Christian, what do you believe? This is a very regular question during the worship of Centennial ARP Church, to which we typically answer in the form of the Apostles’ Creed. If we take a step back, generally speaking, isn’t that a good question to be able to answer?
Let’s remove the evangelistic side for a moment. In other words, let’s not think about your coworker asking, hey John Doe, what do you believe? Let’s just think about the worship part. In other words, standing before God and man seeking to honor and praise God the creator and savior. Having an answer to what you believe seems incredibly important!
God has revealed himself that we might know him! To know God is to know ourselves. If we know ourselves, we know our need of salvation, which God provides to us! When we confess a portion of Scripture or a faithful representation of those Scriptures, we are affirming that which God has given us—himself!
Remember the words you confess. Think on the words you confess. And if you’re going to do it, believe the words you confess! Christian, what do you believe?
CHAPTER 5.B.7 (Ordinary Parts): CONFESSIONS OF FAITH
“Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world
taken up in glory.”
a. A confession of faith is an act of worship in which the people of God reaffirm their faith in the Lord as He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. This may be done by using select portions of the Holy Scriptures, or by creeds which faithfully express the teaching of the Scriptures. For example, the doctrinal standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church express our unity with one another. The historic creeds of the Church, such as The Apostles’ Creed or The Nicene Creed, express our identification with the “one, holy, catholic [universal], and apostolic church” (The Nicene Creed).
b. The use of a confession of faith is warranted by the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, the people of God were directed to proclaim their faith before the Lord in response to God’s deeds of covenant faithfulness and mighty acts of salvation. As an act of worship, the people of God proclaimed their deliverance from Egypt during their offering of the firstfruits (Deut. 26:5-9). The Shema, “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” functioned as the creed of Israel in the later worship of the synagogue (Deut. 6:4-6).
c. In the New Testament, there are portions of creedal hymns that constitute brief statements of faith concerning Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:4-10, Phil. 2:6-11, 1 Tim. 3:16, and 2 Tim. 2:11-13 are usually offered as examples). Also, in the post-apostolic period, the Christian community recognized the need for summary statements of belief that candidates for baptism might profess before the assembly (e.g., The Apostles’ Creed) as well as statements of belief (e.g., The Nicene Creed) that distinguish the orthodox faith from heresy.