The Creeds of the Faith Part 7

Welcome, brothers and sisters.

This will be our final class on the creeds.

!

Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you for your rich example of faithfulness, Lord, to your church.

Lord, that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Father, that you have been faithful in the past, and so we can be assured that you will be faithful today.

And that you will guard us, protect us, and that you will bring us safely home.

Father, we pray that today will be edifying.

Lord, there be unity and love.

And, Father, just sincere thankfulness toward you.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right.

Well, ignore this for another 10, 15 minutes.

So today, this year marks the 1700th year of the Nicene Creed.

And Christians around the world have been pausing,

using this as an opportunity to reflect, again, at the rich heritage of the creeds that we have.

And creeds, if you recall, come from the word credo.

I believe, believing, confessing.

These are truths that God calls the church to believe and confess.

And in this class, I'm going to use the word creeds and confessions almost synonymously.

They're very similar in function.

It's been said confessions are about what we believe.

Creeds are about in whom we believe.

Creeds tend to be more ecumenical in the early church, universal in nature.

Confessions, on the other hand, come from the Protestant Reformation and tend to be more comprehensive.

There might be a more surgical way of distinguishing creeds and confessions,

but that's just a roadmap for us.

And we do have a rich heritage that reminds us that we join an assembly of believers across the ages,

both saints today and saints from yesterday, from the past.

As we're thinking about this, in the old world,

Christians often created graveyards on church property,

mostly in the UK, but here in Connecticut as well.

And it was a reminder that when you came to church,

that you join the communion of saints,

present and the past.

You walk into church,

and you join the saints who have gone before us,

those who have departed to a better place.

And being a member of the church universal is to be a part of that community,

a community that stretches back to antiquity.

And we're united in the faith that we confess.

And I've been encouraged just throughout this class

where we stand in line with generations of Christians

who believe the same things we believe today.

That should be a rich encouragement for us.

So let me recap some of what we've discussed,

and then we're going to pivot and look at creeds for today.

And when we discuss the creeds,

Christians can either have a healthy or an unhealthy relationship to the past.

An unhealthy relationship to the past is when we elevate traditions to the place of Scripture,

where we begin to venerate human teachers.

Or on the flip side, an unhealthy relationship to the past is when we try to reinvent the wheel every Sunday.

A healthy respect means we recognize that the Spirit of God has been at work in the church.

Every age, every generation of Christians are called to study, proclaim, and live out the Scripture.

But we have healthy models from our brothers and sisters in Christ

who have taken God's Word, applied it to the challenges of their day,

and we need to pay attention and learn from their example.

That's a healthy relationship to the past,

where we stand on the shoulder of giants.

You know, when there's a crisis,

you're going to have Scripture come to mind, right?

But what else?

Hymns will start to come to mind.

Maybe it is well, great is thy faithfulness.

And in sickness and chronic struggles,

how many times have people quoted as a comfort Heidelberg Catechism?

What is my only comfort in life and death?

Maybe some of you have quoted that answer,

that I am not my own,

but belong body and soul in life and in death

to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

So in clear, powerful words,

this reminds us that we can rejoice

because we belong to the One who laid down His life for us.

True comfort and assurance.

Again, not Scripture.

And the Heidelberg Catechism wouldn't claim to be Scripture.

But maybe that statement reminds you of John 10,

where Jesus said,

I am the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

Or maybe it reminds you of Psalm 100, verse 3.

Psalms 100:3

Know that the Lord, He is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His,

and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

In the same way,

martyrs march to their death,

reciting the words of the creeds.

Again, not Scripture.

Remember, these creeds are helpful summaries

of biblical teaching.

Going back to our first class,

this is not the inspired, authoritative Word of God.

It's not additional, special revelation.

We do not claim infallibility for creeds.

Yet these creeds are helpful summaries.

They're hearing aids to help us strengthen

our understanding of the Scripture.

And these are summaries.

They're doctrinal aspirations of the Church.

Here's what we believe.

Here's what we aspire to.

When you come into our Church,

here's what you can expect to be taught.

We're not replacing Scripture.

We're using them as helpful summaries.

And so if someone asks you a question,

you know, who is Jesus?

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What is the Church?

What role do good works have in the Christian life?

You could say, well, you know,

I believe in what the New Testament teaches

on those things.

Okay.

And you could just start from Genesis 1-1

and start citing a list of Bible verses.

That's one way of doing that.

