The apostles called the foundation of the gospel “the first principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12). This page sets out those first principles in brief: forty-one questions, each with a short answer, the Bible passages that prove it, and a link to where the case is made in full.
It is a summary for review, not a first introduction. It may help if you are thinking about baptism, preparing to talk it through with us, or teaching a class. Try reading the passages before the answer, and ask whether they say what we say they say.
The questions follow the order of Robert Roberts’s The Christadelphian Instructor (1886), which moves from the Bible and God, through man, Christ and salvation, to the promises, the Kingdom and the end of the thousand years. The wording is ours. New to all this? Start here instead.
Our name
What does the name ‘Christadelphian’ mean?
It means ‘brethren of Christ’: brothers and sisters of Christ, which is what Jesus calls all who do his Father’s will.
The Bible
What is the Bible?
The word of God, written by men moved by his Spirit. It is our only authority for what we believe and how we live.
How can we know it comes from God?
God proves his word by foretelling what will happen and bringing it to pass, as no human writer could.
God
Who is God?
One God, the Father, the eternal Creator of all things, who alone has immortality.
Deuteronomy 6:41 Corinthians 8:61 Timothy 6:16One God, the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ
What is God’s name?
Yahweh, printed LORD in most English Bibles: the name he gave Moses at the burning bush, a promise that he will be with his people.
What is God like?
Merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness, yet holy: he will by no means clear the guilty.
Exodus 34:6-7Hebrews 12:29One God, the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ
The Spirit of God
What is the Spirit of God?
God’s own power and breath, by which he made all things and gives life. It is not a third person beside the Father and the Son.
Job 33:4Luke 1:35Psalm 104:30The Holy Spirit: the power of God
Is God everywhere?
Yes. God dwells in heaven, but by his Spirit he fills heaven and earth, and nothing is hidden from him.
Psalm 139:7-8Jeremiah 23:24Hebrews 4:13The Holy Spirit: the power of God
The spiritual body
What will the faithful become?
At Christ’s return they will be given “a spiritual body”: a real body, made incorruptible and immortal by the Spirit, like Christ’s own.
1 Corinthians 15:441 Corinthians 15:53Philippians 3:21Death and the resurrection hope
Angels
What are angels?
God’s immortal messengers, sent to serve his people. When they appeared to people they looked like men, and the faithful will be “equal unto the angels”.
Man
Is man immortal?
No. Man was made from the dust and returns to it. Only God has immortality, and he offers it as a gift.
Genesis 3:191 Timothy 6:16Romans 2:7Death and the resurrection hope
What happens when we die?
The dead know nothing. They sleep in the dust until the resurrection.
Ecclesiastes 9:5Psalm 146:4Daniel 12:2Death and the resurrection hope
Why do we die?
Sin entered the world by Adam, and death by sin. All have sinned, and “the wages of sin is death”.
Christ
Who is Jesus?
The Son of God, born of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. He shared our nature, “made of a woman”, and is the one mediator between God and men.
Luke 1:35Galatians 4:41 Timothy 2:5One God, the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ
Did Jesus exist before he was born?
Not as a person. He was in God’s purpose from the beginning, “foreordained before the foundation of the world”, and began at his conception.
How was God in Christ?
By his Spirit, given without measure. The Father dwelt in his Son and spoke and worked through him, so that to see the Son was to see the Father.
John 3:34John 14:9-102 Corinthians 5:19One God, the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ
The name of Christ
What do the names ‘Jesus’ and ‘Christ’ mean?
Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, ‘Yahweh saves’, “for he shall save his people from their sins”. Christ means ‘anointed’: God anointed him with the Holy Spirit.
The death of Christ
Why did Christ die?
To condemn sin in the flesh. In our nature he overcame sin, gave himself for his people, and was raised to immortal life because death could not hold him.
Who is the devil?
The Bible’s name for sin in its many forms: sin in human nature, and the people and powers it works through. It is not a fallen angel.
Hebrews 2:14James 1:14-15Mark 7:21-23Satan, the devil and the real enemy
The way of salvation
How are we saved?
By God’s grace, through faith in his Son. Forgiveness and life are his gift, not a wage, and there is “none other name under heaven”.
Ephesians 2:8-9Acts 4:12Romans 6:23Grace, faith and obedience
Is faith enough without obedience?
True faith obeys, as Abraham’s did. Christ is “the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him”.
What is baptism, and is it necessary?
Immersion in water by a believer who understands the gospel, joining him to Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus commanded it.
