WHAT PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE Romans 1:16-17; Ephesians 1:3-14 First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas Dr. Michael A. Roberts November 24, 2002

Transcription

1 1 WHAT PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE Romans 1:16-17; Ephesians 1:3-14 First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas Dr. Michael A. Roberts November 24, 2002 Who are we? We are members and guests of First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown. But what does that mean? Where do we fit in the world of religion? What is our identity as the people of God in this place? To understand who we are we need to understand our heritage and our beliefs as a distinctive part of the body of Christ. I m attempting to help us understand part of our identity with two sermons. Last week, we focused on the history of the Presbyterians. Today, we focus on our beliefs, our theology, what Presbyterians believe. It s a question I often get in my work as a pastor. What do Presbyterians believe? What do we believe about God, infant baptism, the Left Behind series, women in ministry, the person of Jesus? What do Presbyterians believe about predestination, the meaning of communion, the place of the Bible, salvation, and the way we re to live our lives as Christians? I most often get the questions when people are uniting with the church in membership and when they begin to serve as an officer of the church. For years then, I ve given a brief summary of what Presbyterians believe in New Members Classes and New Officer Training classes. What follows this morning is a slightly expanded version of those presentations. We have to realize that when we ask what Presbyterians believe, that we are talking about the whole Presbyterian church not individual Presbyterians. Individual Presbyterians believe everything under the sun- every perspective or belief is held by some Presbyterian somewhere. So when I answer the question about what we believe, I am referring to the church as a whole, our official teachings as a church body. What do Presbyterians historically and as a whole church believe? In deciding what we believe, we Presbyterians begin with scripture. The Old and New Testaments properly interpreted provide the only rule of faith and practice. Scripture is authoritative for determining our belief system. Scripture is the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ. Presbyterians do not just make up what they believe. They turn to scripture- to learn from, to gain awareness, to shape what we believe. The Second Helvetic Confession (5.001) says it well: In this Holy Scripture, the universal Church of Christ has the most complete exposition of all that pertains to a saving faith, and also to the framing of a life acceptable to God.

2 2 Presbyterians are guided in their interpretation of scripture by our Book of Confessions. This book includes 11 confessional statements spanning the centuries of the church. There are creeds from the early church such as the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. There are Reformation era documents of the 16 th and 17 th centuries including the Scots Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Westminster Confession of Faith. And there are 20 th century confessions including the Barmen Declaration of 1934, the Confession of 1967, and the Brief Statement of Faith of According to our constitution The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) states it faith and bears witness to God s grace in Jesus Christ in the creeds and confessions in the Book of Confessions. In these confessional statements the Church declares to its members and to the world who and what it is, what it believes, what it resolves to do (G ). These confessions guide our belief as Presbyterians. I take the Book of Confessions seriously. I do not ignore or dismiss this theological heritage. I am guided by these confessions. There have been many times when I ve been asked what Presbyterians believe about baptism, or reincarnation, or dispensationalism. I ve been helped greatly by consulting the Book of Confessions. The confessions are not infallible, they need to be interpreted in their historical context, but the confessions are an invaluable guide for us. So when you ask what Presbyterians believe about anything, we turn first to the scriptures and then the Book of Confessions. What do Presbyterians believe? They believe what s contained in the bible and the Book of Confessions. For the best answer to the question, we need to consider the contents of these entire books. But that can be a little unwieldy at times. After all, the Bible is about 1,500 pages long and the Book of Confessions is about 250 pages long. We need a short hand way of understanding what Presbyterians believe. Fortunately our constitution provides that summary. In chapter 2 of that part of our constitution called the Book of Order is a nice two page summary of what Presbyterians believe. Essentially, what it says it that Presbyterians believe what Christians believe, what Protestant Christians affirm, and what the Reformed tradition has stood for. In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gives witness to the faith of the Church catholic. The confessions express the faith of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Presbyterians are Christians. We believe what Christians believe. We are not some sort of cult or sect. We share the universal affirmations of Christians everywhere. We believe that God created the world, that God made covenants with the people of God, and that God intervened in the world through the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We believe that God is both transcendent