Or you could do what most people do,

and you start to summarize

of what the Bible teaches.

But as soon as we say to summarize,

we're moving in the direction of creedal statements.

In our second class,

we discussed how creeds were used by Christians

in the early Church.

We talked about people like Irenaeus

and Tertullian and Ignatius,

and who used the rule of faith

to summarize those matters

which were at the heartbeat of their faith.

The rule had things like the Trinity

and creation, God's grace,

Christ's incarnation,

his suffering, his resurrection,

the ascension,

his second coming in judgment.

They emphasized Jesus was really,

really, really, really human

in contrast to the heresies of their day.

And just like laws that are passed

after an offense,

creeds were often a response against heresy,

where theological error forced the Church

into articulating theological clarity.

I remember Raul said,

creeds are not intellectualistic.

You know, someone sitting in their study,

it's because from within and without,

they are clarifying,

because there's a threat to the Church.

And we talked about the Nicene Creed,

a response against Arianism.

You know, Aria said the Son was highly exalted,

even a divine figure,

but a creature, nonetheless.

There was a time when the Son was not.

And we saw Aria used evasive language,

maybe similar to Jehovah's Witnesses today.

But the Church had to formulate terminology

that became a guardrail to protect the Church.

Christ is of the same substance as the Father.

And we talk about Constantinople,

response to those who deny the divinity of the Holy Spirit,

or Chalcinon,

a response to the nature of Jesus,

fully God and fully man,

the hypostatic union.

So that's what we've been discussing

as these last six weeks.

So let's pivot for creed for today.

Are creeds still relevant?

One way we could say this,

to creed or not to creed?

That is the question.

Like Shakespeare,

we're thinking about creeds.

So first, I think three things

I want us to consider together.

First, I'm going to suggest

that creeds protect against authoritarianism in churches.

Authoritarianism in churches.

Second, we're going to discuss

how the Apostles' Creed

speaks to modern cultural issues.

And third, we're going to conclude

by looking at future creeds.

Creeds that have not yet been written.

So before we do that,

let's make sure that we don't miss the wood from the trees.

This is a reminder for myself, as it were.

If the creeds are large red oaks

that have withstood the test of time

in God's kingdom,

it's not the main tree, right?

It's not the gospel.

So let's keep the main thing the main thing.

There are godly Christians

who disagree

about the use of creeds.

And you know what?

We'll spend eternity with them.

This is an inner family conversation.

All right?

And more liturgical

Protestant traditions,

our brothers and sisters

in Lutheran traditions,

the Presbyterians,

Anglicans,

some Baptists,

creeds are used

within churches.

not only for protecting doctrine,

but teaching it

to help memorize

these fundamental truths.

And you'll often hear

that Baptists do not recite creeds.

Well, that might be true

of many Baptists in America today,

but that historically

has not been the case.

There's kind of been a fear

that only Roman Catholics

recite creeds.

We're Bible people.

Baptists are an an electric bunch, right?

So we are,

it's a wide tent.

And we have brothers and sisters

who are Baptists

who we love.

They're good Christians

who love the Lord,

love the gospel,

who disagree with the use of creeds.

And that's okay.

I just want to keep

the main thing the main thing,

that we both love Jesus

and we're committed

to the authority of Scripture.

But I want to suggest

that creeds protect

against authoritarianism

in churches.

Because, you know,

every church has a creed.

And even the pastor

who gets up to the pulpit

and claims,

we have no creed,

but the Bible

actually has a creed.

And I've been influenced

by Carl Truman

on this question.

And he has a book

called The Creedal Imperative

where he writes this.

The only difference

between someone

who claims no creed,

but the Bible,

and a creedalist

is this.

The creedalist

writes his creed down.

What he,

the non-creedalist,

really should say

is this.

I have a creed,

but I am not going

to write it down.

So you cannot critique it

or test it by the Scripture.

And I am going

to identify my creed

so closely

with the Bible

that I am not going

to be able

to critique it either.

So in other words,

he's saying,

when we refuse

to acknowledge

our own framework,

framework,

we refuse actually

for an opportunity

for others

to publicly scrutinize

what we as a church believe.

So creeds actually

help to avoid

authoritarian leaders

in churches.

How?

Well, every church

has boundaries.

Every church

draws boundaries.

And when you write

it down,

when you write

those boundaries down,

you give others

the benefit

of knowing

where those boundaries are.

And I wonder

if you've ever been

in a church

where there's

just underground landmines

where you actually

don't know

where those boundaries are

until you've crossed it.

