Expert: Dr. Ronald E. Shultz - 10/25/2009

Question
QUESTION: My local congregation's website has the following listed as


The Bible was written by men inspired by God, and is the record of God's revelation of Himself to man. It is our sole authority in matters of faith and practice, and is the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be judged. Baptists recognize no human creeds as having any authority.

According to the Baptist Faith and Message, confessions of faith "are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience . . . and are not to be used to hamper freedom of thought or investigation in other realms of thought."


The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.

Can you give me your take on what the middles section means? Can you first clarify confessions of faith?

ANSWER: I guess you may also have to know if your local Church is a part of the Liberal or Conservative side of the SBC house and which BF&M they hold to, the 2000 or the one previous to be sure of what they are saying.  There were some changes.

A confession of faith or a creed is basically a synoposis or systematic way of stating core beliefs of any group.  Many churches have their own, some adopt a denomination's.  Some also have Church covenants indicating what they believe constitutes faithful Christian living that a member should practice to be in fellowhip with God and their fellow members.

The quote you give in the middle is correct in the SBC and certainly among many Independent Baptist churches since they believe in soul liberty, though sometimes that concept is misinterpreted or misused leading to loose living and errant doctrine. Indeed, the Liberal side of the house normally uses a quote like that to show that their error is not to be judged as such by a confession. If the Confession is true to the Word, then it is not of men and is an acceptable standard of judging unbiblical doctrines or actions.

An example would be the flap over the 2000 BF&M that reaffirms the roles of man and woman.  The Liberals who like to ordain women or allow them in other areas outside of their biblical roles naturally took offense and suddenly did not like the BF&M and used the language of your quote to get them off the hook and make the Conservatives look bad, even calling them "Neanderthals"  I took that name as a badge of honor and pressed on.

When I grew up in the United Methodists, we quoted the Apostle's Creed, sang the Doxology and had various other things that were intended to help solidify our faith by keeping doctrine before us each Sunday and by the memorization, hopefully the rest of the week as well.  Sadly, they weren't explained very well to me and hence had little effect on me.  Indeed, there was some confusion on the term Catholic in my mind so I left Church completely by 16 and was not saved until I was 21 in a General Association of Regular Baptist Church while in the military.  

While the BF&M and other such documents are meant to clarify what the SBC believes they certainly cannot use them to remove your salvation though they can be used to disfellowship a Church or Christian who violates them. However, you are not meant to just mindlessly quote them. You till must study to show yourself approved by studying the Scripture asking for wisdom from Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

While I am convinced that true Baptist doctrine is as close to 1st Century Christianity as you are going to get, there are some things we don't have quite right. Sadly it would take a revival equal to a 100 megaton blast to shake some of those traditions loose.  That is why you must study to distinguish between biblical doctrine and doctrines of men.

I hope this has been of some help to you.  May God richly bless you as you study His Word!!  



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: First, thank you for your insightful, and timely response. After reading your answer, I did some research on BF&M (Baptist Faith & Message). I was brought up attending a Catholic church; and have only attended a Baptist service for a little over 2 months. Thus, I didn't even know what the acronym meant (even though the answer was in my question).

Second, after spending some time reading about BF&M I have come to this understanding of the sentence in the Baptist Bible Beliefs I was having trouble putting context to. That sentence was, According to the Baptist Faith and Message, confessions of faith "are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience . . . and are not to be used to hamper freedom of thought or investigation in other realms of thought." I feel the first part means, when one speaks about their personal relationship with God, it may give some indication of how close their lifestyle, decisions, and actions are in line with a traditionally accepted Christian lifestyle. This may not tell the whole story because this does not tell us a clear picture of what is going on in the mind of that individual. If this person's mind is always occupied with stealing, lying, and cheating they are only putting up a facade. I feel the last part is saying, we aren't here to judge this person. Rather, if this person is truly seeking a closer relationship with God (not a fraud or a scam artist etc.) we appreciate their efforts and encourage them to believe, with Gods help, they can overcome these thoughts.

Last, I appreciate your words of advice regarding being mindful of the differences between biblical doctrine and doctrines of men. I have encountered individuals who, in hindsight, I feel are practicing a form of "off target" Christianity including ones with interpretations of one's adherence to the teachings of the Gospels using a "sliding scale" depending on other variables.

I am curious to hear your opinions on the preceding.

ANSWER: You are correct in that though a person may outwardly adhere to a standard of living his inward man may not match up.  No one is perfect and we all have our things we struggle with but if there is no real concern or desire to change then we are hypocrites.  If we seek change or freedom from some vice then we are not hypocrites, but rather disciples with some learning disabilities or some other issue hindering our learning and application of the cure.

We can only truly judge actions based upon the Word and not motives since we are not God.  It does make us question motives if we hear consistently from a person that he is a Christian but little in his lifes shows it.  Hence James saying show me your faith by your works even though salvation is by faith without works.  We are saved unto good works so something should show the changeover. Yet if a person was very moral before conversion it will be hard to notice a change and may take some time for us to see it.  The parable of the sower also teaches that some people will bring forth different percentages of harvest and only God knows if they are living up to their potential or not.  We can only exhort as pastors and teachers and let God do the rest.

