Core scriptural beliefs and practices

Everyone has a worldview. Our worldview is the way we look at the present world. Our belief systems shape the way that we live our lives.

Christianity is a theistic worldview – We believe God exists and is the source of all reality. The big bang can’t explain how something came from nothing. God tells us what we need to know in the Bible. It sees history as a linear story (with a beginning and end)—under God’s control—rather than a random sequence of events.

The Christian worldview is God-based.

1. God is triune

The Bible tells us about God. There is one true God (monotheism) who is in the form of three persons: God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). God is unique, being far above humanity and any other deity. He’s greater than all other gods.

God is great. He is: spiritual, alive, personal, infinite, eternal, everywhere, all-knowing, all-powerful, constant, self-existent, self-sufficient, and a creator and sustainer.

Also, God is good. He is: holy, righteous, just, honest, faithful, loving and caring, gracious, merciful, persistent, and provided salvation through Jesus Christ.

How do we respond to such an awesome God? Job was humbled when he realised who God is and what He had done (Job 42:1-6). And in the future, everyone will bow before Him and offer praise, honor, glory and power (Phil. 2:10; Rev. 5:13).

So, there are core beliefs about God.

The Christian worldview is also Bible-based.

2. Bible-based

The Bible says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17NIV).

We can trust the Bible because its words come from God. It is the word of God. It is useful because it can equip us to serve the Lord. Although it was written a few thousand years ago, it contains principles that apply to us today. These are the foundation of what we believe.

We are evangelical – we believe in the authority of Scripture and the truth of the good news of salvation by God’s grace through our trust in the work of Christ on the cross. We take the Bible to be literal, whenever it’s not obviously symbolic.

James says, “I will show you my faith [beliefs] by my deeds” (Jas. 2:18). This verse shows how we are Bible based. Knowledge of the Bible can affect how we think (our beliefs and principles), which in turn can affect how we act and behave (our deeds and practices). And Jesus told His disciples to practice what they knew (Jn. 13:17). So the Bible is the source or the foundation of what we do.
So, there are core beliefs about the Bible.

But aren’t there different interpretations of the Bible?

3. How to understand the Bible

The Bible was written over a period of at least 1,500 years (1430 BC to AD 95). It was written for common people like us. It is not difficult to understand. And it doesn’t have hidden or secret meanings.

A literal interpretation of the Bible means reading the text according to its plain, straightforward meaning, taking words at face value—unless there’s a clear reason not to (like poetry, symbolism, or parables). It’s taking the Bible as the original author intended it to be understood.

The Bible was written for us, but not to us We need to consider what it meant to the people it was written for.

So, who was the Bible written to? Christianity started on the day of Pentecost after Jesus died, rose back to life and ascended back to heaven. So, Acts to Revelation (after the day of Pentecost) was written to Christians in the first century when there were apostles (Acts 1:21-22) and the early church was mainly Jewish.

The Old Testament was written to Jews who lived under the laws of Moses (the Old Covenant), which don’t apply directly to us today. For example, they were required to offer animal sacrifices. Instead these laws need to be interpreted though the New Testament. So be careful when applying the Old Testament to today. It has many good examples and provides the background to Christianity, but it wasn’t written to us.

To understand the Bible we need to also consider the context. Always read verses in their context as they can be misunderstood without reading the surrounding text.

The contents of the Bible can be divided into commands, or models (examples) to follow (or avoid) and reports of events. For example:

A command to Christians: Be thankful, “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Th. 5:18).

A model: On his third missionary journey Paul stayed at Troas for seven days and “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread [Lord’s Supper]” (Acts 20:6-7). We celebrate the Lord’s Supper each week and not each month, because that’s what the church at Troas did. It’s an example to follow.

A report: Paul sailed across the Mediterranean Sea towards Rome as a prisoner (Acts 27:1 – 28:10). But their boat was shipwrecked near Malta. When they were warming themselves near a fire, Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake. Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects although the locals expected him to die. This is a report of what happened. It’s not an example to follow!

Now we will look at some of the core beliefs (principles) in the Bible.

The Bible is a God-given account of historical events. It begins with the book of Genesis.

