https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/CreedsAndStatementsOfFaith.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: John 17:11-23<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. Every once in a while someone will ask what is our statement of faith.<\/p>\n A. Back when we were home schooling, we were wanting to get involved with a\nlocal group, but they wanted us to sign a statement of faith\n
B. Another name for a statement of faith is “creed.”<\/p>\n
1. A creed is a statement of what one believes.<\/p>\n
2. Merriam-Webster defines it as:<\/p>\n
a. A brief authoritative formula of religious belief<\/p>\n
b. A set of fundamental beliefs or guiding principles<\/p>\n
II. Creeds exist because of division<\/p>\n A. Two people claim to be Christians, but they don’t agree. A creed exists to\ndistinguish one group from another.\n B. For instance, the Apostles’ Creed was written around AD 180 to refute a false\nteacher named Marcion and his followers. \n 1. Marcion thought the Old Testament referred to a tyrannical God who\ncreated a flawed world. He believed that Jesus revealed a good God of\nlove and mercy. In other words, Marcion thought there were two Gods.\nJesus could not have born in this world, since the world is a part of the bad\nGod’s work, so Marcion claimed that Jesus just mysteriously appeared in\nthe temple at the beginning of his ministry.\n 2. Therefore, Marcion concluded that the Old Testament was not Scripture.\nHe only accepted the Gospel of Luke (leaving out the parts he felt were too\nJewish in nature) and some of Paul’s letters, especially those that Marcion\nthought were anti-Jewish.\n
3. The Apostles Creed was written as a statement to recite at baptism<\/p>\n 4. It was lightly modified over the next few centuries to take stances on a few\nother issues. The current version comes from the 8th<\/sup> century.\n C. The Nicene Creed was written in AD 325 by the Council of Nicea to tackle\nanother false teaching. Arius state that Jesus was a special created being, but that\nhe was not God. Thus, the Nicene Creed was written to assert the divinity of\nJesus.\n 1. It too went through several revisions<\/p>\n D. The Augsburg Confession, written in AD 1530, was written to defend the\nProtestant reformation and became the creed of the Lutheran church.\n E. The Westminster Confession of Faith, was written during the English Civil War\nand was completed in AD 1647. King Charles and his followers adhered to the\nAnglican church. The Scottish supported the Presbyterian church, which held to\nCalvin’s system of beliefs. The Westminster Confession of Faith was\ncommissioned by England’s parliament to convince the Scots to join them in\nfighting the King.\n
F. The problem is division – I Corinthians 1:10<\/p>\n 1. Writing a document to distinguish one side from the other does not solve\nthe problem of division. Instead, it makes the division more distinct.\n
2. Christ wanted his followers to be one – John 17:20-21<\/p>\n 3. A Roman Catholic Catechism produces a Roman Catholic. A Westminster\nConfession produces a Presbyterian. The Book of Discipline produces\nMethodists.\n
4. But only the Bible produces Christians<\/p>\n
III. Creeds puts men’s words above the Scripture<\/p>\n
A. In essence they are codified traditions – Matthew 15:1-9<\/p>\n
B. The philosophy of men – Colossians 2:8<\/p>\n
C. The problem is that creeds are seen as authoritative and a guidance<\/p>\n D. Our authority is found only in Christ, who gave his teachings to the apostles –\nMatthew 28:18-20\n
E. We are established by the gospel – Romans 16:25-26<\/p>\n
IV. Creeds are modified and changed <\/p>\n A. The Nicene creed was written in AD 325, but was revised in the 6th<\/sup>, 8th<\/sup>, and 11th<\/sup>\ncenturies.\n B. In contrast, the Scriptures were given once – Jude 3<\/p>\n
C. God was clear that His Word was not to be altered<\/p>\n
1. Deuteronomy 12:32<\/p>\n
2. Proverbs 30:6<\/p>\n
3. Revelation 22:18-19<\/p>\n D. If a creed contains something not found in the Bible, then it is adding to God’s\nword\n E. If a creed leaves out something found in the Bible, then it is subtracting from\nGod’s word\n
F. If a creed teaches exactly what God’s Word says, then it is unnecessary<\/p>\n
V. The Bible is complete<\/p>\n
A. II Peter 1:2-4 – Everything pertaining to life and godliness<\/p>\n
B. II Timothy 3:16-17 – Able to make a man complete<\/p>\n C. Creeds stand between the people and the truth. If a false teaching needs to be\nrefuted, we need to pull out our Bibles, not insist that people agree to a creed.\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 17:11-23 I. Every once in a while someone will ask what is our statement of faith. A. Back when we were home schooling, we were wanting to get involved with a local group, but they wanted us to sign a statement of faith B. Another name for a statement of faith…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[78,857,873],"class_list":["post-44847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-authority","tag-creeds","tag-statement-of-faith"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-your-church-have-a-statement-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":44847,"position":0},"title":"Does your church have a statement of faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does your church have a 'statement of faith'? Answer: You probably have a copy of our statement of faith in your home; it is usually titled \"The Holy Bible.\" No, I am not joking with you. Christians are made Christians by following the teachings of Christ. All denominations must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30333,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-apostles-creed\/","url_meta":{"origin":44847,"position":1},"title":"The Apostles’ Creed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 17:11-23 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Every once in a while someone will ask what is our statement of faith. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Back when we were home schooling, we were wanting to get involved with a local group, but they wanted us to sign a statement of faith\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55444,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/catechismal-christianity\/","url_meta":{"origin":44847,"position":2},"title":"Catechismal Christianity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jonathan L. Perz Having faith and understanding your faith are two entirely different matters in modern Christianity. Many profess to have faith, and even show signs of that faith in various aspects of their lives, but have little or no understanding of the faith they cling to so tenaciously.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/catechism.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":68150,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/agrippas-statement-and-common-beliefs\/","url_meta":{"origin":44847,"position":3},"title":"Agrippa’s Statement and Common Beliefs","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Raymond Warfel","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-romans-51-teach-we-are-saved-by-faith-alone\/","url_meta":{"origin":44847,"position":4},"title":"Doesn’t Romans 5:1 teach we are saved by faith alone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Doesn't\u00a0Romans 5:1\u00a0teach that we are saved by faith alone? Answer: Romans 5:1\u00a0says, \"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" This proves that justification requires faith, but your stated goal was to prove that justification was by faith\u00a0alone. There is no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10887,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-type-of-christian-are-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":44847,"position":5},"title":"What type of Christian are you?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! I\u2019m also Christian (Pentecostal). I\u2019m just wondering what type of Christian are you? If you don\u2019t mind me asking, because I\u2019m aware of all of the different Christianity out there, like Methodist, Liberal, Baptist, etc. By the way, I like your website. 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