Foundations of Christianity

(Hebrews 6:1-3 – Foundations of Christianity)

Every house or building that is constructed begins in exactly the same way. The final outcome may be different, but the process is the same. They start with a plan, build a project team, and then lay a foundation to build upon.

It’s exactly the same when a person becomes a Christian. God made the plan, the project team is God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and those people God uses to teach and preach the gospel, and the foundations of Christianity are built within the person.

The foundations of Christianity are critical and every Christian should learn them. A solid foundation, whether of a building or a Christian, is always built upon solid rock. House builders dig down to the bedrock strata of the land to lay a foundation, and the foundations of Christianity are built upon the true teachings of Jesus, who is The Rock.

But what are the true foundations of Christianity? These few verses today give us the answer.

The Foundations of Christianity

As we look into these few verses today, we are shown what makes up the teachings of the foundations of Christianity.

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 with instruction about ablutions [baptisms], the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. 3 And this we will do if God permits. (Hebrews 6:1-3)

The writer is saying it is time to move on to maturity in Christ. But in doing so he has listed the six foundations of Christianity for us. These six doctrines are the foundations of Christianity that all believers should know and understand.

And Jesus makes an important point concerning the foundations of Christianity in the following parable teaching.

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” (Luke 6:46-49)

The words of Jesus are the foundations of Christianity. But to hear them without doing what He said is not enough. We must DO His teachings, learn them, live by them, and follow the words of Jesus accurately and correctly.

That is the first thing to understand. When we learn and follow the teachings of Jesus, we are building on a strong foundation because Jesus is the Rock of our salvation.

And while there are many things that Jesus taught, the writer of Hebrews identified the six concepts in Hebrews 6:1-2 as the foundational teachings all Christians need to learn if they are to grow.

So, we will briefly look at these six foundations in overview in this post. There is far too much to speak about here in these six foundations of Christianity, and if you would like to learn more, I have written a free eBook titled, “The Six Foundation Teachings of Jesus Christ.” Just click the link and you can grab a free copy.

Repentance

The starting point for any person coming to Christ is repentance, although whether this comes before or after a first grain of faith, I’m not really sure. Either way, it is certainly something that starts at the very beginning of the Christian walk.

Repentance is not just being sorry for sinning, as some people believe. It is much more than that.

Repentance is the process by which we “change our thinking.” That is what the original Greek word for repentance (”metanoia”) actually means. When we repent, we change the way that we think and through a change of thinking we do a 180 degree turnaround away from sinful thinking to godly thinking.

Sin begins in the mind. Everything we say or do, whether for good or for evil, starts with a thought. So, if we are to overcome sinfulness and turn to God, we need to start by changing the way we think.

We need to come to a place where we are no longer driven by the passions, lusts and desires of the flesh that lead to sing. And as Romans 8:5-8 says:

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8)

What we set our minds on determines what we say, do, and who we are as people. If we set our minds on the things of the flesh, that is, those things driven by the evil passions of the flesh, then we will live sinful lives that lead to eternal death. But if we repent and change our thinking to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, then that will lead to eternal life.

And that is the reason why repentance is so important as the first of the foundations of Christianity.

Faith towards God

Faith towards God is the second of the foundations of Christianity. We cannot ever underplay the role that faith plays in our salvation. It is the key to all of the blessings of God and to receiving the gift of salvation.

But at the most basic level, as a foundation is, it is best summed up in the following scripture.

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

At the absolute minimum level we must believe in God, that He exists, and that He will reward those who seek Him. The very next level of faith is as follows.

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

The first part of faith is to believe in the existence of God. The second part is to believe in Jesus and what He has done for us through His death and resurrection.

These things are the beginnings of faith, and there fore the foundations upon which our Christian walk is built.

Faith will grow and become stronger over time. It will be tested, just as Abraham’s faith was tested when God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. But when we remain faithful, knowing that God does not mean us harm but only good, we will come through and be strengthened.

We are also told that faith comes with knowledge (See Romans 10:17). As we learn more and more about the Christian life through studying the words of God, we grow in faith. So, it is important for the sake of growing in faith to learn the words of the Bible and understand how it works. This is the second of the foundations of Christianity.

Baptism

The third of the foundations of Christianity is the teaching of baptism.

Under the Christian faith we are instructed to be baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, taking His death as our own.

Baptism is a powerful teaching and should never be discouraged. It should occur as soon as a person comes to Christ and learns the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for our salvation.

Baptism was so important that Jesus Himself was baptised, even though John the Baptist would have prevented it from occurring. But look at what Jesus had to say about it:

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; 17 and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17)

Jesus stated baptism was necessary to “fulfil all righteousness.” That is how important it is.

When we believe what God has done through raising Jesus from the dead, God declares us righteous, giving us the free gift of righteousness by faith. It is by faith that we are declared righteous by God, just as He did with Abraham.

But Jesus says above that to “fulfil” all righteousness we needed to be baptised. This is because in baptism we die with Christ and are raised with Him to a new life in Christ. We become the “new creations” you hear so much about in Christian circles through our baptism. We die to this world and a raised as citizens of the kingdom of God. Baptism is the transition stage.

