Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 15
February 13, 1964
NUMBER 40, PAGE 9b,13b

The Bible And Human Creeds

L. A. Mott, Jr.

The Bible claims to be of divine origin — the word of God. I accept that claim. I believe, also, that every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is the absolute truth. (John 17:17; Titus 1:2) Indeed, can anyone take a different position and hope to go to heaven? When God speaks in his word, can any one of us say, "I do not believe that," and still go to heaven? Certainly not.

This is not true when we consider human creeds. For instance, is it necessary for one to believe every line of Baptist doctrine in order to he saved? Must we believe everything in the Methodist creed in order to go to heaven? What about Presbyterian, Holiness, Adventist, or Lutheran doctrine? It would be exceedingly difficult to find a person who would take the position that a man must believe every detail of any one of the above listed doctrines in order to be saved. In other words, the truth is, I could open the Methodist Discipline, read an article of faith from it, say "I do not believe that," and still go to heaven. In like fashion, I could choose one of the tenets of the Baptist faith and say, "I do not believe that," without jeopardizing my soul. Either this is true, or all of us must believe all of Baptist doctrine in order to be saved, and therefore, nobody will be saved except Baptists — and, I might add, very few of them, because I find it quite difficult to find a Baptist who believes every line of Baptist doctrine.

So, we have a contrast. It is necessary to believe all the Bible in order to go to heaven; it is not necessary to believe all of either Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, or any other sectarian doctrine in order to go to heaven. We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that the Bible and sectarian doctrines are not the same. The Bible and Baptist doctrine, for example, are two different things. One, we must believe; the other, it makes no difference whether we believe or not. Likewise, the Bible and the Methodist doctrine are two different things. The Bible, we must believe. But Methodist doctrine we are free to reject. Rejecting it, we are just as well off as if we accepted it. This principle applies to the doctrine of any human denomination. The doctrine of any human denomination is not the same in all respects as the Bible doctrine. We must believe the Bible; we need not believe the doctrine of any human denomination.

Do you say your doctrine is different? Then you must take the position that all of us must believe every detail of your doctrine in order to be saved? Either this is true, or your doctrine is not the same as Biblical doctrine, for we must believe all of Bible doctrine in order to be saved. There is not one single "Thus saith the Lord" concerning which we are free to say, "I do not believe that." "....he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16)

The point I am making is this: Every single one of us should abandon every human creed and opinion and follow the Bible and the Bible only. This course will make us members of the blood bought, heaven sent, and Spirit filled church of Jesus Christ. It will not make us members of any human denomination.

— 1254 Enota Drive, N. E., Gainesville, Georgia