A Community of Faith - part 1

The Standard of Scripture

This week we begin a new series called "A Community of Faith." Throughout this spring and summer, we are going to look at what Southern Baptists believe. The reasoning behind this series is really quite simple. Recent studies within the Southern Baptist Convention have demonstrated a trend towards biblical illiteracy and widespread misunderstanding of what it means to be baptist. Now, I do not want to go through those statistics, because quite frankly, it would be rather boring.

Instead, I'd like you to take a moment and reflect on this simple question: What makes Southern Baptists different from other baptists and other denominations?

Take a moment and write down a couple of things you can think of.

Next, ask yourself this question: What are baptists known for?

Again, take some time and write down a few things.

Now, you may have a fine list. If any of you are like me and have grown up in Southern Baptist churches, you probably have quite a list. It probably includes something about alcohol and dancing. In fact, if you remember the 80s, then you probably picture this guy.

Hopefully, it includes the fact that we baptize those who have chosen to follow Christ and not infants. That is actually the main difference between baptists and every other denomination.

But more important than reputation or rumor, this series is about us remembering that we are in a community of faith. Today's world has embraced the democratized authority. All of the main authoritative systems have fallen to some degree. Academies no longer hold authority over learning. We are in the age of Google University. The social structure has shifted from tradition to innovation which has left a wake of new ways of doing family, business, and most anything else in life. Even the entertainment authorities have fallen in the last decade as people can get their entertainment from multiple streaming services, and multiple social media outlets. Big Hollywood still exists, but its power over the populace has waned considerably. Just take a look at the ratings for award shows.

Now, these changes could be good or bad, it really depends on how people view these authorities. However, there has also been a shift in how people view religious systems. It has been an exponential process, one that started a long time ago, but in recent decades has catapulted to heights. The shift has been from revering religious leaders to ignoring them, or in some cases outright rebellion against them.

Now, some of you may say, "Well, of course, you're concerned about that. You're a preacher." Well, yeah...duh.

But I am also concerned about it, because it demonstrates the growing misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian and follow Christ. Christianity has been relegated to "something some people do on Sunday" for so long, that any moral authority we may try to exhibit in the public circle is summarily disregarded or despised. And the truly sad part about it is that many self-proclaimed Christians have fallen into the same mode of thinking. Their faith has changed from actual 'faith' to a ritualized perversion of what Christ actually taught. It is paganism masquerading as Christianity.

To break this trend and return us back toward a better heading, it helps to periodically return to the basic tenets of our faith. To that end, we will take a look at the doctrinal statement we hold as Southern Baptists called the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. The '2000' refers to the year 2000 when it was last updated. Let's begin with a crash course in doctrinal statements.

What's in a Creed?

I will begin with a quibble over words. Baptists, traditionally, do not like the word 'creed'. A creed connotes a binding, authoritative statement that every baptist must agree with. One of the great historical ironies of being baptists is that we come from Christians who subverted the religious orders of their day only to grow into the denomination that is known for being the established religious order. We do not have time for the history of baptists, but a great place to start is to look at the life of one of the great baptists. In your bulletin, you'll find this Top Ten, in no particular order, list:

Thomas Helwys (c.1570-c.1616)
Roger Williams (c.1603-1684)
John Leland (1754-1841)
Adoniram (1788-1850) and Ann Judson (1789-1826)
Annie Armstrong (1850-1938)
Benjamin Keach (1640–1704)
Andrew Fuller (1754–1815)
William Carey (1761–1834)
Issac Backus (1724–1806)
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

But back to the word 'creed'. As I said, baptists tend to shy away from this word, and instead you will hear us say 'statement of faith.' Again, it means much the same thing, but the reason we shy away from 'creed' is because our history begins with Reformers who subverted their religious superiors. The Roman Catholic Church had (still has) volumes of what is called Canon Law. The Canon Law began as a creedal statement, but with each passing year, more and more decisions concerning theology were added. In time, many popes and bishops abused their authority to their own ends, and the Reformation was the great reckoning for their sins. The Reformers looked to their pesky Bibles and built their authority on Scripture. Some reformers maintained the word 'creed,' but by the time baptists came to be, they had decided to avoid that word.

