Jan. 27, 2002

What Do We Believe?

Recently, one of our favorite church members here in this assembly really got her feelings hurt. She was in a public situation and had to endure the insult of having a group of people be told that she went to a cult church. This is not the first time that something like this has happened. David has mentioned on several occasions that various people, both clergy and otherwise, have slandered this congregation by calling us a cult. So it seemed good to me to take this occasion for us to review just what it is that we believe, and why we believe it. Along with that, we will compare ourselves with historical orthodox Christianity.

Jude, the brother of the Lord, tells us in verse 3: "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." There is a faith which is common to everyone that is truly a believer. There are certain articles of faith and belief and doctrine which every true Christian shares. Where are we at in that spectrum? Are we right in the middle of what God's Word teaches? Or off on the fringe somewhere?

What I want today is for us to see what it is that all true Christian churches have in common, what it is that determines true faith, practice, and doctrine. Not according to our standards, but according to what the true church has always believed, according to the Bible standards.

All of us here are aware that we are irregular people. People who are interested in martial arts, and enjoy coming to a church like this are not your typical "cookie cutter Christian," and that's OK. I like it like that.
On the other hand, when it comes to the faith that was once delivered to the saints, I hope that we are just as conservative and safe and careful as we can be. We don't want imaginative deviations, we don't want innovations. Many years ago, an old elder told me that when it comes to the faith; "If it's true, it's not new; if it's new, it's not true." Remember that.

One of the ways that believers have always used to simply express what they believe is with church creeds. The oldest church creed is the one found in Deuteronomy 6:4, called the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD." That has been around since the Exodus, and is still used by Jews today. It is a Bible truth, simply expressed.

Probably the earliest form of a creed in the New Testament is Romans 10:9 "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Very simple and to the point, and it is still true today, just like Deuteronomy 6:4. But sometimes you need more than very simple. In the early church, you had converted Jews, and they had a lot of tradition that was contrary to their new Christian faith, plus you had pagans, gentiles from all kinds of religious backgrounds. All these people were trying to integrate their former belief systems with their new faith, and there were a lot of false doctrines. They believed all sorts of things that weren't true. They had ideas that were all over the page.

That wouldn't get it. That was completely unacceptable. In Ephesians 4:3, Paul taught that we need "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism." In order to get everybody on the same page, the early church adopted the practice of having a person give a confession of their faith at the time of their baptism. In order that they would know what that faith was, when a person professed Christ as Savior, the early church would then teach them the basics of the faith, so that they would know what they were getting baptized into.

How many of you have ever learned a catechism? How many of you know what a catechism is? If you have never heard of that before, it is a big word for the ancient, traditional practice of teaching a new convert the basic doctrines and beliefs of the faith before you let them be baptized, or before you let them join the church. A lot of churches still use them, this one I am holding is the catechism and confession of faith for the Presbyterian Church in America. This other one's for the Evangelical Methodist Church.

By 200 AD, there was a sort of specific format that was followed during a person's baptism. They would make a solemn vow to renounce the service of the devil and all evil, they would give themselves to Christ, and then they would make a confession of their belief and their acceptance of the Apostles Creed. Then they would be immersed three times in the water, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it was not until around 360 AD that baptism with only one immersion began to be practiced. The Eastern Orthodox Church still requires a three fold baptism, they believe that a single immersion is invalid. If you had only a single immersion, you cannot be an officer in their church.

By the time of the Protestant Reformation, John Calvin declared that it made no difference whether immersion was once or three times, or whether baptism was by immersion, or sprinkling, or by pouring, as long as the person's heart was right, but he thought that immersion was the proper and traditional way, and so did Martin Luther.

And the main thing is; if the person's heart is right. Baptism is a testimony of a good conscience toward God. It is part of a confession that Christ has saved you, and that you are dead with Christ, buried with Him in baptism, and raised in His resurrection to walk in newness of life.

That was what the early church wanted to find out; by having a person make a confession of their faith at the time of their baptism, and it took the form of what was called the Apostles Creed. Since it has only changed a little bit from it's earliest form, follow along with me while I read the modern version: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord.
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints: the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting."

That is the nucleus of the Christian faith. When you strip everything else aside, this is what it all comes down to. If you have truly received Jesus Christ as your Savior and if you believe these things, you can call yourself a Christian. If you say that you have received Jesus Christ as Savior, but you don't believe these things, then it is proper to ask the question: just what sort of Jesus Christ do you believe in?

The Muslims believe in Jesus Christ, the Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, the Jehovah's Witnesses believe in Jesus Christ, but the Jesus Christ that they believe in is not the Jesus Christ that the Bible sets forth; they believe in another Christ. Believing in another Christ, a Jesus that is not the Jesus of the Bible is futile, and that is what the creed was designed to reveal; some simple basic truths that all believers could agree on. The creed is a very brief and simple summary of what the faith once delivered to the saints actually is. And also what it is not.