And worse than that,

one person can change

that boundary in secret.

So rather than having

above-ground fences

where it's a clearly

delineation of

here's what we

as a church believe,

you have people

who are afraid

of abandoning

of crossing boundaries,

but they're not actually

quite sure where those are.

And I think historically,

J.A. Packer,

he wrote that

historic creeds

assist the church

in carrying out

four principal responsibilities.

The first is disciplinary,

so guarding.

You're guarding

the truth from error.

The second is doxological

or worship.

Third is declarative,

witnessing.

And fourth is didactic

or teaching

or instruction.

So that's how the creeds

have normally been used.

And so for today,

I want to consider witnessing.

How does the Apostles' Creed

help us to witness?

And can the Apostles' Creed

speak to our modern challenges?

So in North America,

you know,

there's been a general idea,

I would say,

within the past 100 years,

maybe, of course,

farther back than that,

of what constitutes

Christian belief.

It's often been assumed,

right?

But for various reasons,

we've entered into

a consciously post-Christian,

even anti-Christian outlook.

So when churches

recite,

share the gospel

and evangelism,

they'll often use

something called

the Romans' road.

And I want us to talk

about that together.

The Romans' road

to evangelism,

where they present

the gospel

to a non-believer.

The ABC method,

admit,

believe,

confess.

All right?

And the Romans' road

typically goes like this.

Okay,

admit that you are a sinner.

And they recite Romans,

Romans 3:23

chapter 3,

verse 23.

All have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God.

And they'll say,

well,

and then believe

on the Lord Jesus Christ

and you will be saved.

And believe that

He laid His life down

for sinners.

And then third,

confess Jesus

as the risen Lord

and He will welcome you

into heaven.

Okay,

so you may have seen

some of these ways

of presenting the gospel.

But let me ask this question

to all for all of us here.

What information

do you think

this assumes

about the non-Christian hearer

who is listening to this?

What are we assuming

about that?

Luke.

Yes, exactly.

I mean,

this kind of makes

no sense

if you don't know

what a sinner is

or what an idea of sin.

Exactly.

Anything else?

That they know

who Jesus is?

Like what He said

about Himself?

Yep.

Jesus

is undefined here.

Yep.

Excuse me?

God loves you

and has a wonderful

plan for your life.

This certainly

could create

a whole bunch

of pastoral issues

down the line.

Yes.

Yes.

Anything else?

It assumes

that the modern reader

or hearer

acknowledges

the existence

of the biblical God.

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

Yeah,

that God has certain demands

on your life.

Yeah.

Yeah.

When a person

is suppressing

the truth

and unrighteousness,

all of this

doesn't mean anything.

He doesn't believe

miracles.

His conscience

is seared maybe.

Mm-hmm.

It's a smorgasbord

of belief

that you believe

and doesn't mean

a thing to me.

Right.

I'm trying to find out

where I'm going to get

my next meal.

You're talking about

a guy that rose

to the dead.

Yes.

Yeah.

So I would suggest

that the ABC method

is not enough

in our current day.

The gospel call

is not understood.

There's an ignorance

of who God is.

So if you told a pagan

that Jesus was Lord,

you know,

they might think,

okay,

he's one of many options.

And the problem,

this problem ran deep

in the early church

in the Roman Empire.

And so the Apostles' Creed

was actually born

as an instrument

for evangelism.

All right.

So do you think

you can find the gospel

in the Apostles' Creed?

Anybody want to give a shot?

Is the gospel in there?

Yeah.

Forgiveness of sins,

communion of the saints,

he ascended into heaven,

he's sitting at the right hand

of the Father,

he will come and judge

the living and the dead.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

It starts with creation.

God is the maker of everything,

including ourselves.

And the Father's care

for everything

is of heaven and earth.

And so he's Lord over it all.

Then the incarnation,

right,

the Son stepping down

into creation,

his humiliation,

into death,

and his resurrection.

He's reigning,

soon returning

as royal judge.

And what was his mission?

To suffer,

to die for the forgiveness

of sins.

And we have the Spirit's power

in our lives.

And we're going to talk more

about this section particularly.

And we have a future hope.

So really what the Apostles' Creed

is doing,

and you can make sense

why the writers of the Creed

would need to have this

written down,

is that they're providing

a biblical theology

of creation, fall,

redemption,

and restoration.

And it's giving content

to the entire scheme

of the biblical storyline.

