What are 3 important things every Christian should know?

Whether personally, apologetically, evangelistically, any context..doesn't matter, what are the 3 most important things/doctrines a Christian should know and be able to articulate?

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

To repent of ones sins and understand the sacrifice of the cross.

To live ones life in submission and obedience to His will.

To love the Lord with all your heart.

God bless
mj

From the Heidelberg Catechism...

First, the greatness of my sin and misery. Second, how I am redeemed from all my sin and misery. Third, how I am to be thankful to God for such redemption.

Not to sound contentious, but every answer I've seen thus far is miles off, and not gospel centered. The following are the three things every Christian should truly know. This is the core of the gospel message, which we must major in. Most Christians take these things for granted, as if they were too fundamental. But our lack of grasp and consideration of these things shows we are not where we need to be. Indeed, these three things don't seem to have truly entered the minds of anybody thus far. I mourn over that.

The three things every Christian should know:

1) Jesus died in our place for our sins.
2) Jesus came back to life after three days, and lives forever more.
3) Jesus is coming again.

There are no other things that I can think of that are more important than these three elements. They constitute the core of the apostolic preaching of the early church.

I wish you understood the gospel, brother. You have simplified it to the point of removing its power & preciousness.

I'm sorry, but if you think these are oversimplified. But the truth behind them is radical and transforming. These are precious

1. The Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The Lord Jesus Christ.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ.

Not to sound contentious, but every answer I've seen thus far is miles off, and not gospel centered. The following are the three things every Christian should truly know. This is the core of the gospel message, which we must major in. Most Christians take these things for granted, as if they were too fundamental. But our lack of grasp and consideration of these things shows we are not where we need to be. Indeed, these three things don't seem to have truly entered the minds of anybody thus far. I mourn over that.

KingJimmy,

Who can argue with the three things that you wrote, but to down us others because we came to something different then you IS contentious.

Since you gave a public rebuke of the asnwers given here, please tell me how my answer of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is "miles off" to what a Christian should know? Why would something like this make you "mourn"?

If we really want to get down to the nitty gritty of things and be contentious all around, I think brother Paul Washer puts it beautifully in his message titled "Shocking Youth Message (or on some downloads) Modern American Christianity".

Brother Washer states, "The most important thing is not that you know Jesus, but the most important thing is; does Jesus knows you."

I think that this statement by Brother Washer makes all of our replies pale in comparison.

May I suggest that the answer to this question is answered soundly and I rejoiced greatly in the rooting and establishing of His Truth through this message:

[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=19071&commentView=itemComments]The Lost Gospel by Paul Washer[/url]

May He who is faithful continue to reveal the gospel to our hearts that we may know it and Him, for He is our Life.

"In Him was Life and the Life was the Light of men" ~ John 1:4

(I posted something for another thread!! but I would like to respond to this one. )

Those three important things every Christian should know are really different for each believer.

What God spoke to me for my knees to hit the ground is different than what God got your attention with.

No one needs to be grieved about anything on this thread. We need to trust the Lord that the Holy Spirit will lead you and will lead me into all truth... [b]ALL TRUTH[/b].

We are always trying to find a nice way to tell someone “they’re wrong” but it just leads to debate, strife and contention. Even as nice and pleasant as this thread started out... look at what happened with one “wrong” opinion or sentence!

If we all would be honest and admit it, we are a bunch of controls freaks that doesn’t trust the Holy Spirit to impart anything to anybody – that God actually needs “US” to do the imparting. HA!!

But you know what? He loves us anyway!!

It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3.22

Who can argue with the three things that you wrote, but to down us others because we came to something different then you IS contentious.

Miccah,

My deepest apologies to everybody if I came off contentious. No such a thing was intended. Nor did I mean to sound like I was speaking down to anybody in putting forth my three suggestions. Perhaps I shouldn't have typed my post on the last few minutes of my lunch break. Looking back, I can definitely see how what I said could be interpreted as me being contentious. Once again, all apologies for giving such an appearance.