3 3 (separate and above the creation) and personal (relating to us in personal ways). God is not an impersonal force or power; God is a person who speaks, listens, and responds to us. We believe that Jesus proclaimed the reign of God, taught by word and deed, healed the sick, died for the sins of the world, and rose victoriously conquering sin, evil, and death. We believe in the Holy Spirit who inspires the scriptures, empowers the church for mission, and comforts believers in their distress. We believe with all Christians that God will one day culminate human history and that one day we will be at home with God forever. We affirm these central affirmations of the Christian faith, what C.S. Lewis called Mere Christianity. We are not first of all, Presbyterian or Reformed or Protestant. We are first of all Christian. Two particular Christians doctrines are singled out in our constitution- the mystery of the triune God and the incarnation of the eternal Word of God in Jesus Christ. Our beliefs in the trinity and the incarnation are the essential beliefs of the Christian faith. They are what make us Christian. When you compare Christianity to other religions, what stands out and makes us unique are our affirmations in the incarnation and the Trinity. When one affirms the incarnation, that leads one to affirm the triune nature of God. Remember, the first Christians were Jews, the most monotheistic people of the time. Yet, their encounter with Jesus caused them to reconsider and then affirm that the person they knew as friend, as teacher, as healer was the incarnation of God. God became flesh, a human being. As John s gospel states the Word became flesh and lived among us. Once a person comes to that view, that Jesus was God as well as human, then you have to rethink what you believe about God. God did not just spin the worlds into being and then forget about things. God intervened in the world. And if Jesus was God, who was watching over things while he was on earth? And what do you do with Jesus promises that another person, the Holy Spirit, would follow after him? This is not the place for an in-depth look at the Trinity (I ll attempt that in a few months) but suffice it to say that Christians struggled with these questions for several centuries before shaping their belief that God was a Trinity- one God revealed in three persons. This was not the simplest understanding of God but it made the most sense based on the evidence of Jesus and the early scriptures. This is why when people enter the covenant community of the church, they are baptized in the name of the Trinity- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our belief in the trinity and the incarnation is encapsulated in the early Christian creeds like the Nicene Creed and the Apostles Creed. So Presbyterians believe what Christians believe. Presbyterians also believe what Protestants believe. In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) identifies with the affirmations of the Protestant

4 4 Reformation. The focus of these affirmations is the rediscovery of God s grace in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. The Protestant watchwords- grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone- embody principles of understanding which continue to guide and motivate the people of God in the life of faith (G ). The Protestant reformation refers to a movement from about 1500 to 1650 in Western Christianity which was intended to renew and reform the doctrine and practices of the church. It was a period of tremendous energy and growth of the church. The Protestant Reformation had such vitality that it produced another major branch within the Christian church. Other movements of renewal have come and gone, but not the Protestant reformation. We sit here today in this place because of those reformation stirrings in Switzerland, Netherlands, England, and Scotland nearly 500 years ago. Protestants did not always agree on everything- in particular they would differ on the sacraments and the form of church government. Yet, they would share much in common. What was it then that made Protestants unique? What distinctives do Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists, Nazarenes, Methodists, and Pentecostals share in common? The first Protestant distinctive is that we are justified before God by God s grace through the means of our faith. This is a universal belief among all Protestants but Martin Luther should be given primary credit for the rediscovery of the apostle Paul s doctrine of justification explained in Romans 1 and 4. After years of trying to please God, Luther found relief when we began to teach Romans 1:16-17: I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, the one who is righteous will live by faith. In that verse was the resolution to Luther s crisis. He saw it clearly now. We have salvation by our faith in the merit of Christ s sacrifice. We have right status before God because of what God has done. The Protestants rejected the common Catholic view of that time that our own merits need to be combined with Christ s merit for salvation. John Leith says it well: The Protestant awareness was that God s favor cannot be earned, cannot be bought, cannot be achieved by any human effort. God s favor is freely given. It is all grace. We believe that we are justified not by what we do, nor by our participation in the church, nor even by our active engagement in spiritual disciplines but by trusting God s grace for our own lives. Protestants also wanted to determine belief and behavior by scripture alone. In the 16 th century, church tradition, church councils, and the magisterium- the teaching office of the church were much more important and authoritative for the Christian s life. In later centuries, Christians would want to determine belief by reason or by what their religious experience had been. Protestants have maintained that the only or primary rule of faith and life are the scriptures.

5 5 Protestants have seen scripture as their authority even in more modern times. In 1934, the Confessing Church in Germany wrote the Barmen Declaration against the idolatry of the state espoused by Nazism. These Reformed Christians could have used any number of rationales to make their point. They used the authority of scripture. They said: if you find that we are speaking contrary to Scripture, then do not listen to us! But if you find that we are taking our stand upon Scripture, then let no fear or temptation keep you from treading the path of faith and obedience to the Word of God (Book of Confessions 8.04). This has been a Protestant distinctive. A third Protestant distinctive was the priesthood of all believers. In the 16 th century there was a clear distinction between clergy and laity. For the laity to be nurtured in the faith, they had to go through the clergy. One had to submit to the church s tradition and teaching. One turned to the clergy for the proper interpretation of the scriptures. One did not have direct access to God. Protestants rejected all this when they embraced the priesthood of all believers. The Protestants believed that that individual Christian has direct access to God and the freedom to think, interpret, pray, and minister independently (N.P. Feldmeth). Protestants believed that every believer had direct access to God because of what Jesus had done. There was no need to pray to the saints or to Mary, one had the same access they did, directly to God. One could read and interpret the scriptures for themselves. Protestants also affirmed that Christians were priests to one another. We were to use the gifts God has given to us to serve each other and to serve the world. Consequently, Protestants also affirmed the sanctity of all callings and vocations. No vocation is any more Christian than any other. All have equal dignity in God s eyes. This is what Protestants have affirmed: justification by God s grace, the authority of scripture, and the priesthood of all believers. What do Presbyterians believe? We believe what Christians believe, we believe what Protestants believe, and we believe the essential tenets of the Reformed tradition. As I said last week, there were four different expressions or traditions of the Protestant Reformation: the Lutheran, the Anabaptist, the Anglican, and the Reformed. We are a part of the Reformed tradition which believed that not only the theology of the church needed to be reformed but the worship of God also needed to be reformed based on the word of God. Reformed is only one tradition or expression of the Protestant reformation. None of these essentials are unique to being Presbyterian, they are just emphasized more highly than in other traditions of the church.