And it's radically God-centered

and it requires

a reorientation

of our entire lives

when we confess

that Jesus is Lord.

And so I think

that schema

would be helpful

for people today

who don't understand

this part,

especially that God

is the creator.

Or who Jesus was.

And I think

it also does something

else besides

providing biblical theology.

And I've been reflecting

on Tim Keller's words

before he died

in his writing

on church renewal.

He wrote about the idea

of the church

needing to do

counter-catechesis.

And counter-catechesis

is what the church

has always done.

And it's using

biblical doctrine

to deconstruct

the beliefs

of the culture

around us

and then provide

alternative narratives

to the secular narratives.

So counter-catechesis,

he's not saying

using actual Q&A catechesis.

He's just saying

we need to provide

a Christian narrative

of what's most true

in the world

over and again

secular narratives

that are bombarding us

every day.

And I think

we can do better.

Those have still

yet to be written.

But I think

the Apostles' Creed

actually helps with that.

It helps us

to understand

the kind of world

we live in.

It helps us

to understand

a counter-narrative

of what's most true

in the world.

And as pilgrims,

we need to avoid

being squeezed

into the mold

of this world

but constantly

being renewed

by the...

renewing our mind

with God's truth.

And so,

I want us to consider

the Apostles' Creed

almost in a

counter-catechetical way

where we're

contrasting it

with secular creeds.

And so,

let's consider

the secular creed

together.

So this month,

Pride Month,

is almost a liturgical

calendar

to a modern

secular creed.

Rebecca McLaughlin

has called

one creed

you might see

during the election day,

during the election season,

where you might see

a sign like this.

It says,

In this house

we believe,

so credo,

we believe

black lives matter.

Women's rights

are human rights.

No human

is illegal.

Science is real.

Love is love.

Kindness is everything.

Right?

So we've gone

from an age

of moral relativism

to an age

concerned

acutely

with issues

of what is

of justice,

of what is

right and wrong.

And that is a creed.

That's a secular creed,

as Rebecca says.

And the point

isn't to disentangle

these ideas

but just to recognize

we live in a very

creedal age.

And we face

challenges

of rival

conceptions

of what is

most true

of things like

rising individualism

and autonomy

and freedom.

Everyone has

the right

to decide

what's right

for them.

That's true

freedom,

right?

Throw off

traditions

and expectations.

Let what's

inside of you

come outside.

Our biggest

problem

could be

political repression,

trauma from your past,

people's judgmental

attitudes.

the problem

comes from

outside of you.

And Charles Taylor

calls this ethic

expressive individualism.

It's a story

we live by.

It's the air

we breathe.

And Pride Month

is almost an annual

liturgical calendar

where we can

act these beliefs

out as a culture.

But on top of that,

the secular creed

has a very

has an understanding

of power

that would be

different than

what I think

Christians'

idea of power

is.

Where in the

secular creed,

the idea of power

is almost always

harmful.

You know,

freedom is the

ability to do

what you want

and power

is the ability

to make others

do what you want.

Christianity

is just a raw

form of power

to control

and to oppress.

And according

to some,

everything can be

reduced to matters

of power.

Who has it?

Who doesn't have it?

And any use

of power

power is

of a dominant

group maintaining

its state of

dominance by imposing

its control.

And power

invokes negative

emotion that's

damaging,

it's bad.

It's like a sheep

in the jaws

of a tiger.

Many find

themselves in the

jaws of an

abusive leader,

an abusive

pastor who abuses

the sheep.

But the creed

has a lot to say

about power

and how Christians

understand power.

And I'm indebted

to our brother

from down under,

Reese Bezant

for his thoughts

on this.

After all,

what is power?

What does the

scripture say

about power?

And do you have

any thoughts?

I would say

certainly there

are examples

of leaders

using their power

to enslave

its victims.

Think of Pharaoh

and the Israelites.

But the scripture

also has a lot

more to say

about what is power.

And the creed

is going to get

into this.

The scripture

says the gospel

is the power

of God.

So according

to the gospel,

God's power

actually brings

life.

And Jesus

uses his power

to rescue

captives

and to set

them free.

So power,

according to the

scripture,

can actually

heal creation.

And things

can be powerful

and they can

bring life.

So think

about a

defibrillator

restarting

someone's heart.

Powerful.

Think about

a helicopter

rescuing

a sick

patient,

airlifting

them to

the hospital

to get

the care

they need.

