In Essentials Unity - What are the Essentials?

I am not sure how many people in our congregation are familiar with the Restoration movement that spawned our nondenomination denomination. Seriously, when I came to KCC I was told that we are "loosely affiliated with the Restoration churches." I'm not ashamed of that. I wouldn't call myself a Restorationist, but it is a part of my church heritage and gives much food for thought.

One of the well known slogans of the Restoration movement was "In essentials, unity. In nonessentials liberty. In all things love." Now it would be real easy to go off on how many Christian churches today claim this slogan but don't really practice it, but this isn't the point of my blog today. I really just want to do some pondering or musing on it.

The question I have is, what are the essentials? I've never really taken the time to sit down and think about what the essentials are. I mean sure, I teach about them all the time, but I've never listed them. So today I want to come up with a list of essentials. What are the essential beliefs of the Christian?

1. It is essential that the Christian believes in God. God is that which nothing greater can be conceived. He is eternal. He is all powerful. He is all knowing. He is ever present. He is the Creator of everything. He is love. God is triune in nature. God is one god who has revealed Himself in three persons who are all of the same essence and yet are three seperate personalities. God is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each personality serves a specific role.
   
2. It is essential that the Christian believes the Bible to be God's word and infallible. It is God's revelation to us concerning Himself and our purpose. The Bible is the standard for every Christian to live by. It should not be changed in any way, meaning nothing should be taken away from it or added to it. Any other "revelation" should completely agree with what it says. Any "revelation" that does not agree with it is false teaching.
   
3. It is essential that the Christian believes in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible. Jesus was an incarnation of God. While on earth He was 100% man and 100% God. He was born of a virgin who was miraculously impregnated by the Holy Spirit. His mission was to reveal God's plan of salvation to mankind which culminated with Him substituting His life for ours on the cross.
4. It is essential that the Christian believes salvation comes through no other person but Jesus Christ. Salvation is received when a person places their faith in Him as both Savior and Master. They believe that He has saved them and they believe that He has a perfect plan for their lives. The evidence of this faith is a life that is in continual transformation with the end result being like Christ.
5. It is essential that the Christian believes in eternal life. Those who are saved will spend eternity with God in Heaven and will recieve eternal rewards that correlate with how earlthy life was lived. Those who do not accept Jesus' free gift of salvation, but continue to live for themselves and apart from God, will spend eternity without God in Hell.

So far I have come up with five essentials. I am sure there are others and I am sure that this list will develop over time. For starters, I need some Scripture references.

I challenge you to think about the essentials and write them down. When your done share them with me. As iron sharpens iron so does one man sharpen another!