The Living Church of God publishes a statement of beliefs for all who might be interested in reading them. You can find it online, and it is a fairly quick read. In its current PDF form, it only takes up eight pages, and two of those do not discuss doctrines. Most readers would probably be able to finish reading all six content pages in a day. It briefly covers topics such as the Sabbath, tithing, the Holy Spirit, the Great Tribulation, and many more. But why not simply say that the Bible is the only “statement” we need? This article will examine several reasons why the Living Church of God has an Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs.
Let’s begin with a couple of obvious reasons. First, the Bible is a long book. While we should make every effort to read the entirety of the Bible during our lifetime—ideally more than once—sometimes a summary is a helpful resource when time is limited. It should not be read instead of the Bible, but reading it alongside the Bible can quickly address a broad range of topics and help identify areas in which deeper exploration may be necessary. For the ministry, our statement of beliefs can be especially helpful to give people who inquire about the Living Church of God or ask to be baptized. And it has been helpful for inquiries from the press and when communicating with governments in supporting our international membership around the world.
A second reason is also obvious. There are thousands of churches, sects, and denominations that all claim to be Christian yet believe in wildly different theologies. I was raised in a mainstream Protestant church that claimed to go by “scripture alone.” Yet its members did not keep the Sabbath, practice tithing, or talk about prophetic events like the Great Tribulation. And, needless to say, their trinitarian concept of the Holy Spirit is a far cry from what you will find in the Bible—as we make plain in our statement of beliefs. Simply put, there is so much confusion about God’s nature, His plan, and what it means to be Christian—and about a host of other doctrines and beliefs—that a concise statement of beliefs helps demonstrate what sets the Living Church of God apart.
Focusing on the Foundational
A third reason to have a statement of beliefs is that it points out basic truths on which we must be unified. The document identifies many key doctrines that are truly fundamental. To use a common expression, it helps us identify the trunk of the tree, as opposed to branches or twigs.
In many of his epistles, Paul exhorted the congregations to aim for unity: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). This exhortation especially applies to the doctrines covered in our statement of beliefs. We as members of God’s Church should not have differences of opinion about which day is the Sabbath or whether true Christians are commanded to keep it. God’s people should not have arguments about whether homosexuality or racism are sin—both clearly are, and both are briefly covered in the Statement. When we talk about coming together with people of like mind at Sabbath services, one key to being of one mind is being of one accord about the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs—an accord that should produce gladness and praise (Acts 2:46–47)!
A fourth reason to have a statement of beliefs is that it helps us understand why we believe what we believe. Despite being a quick read, the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs provides a long study! This is because it is packed with scriptural references to look up and review. These are often vital verses that illustrate why the Living Church of God believes a doctrine—and believes it to be fundamental. For example, the section titled “The Holy Bible” is all of three sentences long, but it also refers to three verses. There is not a single topic covered that does not contain a scriptural reference, and that is the way it should be, since we are told to live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). When seeking to understand doctrine, we should look to the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).
Of course, context is important, and many nominally “Christian” churches have twisted Scripture to produce a false gospel and false Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). We are commanded to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), and we must not make the mistake of assuming that the few verses listed in our statement of beliefs tell the whole story. They are simply a starting point, and we must keep up with our personal daily Bible study to see the entire picture of the Bible. Many headings in the document connect with Church literature—for example, to know more about the Holy Bible than what just three verses can tell, we can read Dr. Douglas Winnail’s booklet The Bible: Fact or Fiction? The Church’s booklets expound on the Ten Commandments, unclean meats, and the Millennium, to name a few topics, and they can help us dive deeper into doctrines that our statement of beliefs only summarizes.
De-emphasizing the Doubtful
A fifth reason for the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs is that it also clarifies for us what is not fundamental when we consider what the document does not say. Of course, the absence of a topic does not mean that it is insignificant or that the Church has nothing to say on it. The statement of beliefs is not meant to be exhaustive, yet noting that something is not mentioned in it can still be helpful.
For example, it does not mention the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14. While the Church does teach about the 144,000—as can be read and studied in our booklet Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled!—the Council of Elders did not list the identity of the 144,000 in the document. While it can be a fascinating subject to study, its absence from the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs should be considered when we begin to take our personal speculations, or those of others, too dogmatically.
Paul instructs Christians to “receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things” (Romans 14:1). He goes on to discuss the “doubtful” issues of meat offered to idols and particular days of fasting. Such issues rarely plague God’s Church today—but other disagreements among members often take their place.
For example, discussion of vaccines is absent from the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs. As the COVID-19 pandemic reminded us, the Church has long encouraged individual members to do their own research and make their own personal choices regarding vaccines. The absence of the topic in the document does not mean that these decisions should be taken lightly, but it should give us perspective when we consider those who make decisions different from our own.
Finally, the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs helps guide how we respond when differences arise within the body of Christ. For instance, when discussing doubtful things, we are reminded, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls” (Romans 14:4). Even if we are certain that we have the correct answer on something not covered in the document, God’s word instructs us, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God” (Romans 14:22).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I spoke with a collection of brethren who held different views on vaccines, and those views were causing contention. After counseling with the pastor, reviewing Church literature, and doing their own Bible studies, the members of this congregation decided to simply stop talking about vaccines. This simple, mature decision ended the contention! No one’s minds were changed (so far as I know), but the brethren focused on the instructions found in Romans 14, Ephesians 4:1–6, and Philippians 2:1–3. They chose to promote group harmony through individual humility, recognizing that they were dealing with contentions about a doubtful thing—in this case, an issue not covered in the Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs.
On the other hand, some things are not doubtful, and issues do arise when someone wants to cause contentions over topics that are covered in our statement of beliefs. The Bible gives a different approach to these types of problems: “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17). If someone wants to argue about the validity of the Sabbath, the definition of sin, unclean meats, or something else that is established doctrine, we are told not just to avoid the topic, but to avoid the individual. Such argumentative people will often simply stop attending, but sometimes they must be avoided. This command is restated in 2 Thessalonians 3:14–15. As these verses indicate, the goal of this avoidance is that such individuals will repent of their false ideas.
The Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs is a powerful document that serves many purposes. If you have not read it in a while, please take some time to review it! It can serve as a quick reminder of the basic doctrines of the Living Church of God. It might spur you to further study of a topic that catches your eye. It can also help you decide how to handle contentions when they arise: Are they over doubtful issues that can be handled by avoiding those topics, or are they over trunk-of-the-tree issues that might indicate that a person should be avoided? All these lessons are there for you if you spend time with our Official Statement of Fundamental Beliefs!