My wife and I worship as Southern Baptists but don't get hung up on labels.
A Clarification About Labels, Creeds, and Denominations
Bob’s comments made me realize that some people may have misunderstood what I was saying in my recent articles, so I want to make my point clear.
I was not saying that every denomination is wrong, that every creed is false, or that every theological label is sinful. I was also not saying that everyone who uses a label has stopped following the Bible.
A label can sometimes help explain what someone generally believes. A creed may contain statements that are true. A denomination may teach many things correctly. The question is not whether a person uses a label. The question is whether that label has begun to control how the person reads the Bible.
Nothing written by man is inspired. No creed, confession, denomination, or theological system has authority over the Word of God. When a creed says something true, it is true because the Bible teaches it. When a denomination teaches something correctly, it is correct because it agrees with Scripture.
Everything must be tested by the Word of God.
The Bereans were praised because they “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). Paul wrote, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
The reason I wrote those articles is because of what I have repeatedly experienced on other Christian forums. I can hardly begin a discussion about a Bible passage before someone tries to place a theological label on me.
Once some people decide what label they think belongs on me, they stop dealing with what I actually wrote. They begin arguing against what they think the label teaches instead of examining the actual Bible passages being discussed.
I am not saying everyone does this, but some do, and it happens often.
For example, in a discussion about John 3:16, I pointed out that the verse promises eternal life to whoever believes. I also said that the verse itself does not explain why one person believes and another does not. That question must be answered from other passages, such as John 6:44, John 6:65, John 1:12–13, and 1 Corinthians 2:14.
Instead of dealing with that point from Scripture, people kept trying to determine whether I was a Calvinist, an Arminian, Reformed, or a Fullerite.
I told them that I was not arguing from any of those systems. I was asking what the verse actually says and what conclusions were being added to it. Yet the conversation kept returning to labels instead of the Bible.
That is the problem I am talking about.
Sometimes, once a label comes into a Bible discussion, people stop looking carefully at the text. They begin defending their system, denomination, creed, or confession. Instead of asking, “What does this passage actually teach?” they begin asking, “What does my group say this passage must mean?”
That does not mean every person who uses a label does this. Some people use labels only as a general description and are still willing to test everything they believe by Scripture.
My warning is about what happens when the label becomes more important than the Bible.
Does the label simply describe what someone believes, or does it decide beforehand what the Bible is allowed to mean? Does a creed summarize what someone has found in Scripture, or does the creed become the standard used to interpret Scripture? Does a denomination remain under the authority of God’s Word, or do people defend the denomination even when its teaching cannot be shown from the Bible?
That is the distinction I was trying to make.
I am not asking people to pretend that doctrinal differences do not exist. I am asking people to open the Bible, read the passage in context, compare Scripture with Scripture, and allow the Word of God to correct all of us.
Paul wrote, “That ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written” (1 Corinthians 4:6). That applies to creeds, denominations, theological systems, teachers, and to my own conclusions.
Labels may describe what we believe, but they must never rule what we believe. Creeds may summarize biblical teaching, but they must never become the final authority. Denominations may help identify a church’s general beliefs, but loyalty to a denomination must never come before loyalty to Jesus Christ and His Word.
My point is not that every label is wrong. My point is that when labels take control of a Bible discussion, some people stop examining the actual Bible and begin depending on the label instead.
The issue is not whether a label exists. The issue is whether the label has started reading the Bible for us.
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