3746 — Creed and Union
By Alonzo Trévier Jones
Is it necessary for man, or a combination of men, to formulate a creed to carry into effect 1 Cor. 1:10? The scripture reads as follows: "Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment." Now if the apostle Paul thought that a creed would bind the Corinthians together, why did he not give it? Why was it not given in the very first place, when they were converted, and the church was organized down at Corinth? Of course the obvious answer to this question is this,—that there is no form, or doctrine, or creed, that men may make which will bind souls together in the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the most fearful causes of division in the Christian church has been the formulation of creeds. If the Word of God were itself taken, and men would hold to that Word, there would be no need of creed. They would find ample room for growth in the development of the great truth of the Gospel; they would find eternal principles that would hold them to oneness in all essentials. But just as soon as the dead hands of men, the cold, inex-pansive creeds, are set to mold the faith of men, living souls are bound to break from them, and in breaking from them, of course gather around themselves other souls, sometimes mere discontents, and a new organization is formed; and in the history of the past, the new organization itself has formed a creed, and the same thing has been repeated through the ages. There is but one bond of union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is life union. There is but one mind to control any union with Him, and for this the apostle pleads: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Only so can His children be of one mind and one heart. The creed bondage has been the curse of Christendom.