4. The beginning of history

The Bible tells us about the beginning of everything. God created it all out of nothing. That’s the greatest miracle. And we believe He did it in six days (that’s what it meant to the Israelites). The universe is amazing and demands our respect. It is all valuable because it was made by God. It provides the resources to sustain life. In return we are to be caretakers of God’s creation.

God created Adam and Eve in the image of God – “God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27). This means that humans are valuable. All lives matter. People matter. Therefore, murder, abortion and euthanasia are wrong because they all involve wilfully killing someone made in the image of God.

In the Garden of Eden, God established that marriage is between one male and one female. And we believe that Christian marriage like this is the foundation of family life.

God’s original creation was ruined by sin and judged by the global flood. After the tower of Babel, people with different languages spread across the world to form the nations.

So, Genesis tells us how it all began and why the world is broken. Humanities relationship with God was broken.

An astronaut aboard Artemis II said, “you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created”. When we think of all the expense and technology required to support them on a 10-day mission around the moon, how much more is required to create and sustain humanity on earth?

So, there are core beliefs about the beginning of history.

The rest of the Old Testament concerns the Israelites, who were known as Jews after the exile.

5. Israel as God’s people

The Bible tells us about the nation of Israel. It began with great promises to Abraham and his descendants (Gen.12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:4-6; 17:10-14; 22:15-18).
– the land of Canaan (unconditional, Gen. 15:7-20)
– a great nation
– they would be blest
– they would bring blessing on the whole human race

God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and brought them to settle in Canaan. At Mount Sinai, they were given the laws of Moses, which governed all aspects of their lives. They would be rewarded for obedience and punished for disobedience of these laws (Lev. 26; Dt. 28).

Under these laws, they worshipped God at a temple via animal sacrifices and priests.

King David was promised (unconditional) that his descendants would have an everlasting kingdom (2 Sam. 7:8-16). This will be established when Christ returns to reign over the earth.

They were promised a New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34) (Unconditional), which comes when Christ returns to reign over the earth. In the meantime, Christians can enjoy some of its benefits. God promised that Israel will never cease to be a nation (Jer. 31:35-36).

Because of their idolatry and wickedness, Canaan was invaded by the Babylonians in 586 BC and Jerusalem was destroyed and the Israelites were dispersed to Babylon and other places. And the land that was Canaan was ruled by different nations up until when the nation of Israel was re-established in 1948.

The gospels in the Bible are biographies of Jesus Christ.

6. Salvation through Jesus Christ

Genesis shows that creation was ruined by sin. What was God going to do about it? A Jewish Messiah was promised in the Old Testament. And the New Testament reveals Him as Jesus Christ. He is sinless and has both a divine nature and a human nature.

God’s rescue plan is shown in this schematic diagram.

Creation: Originally there was harmony between God and His creation.

Fall: The introduction of disobedience in the Garden of Eden caused separation between God and humanity. Since then, sin is our greatest problem. Sin occurred in every generation. The Bible teaches that every human being has a sinful nature.

Redemption: But God loves humanity and is working to restore what was broken. So, He sent His Son to die as a substitute for sinners, enabling forgiveness, transformation, and eternal life for those who believe (Jn. 3:16). Trusting in Christ’s sacrificial death and confessing and repenting of our sin restores the broken relationship between God and humanity. Christians have both a new divine nature and an old sinful nature.

Scripture alone reveals that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, all for God’s glory alone. It’s a free gift, not a reward to be earned. Jesus said that our eternal spiritual welfare is more important than anything else (Mt. 5:29-30; Mk. 8:36).

Salvation is like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. A new phase of life has begun.

It’s also like we are on a sinking ship and a rescuer comes in a lifeboat and saves us. We can’t rescue ourselves. But we can trust the rescuer and his boat. Do you have assurance of salvation like this?

We do not believe in Calvinism. Salvation is a gift for all, not just for a select few. None are incapable of accepted it. God doesn’t predestine anyone to hell. Everyone has a freewill to accept or reject God’s offer of salvation.

God wrote all names in the Book of Life. The names of all who turn to Christ remain in the Book of life. Those who reject Christ have their names blotted out of the Book of life (Ex. 32:3-33; Ps. 69:28; Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 20:15).

