937. Our Approach at BJU & What Does this Church Believe?

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today on The Daily Platform, we're continuing a study series called Church Matters. Let's listen as Dr. Pettit continues his sermon about the importance of choosing a church.

Then when Dr. Pettit is finished, Dr. Sam Horn will continue the series. Well, last Wednesday we began our doctrinal series entitled Church Matters. And we started out with the idea that this semester we're going to take time to work through a biblical philosophy of ministry and worship. And so last week I gave four basic reasons why. Number one is because of what we require as an institution.

We're a Christian university and so we require that our students attend local church. Secondly, for many of you, and it showed you last week that this is the first time in your life that you're actually making your own decision regarding church choice. And so we wanted to take time to work through biblical principles. The third reason was our accountability to God.

All of us are accountable. Everybody here is going to stand before the Lord and give an accounting for the decisions that you're making. So what's the basis of your decisions?

Have you thought them through carefully? Are you basing them on scripture? And then number four, we are teaching this because of the nature of worship. And as we understand the Bible clearly, we see that man never worships God correctly without divine revelation. We are by nature idolatrous. We create a God in our own image. And so therefore we need to learn how God wants to be worshiped. That's the approach because ultimately it is for his own glory. So this morning what I'd like us to do is really try to answer the second question that I asked last week that really didn't get to, and that is what is our approach here at Bob Jones University?

So you've chosen to come here. We are a Christian university. Obviously we try to do what we do scripturally and intentionally. So what is our basic approach?

So I'm going to lay just a few points here this morning, and then Dr. Horn will come and follow up. And so as we look at our approach here at Bob Jones University, there are three basic things I'd like to say. Number one, and that is as a Christian university, we are an Orthodox Christian university. You say, what do you mean by Orthodox?

Well, the word Orthodox means to conform to what is generally or traditionally accepted as right and what is true. So if you could say it this way, you look at our 97 word Bob Jones University creed, those are what we call Orthodox statements. These are the things that all true believers, really God's people, these are the things that they believe. It's not what the Baptists believe. It's not what the Lutherans believe. It's what people who know the Lord believe. These are Orthodox statements. These would also be true of statements of the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed. And these are all instated in other places.

And you go through them. I believe in God the Father, and I believe in God the Son. I believe in God the Holy Spirit. I believe in his church.

I believe in salvation by grace through faith. So that's what we mean by Orthodox. So for example, Bob Jones University takes an Orthodox position on the Bible. We believe the Bible is God's inspired, infallible word. And when God gave the word in its original writings, its original autographs, we believe that they came from the Lord.

So if they came from God, obviously they're without error. So we believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, the inspiration of Scripture, the infallibility of Scripture that it's not going to make mistakes, that what it says is so, and what it says is true. That's an Orthodox position. So first of all, Bob Jones University is Orthodox. Secondly, we have chosen as a university ever since its foundation to be non-denominational. Now that doesn't mean we're anti-denominational. It doesn't mean that we are not supportive of other denominations. But as a school, we chose to be non-denominational.

So why? Well, it actually goes back to our founder. Our founder, Dr. Bob Jones Sr., was an evangelist. And he used to hold evangelistic campaigns with many different denominations who cooperated together for the purpose of advancing the Gospel.

So Dr. Bob Jones Sr. actually grew up as a Methodist, but his mother was a Baptist. And so when he would hold a meeting, he would have Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians and others come. And he wanted a creed in the university that would unite and not divide Christians.

He was a unifier. And he wanted something that we could all agree upon. That's why we say the creed during chapel. Now, the creed is not the only thing that we believe, so we have not so minimalized it down to a handful of statements.

But these are the basic things that we believe. Dr. Bob Sr. maintained a non-sectarian approach throughout his career as an evangelist, and he was determined that the college would not overemphasize any scriptural interpretation that would be divisive. He hoped to unify orthodox Bible-believing Christians around the fundamental precepts of the Word of God. So therefore, the school was founded as a non-denominational school.

Now, if you go and look at our student body as a whole, where do they come from? 73% of our students come from independent Baptist and Bible churches. 27% come from other places, non-denominational, Presbyterian, Southern Baptist, EV-free churches, a variety of churches. So the school was founded as a non-denominational, interdenominational institution that could be supported by all Protestant denominations who subscribe to the fundamental truths of the scripture. He believed, for example, we can have church cooperation without church union. What he meant by that was he didn't have a problem cooperating with churches, but he didn't think that all the churches needed to join together and become one. He believed, for example, if you're a Baptist, be a Baptist, because Baptists have certain convictions.

