"The first church."

Front matter

Class JBJC&3 31 ,

Book y (M2 >

GopyrightN°_

Dedication

These pages are dedicated to those who love the Lord ; to those who labor in love to build God's house ; and to those, also, who labor to perpetuate 'The Peace of Zion."

May the Lord soon bring us to "see eye to eye and speak the same thing." It is of eternal importance to us for it to be so.

We all want to meet up yonder in a land of Blazing Glory.

Introduction

THE ORIGINAL BAPTIST CREED.

It is Authoritative and Binding.

Rev. B. A. Dawes, D.D.,

LOUISVILLE, KY.

An intelligent discussion of a Baptist creed, first calls for a definition of what constitutes one a Baptist. To define a Baptist is no easy task. What must one believe to be a Baptist ? How little can one believe and still be a Baptist? Just where is the point of departure at which one ceases to be a Baptist ? What must one believe in order to be received into the membership of a Baptist church, and also to be retained in the membership ? Just how much and no more ? A meed of fame awaits him who gives a clear-cut definition of just what it takes to make a Bible Baptist.

It is taken for granted that whatever is enough to secure admission into a Baptist church is enough to retain membership.

Necessary for Membership.

A study of the Bible having in view the practice of the Baptist churches in Apostolic times, as to what was required for admission to membership, would show about the following:

1. Personal faith in Jesus.

3. Obedience to Christ?

The questions asked the candidates seeking membership in Baptist churches to-day are something like these :

1. Are you trusting to Jesus Christ for salvation?

2. Do you wish to follow him in baptism and unite with his church?

3. Are you ready to do what is the clearly revealed will of Christ?

In substance the requirements are the same for this and the Apostolic time.

Whatever one must believe to secure and retain admission into a Baptist church ought to be enough to constitute him a Baptist.

Then may we not say that to be a Baptist one must have :

1. A personal faith of heart and mind in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

2. As such he must receive Bible baptism.

3. Then he must be loyal to the Word of God in faith and practice.

He must have these three things at least; possibly two more.

1. He must stand for liberty of conscience.

2. He must believe in missions.

Believing these things he is a Baptist, and no Baptist church would refuse to receive and keep him.

Then it seems clear that a Baptist creed "would set

A BAPTIST CREED. 7

forth just what one must believe in order to be a Baptist. As a ereed vt would set forth no more than this. As Baptists we would want every Baptist to be associated with us in forwarding the work committed to us, and would want to keep none away. Fortunately we are not left in doubt about the work that has been given us to do. Christ made that plain in his great commission. Here it is:

1. To make believers.

2. To baptize them.

3. To train them.

A Baptist creed then should contain just what is required, and only what is required, of a Baptist to believe and do.

Such a creed would be binding. For such a creed I plead to-day. Such I think was "The Original Baptist Creed" — the creed held by the first Baptists — those of the Apostolic age. So far as I can see they have never had any other binding creed. About the year 1600 they put forth a Confession of Faith. From time to time since then others have been issued. But they are not creeas in the sense that they have any binding force on individual Baptists. They have come to be substitutes for the "Original Baptist Creed," and those outside our ranks regard them as creeds with binding force. They are not binding. They could not be. Any Confession of Faith is only the expression of those who, having come together, each on his own responsibility, have said what they thought the Scriptures taught. It does not represent all Baptists, even the majority, that any one knows.

Let it be understood that no objection is raised to

Confessions of Faith. They fare of real worth, great worth, I will say, in giving us the matured thought of what the Baptists of the past have held on great and important truths. They are splendid commentaries. It is hoped that in the future Baptists will continue to say what they think the Bible teaches on any and all subjects. Let each individual Baptist do this as he finds occasion. Let any number of them coming together do so. Such is the privilege of Baptists. It is more than that; it is their duty. .

Confessions of Faith not Sufficient.

But such statements do not answer for a creed. They do not meet the need.

i. Because they are not binding.

2. Because they are not the expression of all Baptists. All Baptists have not set their seal of approval on any one of them.

3. Because all Baptists do not agree with all that is in any one of them.

The Baptist Review and Expositor said "Neither Northern, Southern, nor Canadian Baptists are agreed among themselves on all matters of doctrine."

"We need a creed upon which all Baptists are agreed."

4. Because these Confessions of Faith leave the impressions on those outside our ranks that we have a binding creed — rather that these confessions are a binding creed, when they are not. On account of this prejudice we fail to reach others who would else help us in doing our great work of saving, baptizing and training the world.

CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 9

5. Because these Confessions of Faith do not correctly represent the Baptist position to-day. The work of missions stands in the forefront of the present day Baptists. One searches the Confessions of Faith in vain for a deliverance on that subject. It seems to me that these Confessions of Faith are better representations of the position of the Hardshell brethren than of ours.

6. Because there is nothing in the Bible like these Confessions of Faith. I do not mean that what these Confessions of Faith contain is not true, far from it. But in the Bible there are no statements of doctrine like these Confessions of Faith.