And we don’t believe in the prosperity gospel that promises material blessings like health, or wealth, or success. The Bible promises spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3) and eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

Restoration: There is a promise of the reconciliation of all things at the end of history. There is a new creation and the problem of sin is solved forever.

So, there are core beliefs about salvation.

Acts to Revelation 3 in the Bible are about the early church.

7. The church as God’s people

The church is a group of Christians, either a local congregation (where we worship, serve and fellowship) or universally. Unlike in the OT, in the NT the house of God is the people, not the building. The Bible says that all believers are equal before God (Gal. 3:28).

Commands: Jesus told His disciples a new commandment, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn. 13:34-35). And this is repeated in letters to the early churches (Rom. 13:8; 1 Th. 4:9; 1 Pt. 1:22; 1 Jn. 4:11).

Nine of the 10 commandments in the Old Testament are repeated in books written to the early church. The early Christians were not commanded to keep the Sabbath day. We don’t keep the Sabbath day because it was for Israel under the Old Covenant.

Leadership: The early church was led by elders and deacons. One of our distinctives is plural eldership – each New Testament church had more than one elder (Acts 20:17, 28-29; 1 Tim. 1:5-7). Elders must be men of integrity who can teach and take care of the church. Deacons are delegated to manage operational aspects of the local church.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites could only approach God via sacrifices at the temple offered by priests (see the left side of the diagram). And once a year the high priest was a mediator between them and God. But this changed radically after Jesus came and the church was established (see the right side of the diagram). No more sacrifices, temples or high priests were required after Jesus sacrificed His life and He replaced the high priest as our mediator with God.

Priesthood of Christ: Christ is the head of the church – the elders report to Him. Because Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament pattern of worship, He replaced the temple and the sacrifices and He intercedes for us with God (like the high priest, Heb. 4:14) (Heb. 7:25).

Priesthood of believers: Christians are like a temple (indwelt by the Holy Spirit). There are no longer holy places, only holy people. And they are considered priests because they have direct access to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pt. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).  They offer “spiritual sacrifices,” which include worship, prayer, service, and living holy lives. According to the Bible there is no longer a priestly class of people within the church. That’s why we don’t have a person with the title of a priest or a minister or a pastor. And we don’t have a professional clergy like in the Old Testament.

Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who indwells believers, guides them into truth, empowers them to live righteously, and convicts the world of sin (Jn. 16:8–13, Acts 2). He works in us to show the fruit of the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

Christians are commanded to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18-21). This includes being guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Everyone has at least one spiritual gift to be used for building up the church. All are needed for the health of the church (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:1-31; Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Pt. 4:10-11).

Have you discovered your spiritual gifts? Are you using them in the church?

What about miraculous gifts?: Jesus did many miracles to show that He was the Messiah (Jn. 2:11; 4:48; 10:37-38; 20:30-31; Acts 2:22). God also did many miracles in the early church through the apostles to validate the gospel and as a foretaste of the miracles in the millennium (Lk. 9:1-2; Acts 14:3; 2 Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3-4; 6:5). The primary purpose of the miraculous gifts (like speaking in tongues, prophesy, healing and raising the dead) was to prove that the gospel was true and that the apostles were truly God’s messengers. The sign gifts were a confirmation of God’s message and messenger, in order that people might hear and believe. Once the message was confirmed, the signs faded away. The apostolic gifts are no longer needed to verify the apostles’ message as we have them recorded in the Bible. We believe that the miraculous gifts have ceased since the end of the apostolic age. In this way, we are not Pentecostal or charismatic.

However, God still does miracles sometimes. For example, when spreading the gospel in Muslim lands where the bible and evangelism are banned. Converts have testified to having seen dreams and visions of Jesus who told them to find and speak to a certain person at a certain place at a certain time. When they do, they are told and accept the gospel message. This is like what happened to Paul and Cornelius in the Bible.

Activities: The activities of the early church included: teaching, prayer, fellowship, communion (the bread and wine are symbols of Jesus death on the Cross. We do not believe they become the body and blood of Jesus Christ), baptism (by immersion), singing, fellowship, evangelism, pastoral care, giving to others, and discipline.

