Basic Truths of the Christian Faith

Basic Truth 1
What is the purpose of my life?
My purpose is to know God, love Him, enjoy Him, and glorify Him.1 God made me for Himself. I belong
to God because He created me.2 When I know Him, love Him, enjoy Him, and glorify Him, I am truly
satisfied.3

Psalm 16:111; Genesis 1:262; 1 Peter 4:113

Basic Truth 2
Who is God?
God is the Creator and holds everyone and everything together.1 He is holy2 and does not change.3 He
has no beginning and no end.4 He is perfect in love, goodness, wisdom, justice, and truth. God is Spirit.
Nothing happens except through Him and by His will.5

John 1:1-31; Isaiah 6:32; Malachi 3:63; Revelation 1:84; Daniel 4:355

Basic Truth 3
What is the Trinity?
The Trinity describes the truth that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God.1 They have always
existed in loving relationship as One.2 Each is fully God with exactly the same attributes. They work with
one mind to accomplish one will and are equally worthy of worship.3

Matthew 28:19-201; John 14:16-172; 2 Corinthians 13:143

Basic Truth 4
What is creation?
Creation is God making everything out of nothing by His powerful Word.1 He created man and woman
in His own image to know and love Him and live with Him forever. God created them righteous and holy,
to rule over everything He created.2 Because God made everything good,3 there was no sickness, death,
or decay and no reason to fear or be ashamed.4

Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-31; Genesis 1:26-272; Genesis 1:313; Genesis 2:254

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Basic Truth 5
What is the Fall?
The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, listened to the serpent Satan’s lies and sinned, losing their
perfect relationship with God.1 They fell from perfect thoughts, feelings, and actions. Sin damaged
all of God’s good creation. Now no one wants to, or is able to, completely obey God.2 Now mankind
experiences hardship, sickness, and decay.3 Now all people and all things experience the punishment
for sin, which is death.4

Genesis 3:1-101; Romans 3:122; Genesis 3:17-193; Romans 5:124

Basic Truth 6
What is sin?
Sin is everything in thought, word, and deed that is contrary to the will of God.1 Sin is failure to love
God, or to love things more than God. It is sinful to lie, cheat, steal, or disobey our parents.2 Sin is a
condition every person inherits from Adam.3 Apart from Christ, all people are slaves to sin and Satan,
living to please only themselves.4

Leviticus 5:171; Exodus 20:1-172; Romans 5:12, 193; John 8:344

Basic Truth 7
How can people know how to please God if they are born sinful?
God’s Word shows us what pleases Him.1 His Word also reveals our sinfulness and need of a Savior
because we cannot keep it perfectly.2 We see God’s instructions in the Ten Commandments3 and all
other commands in the Bible. Jesus summarized the heart of His teachings this way: to love God with
all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.4

Deuteronomy 30:15-181; Romans 3:202; Exodus 20:1-173; Mark 12:28-314

Basic Truth 8
Will God allow our sin to go unpunished?
No. Every sin offends God and must be punished.1 God’s holiness means He must hold people
accountable to do what is good and right.2 God’s love for all people means He must judge sin and
sinners.3 No one can escape punishment by doing good things.4

Psalm 51:41; Exodus 34:6-72; James 2:103; John 3:364

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Basic Truth 9
How is it possible to escape the punishment for our sin?
God sent Jesus the Redeemer to rescue us and take the punishment for our sin.1 On our own, we could
never escape punishment for sin. God is loving and kind and in mercy sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem
us.2 At the cross, Jesus freely chose to take the punishment for our sin.3 Jesus paid the price to free us
from sin’s slavery and judgment.4

John 3:16-171; Titus 3:5-62; Isaiah 53:10-113; 1 Peter 2:244

Basic Truth 10
Who is the Redeemer?
God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the Redeemer.1 He is both fully God and fully man. As God, He has always
existed.2 He became man, born in fulfillment of the prophets’ words. Only God could live and suffer
perfectly. Only a perfect person could pay for people’s sin.3 On the cross, He willingly paid the penalty for
our sin with His own blood.4

Galatians 4:4-51; John 1:1-2, 142; Romans 1:2-43; Hebrews 2:174

Basic Truth 11
Why was it necessary for Christ, the Redeemer, to die?
Death is the punishment for sin.1 Jesus willingly died on the cross in our place.2 He bore the full wrath
of God against sin. He died to deliver us from the grip of sin, death, and hell and to bring us back to
God.3 Jesus’s death frees us from slavery to sin now and sin’s punishment for eternity.4

Romans 6:231; Isaiah 53:5-62; Romans 5:9-103; Romans 6:184

Basic Truth 12
Why must the Redeemer be truly human?
Only a perfect human being could pay for the sins of other human beings. As a man, Jesus perfectly
obeyed God’s law and lived without sin.1 He alone was qualified to die for sinful human beings.2
Because Jesus was tempted in every way that we are and never sinned, He understands us and can
help us.3

Hebrews 2:171; Romans 5:192; Hebrews 4:153

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Basic Truth 13
Why must the Redeemer be truly God?
Because Jesus is God, He is infinite and holy. His blood can pay the penalty for an infinite number of
sins.1 On the cross, Jesus was able to suffer the eternal punishment and separation from God that our
sin deserves.2 Therefore, everyone who trusts Christ can know that He paid for all of their sins.3

John 1:291; Matthew 27:462; Romans 8:13

Basic Truth 14
Is Jesus the only Savior?
Yes. No one can be saved except through faith in Jesus Christ1 and His death on the cross on our
behalf.2

John 14:61; Acts 4:10, 122

Basic Truth 15
What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith is forsaking all other means of saving our souls and believing the gospel taught in Scripture.1
We must believe Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to pay for our sin, and that He was
buried and rose again on the third day to give us eternal life.2 Evidence of faith is seen in the way a
person lives.3

