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The Creed Of The Church
The primary meaning of the term "creed" is "a formally phrased confession of faith." It is also used to denote a formula or summary of principles adhered to. In neither sense does the New Testament church have a creed of human origin. It has a divine creed. If we think of the creed of the church as a confession of faith, our confession is Christ. If we think of it as a set of rules or principles for the church, it is the gospel of Christ. The fact that Christ is the Son of God and the author of our salvation is enfolded in the creed of the New Testament church. In the one sense Christ himself is the creed of the church; in the other, he is the author of its creed. In either case, Christ is the basis of authority in the New Testament church.
Our confession of faith is that Christ is the Son of God. The apostle Peter was the first man to make this confession. Jesus asked his disciples, "Who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the loving God" (Mt. 16:15, 16). This fact was revealed from heaven at the baptism of Jesus, when God declared, "This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17); and again; on the mount of transfiguration a voice was heard, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matt. 17:5). Jesus has promised a blessing to those who make this confession and has fixed a curse upon those who refuse to do so. Thus he says, "Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10:32, 33). Salvation is based upon our confession of Christ, "for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. 10:10). When the Ethiopian eunuch presented himself to Philip for baptism, the evangelist instructed him to first acknowledge his faith in Christ, and we find him making this great confession: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37).
To confess that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, is the greatest statement man can make. It cost the Savior his life to make this statement. The apostles and many of the early Christians were put to death when they acknowledged the Christ. While we do not endanger our lives to the extent they did in making this confession, we have the same commandment today, and may expect the same blessings if we obey it. Of course, to merely utter the words apart from faith would avail nothing. Paul said, "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6). The confession must be made sincerely, out of a pure heart, in humility and faith. To acknowledge Christ as the Son of God is to accept him as Lord, King, Judge, Law. giver, and Savior. It means that we accept him as Divine, God incarnate; that we look to him for instruction in all matters of religious faith and practice, and that we will seek to do his will in all things.
Please note that the creed of the church is not a confession of faith as formulated by some human system, but the simple fact to which God himself bears witness that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God. It was made by Peter and the rest of the apostles and by all other Christians in New Testament times. It is our privilege today to make this simple confession, upon which Christ has promised to own us in the presence of the Father.
There have been numerous attempts by men to formulate their own creeds. The result is a multiplicity of conflicting authority, strife and division in the religious world. As long as men follow human creeds, articles of faith, manuals, prayer books, catechisms, keys to the Scriptures, and such like, division will continue to curse Christendom. We can never have unity among the followers of Christ until we are willing to discard human systems and accept the gospel of Christ as a common basis of authority. The Bible says nothing about human creeds, except to condemn them. If we are willing to accept Christ as our only creed, acknowledging him alone as our Savior, we will have no difficulty in understanding the religious system of which he is the author.
Paul said, "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God maybe complete, furnished completely unto every good work" (II Tim. 3;16, 17). The scripture which God has inspired, i.e., the gospel of Christ is all we need to make us complete in righteousness, or perfection. James says, "It is the perfect law, the law of liberty" (Jas. 1:25). It is presumptuous on the part of man to attempt to improve upon that which God regards as perfect. In fact, it is impossible for us to improve upon it. A thing that is already perfect cannot be improved upon, but will, with any alteration, become imperfect. It is for this reason that God condemns all human creeds. Men attempt to improve upon the gospel of Christ, but they only succeed in perverting it.
David realized the importance of accepting the word of the Lord in its purity and simplicity. He said, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple" (Ps. 19:7); and again, the word of God "is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105). The sooner all men today are willing to accept the divine creed of the church with the same faith and dependence upon it that David here expresses, the sooner we will be able to convert the world to Christ.
A creed is of value only as a source of common instruction. But if the instruction be not in harmony with the gospel of Christ, it is a curse rather than a blessing. The purpose of God's instruction is the salvation of all men. The source of this common salvation is the creed of the New Testament church. Thus we read in Jude vs. 3 that "the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints"---i.e., the gospel of Christ is the source of "the common salvation." If we fail to abide in this teaching, we cannot expect the blessings of God. Thus John says, "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son" (II John vs. 9). It is impossible for one to abide in the teaching of Christ and at the same time subscribe to some human creed.
God has placed a grievous curse upon any person who alters in any way the gospel of Christ. Paul said, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1:8, 9). Let all who claim to have received some special revelation from God, as well as all others who pervert the gospel of Christ, take warning from Paul's curse here pronounced upon all who devise innovations. The words Paul spoke were not after men, but of God. "For I make known to you, brethren, as touching the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not after man. For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught, it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:11, 12).
To accept Chris! as the creed of the church means to neither add to nor take from his word. John says of the last revelation of the Lord, "I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book" (Rev, 22:18, 19). We must not therefore, go beyond the word of God as revealed to us through the Divine inspiration of the New Testament writers. Likewise, we cannot afford to minimize the importance of any of his commandments. Hence, Peter said, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" (I Peter 4:11).
Perhaps someone is now ready to suggest that we must have human creeds in addition to the Divine creed of the church in order to understand the word of God. Some people regard the Bible in much the same way that they think of an income tax return. To them it is so complicated that they must have a book to explain it; and then another book to explain the first one, and finally, Some man to lead them out of their confusion. It is not so with the gospel of Christ. It is simple and easy, None of us will have any difficulty in understanding it, if we will read it and accept it as it is. Isaiah said, "The wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein" (Isa. 35:8). Human creeds do not enable us to gain a clearer understanding of the scriptures, but always result in confusion, discord and division.
Another says, "I believe in accepting just what the Bible says, but we must have creeds to suit the particular needs of the various churches." If we accept the Bible, and the Bible alone, as our guide in all matters of faith and practice, we will not have a multiplicity of churches. All the followers of Christ will be one, even as he prayed and the apostles admonished.
Still another contends that human creeds are all right as long as they do not alter any essential commandment of the Lord. Now let us ask, Who is to decide which commandments are essential and which are non-essential? Christ makes no distinction in his commands, but James says, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all" (Jas. 2:10). Furthermore, if the man-made creed does not alter the Divine creed in any way, what purpose can it serve? If it teaches more than the gospel of Christ, it teaches too much. If it teaches less, then it does not teach enough. If it teaches just what the Divine creed teaches, then we do not need it for we have the inspired creed of the church in all its purity and simplicity in the gospel of Christ.
The apostle Paul said, "I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable... For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:20, 27). Again he said, "Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel" (I Cor. 9:16). If we accept Christ as our creed we must accept his gospel as our basis of authority in all matters of religious faith and practice. Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16). The gospel of Christ is God's power to save. There is no other. It is the perfect creed of the New Testament church, by which we are saved and through which all men become one in Christ Jesus.