Why Bother with Creeds and Confessions

Why Bother with Creeds and Confessions?

The greatest rule of the reformed faith, that never ever can be disputed or changed in the slightest degree is that of the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) became the battle cry of the Reformation as Luther stood in defiance of the Roman Catholic Church at the Diet of Worms. At this council where Luther stood defending his conviction of how a man can become justified in the eyes of God, the discrepancy of the authority of scripture came into play. As he well stated, “Unless I am convinced by Sacred Scripture or by evident reason, I will not recant. My conscience is held captive by the Word of God and to act against my conscience is neither right nor safe”. In Theology, we call Justification the material cause of the reformation, and the authority of Scripture the formal cause. The primary issue that separated the Reformers from the Roman Catholics as it pertains to the Scriptures, is that the Reformers considered the Scriptures the only infallible source to bind the conscience of believers. The RCC on the other hand believed that the Scriptures were also infallible, but they also held the traditions of the church as the same authority. It was of course from these traditions that instituted the opposite beliefs on the justification of man. The Reformers did recognize other forms of authority such as church offices, civil magistrates, and church creeds and confessions (which we will speak primarily). In recognizing these authorities, the Reformers or Protestants held firmly that these authorities are derived from, always subordinate to, and fallible in nature and content to the Word of God.

Now after a little background let's get to the primary point of the article at hand. As we saw earlier the Protestants recognized the authority of church creeds and confessions, but not in an infallible sense. Though the creeds and confessions were once very important to the church, they seem to have little or no place in most churches today, and surely not in the life of the everyday Christian. This is not entirely true, in the fact that all that a creed or confession really contains, is a statement or list of what you or I believe and why we believe it. And since I do not know any Christians that believe nothing, then in the technical sense we all have a creed inside of us, some short, some long.

The creeds I am speaking of however are the great creeds and confessions of our church forefathers. These documents consisted of days and days of deliberation of like minded church leaders of the day. The primary and only source considered for a legitimate creed or confession was the Word of God. In these councils the church fathers broke down every portion of their beliefs into either simple statements or in a question/answer format. They not only presented the belief, but also most often cited scripture references for such a belief.

It is not as though these creeds and confessions are something strange from that of the early church. The writings of the Apostle Paul contain many foundational confessions. Some examples for you to look up are Rom. 10:9, 1 Cor. 15:3-7, Phil. 2:6-11, and Col. 1:15-20. These statements of faith used then by Paul, had much of the same purpose of the creeds of the latter church fathers. These documents were to stand in the face of heresy and false teachers. When a church stood on the grounds of a particular creed or confession, they had studied its contents out well in the Scriptures, to be sure that what was stated, was the truth. When a strange or new doctrine arose in the church or community, the doctrine could be immediately compared to the creed or confession for the “straight faith test”. My own pun, certainly not inspired. If the creed and the new doctrine did not coincide then immediately the “bologna detector” went through the roof. A contraption not of my own but of Bible teacher Hank Hanegraaff. The doctrine was then presented directly in light of the Holy Scriptures and declared as truth or heresy.

I have found no way in my own words to describe the great importance of the historic creeds and confessions than the 10 penned in an article by Burk Parsons called, Creeds and Confessions in the Reformation Study Bible. I will share them with you now.

1. To glorify God according to his truth and to enjoy him forever by believing, confessing, and proclaiming our doctrine in accordance with what he has revealed and not according to the superstitions of men, the deceitful schemes of Satan, or the arrogant and presumptuous notions of our own hearts.
2. To affirm the one true God almighty who has revealed himself to us and whose glorious attributes, gracious laws, and grand story of redemption point us to himself as our only Lord to the end that we might love him rightly and as fully as possible with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength.

3. To guard the unchanging, sound doctrine of Scripture against false teachers and heretics outside the church, and to guard against the vain and false notions of Scripture from within the church as a shining witness of God's truth to the watching world out of which God calls his elect through the preaching of the gospel and inward call of the Holy Spirit.
4. To Discern truth from doctrinal error and to discern truth from half-truth as we contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints that we might grow up in every way into Christ, who is the living head of the church, who is the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the father.

5. To remain steadfast through the ages until Christ's return as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church of Christ who believe, confess, and proclaim the pure and unadulterated Word of God and who rightly administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, including our consistent exercise of church admonition, correction, and discipline.

6. To uphold the life- encompassing doctrine of the inspired and inerrant Word of God as our sole, infallible authority that is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness to the end that every man of God might be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

7. To maintain freedom for individual Christians as well as the entire church from extra-biblical laws, traditions, and superstitions of men that bind men's consciences, perplex men's souls, lead our children astray according to their sin, and bring about man-exalting pride instead of God-exalting humility.

8. To confirm men according to the church's doctrinal standard who have been elected to serve as officers of the church as well as to equip, examine, and prove those men who have been called as pastors and elders over the flock of God, and to ascertain their suitability to teach as they feed, care for, and pray with and for the sheep of Christ for whom he gave his life.

9. To preserve the purity and, thereby, the peace and unity of the church visible as the outward witness of Christ and his elect bride, the church invisible, to the end that we might stand together as one family with one Father, one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, unwaveringly according to and because of the truth, never in spite of, disregard for, or ignorance of it.
10. To fulfill the Great Commission in our united affirmation and proclamation of the one true gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only power of God unto salvation to all who believe, by making disciples in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things that our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us.

Mr. Parsons has greatly summed up the great importance of holding fast to a historical creed or confession as a supplement to your faith and beliefs. But it is of huge importance to remember that these creeds and confessions are not infallible in and of themselves, but are mere reflections of the infallible truths spoken by the “vox dei”, (voice of God) in the Holy Scriptures. I myself and this publication stand on the Biblical truths portrayed in the Heidelberg Catechism and the Westminster Confession of Faith. Some other great historical confessions you may consider are the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, The Chalcedonian Definition of the Faith, The Belgic Confession, The Canons of Dort, The Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and last but not least the 1689 London Baptist Confession. There are very minute differences in any of these creeds and confessions, but contain different format variations. I encourage you explore them and find one to call your own. Look for excerpts from these confessions in every issue of The Pamphlet.