I have attended so many different churches with so many different beliefs.
The really great thing about my early days is that my family and most of the churches in the towns saw each other as brothers and sisters even though they participated in different communities with different “negotiable” beliefs.
In college, I had grown distracted by other things and although my allegiance was still to Jesus, it was waning in passion. After I moved to the DC-area, I discovered churches with young adults passionately pursuing Jesus. Their passion was contagious and I wanted what they had. It was at this point in my life, I was baptized because I saw the difference in passion that I was gaining.
The issue is that these churches started me down a trail where the “non-negotiables” became really large. If you did not intellectually ascent to everything they put on their core doctrine document, your “salvation” was questionable.
A few years ago, this was going through my mind constantly as to what are “negotiables” and what are “non-negotiables” for salvation. I remember asking a missionary friend two questions.
- How much “heresy” can you believe and still be “saved?”
- What is the minimal amount of information to which you must intellectually ascent to be “saved?”
As I say in my Core Allegiances and Beliefs page, ” My core belief comes from the creeds of the catholic (universal) church that have endured for ages. ” In this post I want to present some of those creeds.
But, first, I do believe that you can be a citizen of the kingdom of Jesus without FULLY understanding the depths of these creeds. I am still excavating the depths of these creeds. People with limited knowledge are not excluded from the kingdom because of a lack of full understanding of the creeds. But, as a church, anything outside these creeds should be considered “negotiable,” not “non-negotiable.”
I believe the earliest creed of the Christian community is found in 1 Corinthians 15;3-5.
“[that] Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
Another early creed of the Christian community is found in Philippians 2:6-11.
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.”
Another creed outside the Bible, but very early is the Apostle’s Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
And finally, the Nicene Creed which I will repeat as I posted in Core Allegiances and Beliefs page.
WE BELIEVE in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son.) With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
All churches and Christians add to these these creeds in their corporate and personal beliefs, but I consider those negotiable. I also consider the phrase “and the Son,” negotiable.
I consider you a sister or brother in the kingdom if your allegiance is to King Jesus and you hold the core beliefs from the early creeds even if the creeds are difficult to understand.
First posted May 2, 2021
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