There are three core doctrines that mark true Christianity: The Resurrection, The Trinity, and Grace.
The Resurrection:
What religion, movement, “ism” or group had a leader who died, was buried, and rose to new life?
Which? Any? Ah! One!! Christianity! Jesus not only did so, but He foretold repeatedly that He was going to do so.
So a Man dies, then three days later comes to life: great for Him! How does that impact me? I and we are impacted because of His death. He died as none other. All men die because all men are sinners and cursed by a holy God to die. All sinners die! But Jesus was without sin and was not bound to die, yet He voluntarily died as a substitute for others. So by His substitutionary death comes the impact of His resurrection. His resurrection means that all men will be also raised. But only those who understand that He paid their sin price and embrace Him by faith and submission will be raised to ascend into His glory. All others will be raised to face their sinful life and receive a just punishment from Jesus sending them into an existence void of God’s amazing life. The resurrection is a critical truth in Christianity.
The Trinity:
Over and over Jesus declared that He was from heaven, that God was His Father, that He was the Son of God, and He was the I AM. Over and over He showed by His works that He was indeed God in flesh. When He allowed His enemies to lay hands on Him and take Him to trial, the condemnation was that He claimed to be God. So because of “blasphemy”, He was executed.
Was He God? The professional killers, the Roman soldiers, even before the resurrection, declared He had to be Who He said He was. And then God makes this statement, Romans 1:4, Declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Christianity boldly declares that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4) and three – a triunity (Matthew 28:20 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) . No other religion has such a thought. And why is the trinity important? If God were but one and one only, would He understand love, family, communication, fellowship, or community? Furthermore, God being triune means He is not needy – He didn’t create us to fulfill His lackings, rather He created us to know and enjoy His existence. Because God is triune and we are made in His image, things like family, love, and communication are very important to us. The trinity is a core Christian belief!
Grace:
For most people, grace speaks of gifts, blessings, privileges, rights, freedom, and/or allowance. While there are truths in those ideas, the core idea of Biblical grace is much deeper and more profound.
The core idea of grace is that there is a line, a law, a rule or a standard which has NOT been met. That is, someone has fallen short of a duty or expectation and thus stands in danger of rejection, punishment, or loss. Grace steps in to mitigate the negative, giving the guilty one a second chance or a new lease on life. Such is the concept of grace in the Bible. John Newton understood Biblical grace for he penned these words which are found in the hymn, Amazing Grace: “Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.” You hear him confess his gross failure to achieve a standard and that it was God’s grace that “saved” him.
What religion in the world, besides Christianity, rejects good works as an option to right the wrongs committed before God but rather teaches that a holy, just God can and does fully restore people to rightness solely as an act of love? Christianity’s God extends grace to violators which, when accepted by faith, renders them just before God. No other religion offers a full restoration as a gift from God that leaves people fully pleasing to God. True Christianity has amazing grace!
a PK Musing 
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