Today, many people want to know exactly where we stand and just what our beliefs are when it comes to political agendas and current events. We live in an age when we are more aware of things that happen, and when they happen, than we have ever been before. We are also in an age when people want to voice an opinion on every matter. This is important as well because in this country, we live in a truly democratic society where everyone has an equal vote. So your voice and your opinion are important. But what do we base our opinions on, and where do we find our standing for what we believe?
This was also an issue during the reign of Emperor Constantine when he became the first Roman emperor to convert to a belief in Christ from the typical pagan belief system. At this time, there were many fragmented groups who believed in Christ, and Constantine found many different answers as to what they believed. He organized the First Council of Nicaea to attain consensus on the thoughts and the beliefs of these people, and essentially established the Church of Constantinople that would become the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is where and how the Nicene Creed was put into place. The word creed actually comes from the Latin word credo which means “I believe”. The Nicene Creed was a collection of what the people believed, and their stance on what the Bible stated. The idea of having a creed allowed others to see exactly where they stood on the teachings of the Bible. The overall principal makes sense to human understanding. Write down what we believe and then others can decide if they agree with us or disagree.
But we know from Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” This group of people left it to their own understanding and judgement to decide what they believed, as if that would hold any bearing on what their eternal outcome would be. This was followed up some time later by the Apostles’ Creed, which was supposedly a collection of theological understandings of the apostles that were easily tied up into a document (which has been edited over the years to make room for changes in society’s views or different interpretations). Isaiah 40:8 says “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever.” Hebrews 13:8 states “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Once again, the people disregarded the books of the Bible which were penned through divine inspiration in which opinions are not written. What is written is the will of God which is the greatest truth there is. People look for the opinions of men instead of the Word of God. Paul said in Galatians 1:11-12 “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Going to verse 10, Paul says “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” When people come up with creeds, you have to ask yourself “Who do they seek to please, man or God, in having their beliefs written on a piece of paper?”
There are many people who do not like this stance of no creed because they say it does not give a direct answer to the question of “what do you believe?” They say that “I believe every word of the Bible is the Word of God” is not a good enough answer for them. People don’t realize that my opinion is not important. What is important is that every word of God is true and it is not swayed by the opinion of man. The definition of opinion is “a view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge”. Using this definition, God does not have an opinion because everything God says is fact. Psalm 119:160 says “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgements endureth for ever.” There are questions in which you may not find an answer in God’s word but I have to ask, “Is the question relevant to your salvation?” If it is not, do we need an answer? We as Christians cannot get tangled in questions that do not pertain to our salvation, trying to find an answer when there is not one. There are some things that just aren’t relevant or else God would have given us an answer. If our faith is based on our human ability to provide every answer, we will fail. But if our defense is based on our trust in Christ and the authority of His Word, we will be prepared to help people in every situation. Proverbs 30:5-6 says “Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” We must be careful not to speak where the Bible does not.
I know there are a lot of questions that people ask, but they don’t want to hear the answer God gives them. “Will I go to hell if I don’t believe?” or “Is this a sin even though it is something that I feel is right?” Many times people don’t want to hear the answer because it would convict them of their sin. But that is the true beauty of God’s word. It convicts all of us of our sin. It proves that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23. Now that we know we all are sinners, we recognize there is a problem and God’s word gives us a solution, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” Acts 2:38. It gives us the answer to the most important question anyone can ask which is “What must I do to be saved?”
Man will continue to write creeds (or modify the ones they have) and God’s word will still be the same today, yesterday and forever. We cannot rely on this alone as our defense. As Paul told Timothy, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”, II Timothy 2:15. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith”, Romans 1:16-17. Ultimately, our creed remains the same—every word of the Bible is the word of God. We add nothing to it and we take nothing from it. Anything more than that is not any of our concern as it holds no bearing on our salvation.