There have been many Christian creeds throughout the ages and many churches or ministries will have a statement of beliefs. This is not only helpful to allow people who may want to join you to know what you believe, it is also a good exercise for your own benefit. Here’s my creed with some explanatory notes. What’s yours?
I believe in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Three in one, a mystery beyond our comprehension but nevertheless true. God has many names in the Scriptures and the Lord is beyond our comprehension yet we see revealed that God is three persons. The Father, Son and Spirit are all wholly divine and completely one.
I believe God is the creator of heaven and earth.
In fact, I believe God has created everything – all that we know about and all that we have not yet discovered and all that is beyond our discovery. God is not created and has always been. All that has been made has been made by Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I believe in Jesus Christ who was born of Mary, was crucified, died, and buried and rose to life again.
Jesus is fully God and fully human – again a mystery beyond our understanding – his birth, life, death and resurrection are recorded in the gospels and are written that we might believe and put our faith in Christ as the one who saves us.
I believe Jesus saves us from our sin.
To keep it simple I will define sin as all that separates us from God. I believe humans were made to live and commune with God – for his pleasure and ours – but that sin has separated us from God. The consequences of sin are physical death and alienation from our Creator. From these things flow all dissatisfaction, hurt and evil. Jesus saves us from sin by restoring our relationship with God and giving us eternal life (this includes the promise of a new body when we are resurrected after physical death).
I believe Jesus ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the living and the dead.
Jesus is Lord and one day every knee will bow and every tongue acknowledge Christ as Lord. Presently though Jesus is Lord and reigns at the right hand of the Father waiting for the appointed time for the fulfillment of his reign over a new heaven and earth. Jesus’ return and the establishing of a new heaven and earth will include a judgement on all people.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, active in the church -the people of God.
At Pentecost the Spirit was given and is still here. I believe that the same Holy Spirit that enabled men to speak in tongues, cast out demons and see the sick healed is still active today. The Spirit does much more that enable the miraculous, the Spirit of Jesus living within us speaks to us, purifies us and matures us so that we can reflect God’s glory as we become more like Jesus.
I believe there is one holy Church.
Jesus Christ does not have numerous churches. The Scriptures refer to the Church as Christ’s body – all who have put their faith in Christ and live for him are part of the church; those living and those who have died. We may gather in different places or groups, we may gather under different names and labels, we may disagree on much but all those who are ‘in Christ’ are his church and so we are one.
I believe in the forgiveness of sins.
God came to save the world not to condemn it. Jesus came declaring the forgiveness of sins. His death was atonement for sin and yet it seems that many would wallow in sin. Some choose to stay in sinful habits, others are dragged down in shame and guilt about past sins, some are paralysed by the thought of future sins whilst there are many who deny any sense of sin. I believe it is God’s desire that we leave sin and live in his freedom as we live by the Spirit of God who dwells within us. I believe in the forgiveness of sins and stand against those who would weigh people down with shame, guilt or indifference.