u/Puzzled_Animator_460

I can't believe it took me this long to realize this but: from the Israelites, to the Pharisees, to the Church at Corinth, to the Church at Ephesus, and to the Churches of Revelation; the institutional (visible) Church and the People of God have always been impure and in constant need of reform and renewal. That's why Protestants believe in Sola Scriptura, because Sola Scriptura is the implicit charge that the visible Church, the People of God, can and have erred.

This is what will inoculate me from chasing after Rome, this is what will keep me grounded.

Praise be to God!

Creed:

I confess that the faith once delivered to the saints is complete in the apostolic deposit, and is uniquely and normatively preserved in Sacred Scripture, the only infallible rule of faith, norming all councils, fathers, decrees, and pronouncements; which itself is inerrant in all matters of faith and practice, and contains all things necessary for salvation.

I confess that salvation is by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone, expounded in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone. In so doing, I affirm the primacy of faith, which is expressed in sanctification; I also affirm that grace is an inner work of the Holy Spirit, by whom we have been sealed unto the day of redemption.

Furthermore, I affirm genuine doctrinal development only as clarification and defence of the apostolic faith, particularly as articulated within the first ecumenical councils of the Church. I also affirm the collective witness of the faithful, enabled by the Spirit, in assenting to sound doctrine throughout the history of the Church. Such developments are authoritative insofar as they comport with Scripture and reflect what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.

Additionally, I affirm the ministerial authority of the visible church universal, particularly as expressed in its historic defence against the great heresies of the early Church.

This I confess not as an end in itself, but in service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness of the apostolic faith is embodied and through whom alone salvation is given.

Due to my Bipolar Disorder, I am prone to manic and hypomanic expressions of the illness, where salience is high and even the mundane is charged with spiritual significance.

I can’t trust “impressions” or —seemingly— the very text of Scripture, as i can’t be trusted to interpret what I read or otherwise apply it to my life situations.

I need advice and guidance, particularly from those of you who are mental-health aware.

I appreciate any and all responses! :)

I've come to a sobering conclusion in the last few weeks: I am not elect of God, though I yearn to be his child. I am a vessel appointed for destruction to the glory of God. I am still in my sins and under judgment. It would have been more merciful of God to have slain me in infancy or childhood than to string me along until my mid-30s.