For instance; Jehovah's Witnesses. Remember a minute ago I said; "If it's true, it's not new, and if it's new, it's not true?" 132 years ago, a man named Charles Taze Russel, first set forth his beliefs about what Christianity really was, and how the Bible should be interpreted. He was the founder of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the Jehovah's Witnesses.

One of the most notable differences between Jehovah's Witnesses and traditional Christianity is in their concept of God. They deny the Trinity, they deny that God is existent in three persons, and they deny that Jesus Christ is God the Son, and equally God with His Father. That is not true, and while it might have been new in the 1870's, it is not new to Christianity.

1,800 years ago, around 300 AD, a bishop named Arius was teaching almost exactly the same thing. The church was concerned. People were getting confused. So at the French town of Nice in 325 AD, 318 church bishops held a council and added several sentences to the Apostles Creed so that there would be no mistake on what the church's position was, and on what true Christians really believed and agreed on.

That became known as the Nicene Creed, and it reads like this: "I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God; Begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man: And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried: And ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father: and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets: And I believe in one catholic and apostolic church: I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins: and I look for the resurrection of the dead: and the life of the world to come. Amen."

Notice how this shuts the door on those who would deny the divinity of Christ. It goes to great pains to make sure that anyone who would call themselves a Christian would understand that God is a Trinity, a tri-unity, and that God is absolutely a person composed of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Notice also how it points to a uniformity of belief: toward the end where it says, "I believe in one catholic and apostolic church." Don't get wrapped around the axle here and think that this is referring to the Roman Catholic church, that is not what it means. This phrase has nothing to do with Roman Catholicism, which is merely one denomination of Christianity.

The Greek word katholikos is a compound word made up of the word kat, which means "according to", and the word "holos," which means "the whole thing," like in holistic medicine. When it refers to the catholic church here, it refers to the whole church of believers together, all believers as a whole. So the word catholic means: "all believers as a whole." All Christians.

If we were to say: "This is what the catholic church believes", and once again, I am not referring to the Roman Catholic church, I am saying that all Christians believe this. The Virgin birth of Christ is a catholic doctrine; all true Christians believe this. This is a truth that the whole body of believers agrees to.
The resurrection and second coming of Christ is a catholic doctrine; all true believers agree on this. We may disagree on when Christ is coming again, and we may disagree on where and how He will return, but we all agree that He will. This belief is according to the whole of Christianity, so that makes it a catholic belief in the meaning of the creed.

It is also apostolic. Christianity has a continuity back to the days of the Apostles. We trace our roots of belief back to Peter, James and John, the Apostle Paul, and the rest of the apostles. We believe what they taught us. We maintain that we are following in their footsteps. We are still a part of what they were. We have an unbroken family relationship with them.

Charles Taze Russel did not believe that. He maintained that Christianity was totally corrupt, totally apostate, and needed a new beginning, and he set forth the Watchtower Society in order to give it one.
That is a mistake. It doesn't work that way. Christianity has had a lot of problems, it has had a lot of heresies over the centuries, but it is, and must remain, Apostolic. There must be that continuity from the Apostles to now, we must still be a part of what they began, or else we are not Christians, we are something else.

I realize that some groups have been known to make a play on the words catholic, or Christian, or apostolic in order to validate themselves, for instance: "If you were really a Christian, you would belong to the Catholic church, or the Church of Christ, or the Church of God, or the Apostolic Church, or the Christian Church, or the Apostolic Christian Catholic Church of God in Christ; or whatever."

It is not the words that are important, it is the reality behind the words that is important, it is what you believe and why you believe it. Are we as a group of believers still in that family line of Christians that got it's start with the Apostles? Do we still believe and maintain those truths that are the same as what the whole body of Christians have always held to be true?

When I first came to this church, Bill and Steve and I thought it would be good for us to sit down and put our church house in order, and set down in black and white some of the basics of who we were and what we believed. That resulted in the Articles of Faith for Blountville Community Chapel. Let's take a look at what they say, and see if we are in conformity to the historic catholic, Christian, apostolic faith.

The first article says: "We believe the Bible, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, to be verbally inspired by God and without error."

We base that belief on 2nd Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." We also quote 2nd Peter 1:21 "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." That is our church's doctrinal position on the Bible. Is that exactly comparable to the Apostle's Creed, or to the Nicene Creed? No. Would the Apostles probably agree with our position? I think that they would. I think that we are on solid ground here. And we had a good reason that we wanted that one right at the beginning.