John said in summing up his Gospel, "These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in his name." That certainly is no Confession of Faith. It showis that he wrote that Gospel in order that he might induce people to be saved by believing in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

Paul said "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. " Here is his explanation:

"He who was manifest in the flesh,

Justified in the spirit,

Seen of angels,

Preached among the nations,

Believed on in the world,

Received up into glory."

That is the history of Jesus Christ.

A study of the records of the Baptists of the first century show that Jesus was the center of the creed.

Peter on the day of Pentecost preached Jesus. He did the same to Cornelius. That was Philip's theme to the Eunuch. Jesus was Paul's theme at Perga, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth. In baptizing the twelve at Ephesus it was in the name of the Lord Jesus. In correcting thle unsoundness of those in the church at Corinth, he does not set forth a system of doctrine like one of our Confessions of Faith. The same was true when he was burning with indignation against the Galatian people who were "so quickly removing from him that called them in the grace of Christ."

Paul said he had "kept the fafrh," but he nowhere elaborates it as do our Confessions of Faith.

In Jude we read that the beloved are exhorted "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints." But nowhere is that "faith" elaborated into a system. It is my opinion that the "faith once for all delivered to the saints" was when Jesus met with his disciples sometime toward the close of the forty days after his resurrection and when he said to them, "All authority hath been given unto me both in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

There was a faith delivered to the saints and it was final. They were to keep on doing that even unto the end of the world.

That, it seems to me, was the system of doctrine proclaimed by the. Baptists of the first century.

MISUNDERSTOOD. II

1. They were to preach Christ and thus make believers.

2. They were to baptize these believers.

3. Then they were to teach all Christ's commands to these baptized believers.

That was all the creed the Baptists had for 1600 years. Why did they then have something different. They gave as their reason for putting forth the first Confession of Faith that they were misunderstood and in order to set themselves right they formulated their Confession of Faith. It was a matter of expediency. Whether they meant them to take the place of the Original Baptist creed I do not know. They have taken its place. It is to get back to the original basis that I am now making this contention. I think it would have been far better for the cause of Christ if they had kept on doing as the Baptists of the first century did.

Should Give More or Less.

7. Because these Confessions of Faith do not go far enough if they mean to set forth what Baptists believe the Bible teaches. If they are to do that they must set forth all that the Baptists believe the Bible teaches. If we are going beyond what is absolutely necessary for one to believe in order to be a Baptist, we must set forth all that they believe. We must either stop at the line of necessity or give all. In every Baptist church there is a point beyond which one can not go and remain in that church. It is for a creed that goes just that far that I contend. Such a creed would be binding.

8. A Confession of Faith, founded on expediency, would of necessity, need revision from time to time. We need a creed that will be good for all time.

9. Confessions of Faith are the deliverances of men. As such they are an infringement on the conscience, on the right of private interpretation.

10. Confessions of Faith do not secure unity. For unity Christ prayed and Paul wrote. The multiplying of articles increases divisions. The simpler the creed the greater the unity. I quote below the words of a prominent Baptist minister — words in which he closes a long article on the Westminster Confession of Faith. Of that document he says. "The Westminster Confession is, as already stated, a document remarkable for its rhetorical skill, for its scholarly breadth, for its Christian devotion. No one can speak lightly of so historic, learned, and devout a Confession." Then he adds : "But these great creeds do not conserve doctrines. The Westminster Confession does not secure unity now in the Presbyterian church ; during the past few years this great body of Christians has been sorely rent by violent theological discussions and questions of denominational polity. The Confession does not secure unity. It is powerless amid these divisions; indeed it often causes division rather than harmony. Its interpretation occasions wide difference of opinion, wider than the interpretation of the Scripture on which its teachings claim to be based. Of what practical gain are these creeds to-day ? The Baptist denomination has no creed, in the technical sense of the term, and yet, with its nearly 4,000,000 of members in America, it is more nearly a unit in faith and practice than are

THE CREED NEEDED. 1 3

the churches with their "long and strong creeds/' This is a fact which no intelligent student of current church history will deny. Better far is it to go at once to the Word of God as the rule of faith and practice, than to allow the creeds of fallible men, creeds which were the result often of unscriptural compromises, to come between the conscience and its God.

The Creed that is Needed.

What then is the creed we need?

1. One that is Christ-made, not man-made.

2. One that is binding. Only the Christ-made creed can be binding.

3. One that expresses what one must believe to become and remain a member of a Baptist church. Anything more would be an infringement of the conscience.

It seems to me that the real question is how little can one believe and still be a Baptist — one with us in this great work to which Christ has called us.

4. Therefore we want a creed that will allow the greatest possible liberty of conscience, of interpretation, and of expression. One that will permit a Baptist to hold and to express his opinion of the teaching of Scripture, and still be a Baptist. One that will allow him to be either a post-millenarian or a premillenarian and remain a Baptist.

