Creeds and Confessions
James Dodson
The principle of sola Scriptura is the formal principle of the Protestant reformation. It is a Latin term, in the ablative case, which indicates that it is adjectival modifier of a verb—in this case the verb is judge. It describes the motion something (i.e., judgment) moves. Sola...
The doctrine of the perspicuity of the Scriptures relates to its clarity in matters necessary to salvation, Ps. 119:105, 130. Protestants affirm that, in these matters of faith, Scripture can be understood by believers...
The assertion, by the Reformers, of the right of private judgment is an assertion of the faith priority of the inward teaching of the Spirit of God bearing testimony to the truth of the Word, 1 John 2:20, 27; over the...
Just as we are told that faith without works is dead, Jas. 2:17; so, too, Paul makes it clear that belief without confession does not save, Rom. 10:9-11. The context and the verb used, ὁμολογέω, imply several things: 1.) It is an...
Non-fundamental articles of faith would include all those articles of Christian doctrine which a man might not know, or even deny, while not denying those primary fundamentals or secondary fundamentals, 1 Cor...
Though sanctification, from which all good works proceed, is a gift of God to those who are redeemed, 1 Cor. 1:30; yet, the good works procured by sanctification form a part of the great end of our final salvation, even a preparation for heavenly glory, Heb. 12:14. Thus...
Paul commands the church to observe decency, εὐσχημόνως, in its matters of government and worship, 1 Cor. 14:40. Matters of decency refer to those constitutions pertaining to the decorum of Christians within, Rom. 13:13; and with respect to those who are without, cf. 1 Thess. 4:12 with...
For those who are born within the pale of the church, their baptism as infants calls them to join this profession, Ezek. 16:6. To be born into the church of God is a great mercy for those who make proper use of it, Ezek. 16:4, 5. Baptism is an external...
The fact is that the ministry of the Word, or the teaching office, is not a human or merely ecclesiastical invention but a work which displays the divine wisdom, 1 Cor. 1:21; and an office established by God in the church, Ps. 68:11; Jer. 3:15. This office is made...