The commandments of Christ
What does Christ command his disciples?
To love God with all the heart and our neighbour as ourselves; to love even our enemies and not avenge ourselves; and to keep his sayings.
Matthew 22:37-39Matthew 5:44John 14:15Following the Prince of Peace
How do we remember him?
By breaking bread and drinking wine together, each first day of the week, as he asked, until he comes.
Luke 22:19Acts 20:71 Corinthians 11:26Glossary: breaking of bread
Is there forgiveness after baptism?
Yes. If we confess our sins God forgives them, through Christ who intercedes for us. But we must forgive others as well.
1 John 1:9Hebrews 7:25Matthew 6:14-15Grace, faith and obedience
Faith and the gospel
What is faith?
Confident trust in what God has promised. It comes by hearing his word, and without it it is impossible to please him.
Hebrews 11:1Romans 10:17Hebrews 11:6Grace, faith and obedience
What is the gospel?
The good news of “the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ”, first preached to Abraham.
Acts 8:12Galatians 3:8Mark 1:14-15The Kingdom of God on earth
The Kingdom of God
What is the Kingdom of God?
God’s government on the earth, set up when Jesus returns. It will replace the kingdoms of men and stand for ever.
Daniel 2:44Revelation 11:15Acts 1:11The Kingdom of God on earth
Where will it be?
On the earth, centred on Jerusalem. It is the kingdom of Israel restored, with Christ on David’s throne.
Who will reign with Christ?
The faithful of every age, raised and made immortal, as kings and priests.
2 Timothy 2:12Revelation 5:10Daniel 7:27The Kingdom of God on earth
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
What did God promise Abraham?
The land of Canaan for ever, to him and to his seed, who is Christ, and blessing for all nations. Abraham died in faith without receiving it; he will receive it at the resurrection.
Genesis 13:14-15Galatians 3:16Hebrews 11:13The Kingdom of God on earth
Israel and the first covenant
Why was the law of Moses given?
It was added because of transgressions, until Christ came. It could not give life, but it taught Israel and led them to him.
Galatians 3:17-19Galatians 3:24Hebrews 10:1The promises to Abraham and David
Was Israel’s kingdom the Kingdom of God?
Yes. Solomon sat “on the throne of the Lord”. God overturned that kingdom, until Christ comes whose right it is.
1 Chronicles 29:23Ezekiel 21:25-27Acts 15:16The Kingdom of God on earth
The covenant with David
What did God promise David?
A son who would reign on his throne for ever. That son is Jesus, the son of David and the Son of God.
2 Samuel 7:12-16Luke 1:32-33Acts 2:30The Kingdom of God on earth
Resurrection and judgment
Who will be raised to judgment?
Those who have known God’s will, faithful and unfaithful. Knowledge brings responsibility, and those who never knew it remain in death.
John 12:48Daniel 12:2Psalm 49:20Responsibility: who will be raised to judgment?
What will the faithful receive?
Immortality and a place in the Kingdom. Their bodies will be changed in a moment to share Christ’s nature.
Romans 2:71 Corinthians 15:51-53Matthew 25:34Judgment and the second death
What will the unfaithful receive?
Shame and punishment, and then the second death, from which there is no return.
Romans 2:8-9Daniel 12:2Revelation 20:14Judgment and the second death
Christ, the nations and Israel
What will Christ do to the nations when he returns?
Break the power of the kingdoms that oppose him, and rule the nations as King of kings.
Psalm 2:8-9Revelation 17:14Revelation 19:15-16The Kingdom of God on earth
What will he do for Israel?
Gather them from all nations, purge out the rebels, and make his new covenant with them. Israel’s return to the land in our own time is the beginning of that work.
Jeremiah 31:10Jeremiah 31:31-34Ezekiel 20:37-38Prophecy: Israel
The nations in the Kingdom
How will the nations live in the Kingdom?
In peace, learning God’s ways from Jerusalem. War will end, and the nations will go up to worship the King.
The end of the thousand years
What happens at the end of the thousand years?
A last rebellion is put down, the last judgment is held, and death itself is destroyed. Then “God may be all in all”.
Revelation 20:7-151 Corinthians 15:24-28Revelation 21:4Life in the Kingdom: the thousand years
Would you like to go through these together? We are glad to study them with you, one-to-one or by email.
Ask to study togetherScripture links open the King James Version. Order of topics after Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian Instructor (Birmingham, 1886). All Bible studies · Questions people ask · Glossary