Consider this quote from Martin Luther…not a baptist, but certainly someone to whom baptists owe a great debt of gratitude.

“From the beginning of my Reformation I have asked God to send me neither dreams, nor visions, nor angels, but to give me the right understanding of His Word, the Holy Scriptures; for as long as I have God’s Word, I know that I am walking in His way and that I shall not fall into any error or delusion.
Martin Luther

All of that is to say, when we look at the BFM, we should note the subtle difference between the words. The emphasis is on whose authority we have these beliefs. For the early baptists, they felt 'creed' placed the authority on the creed itself and the denomination, whereas 'statement of belief' places the authority on the bible. "We believe this is what the bible states." It is a thin line, absolutely, but it is an important line.

Let me illustrate by way of coming back to the 21st century. Today, the average citizen, especially those under the age of 40, believe the ultimate authority for belief lies in the individual. If two people disagree over matters of faith, it does not really matter, because it is all about personal belief. A hundred or more years ago, this kind of thinking would be so foreign, a time traveler would probably be put in an asylum. Regardless, the reply to anyone who wishes to assert authority over belief, especially in matters of faith, is simply "Who are you to tell me what to believe?"

That is actually the same question the reformers asked the church leaders, but the difference is in whom they ultimately found authority. Today's world says the individual has authority, whereas the reformers said God has that authority. This view of ultimate authority is one worth remembering today.

Baptists have historically viewed God's revelation as paramount over humanity's reasoning.

Now, that is not to say other denominations do not view God's revelation as authoritative, it is just to point out that as we begin looking at the BFM, there is a reason we begin with Scripture.

Scripture is God's revealed Word to us. It has the authority to dictate belief, because God has inspired its writing.

The Baptist Faith & Message only has authority over belief in so far as it matches Scripture.

Let's begin.

I. The Scriptures

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

First, the Bible was written by men, but they were divinely inspired to write. Paul says it this way in 2 Timothy 3:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:14-17

Timothy was acquainted with Scripture from an early age because of his mother and grandmother. It is worth noting that at the time of Paul's writing, the "sacred writings" would have only been the Old Testament. Later, Christians would compile Paul's letters, the gospels, and other writings that would become the New Testament, but all Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation are divinely inspired and, as he says in 15-16, make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scriptures point to Jesus Christ in whom we find salvation.

In addition, all Scripture is "breathed out by God." The reason Christians following Paul put his letters into the New Testament is because they recognized these letters came from God. There are many, many letters and writings in the second century that did not make the cut. In recent decades these gnostic gospels have become more popular. After many years of academic study, I can assure there is a reason they didn't make the cut. They don't point us to Jesus. They may mention His Name, but they do not proclaim His goodness and grace. On the contrary, they applaud human reasoning and looking within oneself to find salvation. They proclaim a selfish gospel which is really no gospel at all, and so, yes, in our selfish pursuits of the 21st century, I am not surprised at all they have become popularized.

No, the truly inspired works are "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." God inspired His people to write in order for us to know what it means to pursue Truth and Righteousness. Sometimes that may make us uncomfortable, but that just leads us back to the heart of the matter. Are we willing to surrender to the authority of the One who made us and can save us, or will we hold on to the false belief that we hold authority over belief?

As we conclude this first look at our community of faith, I offer you the chance to renew your commitment to the authority of Scripture. Perhaps this may be the first time you have thought about the authority of the Bible. Regardless, each of us has a choice to make. It is a decision that we face each day as we live this life. It is the decision of whether we will be guided by the authority of God or our own whims.

In our community of faith, we choose God's authority. We may stumble at times, and certainly we aren't perfect. But at the end of our lives, we want our families and friends to be able to say, "He lived God's way."

I will end today with a psalm.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Psalms 19:7-10

Chilhowee BaptistApril 4, 2022