My intent here is not to belittle any of the suggestions. All of them are fine and all of them are Biblically sound. But when I think of the "three important things EVERY Christian should know," my mind is instantly drawn to the three points that I highlighted. Why those three things vs. any of the other three things our other brothers and sisters suggested? Because it is my earnest belief that those three doctrines are three essential gospel truths from which all others flow from.

It is my earnest belief that these essential doctrines represent the core of everything we believe as Christians. It is almost my deepest lamentation that these three things seem to be the most neglected truths of the Scripture. They are so fundamental and ABC like, that they are almost forgotten, and are truths that many Christians do not even think about on a daily basis.

I firmly believe most of our ills as a Church could be gone overnight if we experienced a revival in these doctrines, especially in regard to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I wish to God we would be firmly rooted in these truths, and grow in understanding of them greatly. The Church of Jesus Christ today needs to revist these doctrines, and simply dwell in them and the amazing claims they are. If we did such, many practical things would unfold, and our lives would be forever changed.

Since you gave a public rebuke of the asnwers given here, please tell me how my answer of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is "miles off" to what a Christian should know? Why would something like this make you "mourn"?

Like I said, this and the other posts are fine. Yours is probably the best of the posts But like I also said, this like the other posts do not represent the core of the Christian faith, and are not the three important things every Christian should know. Indeed, one will never truly understand the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit unless they understand the triune God in the death, resurrection, and second coming of Christ.

Indeed, that is perhaps why we gain so little understanding of the Trinity from the Old Testament. Most of what we understand of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are only understood in light of the three things I've listed. Indeed, these three events magnify and reveal the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to us in ways we would not otherwise be able to understand.

I think that this statement by Brother Washer makes all of our replies pale in comparison.

No doubt, and I love Washer's statement. However, the question was "What are three important things every Christian should know?" So while good, it does not directly address the question at hand :-)

At any rate, many blessings and sorry for any confusion or the creation of hurt feelings. No flaming was intended.

Not to sound contentious, but every answer I've seen thus far is miles off, and not gospel centered. The following are the three things every Christian should truly know. This is the core of the gospel message, which we must major in. Most Christians take these things for granted, as if they were too fundamental. But our lack of grasp and consideration of these things shows we are not where we need to be. Indeed, these three things don't seem to have truly entered the minds of anybody thus far. I mourn over that.

The three things every Christian should know: 1) Jesus died in our place for our sins. 2) Jesus came back to life after three days, and lives forever more. 3) Jesus is coming again.

There are no other things that I can think of that are more important than these three elements. They constitute the core of the apostolic preaching of the early church.

Brother,

I believe the three things mentioned in the Heidelberg Catechism include these three things and more. The first was that we know our sinful condition, the second that we know how we are redeemed (under which fall the three things you mentioned), and the third how our lives should look in response to the second point.

With care in Christ,
Taylor

We are always trying to find a nice way to tell someone “they’re wrong” but it just leads to debate, strife and contention.

I would agree with you here. Sometimes it is justified because they truly are wrong; sometimes maybe it's not so necessary.

Those three important things every Christian should know are really different for each believer.

Hmm, how can I say this nicely, I might disagree with you on this one ;)

I believe the three things mentioned in the Heidelberg Catechism include these three things and more.

No doubt, it includes these three things. And to some degree, almost all Biblical truths will somehow relate to and touch on these things. But to me, statements such as you quotes from the Heidelberg Catechism don't get to the core of it all. Indeed, I find them a bit on the abstract side of things, even though they are perfectly true. I thus prefer to center my three things on the essential elements of the gospel message, and that which represents its core.

I prefer to center my three things on three historical events, things that are very concrete, and less abstract. Indeed, such seems to be how God has done things in the Scriptures as well. All theology of God centered around the major historical events in which God chose to reveal Himself. Such is why you have such an emphasis on the Exodus story in the Old Testament. The Exodus story became the center of the nation of Israel, from which all of their understanding of God was derived. Likewise, in the New Testament, all things become subject to the narrative of the gospel message, and understanding God in the historical events of the death of Christ, His resurrection, and His soon to be second coming.

We need to master these things.