Not exactly sure what you mean by a "sliding scale".  All Scripture is given to us for a reason and we must be sure we keep it all in the proper context.  The Gospels were pointed specifically towards the Jews though many of the things taught are universal life principles.  Yet, if we do not keep the Church and Israel separate we can come up with all sorts of doctrines based on misapplication or misinterpretation of Scripture.  

In fact, my wife and I were discussing;

Matt 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. KJV

Many pastors and Christians use this passage to say that adultery is grounds for divorce and yet that is not what it is saying.  In Hebrew culture, marriage was handled a bit differently.  We have engagement periods that can be broken off, but in the context of the culture the one year before the marriage was to allow the husband to prepare a place for the bride and to ensure that she was not already pregnant.  The marriage was a done deal save for consummation on the wedding night.

Deut 22:15 Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: KJV

If the lady came to the marriage bed as she was supposed to then there would be blood upon consummation and some cloth or piece of clothing that would be stained by that blood would be given to the girl's parents.  If she did not come to the marriage bed a virgin she could be divorced then as in a breach of contract suit.  IF he did not do it then he could never divorce her for that reason. If he tried, the parents would bring forth the tokens and he would be busted and the case thrown out.  

Since we do not do our marriage contracts like that, the passage really does not speak to us as all since what it teaches we do not practice.  Adultery after the wedding night was a capital office so if there was a divorce decree it would be a moot issue shortly after it was given because he or she would be executed along with the other person involved if they were caught in the act.  In John 8 they only brought the woman and not the man and so Jesus would not condemn the woman because she was not accused lawfully.  

So, unless we go back to both practices we cannot truly apply that passage to our lives in its correct exegesis or interpretation.  In fact, 1 Cor 7 teaches that two believers cannot ever be divorced biblically, only separated, and if they do so they are to never remarry. After all, God does not divorce us for being incompatible with Him or when we sin since sin is spiritual adultery. The Matt passage does affirm the 1 Cor 7 teaching since we do not practice the Matt passage it would be a sin to divorce after the wedding night for any other cause than non-virginity or fornication.   

Other things go that way, like Matt 24.  If you do not see this as being directed to Israel in in the Trib you will end up being a Mid or Post-Tribulation Rapturist.  If you see that the Church does not start or is not birthed until Acts 2 then you end up a Pre-Tribber based on the Church epistles written by the Apostles, especially Revelation but it is also seen in the Pauline epistles.  

So,if that appears to be a "sliding scale" it really isn't but rather a matter of to whom the passage is primarily written.  We are aren't meant to go marching 7 times around Jericho, but we can learn a principle from that passage though it is not a direct command. There are many, many principles still pertinent to the Church in the Gospels but some commands or prophecies are just not to us at all.  

Clear as mud?  Am I even close to what you mean by the "sliding scale?"  Blessings to you and I thank God for your conversion.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: In regards to the application of the cure...

For someone who is trying to have a closer relationship with God, it is difficult to implement a thought process that involves someone other than themselves being number 1. For example, I was talking with a devout friend about his thoughts on whether or not someone could focus their mind primarily on good things happening in their life and have them manifest regularly. He was quick with his answer saying, if this person is saved they very well may have good things happen in their life. But, they must recognize that it all starts with God.

Your Matthew 24 reference was exactly what I was talking about by "sliding scale".

Thank you for your time.

Answer
I am glad I got the "sliding scale" part right. Sometimes people don't understand when I use things like that and I don't always understand other folks when they use similar things.

You can't speak things or think things into manifestation.  You walk in obedience and faith and God will bless in ways that seem opposite of what we view as blessings.

Read Hebrews 11.  That is called the Hall of Faith by many.  When you get close to the end of the chapter you will read about people who had tremendous things happen to them and then you will read where others did not have the good life as we would call it.  Many saved Christians today are persecuted, maimed, raped, live in poverty or die for their faith.  

The question is often asked why do bad things happen to good people.  The more accurate question would be why does anything good happen at all.  We are sinners, saved or not, and we live in a sin cursed world.  God is more concerned about who we are in our character than what we experience in this world.  If we are to be like Christ and live as He did we shall suffer as well as abound.  Paul was abased and abounded but he learned contentment.  He said, "godliness with contentment is great gain" and that we should suffer with Christ and that the godly shall suffer persecutuion. All those things are good in God's eyes and they will result in rewards if we endure them faithfully and grow through the process.  No amount of thinking good in our perspective will work especially since thinking persecution and suffering as good things would never enter our minds. "Our thoughts are not His thoughts and His ways are not our ways."  His are higher so accept His as the best and rejoice always even if things stink from your perspective or you hurt.  In the end, you will do cartwheels in glory when you see what good all those things worked together for you because you loved God and was called according to His purpose.

Keep studying and trusting and you will be blessed!

Maranatha!