Acts 4:121; 1 Corinthians 15:1-42; Galatians 2:203

Basic Truth 16
Where does faith in Jesus Christ come from?
Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift from God through the Holy Spirit.1 We do nothing to earn or deserve this
gift.2 Faith comes to us by God’s grace when we hear the message of the gospel3 and turn from our sins
to Christ.4

Ephesians 2:8-91; Titus 3:4-62; Romans 10:173; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-104

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Basic Truth 17
What is grace?
Grace is God’s powerful kindness poured out on the undeserving.1 God is especially kind to His
children, whom He forgives, justifies, and adopts forever into His family.2 God’s grace is poured on His
children as He gives them faith and transforms their lives.3

Psalm 145:8-91; Ephesians 2: 8-92; Romans 5:1-23

Basic Truth 18
What does justification mean?
Justification means God declares a sinner righteous because of the perfect life, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.1 It means that Jesus Christ paid the price for all the sin of His children,
saved them from God’s wrath and adopted them into His family.2 Justification means believers are in
Christ and declared righteous.3 Therefore, God will never condemn His children.4

Romans 5:1-2, 91; Ephesians 1:4-52; 2 Corinthians 5:213; Romans 8:14

Basic Truth 19
Who is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity.1 He is eternal God,2 as fully God as God the Father and
Jesus the Son.3 God sends His Spirit to live within His children.4

John 15:261; Genesis 1:22; 2 Corinthians 13:143; Galatians 4:64

Basic Truth 20
How does the Holy Spirit help God’s children?
The Holy Spirit convicts God’s children of sin and gives them faith to believe and obey God.1 He unites
them with Christ and assures them that they are God’s children.2 The Holy Spirit sanctifies God’s children,
keeping them safe until they reach heaven.3 He helps them pray and understand God’s Word.4 He
comforts and guides them.
2 Thessalonians 2:131; Romans 8:15-162; Ephesians 1:13-143; Ephesians 6:17-184

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Basic Truth 21
What does sanctification mean?
Sanctification is the Holy Spirit’s work of growing us in holiness to be like Jesus, who is perfectly
righteous.1 Sanctification2 also involves our cooperation,3 as we study the Bible, pray, obey, and serve God.4
Philippians 2:12-131; 1 Corinthians 6:112; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-243; Ephesians 4:22-244

Basic Truth 22
Why do God’s children still sin?
God’s children are tempted to sin by their own sinful nature and by Satan.1 Even though the Holy Spirit helps
His children know the joy of obedience, they are still weak.2 God always listens when we ask Him to help us
not to sin.3 When God’s children sin, the loving Father disciplines and holds them responsible for their sin.4

Galatians 5:171; Matthew 26:412; 1 Corinthians 10:133; Hebrews 12:64

Basic Truth 23
What defines or describes the providence of God?
God’s providence means He wisely directs and permits all that happens in His creation.1 God involves
Himself in all events and directs all things to accomplish His good purposes.2 Health, sickness, riches,
and poverty come to us not by chance3 but from the Father’s loving hands.4

1 Chronicles 29:11-121; Psalm 115:32; Acts 17:24-263; Matthew 10:29-314

Basic Truth 24
What is prayer?
Prayer is talking with God1 by confessing our sin, praising Him, thanking Him, and asking Him for our
needs and desires.2 The Bible shows us what to pray for and the Holy Spirit helps and teaches us to
pray.3 God always hears the prayers of His children and answers with what we need at the right time.4

Matthew 6:9-131; Philippians 4:62; Romans 8:263; James 5:164

Basic Truth 25
What is the Bible?
The Bible is God’s truth, taught in words by the Holy Spirit to His prophets and apostles.1 The Holy
Spirit inspired the writers of both the Old and New Testaments to write down God’s eternal plan.2 The
Bible is totally true and without error.3 The Holy Spirit guides us in understanding the Bible.4

1 Thessalonians 2:131; 2 Timothy 3:16-172; John 17:173; 1 Corinthians 2:12-134

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Basic Truth 26
What is the Church?
The Church is the community of God’s redeemed people,1 now and forever. It is not a building. Jesus
Christ is the head of the Church,2 which he calls His “body.”3 The Church is the bride of Christ, whom He
loved and for whom He died.4 God unites His people through the Holy Spirit to love, follow, learn from,
and worship God together.5
Matthew 16:181; Ephesians 5:232; Romans 12:4-53; Ephesians 5:254; Revelation 5:9-105

Basic Truth 27
Where is Jesus now?
Jesus is alive in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father,1 praying for God’s children.2 Three days
after His death and burial, Jesus came back to life in a resurrected body and taught His disciples for 40
days.3 He then returned to heaven.4
Ephesians 1:19-211; Hebrews 7:252; Acts 1:1-33; Acts 1:10-114

Basic Truth 28
Will Jesus return?
Yes! Jesus will return personally and physically,1 first to rule and reign in His kingdom and then to
judge the world and Satan.2 Everyone will see Him return.3 Jesus will give God’s children resurrected
bodies like His own to live with Him in
His kingdom.4

Acts 1:111; Revelation 20:102; Revelation 1:73; John 5:25-294

Basic Truth 29
What is eternal life?
Eternal life is God’s gift that comes from believing, knowing, and loving God and Jesus Christ.1 Eternal
life begins as soon as we become God’s child and never ends.2 Our bodies die but we are alive with
Christ and forever freed from all sin.3 God’s children enjoy His presence now, in heaven, and in Christ’s
kingdom forever.4

John 17:2-31; Luke 23:432; Matthew 25:463; Revelation 11:154

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