And there is more. Because baptism is a death, where we take on the death of Christ and die with Him. And in taking the death of Christ as our own, we are set free from our past sins and God casts them away and will remember them no more. (See Hebrews 8:12, Micah 7:18-19)

Furthermore, in baptism we are set free from the laws of Moses and no longer bound under them. (See Romans 7:1)

It is by baptism that we are truly set free and receive the freedom that is in Jesus Christ, where we are truly free from all of the bondages and hindrances of sin and the flesh. He gives us our freedom as a starting point so that we can be free to learn how to live a life of freedom in Christ, and through the working of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome the passions, lusts and desires of the flesh that lead to sin.

As another indication of how important baptism is, when Jesus gave the disciples the Great Commission, He told them to do three things.

• Go out and make disciples.
• Baptise them
• Teach them all the words of Jesus

This was the Great Commission as outlined in Matthew 28:19-20. These were some of the last words Jesus spoke on this earth, and therefore were of great significance and importance. So, to include the command to baptise all of the new disciples is evidence of how important this action is for all Christians.

There are many more things to say and learn about baptism, too many for just one post. So, if you want to understand more, I recommend that you grab a copy of the free eBook looking at all of the six foundations of Christianity as it will explain these things in much more detail and depth.

Laying on of hands

The next of the foundations of Christianity is the laying on of hands.

Laying on of hands is a practice in the New Testament and Christianity that is used for many things. We see examples of the disciples in the New Testament laying hands upon people for many different reasons.

They laid hands on the sick and prayed over them anointing them with oil for healing (See James 5:14-15). The Lord often laid hands upon the sick to heal them (See Mark 6:5, Mark 8:25, Luke 4:40, Luke 13:11-13). Jesus also laid hands upon children to bless them as we see in Matthew 19:13-15). We saw that different people had hands laid upon them with prayer to appoint them to different ministries. For example, when Paul and Barnabas were appointed to the ministry as apostles, they had hands laid upon them before they set off on their journeys (See Acts 13:1-4). We also see that the laying on of hands was often done so that people could receive the Holy Spirit. (See Acts 8:14-17, Acts 19:1-6, 2 Timothy 1:6-7)

I should also mention here that if you happen to grab a copy of my eBook mentioned earlier, in the section about laying on of hands I focus mainly upon this last reason for carrying out this practice: to receive the Holy Spirit. I do that because there is a lot to learn and understand about that particular practice and process. And it is an extremely important facet of Christianity, and is often not understood very well.

You may wonder why this laying on of hands was part of the ministry and the Christian walk. It was also part of the Old Covenant practices too.

From my perspective, and I would add that this is just my opinion, I believe it has to do with connection. When we lay hands on a person for one of the “spiritual” reasons described above, then it provides connection and agreement between the people involved and with the Lord through the working of the Holy Spirit. This is how I see it, but I may be wrong in this belief and if so, I expect the Lord will reveal it to me in due course.

Resurrection

Without the resurrection there would be no Christianity. It’s that simple. And that is why this is one of the key foundations of Christianity. Paul discussed this very issue in the following scriptures.

12 Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; 14 if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)

Basically Paul was saying here that if there is no resurrection, then why bother? If the dead are not raised, then Christians are believing in nothing and they might as well do what the rest of the world does. If there is no resurrection, then when we die, that’s it! There is nothing else and believing in the promises of God is futile.

But when you continue reading that passage of scripture we find that Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead and all of the promises of God are rock solid. What God said He would do, He has done.

Furthermore, the essence of our salvation is found in the resurrection. The most basic level of what Christians are called to believe is that God raised Jesus from the dead. Not these words:

“…if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

It is by confessing Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, and believing in your heart that God the Father raised Him from the dead, that you are saved. It is this faith in the resurrection that saves us from this world and brings us into life.

So, when it comes to the foundations of Christianity and the truth that will lead us into eternal life with Jesus and God the Father, resurrection is right at the forefront of what we must believe. It is essential to hold fast this belief if we are to stand with Christ in His eternal kingdom.

Eternal Judgement

The last of the foundations of Christianity is all about the promises of God that are to come.

There are two parts to this final foundation. First there is the matter of eternal judgement against those who chose to reject God in their lifetime.

God has given mankind an allotted period of time, basically to make one choice. We are to choose whether we will live with Christ, or not. Those who choose to reject Him get this life only. They may live for a number of decades, possibly even up to one hundred years. But that’s it. The next thing they will find out about is the judgement that will put them into punishment and the destruction of the spirit.

On the other hand are those who choose Christ and God in this lifetime and enter into the eternal judgement allocated to the righteous. Their lot is to live into eternity with God, Jesus, the angelic hosts, and all others who choose God. And when we look into the final chapters of Revelation we gain an insight into the promises that are on offer to those who are received into the eternal habitations.

And even in those words we cannot begin to fully understand the promises God has for those who choose Him. Note these words:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him,” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

The eternal judgement for those who are with Christ is unimaginable. What we do know is that there will be no evil, no sin, no sickness or death, and no deterioration in the things around us.

The Foundations of Christianity

In a nutshell, these are the basics of the foundations of Christianity. There is much, much more that needs to be learned and understood about these, and as mentioned earlier, if you would like to learn more, I have written a free eBook titled, “The Six Foundation Teachings of Jesus Christ.”

One other thing I would say, and it is true for all studies of the scripture, we are always learning. For example, at the time I wrote that eBook, many years ago, I have learned more. Some of the new things I have learned are mentioned in this post. So, if you don’t see them mentioned in the eBook, that is why. At the time I tried to make it as comprehensive as I could, but we can never fully grasp and write down every nuance of the words of God. So, I encourage you to keep studying to learn all He has for you.

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