Truth is ancient; it's grey hairs may make it venerable;
it comes from Him who is the ancient of days. --Thomas Watson

 

15 August, 2005   comments: (0) Unity At What Cost?   Meaningless Modern "Belief Statements" I recently caught the last few minutes of a video sermon from Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral mega-church. On this particular day, Schuller's son was giving the sermon, and it was emphasizing "the need to be saved". This went on for several minutes without mentioning what we are to be saved from. When he finally got around to mentioning it, the emphasis was on our need to be saved from "a lack of self esteem"! Robert Schuller is notorious for his self esteem false-gospel, but what I found to be quite surprising is how "normal" his church looks on paper. I've pasted the entire belief statement here (right side) from the Crystal Cathedral website, and really, their's is not unlike so many other churches these days. That's because the current trend is towards short belief statements that almost any Christian could agree with. The modern church is rapidly exchanging doctrine for unity, and it's all too often that we hear the mantra "doctrine divides". But the reality is, these churches are not creating unity with their all-encompassing belief statements. What they are really doing is covering up dis-unity that exists right below the surface. True unity can only occur when Christians are doctrinally like-minded. The better approach for belief statements is the old approach. For centuries, the historic Confessions of Faith have spelled-out in detail, the critical doctrines of Christianity. When "all the cards are placed on the table", erroneous beliefs of individuals can be identified and communicated. Effort can then be made to reason together from the scriptures, with true unity being the end goal. If Robert Schuller's belief statement really has nothing that any Christian would ever disagree with, then what purpose does it really serve? Here is a church that preaches a humanistic false-gospel, and yet, we'd never know it by their statement of beliefs. Such a creed is meaningless. We live in a day and age when even groups like the Mormons will agree with us in saying "yes, I believe in the bible". The need for today is a return to the historic Creeds and Confessions which spell-out exactly what we mean by "I believe in the bible". About God: 1. God is the Creator and the Ruler of the universe. 2. He is the Father of Jesus Christ. 3. He is our Father and will provide for all the needs of our bodies and souls. 4. He is present everywhere. About Jesus Christ: 1. Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. 2. He gave His life as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. 3. He arose from the dead and is alive forevermore. 4. He is King of Kings and will be finally victorious over all evil. About The Holy Spirit: 1. The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son, three persons in the triune God. 2. He is “the other Comforterâ€� who dwells in the hearts of men, convincing them of the truth of Christ’s teachings, and helping them do right. About Man: 1. Man is by nature sinful and cannot make himself good. 2. He can only be made righteous by accepting God’s forgiveness for sin through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. 3. He will be given a new life because of his relation to Jesus Christ. 4. He is designed for everlasting life. About the Bible: 1. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. 2. It is our only guide to show us what we should believe and how we should live. 3. It is for everyone to read so that all may hear God speak to their hearts and minds. About the Church: 1. The Church is made up of people of every race who believe in Jesus Christ. 2. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and the members are His Body. 3. Children of church members are called "children of the covenant." Their baptism is a sign and seal of this covenant relationship and of their membership in the Christian church. 4. The task of the church is to make Jesus Christ known throughout the whole world. About the Sacraments: 1. We have two sacraments, instituted by Christ in the new covenant, or testament. They are baptism and communion. Dr. Robert Martin has written an excellent outline on this topic, entitled: "The Legitimacy and use of Confessions of Faith". It's available online at: http://www.prbcmn.org/confessions.html Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.24   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism