truth. Jesus Christ is that truth. If we are to call ourselves followers of Christ, we must seek to know this truth as revealed in the Word of God. The Bible lays out essential truths that must be affirmed in order to call yourself a Christian. One problem we face is raising nonessential truths to the level of essential, thereby alienating fellow believers to whom we should be showing grace as we seek to understand the hard truths of scripture. The bigger problem is when people lower the importance of essential truths, thereby watering down the Gospel and losing the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).
First, let’s define some terms. The definitions I will here lay out may not be agreed upon by all, but they will suffice for this lesson.
A heretic is a person who denies one of the essential doctrines of the faith, but we must be careful to distinguish between a formal heretic and a functional heretic. A functional heretic is someone who misunderstands one of these essential truths but is willing to correct their error when presented with the truth from scripture. A formal heretic is one who denies an essential truth even when presented with scriptural evidence that they are in error. Every believer has been or is a functional heretic if you look closely at their beliefs, but the Holy Spirit is indwelling these saints and will correct us all in due time.
The difference between an orthodox belief and a heterodox belief must also be distinguished. An orthodox position is in accordance with sound doctrine as revealed in the Bible. A heterodox belief is in opposition to sound doctrine, but may not constitute heresy, as it does not necessarily deny essential truth. All heresy is heterodox, but not all heterodoxy is heresy.
There is some more refining that must be done, but bear with me.
A primary essential is a truth statement that if denied indicates a lack of regeneration, and is clearly demonstrated in scripture to result in damnation.
A secondary essential is a truth that is not plainly stated in scripture as being essential, but denial of such would still constitute an unregenerate heart, as it distorts or flatly denies who God is and what He has done as revealed in scripture.
A primary nonessential is a truth that is plainly taught in scripture, but not indicated as being essential to salvation. However, denial of a primary nonessential would strongly indicate a lack of regeneration, because it is a denial of God’s Word.
A secondary nonessential is a truth that is debatable between saints, and affirmation or denial has no bearing on the state of someone’s soul.
What follows is a list demonstrating some doctrines in each of the aforementioned categories. This list is taken directly from the “doctrine grid” as found on www.carm.org.
Primary Essentials
Jesus is both God and man.
See: John 1:1,14; 8:24; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 4:1-4
Jesus physically rose from the dead.
See: John 2:19-21; 1 Corinthians 15:14
Salvation is by grace through faith.
See: Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:1-2; 5:1-4
The Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures.
See: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9
There is only one God.
See: Exodus 20:3; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8
Secondary Essentials
God exists as a Trinity of persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Nature of God)
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. (Nature of the incarnation)
Jesus is the only way to God the Father
See: John 14:6
Primary Nonessentials
Moral integrity
See: Exodus 20:1-17
Fidelity in marriage in heterosexual relationships.
The condemnation of homosexuality.
The inerrancy of scripture.
Baptism not necessary for salvation
See: Acts 10:44-48
Secondary Nonessentials
Predestination, election, limited atonement, free will.
Communion every week, monthly, or quarterly, etc.
Saturday or Sunday worship.
Pre, mid, post trib rapture.
Premill, Amill, Postmill, Preterism
Continuation or cessation of the charismatic gifts.
Baptism for adults or infants.
Musical instruments in church.
This list is not exhaustive, but a pretty good representation of the issue at hand. We must understand that everything we believe is important. The nonessentials should be debated in love and we should know where we stand on these issues. The point is simple: do not separate from brothers and sisters who disagree on secondary nonessential issues. There are different denominations for a reason, namely, we are too thick to understand what the correct position is on these secondary issues. But make no mistake, there is a correct position, and we should diligently seek to discover the answer from the Word of God.