All of you should realize that at different times in history there have been segments of the church that taught that the Scriptures were an allegory, that the true meanings were hidden, and that the Scriptures did not mean what they said, or say what they meant. We reject that doctrine as being the cause of the church going into the dark ages, and as being the cause of superstitious and foolish heresies. We believe that the Bible means what it says and says what it means, and that the primary meaning and truth of any passage is simply what the common rules of language and meaning would convey, and that we should look for hidden or mystical meanings only when the context requires it.

Our next article of faith is that "We believe that there is one God, eternal in three Divine persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost."

Let's start at the beginning, Genesis 1:26: "And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness." In the very first chapter of the Bible, there is an indication of the plurality of the Godhead.
In the Shema, "Behold O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord;" the actual wording comes out: "Behold O Israel, Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah." Jehovah is a singular word, Elohim is plural. Consequently; the Lord - singular- our God - plural- is one Lord -singular. How sad that Israel has spoken that verse for centuries and still seems blind to it's implications. In the New Testament, we read in 1 John 5:7 "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."
I believe that puts our statement of faith right in the middle of what the Bible teaches, what the Nicene Creed confessed, and what the Apostles taught.

The third article of faith is that "We believe that Jesus Christ, who was born of a virgin is both fully God and fully man."

We base that on Matthew 1:23, which states "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
We also refer to John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." That also falls squarely into what the church has always professed and believed; in the Nicene Creed, and in the teachings of the Apostles.

The next article states: "We believe that all of humanity is separated from God by sin."

Romans 3:23 tells us "That all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 5:12 tells us "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Once again, both the creeds and the universal catholic tradition of the church is that man is a sinner, and that sin has separated man from God. Our article of faith here is in conformity to historic, sound Biblical doctrine.

In our next article of faith concerning the atonement, "We believe that forgiveness of sins and fellowship with God is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection."

We base this belief on several scriptures, first of all on John 3:17 and 18: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." We further break this article down and consider faith, death, and the resurrection separately.

First, faith: Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

Concerning death, we read Hebrews 9:27-28 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Concerning the resurrection, we read in 1st Thessalonians 4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." Are we on the same ground as the Apostles and the early church in their beliefs? I think that we are.

The next articles concern the church, and what it is supposed to be doing. The first one says "We believe that the church is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry."

That is a direct quote from Ephesians 4:12, which spells out the responsibilities of church leaders and what they are supposed to be doing: equipping the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying or building up of the body of Christ. That is not mentioned in the ancient creeds, but is it part of the apostolic and catholic faith? Absolutely. There have been times when this teaching has fallen by the wayside, times when it has not been actively obeyed or followed, and during those times the church has languished in the world. During those times when the church did not equip it's people, it was disobedient to the Lord, and it was ineffectual. That should not have happened, but those lapses and failures of the church over the ages don't change the truth of what should have been going on.

The next article says that "We believe that all believers are to present the gospel of Christ."

The Lord Himself tells us in Mark 16:15 "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is not ambiguous, it is not complicated. That instruction is not just for clergy or preachers, or professionals, that is for all believers. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, if you are a follower of His, then that instruction is directed at you. Go tell someone about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The last article is one that we need to think about every day, because it gives us the power and the ability to get all the other ones right: "We believe that we are to love God and each other as Christ loves us."

1st John 3:23 is very plain, it is very simple. "And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment." If we don't do that, if we get that one wrong, then nothing else is going to go right. If we neglect that one, the world will ignore us and brush us off. John 13:55 tells us: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." When we fail to show that love to one another, and then wonder why our gospel outreach efforts are not working: - Well, duh!

In every church, within all Christian churches from the very beginning, not everyone has agreed on everything. Within this church here, if we were to go over various topics, we would probably get disagreements on some of the details. That is probably good. If everybody in the church exactly agreed on everything, and thought exactly alike on every detail of doctrine, things could get pretty weird in a hurry. There will be disagreements, that's why Romans chapter 14 was written.

But there are some articles of the faith where there can be no disagreements. Some things are non- negotiable. Some things are just exactly what they are, and that's the way it is. Anything else is an error. That's why the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed were written, to deal with errors. The articles of faith that this church has adopted are things that were priorities with us, and intended to help us keep our direction in a complicated world. Do those articles define all that we believe? No. Just the main things.

We are a small congregation in an unusual building, but is our faith unusual? Are we out of the mainstream of orthodox Christianity? No, not in the least.

Are we a cult? The only way that we are a cult is if historic, orthodox Christianity is a cult, because we are right in the middle of what that is, and by the grace of God that is where I hope we stay.

I would like for us to close today by asking all of you to do something that a lot of churches do fairly often, but we have probably never done before: let us read the Nicene Creed together, think about it, and agree with it. Would you stand with me?

I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God;
Begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man:
And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried:
And ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father: and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spake by the prophets:
And I believe in one catholic and apostolic church: I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins: and I look for the resurrection of the dead: and the life of the world to come. Amen.