THE BIBLE
The Bible is to be Our Only Creed !
It all begins with an idea. One simple decision can change your life. Making the Bible our only point of authority in our life’s, seems normal but a tough decision we all have to make. Do you believe the Bible? A cry was heard about 500 years ago. “Sola Scriptura” was heard across all over Europe, erupting persecution, destruction and the taking of personal property and the loss of life. This was the movement of Faithfull and Courageous men that sided with the Word of God over any human authority.
The Christian Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura, which is Latin for "by Scripture alone", began to take shape in the 16th century. Martin Luther's disagreements with the Catholic Church over indulgences in 1517 led him to conclude that the Bible was the only infallible rule of faith, and that the Church, ecumenical councils, and the pope could err. Luther also rejected the traditional association between the Bible and its interpretation by the Church, arguing that the Bible should not be interpreted by the clergy. Don’t stop reading, there is more…..
SOLA SCRIPTURA!
What does the Bible say in regards to The Word of God? Lets head out to Paul as he spoke to his adoptive son 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Why did the reformers not agree with the interpretation given by the church? Why did they reformed against the traditions of the church and disagreed with the teachings of that time? Peter speaks to us and states: 2 Peter 1:20-21 “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Unfortunately, due traditions, creeds and councils that were not being led by God, but by man who had not been sanctified in the truth, The Word of God, the Bible was chained. Kept hidden away from public access. Not many had access or the knowledge to read in Latin. It was prohibited and forbidden for anyone with out the permission of the church to read the Bible. Many men simply did not have access to the Word of God. The Reformation movement together with the printing press facilitated for the Bible to be translated and spread all over Europe. Now the people had a chance to read for themselves and understand what God had prepared for each one of them. The Prophet Isaiah states: Isaiah 8:20 20 “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Now that the light is accessible to everyone, have the people made the right decision to believe in the Word of God and be sanctified by it?
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
Christ in his prayer had requested to God his Father for his people to be sanctified through the Word of God. This is stated: John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” We know to trust The Word of God as Jesus himself said he is the Word. The Reformers believed it and 300-400 years later the Millerite movement was announcing the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Reformers had studied prophecy, and they had understood that Christ was soon to come. They believed the Bible had announced truth. Matthew 5:18 “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” The Millerite movement continued this work. After wrongful interpretation of the 2300 day prophecy in the book of Daniel, in the year of 1844 a small group of people decided to continue with that cry that was heard over 300 years before. Sola Scriptura! The Seventh Day Adventist movement was being borned, carrying this weight, they were known as the Pioneers. They believed the Word of God and had one creed and one creed alone. The Bible.
The Bible is to be Our Only Creed !
From their beginnings in the 1840's, Adventists opposed the adoption of a statement of beliefs arguing that the Bible was their only creed.
“Now I take the ground that creeds stand in direct opposition to the gifts. Let us suppose a case: We get up a creed, stating just what we shall believe on this point and the other, and just what we shall do in reference to this thing and that, and say that we will believe the gifts too. But suppose the Lord, through the gifts, should give us some new light that did not harmonize with our creed; then, if we remain true to the gifts, it knocks our creed all over at once. Making a creed is setting the stakes, and barring up the way to all future advancement. God put the gifts into the church for a good and great object; but men who have got up their churches, have shut up the way or have marked out a course for the Almighty. They say virtually that the Lord must not do anything further than what has been marked out in the creed. A creed and the gifts thus stand in direct opposition to each other. Now what is our position as a people? The Bible is our creed. We reject everything in the form of a human creed. We take the Bible and the gifts of the Spirit; embracing the faith that thus the Lord will teach us from time to time. And in this we take a position against the formation of a creed. We are not taking one step, in what we are doing, toward becoming Babylon.”
James White, Review & Herald, October 8, 1861
Other Pioneers heavily opposed any other creed but the Bible alone.
"The first step of apostasy is to set up a creed, telling us what we shall believe. The second is, to make that creed a test of fellowship. The third is to try members by that creed. The fourth to denounce as heretics those who do not believe that creed. And, fifth, to commence persecution against such. I plead that we are not patterning after the churches in any unwarrantable sense, in the step proposed." -— John North Loughborough, Review & Herald, October 8, 1861
“The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be our creed, the sole bond of union; all who bow to this Holy Word will be in harmony. Our own views and ideas must not control our efforts. Man is fallible, but God's Word is infallible. Instead of wrangling with one another, let men exalt the Lord. Let us meet all opposition as did our Master, saying, “It is written.” Let us lift up the banner on which is inscribed, The Bible our rule of faith and discipline.” — Ellen White, Review & Herald, Dec 15, 1885
Sister White also wrote, “We are not saved as a sect; no denominational name has any virtue to bring us into favor with God. We are saved individually as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
— Ellen White, Review & Herald, Feb 10, 1891
There is no power in church, or councils of men. Only the Word of God. Jesus declared in John: John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” God has purpose for each and everyone of us. The Cry of Sola Scriptura must be made once more in our times. Luther said “Peace if possible, Truth at all costs” The Word of God must shine high above any human authority. Lets finish with this promise in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
“it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
THE BIBLE IS OUR ONLY CREED