I'm an ordained Baptist preacher, so I was ordained in the ministry in 1980, so it's been almost 40 years. I know what Baptists believe and I are one, so I'm okay with that. So he believed that Baptists ought to be Baptists, but he also believed that Methodists ought to be Methodists.

And he made this statement here on campus at Bob Jones University almost 70 years ago. He said, I think all Protestant denominations are called into existence to underscore something that should be underscored, but all of them are built upon the same essential foundations of the Christian faith. And I made up my mind that a school could be built that would appeal to all evangelical Christian groups if you would stick to the fundamentals. I don't want to divide God's people. I want to unite them on the essential fundamentals of the faith. He believed that evangelical Christians were not a divided army. Stick to the fundamentals and don't try to underscore something that some special group underscores.

He said that most of the people that divide the people of God are people that underscore something that may have a place, but it's not supposed to be underscored. So for example, Bob Jones University is not a reformed Calvinistic school, but do we have people that are here that believe that? The answer is yes. So we're not anti. We're not against it. But if a person comes here and they have an agenda and they're trying to get the whole student body to go in one direction, then we have a problem and we will actually stand against that. So just to help you understand how we think and what our approach is. And then the third thing I'd like to say this morning before Dr. Horn comes is that is that Bob Jones historically is an orthodox, non-denominational, fundamentalist institution.

And I'd like to explain what we mean by that because I would not want to make any assumptions. When Bob Jones College was founded in 1927, 93 years ago, it was during the time of intense conflict between two groups within mainline denominations. One group were called the theological modernist or liberals and the others were called the fundamentalist. German rationalism had influenced American seminaries and a battle raged within mainline protestant denominations in the United States between these two groups.

Now who were the modernists? They had moved away from the foundational truths of the Christian faith and they had forsaken the supernatural aspects of our faith. I mean just consider our creed and the phrases that we say that we believe. We speak these phrases and these are supernatural elements.

The inspiration of the Bible, the creation of man by the direct act of God, the virgin birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, His incarnation, that is God becoming man, regeneration, new birth, new life, that's all supernatural terminology. Bob Jones University has been and will continue to be identified with those that believe these fundamental truths. We are orthodox, evangelical Christians that are expressing what we believe in historic fundamentalism. So what is fundamentalism? This is a definition.

This is my definition that I've written that I've used for years. Fundamentalism is a movement committed to the confession and propagation of the historic biblical doctrines essential to the Christian faith. So we stand on these essential doctrines. Secondly, they believe in the defense of the whole Bible as the absolute, inerrant and authoritative word of God. So we believe the Bible to be the word of God. Third, we believe in the pursuit of holiness and I would contrast that with worldliness. The problem with the church is not that the church is in the world, it is when the world comes into the church. And then fourthly, we believe in separation from all forms of apostasy and ungodliness.

And what we mean by that is that those who leave the fundamental doctrines as professing Christians and they move away from that, then we don't go with them. We stand for these truths. So the charter and the creed of Bob Jones University expresses these beliefs. The history of the university is intertwined with the history of fundamentalism from its very beginning to the present day.

And Bob Jones has identified itself with the movement and we've always played a role of leadership in the movement. And furthermore, as a ministry, we do not work with and we do not cooperate with those who deny our creed. And we don't work with those who are working with those who deny the creed.

So if you're a Christian and you're working with liberals, we're not going to work with you. Now we don't say, it's not like we're not going to say you're not a believer, but we want to be sure that we don't muddy up the gospel. We want the gospel to radiate and shine with brilliance.

We want it to look like a diamond with a backdrop of black velvet. That's how we want the gospel to be put forth. And so therefore we stand with and identify with those who identify with the gospel. So we're orthodox, historic, and fundamentalist. Dr. Pettit has concluded his part of the sermon.

And now we'll hear from Dr. Sam Horn. I have been, uh, all of my adult life, my family and I have been members of Baptist churches and we have grown and served and been ministered by the word there. And it's always been when we go somewhere, we move somewhere, we're in a ministry, we join a church. And when I came here four and a half years ago, that was our plan. We determined that we would come and we would join a church where we felt our family could thrive, where we would be fed the word and where we would have opportunity to serve. What I didn't expect when I got here was how many options would be available.