That will permit him to hold that the Scriptures teach that in the early days there was only one Baptist church in each city, or to hold that there was more than one, and retain his Baptist standing.

That will let him believe in Boards as the best method of spreading the truth of Christ, or to believe they are a hindrance rather than a help, and yet be considered orthodox. That will permit a member of this conference to say that he believes that something more than a Confession of Faith is needed to express the Baptist position of to-day, and still he may be regarded as a Baptist of fair standing.

5. We heed a creed that sets forth the duty of Baptists and of Biaptist churches. That duty is to go everywhere, make disciples, baptize them, and train them.

Where can such a creed be found? In the words of Christ to his followers, as we find them in the great commission. Notice the circumstances under which they were given. On the first day of his resurrection the angel said to the women, "Go quickly and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead ; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee ; so shall ye see him." As they went Jesus met them and said "Fear not! Go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me." Then we learn that the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and then it was that he said unto them, "All authority hath been given unto me both in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo. I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." The angel told the women to tell the disciples that Jesus wanted to meet

THE GREAT COMMAND. 1 5

them in Galilee ; Jesus told them the same thing. They met him at the appointed place. It was his only appointment with them after his resurrection. It was just before he went back to heaven. He surely had a message of importance. It was about the completion of his work which he had begun. It was to be his instructions for all time. Surely he would leave out nothing of importance. He would burden it with nothing superfluous. He would gather into one short,* crisp saying all they would need to know and do. This

* Remember ! The things that are written are essential. — Things not written are non-essential.

he did. He gave his marching orders for his followers for all times. It is complete, perfect. So it has been called "The Great Commission." It is Christ's propaganda. Remember his was a religion not for one nation, but for the whole human race. Therefore he would name only the essentials. The great principles which must needs be true of each individual for all time, leaving the non-essentials to care for themselves as the circumstances may demand. Baptists need to remember that they are going with a world-wide message, commissioned to go to every nation throughout all time. Therefore their creed which they put forth in his name must be like his, must be his. What he declared they must declare. What he made essential they must make essential. What he left to circumstances they must leave to circumstances. His mission is their mission, his work their work. Nailing that great commission to the banner of the cross, they can take the world for their Lord and Christ.

l6 INTRODUCTION.

Of this great commission it can be said :

1. The words are Christ's own, therefore they are not man-made, but Christ-made.

2. Lying on the very surface are the things that one must believe and do to be a Baptist. Must believe in missions, have personal faith in Jesus as the Christ, must be baptized, by immersion of course, must be loyal to the Word of God.

3. It tells just what Christ wants Baptists to do. Go, make believers, baptize them, train them.

4. It provides for the utmost loyalty to the Word of God.

5. It provides for liberty of conscience.

It is good for all time, never needs revision. It is binding because Christ-made.

The Baptists had no other creed for 1600 years. They need no other now, but they do need that. If Baptists realized fully that this great mission in the world was to go everywhere and make disciples, then baptize them and train them as Christ commands; if they could be so absorbed in this as to forget all else as incidental, I believe that the statistics at our associations would tell a far different story to the glory of God's name.

But would not such a creed need explanation? Yes. no doubt it would. But how could one present Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, without telling of his birth, life, death, resurrection, etc. Preaching the Christ would be the very best kind of explanation. The same would be true of baptism and in teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded.

LOYALTY TO THE WORD. 1 7

But the Confessions of Faith need explanation. We have special meetings in which nothing is done but to have chosen brethren to discuss one by one, the Articles of Faith in the New Hampshire Confession.

The great commission as the Lord gave it to his followers who had met him by appointment there on the mountain in Galilee, is the creed that I prefer. I would be willing to adopt it word for word, just as they stand, letting them speak for themselves, along with the explanation that is necessary in carrying the Master's orders into execution. I am willing to adopt it as a binding creed for Baptists. I believe it would be the mightiest gain possible for bringing the world into the Baptist fold, which is Christ's fold.

But if others insist on interpreting their meaning, for expediency's sake, I am willing to crystallize into words these necessary things that lie on the surface, viz. :

1. Personal faith of heart and mind in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

2. The immersion in water of such believers into the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

3. Loyalty to the Word of God in faith and practice.

4. Missions.

I favor this great commission for the Baptist creed, beoause I believe it was the "Original Baptist Creed."

What is the gain in having the great commission for a creed? We would have a creed in the very words of Christ and that would make it binding. It would be so short and simple that all would know what it stands for and it would prevent the present misunderstanding. It would be definite and yet elastic. It sets forth all that one needs believe to become a co-worker with us in doing Christ's great work. It leaves room for the greatest possible personal liberty. It would never need revising. It wtould avoid the looseness of the Disciple brethren who claim to take the Bible and yet point to nothing definite. It would furnish a new appeal and a basis of reunion. It holds us to the very words of Christ and avoids the danger of the traditions of men. Besides it puts missions in the very forefront.