Think of

the power

of a

compassionate

leader

who stands

up for

those whom

God has

called to

protect.

That's power.

And according

to the scripture,

by God's power,

Jesus was

raised from

the dead.

And the

power of

the gospel

raises

those who

are dead

to new

life.

Right?

He who

raised Jesus

from the dead

will also give

life to your

mortal bodies.

Paul says,

in this

same power

is the

same power

working in

your heart,

brother and

sister,

by the

Holy Spirit.

The power

of God

brings

perseverance.

So,

according to

the

scripture,

God's

power

brings

healing.

And let's

consider the

last part

of the

creed

together.

here.

I don't

know if

that's...

I think

I can...

Here we go.

Try it

again.

Here we go.

There it was.

It was.

It was.

I hope you

memorized it.

Okay.

It's okay.

It's okay.

So powerful.

So powerful.

There we go.

Okay.

So I want us

to consider this

section together.

I believe in the

Holy Spirit.

And the sentences

that follow are all

about the Holy

Spirit's power

and how the

Spirit works

powerfully to

help us in our

lives to live

lives to the

glory of God.

The Holy Spirit

is working

powerfully in

our lives.

To consider

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 1:7

chapter 1

verse 7,

God gave us

not a spirit

of fear but

of power,

of love and

self-control.

The Spirit

brings power

but it's a

different kind

of power,

isn't it?

It's a power

that the world

does not have

a category for.

So how does

the Spirit

work powerfully?

The writer

of the creed

start with,

I believe in

the Holy

Catholic

or Universal

Church.

Where is

God's power

most evident?

God's power

most evident

in the world.

Where is

His power

most evident?

As we see

God's power

working itself

out,

what is

God's primary

strategy to

make us like

Christ?

Well, it's

the church,

isn't it?

This is a place

where God's

power is

evident.

And the

gospel is

the power

of God

which saves

us.

But week

after week

the gospel

is applied

to all

of life

as we

become more

like Christ,

more holy.

It's a holy

church.

We belong to

the holy

universal

church,

a people

for God's

own possession.

sin.

You know,

one of my

favorite

descriptions of

the church

is in

Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:23

verse 23

where Paul

says the

church is

the fullness

of Him

who fills

all in all.

The church

is where

Christ dwells

and is made

manifest.

This is where

His presence

is known.

So where is

God powerfully

working?

He's working

in the church,

isn't He?

And isn't

it sad

in our

modern day

that,

you know,

for example,

after COVID

there are some

who have not

returned to

gathering with

the church

or those

who think

watching a

service on

their couch

is equivalent

to being part

of this church.

They have not

partaken of

one of God's

greatest gifts.

The Spirit

works powerfully

in the church

and how

many of us

need to be

reminded that

the church

is God's

primary way

of displaying

His new

creation to

the world.

The Spirit

is working

powerfully.

But not only

that,

the Spirit

works powerfully

in the communion

of saints.

I'm going to

ask this question.

In a divided

world,

how might the

communion of saints

be a witness

to God's,

the Holy Spirit's

power in the

church?

not a rhetorical

question.

How might this

demonstrate God's

power?

How might this

demonstrate God's

power?

powerfully?

How might this

be a witness

of the

church?

How might this

be a witness

of the

communion of

saints?

Surely you can't

be talking about

promulg killing all

those tens of

thousands of

Irish Catholics.

Well, this would

be the communion

of saints.

Yeah, of course

the church has not

lived up, right?

This is

aspirational.

This is what we

aspire to.

Of course we're

not going, the

communion of saints

is not going to be

perfect until glory.

And I take your

point.

But isn't it a

witness to the

Holy Spirit's power

that he's so

powerful that he

binds us together?

The communion of

saints is us,

right?

And not only us,

but those who have

left us.

The union we have

in Christ, this

communion with

each other binds

us together.

So, brother and

sister, we have

much more in

common than that

which divides us.

Wouldn't that be a

wonderful testimony

for us to church to

save the world?

We have the

communion of saints.

We are bound

together in the

gospel.

And I think in a

divided world, that

witnesses to God's

power in the

church.

church.

In Hebrews, I was

thinking of Hebrews,

which tells us that

we have this

communion together

with all saints in

glory.

Hebrews 12, verse

Hebrews 12:22

22.

But you have come to

Mount Zion, into the

city of the living

God, the heavenly

Jerusalem, and to

myriad of angels, the

general assembly, and

church of the

firstborn, who are

enrolled in heaven, and

to God the judge of

all, and to the

spirits of the

righteous made

perfect.

perfect.

