A Strong Founation?

I was recently surprised by a question from a thoughtful young person who asked me, "Why do Christians seem to have so many problems?" Now, I realize that this question is quite a generalization, but it did challenge my thinking. It made me ask whether Christians are being properly taught the foundations of our faith when they first commit their lives to Christ? As we all know, foundations are important. Any builder will tell you that without a good foundation no structure can be guaranteed to last. Even though the foundation of a building is usually hidden beneath the soil, it does provide the necessary support and stability to the visible part of the structure, which is located above ground. For the Christian, a proper foundation is absolutely essential if he or she wants to succeed in living for the Lord Jesus.

Hebrews 6:1-3 details what the writer calls "the elementary teachings about Christ" (v. 1, NIV). In verses 2 and 3, he says that these foundation principles are as follows:

Repentance from acts that lead to death

Faith in God

Baptisms

Laying on of hands

The resurrection from the dead

Eternal judgment

Today, I wonder how often these principles are taught to people in our churches. I remember years ago hearing the late Ern Baxter teach these principles to our church. One of the things he pointed out from Hebrews 6 was that the point of a proper foundation was to enable us "to go on to maturity" (v. 1, NIV). But, he said, permission to "go on" to further build our lives of faith was directly related to the strength of our foundation. No foundation, no permit to build. It was that simple.