6 6 In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) expresses the faith of the Reformed tradition. Central to this tradition is the affirmation of the majesty, holiness, and providence of God who creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world in the freedom of sovereign righteousness and love (Book of Order G ). Historically, Presbyterians are unique due to our emphasis on the sovereignty of God. In our time and in our country, we often devalue God and elevate human beings. Presbyterians value the majesty, holiness, and sovereign love of God. Even though we affirm God s sovereignty, this does not mean there is no illness, or evil, or trouble in this world. We do live in an imperfect, fallen world. We believe though that God can redeem this fallen world and the troublesome circumstances of our lives. We believe that God will ultimately accomplish his purposes in the world. I ve shared with you before that I was once going through a very uncertain time in my life when I received a card that said: we may not know what the future holds, but we know the one who holds the future. That was one of the best cards I ever received. We do know the One who holds the future. This is the God we followone who loves and cares for us Our constitution says that this affirmation in God s sovereignty is central to the Reformed tradition. The constitution goes on list other great themes of the Reformed tradition. These include: 1) The election of the people of God for service as well as for salvation. It is important to keep in mind that we are elected for service. We have been predestined for a mission. Election is not for privilege, or for prestige. This has been the beauty of our Reformed view- we have sensed that were elected by God to serve other people. We are God s people on a mission. We are elected for a purpose. Due to this idea, Reformed people have produced many wonderful effects through the centuries: in evangelism, in education, in medical missions, in care-giving ministries. 2) Covenant life marked by a disciplined concern for order in the church according to the Word of God. Our government takes into consideration the human tendency towards abuse of power. In our church, we share the power. All governing bodies of the church are led equally by elders and pastors. In our church, we see the value of order, of good communication, of fair decision-making. 3) A faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks proper use of the gifts of God s creation. We have often wandered away from this

7 7 historic theme. In earlier days there was a simplicity about our worship and living the Christian life. We believe that God owns everything and that God calls us to be stewards of abilities, relationships, possessions and the world that God gives. 4) The recognition of the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, which calls the people of God to work for the transformation of society by seeking justice and living in obedience to the Word of God. Since humans have a tendency towards tyranny and idolatry, God s people are called to work for justice and live in obedience to God s word. We Presbyterians believe that the gospel transforms society. We see this happening throughout history in Geneva, Scotland, in the American revoluation and the civil rights movement. It is a part of the church s call to effect change in our society for good. All of this today- the Trinity, the incarnation, justification by God s grace, scripture alone, the priesthood of all believers, the sovereignty of God, election covenant, stewardship, transformation of society- all of this is some of what Presbyterians believe. These are hallmarks or highlights of Presbyterian belief. Although certainly not comprehensive, these beliefs are a big part of our identity as Presbyterians historically. We need to remember in closing that Presbyterians over the centuries have made deep commitments due to these beliefs. They have sacrificed themselves, Presbyterians have even given their lives for these beliefs. We believe that we are called to love God with our whole being including our minds. We love God by thinking. This is why we have emphasized education of laity and clergy. This is why we think through what we believe. For we are seeking to honor the words of Jesus: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

8 8 The Church and Its Confessions (Quoted throughout Sermon) In its confession, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gives witness to the faith of the church catholic. The confessions express the faith of the one, holy, and apostolic Church in the recognition of canonical Scriptures and the formulation and adoption of the ecumenical creeds, notably the Nicene and Apostles Creeds with their definitions of the mystery of the triune God and of the incarnation of the eternal Word of God in Jesus Christ. In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) identifies with the affirmations of the Protestant Reformation. The focus of these affirmations is the rediscovery of God s grace in Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. The Protestant watchwords grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone embody principles of understanding which continue to guide and motivate the people of God in the life of faith. a) In its confessions, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) expresses the faith of the Reformed tradition. Central to this tradition is the affirmation of the majesty, holiness, and providence of God who creates, sustains, rules, and redeems the world in the freedom of sovereign righteousness and love. Related to this central affirmation of God s sovereignty are other great themes of the Reformed tradition: 1) The election of the people of God for service as well as for salvation; 2) Covenant life marked by a disciplined concern for order in the church according to the Word of God; 3) A faithful stewardship that shuns ostentation and seeks proper use of the gifts of God s creation. 4) The recognition of the human tendency to idolatry and tyranny, which calls the people of God to work for the transformation of society by seeking justice and living in obedience to the Word of God. b) Thus, the creeds and confessions of this church reflect a particular stance within the history of God s people. They are the result of prayer, thought, and experience within a living tradition. They serve to strengthen personal commitment and the life and witness of the community of believers. Book of Order G-2

9 9