I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods.

My list of inviolable beliefs would have to begin with the first of the Ten Commandments.

This God has proven Himself to be God by demonstration of power over Kingdoms and powers on the earth. Do all people of faith believe this to be the Lord our God? No but He is mine and at the very top of my list.

Coming in at number two is God’s Holy Word.

2 Timothy 3:16 English Standard Version (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

At this point I will concede that others might not list my bible as being number two. It is however how I discovered those things I hold to be true with unyielding faith.

Coming in third but not third in my heart is Jesus Christ in the Son of God and God Himself.

John 1:1 English Standard Version (ESV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

I will list the Holy Spirit as the third person of God now because He is God and He is worthy. Does everyone believe in the Trinity? Probably not but since I believe He is God I will hold that point inviolable. What He has done for me is irreplaceable, so I will place Him before anything else that God has done that I hold to be an essential truth.

Fifth and this one is important, God loves me.

John 3:16-17 English Standard Version

For God So Loved the World

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

If we cannot believe that God loves us individually then whatever we believe doesn’t matter because at the core of creation God is Love.

These five truths are inviolate with me. We can talk about the rest.

Colossians 4:5-6 English Standard Version

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

I would change the word outsiders to everyone. We are answerable to each other in fellowship and a wise and considered answer should be available for anyone we hold fellowship with in Christ.

I have to consider that those who are on the outside are asking questions for one of two reasons, earnest desire or to argue.

What about questions within our fellowship?

We understand what we mean when we speak, but others are not mind readers and if our communication styles are different, the message may be unclear. Wisdom in fellowship is just as important as with outsiders, perhaps even more important since we love one another.

Tossing out a question about a point of interest during a pastor’s sermon should be avoided at all cost. It is rude, breaks continuity of thought and undermines his authority. We are often asked to take copious notes and that is where questions should be noted for clarification at the proper time. And my answer is yes, I have seen it done during a sermon and it made me think unkindly of that person.

Study groups are an excellent place to hone our communication skills. The words we use might not always be clear to everyone. We often come from different backgrounds and perhaps have grown up in another administration of service to find ourselves leaving there for various reasons.

We might carry some understanding with us that others find troubling. The way different churches perform baptisms is often brought up but is not worthy of an argument. Wisdom allows for latitude in areas where exercise in function has nothing to do with eternal salvation.

This brings us to our last vital point.

What truths do we hold inviolate?

What do we insist upon 100% agreement?

It would not surprise me if we all have different lists. Complete lists will always contain controversies. If we order them by priority we might find that even if the order is not the same the contents match, up to a point.