The Fundamental Doctrines
Good News Magazine
February 1974
Volume: Vol XXIII, No. 2
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The Fundamental Doctrines
Good News Staff  

   Jesus is the author (beginner) of our eternal Salvation (Heb. 5:9). He is the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb. 12:12)
   Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last. He will give to him who is thirsty the fountain of the water of life — eternal salvation — freely (Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13). Jesus begins and ends every Christian's eternal salvation. But it is axiomatic that everything God begins spiritually, through human instruments, must start the smallest.
   You were not separated from your mother's womb as a full-grown, mature human being. It anywhere from thirteen to twenty years for you to attain maximum growth in the physical sphere.
   But the point is, you had to start somewhere. And that start was when your mother conceived. At that precise moment you were no bigger than a pinpoint or the period at the end of this sentence.
   And it is, figuratively, the same in the spiritual sphere. There was a time in the life of each true follower of Christ when he or she began to be a Christian. All start out as spiritual infants.
   And if you are not yet a Christian, but do want to become one. you must begin as a babe in Christ — not as a full-grown mature Christian.
   In the first grade a small child does not begin his study of mathematics by solving higher equations. He starts with 1 + 1=2.
   In like manner one must commence his Christian life by learning the first principles of the oracles of God — the first principles of the doctrine of Christ (Heb.5:12; 6:1).
   The newly begotten Christian must first be thoroughly grounded in the basics.
   Every Christian, when first converted, is likened to one that uses milk, being unskillful in the word of righteousness because he is a babe in Christ (Heb. 5:13).
   But what are the first principles of the doctrine of Christ? What is this "milk" of the word." What specific doctrines should you begin to understand even in "boot camp," that preliminary period just before you become a Christian (and during your early conversion period)? Where are they found in the Bible?
   Paul lists the following in (Hebrews 6:1-2).

1) Repentance from dead works
2) Faith toward God
3) The doctrine of baptisms
4) Laying on of hands
5) The resurrection of the dead
6) Eternal judgment
   An in-depth explanation of each one of these fundamental doctrines is contained in the following studies presented one per week here on this site.

Doctrine of: Repentance from dead works

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Good News MagazineFebruary 1974Vol XXIII, No. 2