This idea that we

have come to this

great assembly, which

is in heaven, the

spirits of the

righteous made

perfect, those

present and past.

So the spirit works

powerfully in the

church, in our union

in Christ together.

The spirit of God

works powerfully in

the forgiveness of

sins.

Does the Holy Spirit

play a role in the

forgiveness of sins?

I mean, at first

glance, right, the

Father sends the

Son to die.

The Son secures our

forgiveness through

redemption, but does

the spirit play a role

at all in the

forgiveness of sins?

What do you think?

The answer is yes,

but it's all

Trinitarian.

It's one plan

working together.

How does the spirit

play a role in the

forgiveness of sins?

Yes, he applies the

work of forgiveness

into our hearts.

Yes.

He reminds us of the

forgiveness of sins

that we have in Christ.

And isn't that one of

God's greatest gifts to

us?

You know, Jesus didn't

want us to take this

for granted.

And neither did the

writers of the creed,

and we're so likely to

forget this.

Remember, Jesus tells his

disciples to do two

things regularly.

He gives us the

model of the Lord's

Prayer, right?

Pray like this.

And in the Lord's Prayer,

it says we need to ask

for forgiveness.

And we need to extend

forgiveness to others

for their sins against us.

And secondly, he says,

at the communion table,

Jesus tells us the bread

is broken, the cup poured

out for the forgiveness

of sins.

He's saying, church,

don't forget this.

Your sins are forgiven.

And of course, that's easy

to talk about, harder to

live, isn't it?

You know, forgiveness may

be one of the hardest

things many of us face

in our lives.

Truly.

Has God really forgiven

you for all that

you've done?

Could he?

Has he forgiven me?

Could he forgive all the

sins that I know

condemn me?

The voice of the accuser.

And C.S. Lewis once

reflecting on his church

reciting the Apostles'

Creed.

He wrote this in his

Weight of Glory.

He has a small essay

called On Forgiveness.

And he writes this,

we say a great many

things in church,

in Adam Church too,

without thinking of

what we are saying.

For instance, we say in

the Creed, I believe in

the forgiveness of sins.

I've been saying it for

several years before I

asked myself why it was

in the Creed.

At first sight, it seemed

hardly worth putting on.

But again, if one is a

Christian, I thought, of

course one believes in

the forgiveness of sins.

It goes without saying.

But the people who

compiled the Creed

apparently thought that

this was part of our

belief which needed to be

reminded of every time

we went to church.

And I have begun to see,

as far as I'm concerned,

they were right.

To believe in the

forgiveness of sins

is not nearly so easy

as I thought.

Real belief in it

is the sort of thing

that very easily slips

away, even if we don't

keep on polishing it up.

So this is very easy

to forget.

And Jesus didn't want

you, brother and sister,

to take that for granted.

In Christ, you have been

forgiven.

And for Lewis, he needed

to be reminded of this

truth over and over again.

I think Jesus would agree,

don't forget this, you

have been forgiven.

He is not only able, he

is willing to forgive your

sins.

Now, this is a radical idea.

This kind of turns the

world upside down.

Right?

The world today pretty

much believes I'm pretty

much a good person.

And if God is real, he

will accept me because

doesn't he accept

everybody?

But the church confesses,

no, we believe in the

forgiveness of sins

when we confess Jesus

Lord.

And I wonder, it goes on

to believe, I believe in

the resurrection of the

body.

I wonder if you've ever

heard someone who thinks,

you know, Christians are

just always hung up talking

about sex.

And view the body as

basically bad.

You know, Christians care

nothing for the material

world.

Christians hate the body

and are just interested in

flying off to some

spiritual realm somewhere.

But again, the writers of

the Creed thought it was

very important to say not

only that we believe in the

resurrection, but we

believe in the resurrection

of the body.

So it stresses the

physicality of the

afterlife.

And so Christians have been

very positive about the

body and the material

world since the very

beginning.

We love creation.

We love the material

world.

When Jesus died, he came

back not as a spirit, but

as a body.

He bodily rose from the

dead.

And life is a life of body

and spirit.

And there's going to be a

day where we will be

raised in our body.

So Alzheimer's disease,

those who have been

ravaged by that horrible

disease, will be changed and

transformed.

Paul, remember he says,

well, at the final

resurrection, we will be

raised and changed in

glory.