And I think there are many of you who are in that same boat. And so as we began talking about this as a family, looking back on it, I, we didn't actually lay all of this out at that time, but looking back on that experience, there were really several questions that were very, very helpful to us as we worked our way through that decision. And I want to share one of those questions with you today, because I think it's the foundation of what you and you and I and any other believer should do when we actually start to think about choosing a church. And that question is this, what does this church believe? What does this church affirm? In just a moment, I'm going to walk you through the affirmations that Bob Jones University affirms and believes. But I want to put that in the context of how to use that as you think about the church choice that you're going to be making throughout the course of this semester. What does this church believe? What does it affirm? And 1 Timothy 3, verse 15 actually tells us why this question is so important.

Let me read that text to you. 1 Timothy 3, 15, but if I tarry, this is Paul, if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. And then he says something really important about the church. It is the church of the living God.

And then he describes it this way. It is the pillar and the ground of truth. In our next sermon, we're going to come back and sort of unpack that verse. But in essence, what it's talking about is this, the church is the place where the doctrine that God has given through the apostles is to be lifted up and displayed. And it is the place where it is to be defended and propagated. So these affirmations, this doctrine that we're talking about matter immensely. And that brings us really then to what should those beliefs actually be? When you actually go to look at a church and you start considering what it actually believes, what should you be looking for?

You have in your hand a little bookmark that you got on the way in from chapel. That is an example. It is not the only example.

It is not the perfect example, but it is an example of our attempt here to answer that question. So when you look at the doctrinal statement of a church that you are considering, you're looking for two things. You want to make sure that that church believes the essential truths of the Christian faith. And Dr. Pettit mentioned our creed as an example of what those are.

These are truths. If you deny one of these, then you do not have New Testament Christianity. You can call it Christianity.

It may have parts of what it looks like to be a Christian, but there are certain truths in the scripture that are so core, so essential to the Christian faith that to deny them is actually to deny Christianity itself. And then secondly, you are looking for important truths that a church holds or an institution holds that are clearly articulated and taught in scripture. And the word that we have for that here are these core beliefs. And we have been asked to affirm these beliefs, and we have eight of them in front of you. These are not all of the beliefs that the New Testament would stress is important, but these are the eight that we have asked one another to affirm and to hold.

And I want to read them to you today because I think they're that important. And as you think about your place here as a student, this is the kind of thing that you want to go and ask yourself as you read the doctrinal statement of the church you're attending. So let's start with the first one, the Bible. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is the inerrant, infallible, historically reliable, providentially preserved revelation of God.

And because it is that, it is sufficient for faith and practice. And the books that we're talking about that have these properties and this ability are the 66 books of the traditional Protestant canon. And those are the ones that are true and authoritative, the true and authoritative word of God for the church. And so as you look at a doctrinal statement, you want to find out whether a church actually believes that. What do we believe about what do we believe about God and what do we believe about Jesus? We believe the triune God exists in three persons who are co-eternal in being, co-equal in nature, attributes and glory. We also believe that God is the creator of all things in heaven and earth and the providential ruler of all creation.

This is going to speak to your view of creation and how seriously you take the word of God and what God has actually said about how he created the earth and the world and the universe. What do we believe about Jesus? What should we affirm about Jesus? Minimally, that he is the son of God, fully God, fully man, incarnated by the power of the Holy Spirit through the virginal conception.

You can see elements of our creed that we say every day in this statement. Jesus' vicarious substitutionary penal atonement for the sins of mankind was accomplished in this way. It was accomplished by the shedding of his blood on the cross and in this way through this means he propitiated the wrath of God against sin and against sinners. And God validated and vindicated him but when he arose bodily from the dead and ascended in glory to the right hand of the father. Now those are important beliefs and those are beliefs that as you think about a church and you think about where you're going to place yourself where you can grow and serve and these are the kinds of things that a church where you will grow and serve is supposed to elevate.

It's supposed to display the truth about God and about Jesus. What do we actually affirm about man? What does the Bible clearly teach about man? He is the special creation of God made in his own image created male and female who will live for all eternity either in heaven or in hell. Man rebelled against God resulting in human universal human depravity. He is unable to save himself from the just wrath of God or to deliver himself from the penalty of eternal death and torment for sin. And then we also believe that the scriptures clearly teach that God has the right to impose moral and ethical mandates on humanity which he has done through his word.

These mandates include things like norms for sexual identity and behavior, marriage and the protection and present preservation of human life from conception. What do we believe about salvation? And this is really why you and I are even here. Why we have the opportunity to make these affirmations. We believe that justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ vicarious, propitiatory and penal atonement alone.

And we've we spent an entire semester looking at these ideas some time ago and many of you in the student body remember that. We believe the new birth comes through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit as he quickens us and enlightens us so that we see the beauty of God in in the face of Jesus Christ. What do we believe about the church? We believe that the New Testament teaches that the local church is central to God's plan for this age.