In the great commission, Jesus told His disciples “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Mt. 16:19-20). We aim to spread the good news about Jesus. We are a good news church.

So, there are core beliefs about the church.

The Bible ends with the book of Revelation.

8. The end of history

The Bible tells us about the end of everything. It says that Jesus is returning to complete God’s plan of salvation.

Life after death for believers.
At death the spirit/soul goes to be with the Lord and the body goes to the earth. At the rapture the body is resurrected and reunited with spirit/soul to be with the Lord forever (in heaven). They are accountable when they appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ where believers are rewarded (Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:1-10).

Are you looking forward to eternal life and new bodies, when all our problems on earth will disappear? What a great hope!

Life after death for unbelievers. At death the spirit/soul goes away from the Lord and the body goes to the earth. Later the body is resurrected and reunited with spirit/soul to be judged at the Great White Throne and cast away from the Lord forever (in hell, the lake of fire).

Culmination of the gospel: Jesus is coming again to restore all things and make everything right, new, and perfect forever. Paradise is restored.

The book of Revelation gives an outline of future events:
– The next event is the rapture when believers are resurrected and changed to be with the Lord forever.
– Then there will be a period of tribulation on earth (Rev. 6-18)
– Then Christ will return in great power and glory to judge all evil (Rev. 19)
– This will be followed by the 1,000 year reign of the Lord on the earth (the millennium, the kingdom of God that was promised to the Jews) (Rev. 20:1-10). We are not amillennial where all the unfilled promises to Israel are applied to the church.
– And then the eternal state (Rev. 21-22).

This is called dispensational (it’s divided into periods of time).
Like past, present and future:
– the Old Testament (past),
– the church age (present),
– the millennial kingdom (future).
They are separated by the advents of Christ. It makes sense that things change when Jesus arrives on earth!

In dispensational theology there is a sharp distinction between Israel and the Church (1 Cor. 10:32). They are two different groups of people with two different destinies. The Church is seen as a “parenthesis” between God’s dealings with national Israel. The restored kingdom promised to Israel will be fulfilled in the Millennium. Until then is the Church Age—the time of the Gentiles.

Israel has a future: During the tribulation the Jews will suffer but a faithful remanent will be saved to live in the kingdom under the rule of Christ (Rom 11). The church has not replaced Israel. We do not believe in Replacement Theology where the promises to the Jews became spiritual blessings to the Church and the Old Testament needs to be interpreted in a symbolic way. And we do not believe in Covenant Theology where the church is the fulfilment of Israel and prophecy is often interpreted symbolically.

Are you looking forward to justice being done when Jesus comes to right all the wrongs on earth?

So, there are core beliefs about the end of history. Here is a diagrammatic summary of the core beliefs that we have looked at in this post.

9. Scriptural practices

We have looked at some core principles (beliefs) from the Bible. These are to influence how we live – our worldview. They are not just for academic knowledge.

Are movies or social media with different worldviews influencing us more that the Bible and hindering us from finding the best way to live?

Now we will look at how we can put these into practice (by what we do).

This schematic diagram shows the relationship between the principles (beliefs)and the practices. The principles are fixed (because they come from the Bible), but the practices can change.

The practices can also be influenced by the past, the present and the future:
– The past: are traditions handed down from previous times. It’s how things were done before. We tend to perpetuate long-established practices. But a practice shouldn’t be viewed as better only because it’s old, or only because it’s new.
– The present: we are influenced by circumstances like the current language, customs and way of life. The church has adapted to various cultures across almost 2,000 years of history and across the world.
– The future: we should be moving towards the goals of the local church.

The balance between these influences will control the practices within a local church at a given point in time.

Conclusion

It’s not enough to be a church that is based on Scripture; there is also a need to be culturally relevant. Let’s follow scriptural principles that reflect our Lord and our heavenly citizenship and the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ and practices that relate to the world we live in. Let’s be a Biblical church that is culturally relevant.

References

Understanding the Bible
The best way to live: Applying the Bible to our lives
Practicing scriptural principles
The local church in a changing world
Has God finished with Israel?

Written, May 2026