So Jesus wants us to

remember in his word that

we will be raised to new

life and that new life will

be bodily.

And the Creed writers want

us to remind us of the

same thing.

And the final clause, we

believe in the life

everlasting.

2 Corinthians 3, verse 12,

2 Corinthians 3:12

therefore, brothers and

sisters, since we have such a

hope, we are bold.

So when we declare the

Creed, what we are saying

is that this is what's in

our hearts.

This is what the world

needs to know.

The world needs to know the

power of the Holy Spirit,

the power of the Spirit in

their lives.

And this is a hope that we

declare and devote our lives

to.

The truths we believe are

not localized by our own

specific culture or

demographic.

No, these truths are

universal.

We stand shoulder to

shoulder through the ages

of Christians who make

the same profession.

And so, brother and

sister, I think this is a

flag I personally want to

fly.

This is a profound way of

summarizing the Christian

faith, universally

recognized.

There's only one thing

missing in that group.

And I've been looking at it

for the last ten minutes.

And it's plain.

It's, I believe in the

Holy Spirit.

But I, Raul, believes in

the indwelling of the

Holy Spirit.

There's nothing in all

that about it.

Because it wouldn't be

true if it wasn't, if

his spirit wasn't

indwelling me.

You just said, I believe

this because it's in my

heart.

Yeah.

If the Holy Spirit wasn't

in you, you wouldn't

believe that.

Right.

So that's the only thing

for me.

Sure.

And this is just a side

point.

Yeah.

I mean, it doesn't mention

grace either.

It doesn't say everything

we want.

But I think if we use

this as a teaching tool,

that we could, it's

certainly we would get

to that point.

The Spirit is indwelling

the saints.

Yeah.

This is a teaching tool.

We have to explain what

this means.

And I highlighted these

in red because we could

also talk about the

nature of Christian

discipleship.

Christ comes, his

descent, right?

He was conceived, born,

suffered, crucified,

descended.

And then there's the

ascents.

He rose, he ascended,

he's seen, he will come

again.

So there's a cross, but

then there's a crown.

And so we could talk

about the nature of

Christian living, picking

up your cross, and there

is a crown at the end.

But I didn't get there.

So I think, brothers and

sisters, that the

Apostles' Creed does

speak to modern issues.

And it's not just an

archaic document that is,

that we should just file

in the filing cabinet

somewhere.

I think this, again,

reproduces accurately

Scripture, and Scripture

is always going to speak

to our modern age.

church.

So that's old creeds.

We have a few minutes

left.

What about new ones?

What about new creeds?

Semper reformanda, right?

There's always going to be

new questions for the

church to answer.

There are new challenges.

There are new heresies.

So should we have new

creeds, new confessions,

to combat new challenges?

And I think I want to say

the answer is yes.

So I think, you know, we

could look at the

Westminster Confession.

We'll be an example of

Protestant churches trying

to recover the

Apostolic Gospel from a

form of medieval

Catholicism.

We could look at the

Barman Declaration, where

it reiterated during

Nazi Germany the

independence of the

church and the state

and the secular Nazi

totalitarian ideologies

in the church.

and the Barman

Declaration, again, a

summary of what

Scripture teaches that

the church is

independent from the

state.

Perhaps today's day and

age, we don't face a

similar Westminster

confession.

And, you know, the

church, there are

places in the church

that are being co-opted

by the state.

And so maybe they need

to revisit the Barman

Declaration.

But for us, you know,

I think this is one

issue I was reflecting

on.

You know, the moral

issues we face track

with the brilliant

technological innovations

in the last, you know,

even ten years.

In an age of

artificial intelligence

or transhumanism, where

machines are helping

humans advance beyond

our creaturely

limitations.

Our reproductive

technology like IVF

or the dehumanizing

impact of social media,

smartphones, where many

have distinct online

identities divorced from

their day-to-day

living.

Or think about

medical ethics as it

relates to euthanasia.

All right?

An age of free-willing

sexuality.

What do we believe

about sexuality?

So I think the

defining question that

the next generation has

to answer is, what does

it mean to be human?

What is the purpose of

our bodies?

Right?

What we need is a

biblical anthropology.

anthropology.

And what is the soul?

I think a creed would be

very helpful in

articulating a biblical

anthropology.

That would be helpful for

Christians today to

articulate and to teach

from.

You know, we've seen an

explosion in the last

decade of men presenting

as women, women presenting

as men.

There's a lot of confusion.

