THIS subject might be stated variously as "Christ's Place in Christianity," or in the "Christian System," or in "Theology." There has been a vast amount of confusion in the religious world on this subject. Sometimes a human creed or formulation of doctrine has been considered the object of faith; sometimes a metaphysical definition of the Trinity has been regarded as the faith without which no one can be saved. Others have presented the whole Bible as the object of faith. We all know how frequently we have heard men declare their inability to believe because they had not mastered some speculative doctrine in theology which they regarded as a test of faith. While the clouds are clearing away, to some extent, it is still important to emphasize what has been a cardinal truth of this reformation from its beginning, namely, that the faith of which salvation is predicated--the faith that brings deliverance from the power of sin and death--is a personal, vital faith, not in a set of doctrines, however true, but in the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
While the above truth will be readily acknowledged now by intelligent believers generally, there is yet in many parts a fear that, unless the confession made by Simon Peter in the Christhood and Sonship of Jesus be hedged about with other statements, it might not be adequate. In a recent conference with some religious leaders, a distinguished bishop urged what is known as "The Apostles' Creed" as a better statement today than the confession of Simon Peter. In support of this, he mentioned the fact that Simon Peter himself did not know all that was involved in his confession, such as the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Christ from the dead, his ascension, etc., which facts are embodied in the Apostles' Creed. He was reminded, however, that Peter did not originate the confession, and that the same Father in heaven who inspired that confession doubtless knew all that was involved in it. And, certainly, in the light of the New Testament the followers of Christ today know all that was involved in that confession, regardless of any so-called Apostles' Creed.
It, was a great step in advance of the religious thought of the times when it was proclaimed anew a century ago that faith has for its object a divine person--the Lord Jesus Christ--and not any system of doctrine or theology. It was a revolutionary step. The change involved, making Christ the center instead of our theological opinions, has been compared to the change which took place in astronomical science when the sun, and not the earth, was discovered to be the center of our solar system. That truth relegated to the scrap pile all the maps, charts and textbooks on astronomy which had been in use up to that time. Christ was brought in from the circumference of the circle to the center, and men were taught that faith in him, and obedience to him, brought one in right relations to God, to each other, and to the work which God had called men to do through the church. This greatly simplified Christianity. To become a Christian now was not to master a set of metaphysical and speculative dogmas, but to put personal trust and confidence in Jesus Christ because of what he was, of what he did, and of what he taught, and to follow after him. In a series of evangelistic services this great truth should be kept well to the front--that whoever believes on Christ and is willing to confess him before men, and to obey him, may be his disciple, and, following in his footsteps, may rest in the confident assurance of the life everlasting.
The deductions that flow from a great fundamental truth like this are numerous and important. To make Jesus Christ the object of faith instead of a human formulation of doctrine, is to give infinite scope to faith, hope and love, and to give freedom for growth in knowledge according to all the treasures of wisdom in Jesus Christ. "Whom the Son makes free is free indeed."
It draws the distinction between faith and opinion, and between faith and theology, in the first of which there is to be unity, and in the latter, liberty. This divine creed of Christianity shows that its Author knew what was in man, and knew the utter impossibility of making uniformity of thinking a condition of Christian fellowship. But there is "one faith," as there is "one Lord," and "one baptism."
The road to unity is clearly indicated by this same truth of the place of Christ in the Christian faith. As long as we think of the various conflicting doctrines of the creeds as objects of faith, we shall never come together. It is only when we turn our eyes to the central Sun of our Christian system, and think of ourselves as coming to his light, and walking in his light, that we can have fellowship with each other, and that his blood will cleanse us from the sin of our divisions. That the eyes of the Christian world are turning more to the Christ today than at any time since the apostolic age, and that they are thinking of him as the object of our faith, the center of all our thinking, the basis of our unity, who is seeking to draw all men unto himself--this is the most inspiring fact in the religious life and thought of the time in which we live.