For the proclamation of the gospel, the defense of the truth, the preaching of the word and the worship of God by his people. We believe the local church is indispensable to the spiritual growth and health of every genuine Christian. That is one of the reasons why to us it is so important that every one of us be a healthy participant and faithful member of a church that is is the pillar and ground of the truth that is being taught in scripture.

We believe the scriptures restrict the office of pastor elder to spiritually qualified men. Paul speaks very clearly about this in the pastoral epistles. The scriptures we we also believe that believers should regularly attend and serve at a local church that holds doctrinal beliefs and theological positions that are aligned with the scripture and reflected in the core biblical doctrines that are stated here. What do we believe about sanctification?

How do we believe that you and me and others who believe the gospel grow in grace? We believe that God's will for his people is that we should be holy and increasingly like Christ for his glory. We believe that holiness involves several things. It involves guarding the truth from error. It involves maintaining purity in faith and doctrine. It involves pursuing a life and practice that is in keeping with the scripture and in clear antithesis to the surrounding sinful culture. And we also believe that fidelity to scripture in our progressive sanctification compels us to intentionally separate from sin, worldliness, false teaching, and persistently disobedient brothers in Christ. And then we also believe some things about the future and here's what we believe.

We believe that Jesus Christ will return visibly to deliver his people, to judge the world, and to establish his kingdom for his glory. Now, these eight things, and you have a little bookmark that you can put in the flyleaf of your Bible, these eight things are things that are clearly and expressly taught in the scriptures. These are not all the things that you and I believe as Christians.

These are not all the truths. For example, if you look at this list, we don't have a section for the Holy Spirit. We actually believe in the Holy Spirit. We actually believe that he's included, and you can see references to him throughout all of these statements. He's part of the Trinity. He's how regeneration happens in our life.

He is the one who validated Jesus by raising him from the dead. So this is an example of the fact that what's on this document, the affirmations that we have, do not include everything that a church believes. But these are things that at bare minimal, you should actually think about. So when you think about choosing a church, the doctrine of that church is absolutely essential. And the first question, the foremost question you should ask is, what does this church actually believe?

And I have a suggestion for you as we wrap up today. Here's what has helped me, and I think would help you as you think about this decision. Here's the first thing. Find the doctrinal statement of the church you are thinking about. Actually read it carefully and thoroughly. We took the time in chapel to read eight affirmations, not because we think you can't read them yourselves, but because they're that important. And so as you think about the church you're considering, even if you've been going there for some time, get the doctrinal statement and actually read it carefully. And then number two, make sure that you understand what that doctrinal statement is saying clearly. Take time to go through words that you don't understand or that may be unfamiliar to you. I mean, there are words in the eight affirmation statements that I just read to you and that we read together that many of you probably are going, I'm not exactly sure what that word means.

Well, take the time to find out. There are many study aids. There are study Bibles. There are systematic theologies. Most of you who have gone through our doctrines classes will have been exposed to that language, but if you don't know or you're unsure, take the time to ask somebody who understands and who has the theological foundation to be able to point you to resources that will help you. So read the doctrinal statement carefully, understand it clearly and thoroughly, and then finally make sure that you can embrace it personally. Make sure that your personal beliefs line up with the church, particularly in these two essential areas, in the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith and in the core beliefs that are clearly taught in the scripture.

This is not just an academic exercise. It's not just a theological exercise that you sort of check off. It is actually the first and really the foremost thing that you want to ask as you think about a church. Most churches today have their doctrinal statement readily available.

You can go to their website, generally somewhere on that website, maybe under who they are or what we believe or our foundational identity or belief statement. There'll be a statement of their doctrine and you want to find that statement and you want to make sure that you invest the time to carefully read and thoroughly understand what that church actually believes, because that belief is going to affect a lot of other things in the church as we'll see next week when we come together. Shall we pray together? Lord, thank you so much for the opportunity to come together for an entire semester to talk about your church. Lord, it is your church. It is the church of the living God and we have been made a part of that church by you through your spirit and your son. And so, Lord, we take this privilege and are so thankful for it and we want to be responsible members and regular attenders and participants in the particular local church where you are guiding us and directing us. Lord, we want to grow and we want to serve. And so, Lord, help us as we make that choice to understand carefully and accurately and thoroughly what a church believes that we are considering, because we want to be submitted to you and we want to be submitted to your word. And so help us with this, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to a sermon by Dr. Sam Horn from the series called Church Matters. Join us again tomorrow as we continue this series on church membership here on The Daily Platform.