And I think if you're like

me, you struggle with some

of these things.

You know, you have a

host of issues.

You have pronouns.

And what about new names

for people at work?

Puberty blockers.

What about a child who

feels isolated and

expresses internal

wounding?

And it's painful when

they feel distressed

about their own bodies

in a highly sexualized

culture.

You know, loved ones who

are confused.

And there are those

within the church who

say the compassionate

approach, the life-giving

approach is to affirm

that person.

But again, this is not

an issue for the ivory

tower.

Right?

One example, Fuller

Seminary just a couple

weeks ago said, you

know, the incarnation

should be a basis for

which we affirm same-sex

marriage.

Because the God

becoming man, it's a

mystery.

And so this same issue

is a mystery.

That's how we should

treat this issue.

Again, is that a valid

view for the incarnation?

What do you do when

you're a 13-year-old

and identifies as

trans?

The pediatrician is

telling you that you

have to validate that

child's beliefs.

And the child begins to

ask you to use their

own pronouns.

And you go to a

pastor for counsel and

they say, here's what

you need to do.

Follow the scripture and

love your child.

That's all I tell you.

Just follow the

scripture, love your

child.

That's not helpful.

That would be pastoral

malpractice.

So wouldn't it be good

if we had theologians

from around the world

to come together to

answer wisely,

scripturally, these

challenges in our day

and age?

Wouldn't it be nice if

we had a statement

that engaged wisely

with these issues based

in the scripture?

That it was so good

that we could use it to

reinforce in our

teaching and to

counter secular

narratives?

You know, of course,

we don't need a

confession to do that.

We could just reinvent

the wheel, each church

doing that.

Or we could acknowledge

that, you know, we need

the help of others.

We need thoughtful

theological reflection

of the church at large

to help us answer

faithfully this problem

in our day.

And I think the church

that isolates itself

from the wisdom of

others is clearly at

a disadvantage.

So if you're

interested in these

topics, don't worry,

we're going to have a

class in the fall,

Lord willing, on

ethics.

But I think there's

modern challenges

and it would be

wonderful if we could

have brothers and

sisters across the

world from different

denominations engaging

with this issue

scripturally.

So I'm going to pause

there.

I went through a lot.

Any questions?

Let me remind you that

it was creeds avoid

authoritarianism.

Second is the Apostles'

Creed speaks to modern

issues.

And third, there is a

place for new creeds,

for new challenges.

questions.

Yeah.

Do you really think it's

possible to address some

of these issues like an

anthropology that speaks to

our day, et cetera,

et cetera, in a creedal

statement that is as

succinct and memorable as

the Apostles' Creed?

That's a good question.

That would be hard to do.

But I think...

So that's why I was

increasing confessions very

similarly.

It's distilling certain

elements of the

scripture.

But I would say maybe.

But of course we would

need a more fuller

exposition on sort of

like a biblical

anthropology.

I mean, you know, we

could say the main parts

are, you know, we're

creating God's image.

We're a union of body

and soul.

We have creature

limitations.

You know, we all are

dealing with effects of

the fall inside our

bodies.

And we're going to be

renewed one day.

I mean, there's...

That's kind of the broad

framework.

But I don't know.

I mean, that's why I

need thoughtful

reflections from people

who are much smarter than

I.

But that's why the

church should come

together, I think, and

come up with something.

It doesn't have to be a

creedal statement like the

Apostles' Creed.

The Barman Declaration

or the Westminster

Confession, like, they're

much longer, more

comprehensive.

So that's probably how

that would have to be

handled.

Richard, are you doubtful that

something like that could

happen because you don't

imagine that the Bible

would give us sufficient

clarity on some of these

new issues like technology

or gender or that?

Or is it because you're

doubtful that maybe

universally Christians might

agree on the solutions?

I'm just curious as to what,

where your doubtfulness

arises.

I guess my doubtfulness

arises because

I don't think we have

the wherewithal to

come up with anything

that is as succinct as that

to meet the needs of our

generation.

I guess what I would

suggest is since the

Nicene Creed or the

Chalcedonian Creed, the

Apostles' Creed, there have

been some subsequent ones.

There's a reference to the

Heidelberg Confession or the

Westminster Confession of

Faith or maybe the London

Baptist Confession of Faith

or the Philadelphia Confession,

Baptist Confession of Faith.

It would be interesting to

give him a read and see if

you thought, well, I think

that's true and I think that

that's succinct and I think