The Creed, the Cross and Jesus. Josimar Salum

The Creed, the Cross and Jesus.

Josimar Salum

I was added to a theology type group on Facebook! I don't even know who did. I decided to stay and I am enjoying, specially posts like the one of the greek word (adjective) for "double minded".

Everything it was going well until I decided to post a "little comment."

"Let's go back to the postulation of the Protestant Reformation. Sola Scriptura. Rend therefore your confessions of faith!" (JSalum)

Wow! Hell and even heaven broke loose! Usually 2 or 3 people liked the others posts. None practically were commenting, but these words got a lot of attention! Some comments were very professional and polite, especially from a theologian, PhD brother, I don't know him, I do think he is my brother in Christ. But one or two were very disdainful among dozens of discussions that took place!

I thought! What a hell is going on? Oops! I should not say things like that even If they came to my mind!

"Let's go back to the postulation of the Protestant Reformation. Sola Scriptura. Rend therefore your confessions of faith!" is just a provocative opinion. It is just a start point for a dialogue. We are all accustomed to creeds that a statement like that may become a dividing issue. 

"Sola Scriptura is a doctrine directly speaking to the Roman Catholic belief that church tradition is infallible and authoritative." And for many Protestants, evangelicals, too! Not really infallible but authoritative! Creeds are part of Church tradition! As MacArthur puts it, Sola Scrptura "has to do with the sufficiency of Scripture as our supreme authority in all spiritual matters." But I do not believe that Scripture is our supreme authority in all spiritual matters." At least it was not for so many believers in history, even for Abraham, David, the prophets, the apostles, etc. Jesus is the supreme authority in all matters, not His Scriptures!

Yes, we must have the same creeds to be true Christians. Is that right? Sola Scriptura concept can't be argued! Are the Reformation pillars so sacred? It is written in stone! Which stone?

My statement was just a mere opinion of a participant, yes, definitely, it is just an opinion. I just posted an opinion. It is not even a creed neither a confession of faith. 

Yes, we have opinions, creeds and confessions of faith. And yes, I was just trolling around my controversial opinion! 

It is amazing how an opinion like that can get a lot of attention! But believe me, I will not die for an opinion as much as I would die to be in communion with my brothers! 

I love the Scriptures, and I read the "creeds". They are only creeds! And I find interesting how many Christians does have just a creed and a cross!

We all may agree that the Bible is the Scriptures of God written by mere men and the creeds are just mere statements and scriptures of mere men even if they are biblical. However I don't need to be believe the same creed you believe to be your brother in Christ! Do I?

"John, Peter, James! Do you want to eat fish at the beach with Me!", may have said the Lord that morning!

We have Jesus! What a wonderful friend. Is it not enough?

Josimar Salum

The Truth and many new truths!

Josimar Salum

I stated on Facebook: “God bless us with the courage to give up all the myths that were being transmitted to us from one generation to another and all the idols that were petrified as "truth" but they are not”

A beloved friend replied to me:

"One must be careful with "new truths" if there is such a thing over the past two thousand years. There is nothing new under the sun."

Faith in our Lord Jesus is based in our relationship with Him alone and not as a sub product of somebody else faith and knowledge.

It is impossible to downsize Jesus to a simply personage of history. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, alive and well, today!

The Scriptures are inspired by God, all of them, but not all Scriptures are the Word of God. Jesus Christ Himself, He is the Word of God.

The Word was before the Scriptures. Abraham had no access to any written Scriptures, however He believed and followed the Word of God.

We study the Scriptures diligently because we think that in them we have eternal life. The truth is we don’t have eternal life in the Scriptures. We have eternal life only in Jesus and the very Scriptures only testify about Him. (John 5:39)

If I do need Martin Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others to tell me what is the “truth” (a)I don't need the Holy Spirit who guides me to the Truth; (b)I don't need the Scriptures who testifies exclusively about Jesus and (c)I don't need even Jesus Himself.

Thank God Martin Luther didn't think that 1500 years had all “truths uncovered" so it would not be necessary for him to find "new truths", like salvation by faith, by grace, etc.

One who says the Scriptures is the only source of Faith and Truth should not contradict himself following the theological traditions of men, the tradition of the church and the confessions of faith.

Any theological truth is a system of conveniences. A uniformity of beliefs is meant to maintain a specific group bound as a denomination, a network or a religion cult.

I am not afraid of apostasy as the Holy Spirit is enough to guide me into Truth.

I am not afraid of finding that I have been in many instances so wrong in so many things that I used to carry dearly as Christian sacred truths.

The truth is that there are no truths. There are no old truths. There are no new truths. Jesus said: “I am the Truth.” Therefore the Truth is eternal and attempting to hold the Truth into the “Chronós” is a lost battle.

Theologians always failed as they attempted to crystallize the Truth.

"The Confessions of Faith are the reduction of God’s Word." (José Rego do Nascimento)

The creeds are enclosures of human attempt to “jail” the Word of God. Both are miserable human belief boxes. I have no confession of Faith neither I uphold any Creeds.

Jesus Christ is my Confession of Faith. Jesus Christ is my Creed.

Today as it has been before, Christian Denominations have proved so distant of the Word of God that as result they have been dividing and multiplying since The Protestant Reformation” .

And all of them were born because they found "new truths" in this unending frenzy that suits the desires of religion politicians who divide Christians not because of doctrinal issues but for personal interests. Calvin, Martin Luther and all others had their own.

I want to know nothing but the Truth, the Person of Jesus who lives in Me.

During these 2000 years since the apostles have died many heresies were introduced, and even today Christian denominations are full of heresies.

The main problem for preachers related to the Truth is that the sources of their study have been all along the books of theologians on their shelves, the books they read every day with all kinds of teachings, their own perceptions catalyzed by their experiences in their seminaries, churches and in the environment they have grown within and their own conveniences to maintain their "status quo".

Probably more than 80% of what we have as dearly as truth are second handed interpretations of somebody else and not what we ourselves have concluded as Truth ministered by the Holy Spirit as result of our own investigation of the Scriptures.

The main question is not whether we are going to find new truths after two thousand years after the apostles of Christ died.

Our life with Jesus is dependant upon if we humbly comes back to the Scriptures, if we will repent of our heresies and go back exclusively to the Word of God.

There is no such thing at all of finding new truths. There is just the Truth of the the Scriptures and hidden after thousands of years of apostasy.

The Truth, the Word! ““The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?

As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”, the Good news of the Kingdom, "The Lord Reigns!"