The lesson for our evening worship will center around the idea of confession. There are two main ways we will use the term. There is the general confession of sin a Christian makes as part of turning from unholy to more holy behavior. The first step to reconciliation is an acknowledgement of our need for God’s mercy, “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’”-Luke 15:21. Our lives should be a constant effort to repent and turn to God, while developing the heart of the tax collector in Luke 18:13, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
The second way we talk of confession has to do with our preparation for baptism. What does Jesus mean when he says, “everyone who acknowledges (confesses-KJV) me before men, I also will acknowledge (confess-KJV) before my Father who is in heaven,”-Matthew 10:32. What must we say before we are born again? What should the preacher say as we are immersed? Those two subjects will be our focus tonight.
In studying for this lesson, it is evident men have tried to write their own, “confessions of faith” or “baptismal creeds” from very early in the history of the church. On one hand, it shows how serious early Christians were about this monumental and saving action in the life of a Christian. It mattered to them that they got it right. On the other hand, creeds and confessions have divided the body of Christ from the beginning.
Most people acknowledge the Creed of Nicaea to be the earliest catholic (or universal) creed to recognized by a majority of Christians. But arguments over the nature of Jesus as the Son of God and how he was begotten, immediately forced Christians to take sides. Those whose ideas were written down in the Nicene Creed of 325 won and those who lost were branded heretics and forced out of the church.
One of the problems with any creed is, by definition they are the words of man and not the inspired writings of an apostle of Jesus. Not only are we to avoid man-made religion, “in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”-Mark 7:7. But men who organize a counsel do not have the authority to make doctrine. In the final analysis, when men write a creed it can not have the power of the word of God. No mere man can say, “This is the teaching of the church.” and then force others to agree to their writings or be cast out of the church of Jesus Christ. Without the verifying seal of the miracles of the Spirit given to the apostles, it becomes a battle of will over, “Who will win the day?” Mind you a battle of wills between men, not a submission to the will of Jehovah God.
For churches who seek the ancient path of the Christians of the first century, we seek to, “Speak where the Bible speaks and remain silent where the Bible is silent.” If a creed is not in the Bible, we do not use it in the church. We treasure the word of God as handed down by the Son and Holy Spirit through the apostles and prophets. Only the word of God makes children of God who dwell in the household of God, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”-Ephesians 2:20-21.
Does it matter what we confess about Jesus at our baptism? Of course it does! The real question is, “Where should we look for the answer?” At the North Second Street Church of Christ, we will neither write nor adopt a confession of faith and then tell other churches they must agree with our creed. Why teach the traditions of men when we have the words of God?
“Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”-Matthew 16:16. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”-Romans 10:9. “Set apart for the gospel of God…concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,”-Romans 1:1-4.
May God be true and ever man a liar.
https://www.north2ndcofc.org/sermons/confessions-for-forgiveness-and-salvation/
https://www.north2ndcofc.org/sermons/do-i-need-to-be-baptized/
https://www.north2ndcofc.org/sermons/the-design-mode-and-subject-of-baptism/
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