The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty

Maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

Born of the virgin Mary

Suffered under Pontius Pilate

Was crucified, dead, and buried

He descended into hell

The third day He rose from the dead

He ascended into heaven

And is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty

From then, He shall come to judge the quick and the dead

I believe in the Holy Spirit

The holy catholic church

The communion of saints

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting

Amen.

Origin of the Apostles’ Creed

Probably originated in the third century.

One of the first references to the Apostles’ Creed was in a letter in 389 AD.

What is the purpose of the Apostles’ Creed?

Apostles’ Creed covers the basic beliefs of the Christian faith.

The Apostles’ Creed was originally written in Latin, and it was simply a summary of the basic beliefs of the Christian faith. The early church used the Apostles’ Creed especially for baptisms, which typically happened on Easter Day. Before each convert was baptized, they would recite the Apostles’ Creed as a public declaration of their faith.

There are two variations of this creed. The western churches use the version with the line saying “He descended into hell.” But typically, the eastern churches do not include this line. So our Korean brothers and sisters at this point probably realize that their version of the creed is exactly one line shorter then the English version. We’ll get more into that later.

Structure of the Apostles’ Creed

The Apostles’ Creed is made of 12 individual statements, and is structured according to three main sections:

God the Father and our creation

God the Son and our deliverance

God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification

So the first thing about this structure is that it follows the order of revelation concerning the divine persons of the Trinity. The Father is revealed first in the Old Testament. The Son comes in the New Testament, and the Son teaches us about the Holy Spirit.

But more than that, the Apostles’ Creed also follows the structure of salvation. Creation, deliverance, and sanctification. We are first created, then delivered from sin, then sanctified in holiness and Christlikeness.

And at the very end of the creed, there are some statements concerning the church, the judgement, and the resurrection.

God the Father and our creation

“I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.”

This in itself is a tremendous statement. Because it says three things. First, God is a father. Second, God is almighty. He is omnipotent, all-powerful. He is El Shaddai, the one who overpowers. He is El Elyon, God Most High. There is none above Him.

Third, He is the maker of heaven and earth.

Heidelberg Catechism Q26.

What do you believe when you say “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”?

That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father for the sake of Christ His Son. I trust God so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends upon me in this vale of tears. He is able to do this because He is almighty God; He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father.

God the Son and our deliverance

“And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit

Born of the virgin Mary

Suffered under Pontius Pilate

Was crucified, dead, and buried

He descended into hell

The third day He rose from the dead

He ascended into heaven

And is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty

From then, He shall come to judge the quick and the dead”

In old English, “Quick” had the meaning of “alive” or “living”. It only meant fast later on. So it doesn’t mean that you can escape judgement if you are slow.

So here in this section we narrate the events in the life of God the Son. It begins with His eternal preexistence as the only Son of God before time began. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin named Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, who represented the legal authority of the Gentile world. He was delivered into the hands of the unbelieving Gentiles and by their authority He was sentenced to death.

Luke 24:7 ESV

7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

Remember, just three seconds ago we were confessing I believe in God Almighty. And three seconds later it’s His Son who suffers at the hands of His Father’s creation.

John 19:11 ESV

11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

Heidelberg Catechism Q.38.

Why did he suffer under Pontius Pilate as judge?

So that he, though innocent, might be condemned by an earthly judge, and so free us from the severe judgement of God that was to fall on us.

This is the God we worship and confess. And this Jesus was crucified, buried, dead, and rose again on the third day.

But we need to pause here for a bit. Because in this section there is a line that has been interpreted in many different ways, some biblical, and some not.

Can anyone guess that line?

It’s the line that says “He descended into hell.”

“He descended into hell”

This line does not appear in the earliest forms of the Apostles’ Creed. The earliest appearance of this clause is in the writings of a Christian theologian named Rufinus somewhere in the fourth century.

Why was this line added to the Apostles’ Creed?

Because in the late fourth century, there was a bishop named Apollinaris of Laodicea, who emphasized the divinity of Christ so much that he starting teaching Jesus didn’t have a human soul. This is the heresy called Apollinarianism. And so what probably happened is the church responded to this heresy by adding this line to the Apostles’ Creed, to show that Jesus did have a human soul that descended into hell. In other words, Jesus Christ is still the truly human and truly divine Son of God, even in the grave.

Now, what do we actually mean when we say “He descended into hell”?

Six possible interpretations.

1. Rescuing the Old Testament saints from limbo. 1 Pet. 3:19-20.

The faithful saints who died before Christ were caught in a spiritual limbo waiting area, neither heaven nor hell. This is the main view of the Catholic church, which confesses “In His human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven’s gates for the just who had gone before Him.”

2. Giving the unconverted dead a second chance.

1 Peter 3:18–20 ESV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

1 Peter 4:6 ESV

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

If Jesus went to the actual hell and preached to the spirits of the unbelievers, then why only to the unbelieving people of Noah’s time? Or if Jesus preached to all the unbelievers, then why did Peter only mention the people of Noah’s time? There are many unanswered questions regarding these passages. So it’s hard for us to stand firmly on this interpretation.

3. Suffering in hell for our sins.

Roman Catholics: Christ went to the place of the damned in order to suffer punishment to complete His atonement for the sins of His people.

4. Conquering Satan after dying on the cross.

Lutheran Formula of Concord: “The entire person of Christ, God and human being, descended into hell after his burial, conquered the devil, destroyed the power of hell, and took from the devil all his power.”

Bible teaches that Christ’s death on the cross broke the power of Satan (Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:14). Christians overcome the Devil not by Christ’s descent but by His blood (Rev. 12:11).

5. Suffering spiritual anguish on the cross.

This was the view of the Reformer John Calvin. In this view, “He descended into hell” means that Christ not only suffered natural death, which is the separation of the body from the soul, but also that His soul was pierced with amazing anguish.

Heidelberg Catechism Q44:

Why does the creed add “He descended into hell?”

To assure me during the attacks of deepest dread and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, on the cross but also earlier, has delivered me from hellish anguish and torment.

6. Dying and dwelling in the state of death.

This was the view of the English puritans.

William Perkins: “the descent into hell means that when He was dead and buried, He was held captive in the grave and lay in bondage under death for the space of three days. This was the lowest point in His humiliation.”

William Ames: “This hellish bondage under the reign of death was the lowest humiliation, but it did not involve affliction, which was finished on the cross.”

Westminster Larger Catechism Q50: “Wherein consisted Christ’s humiliation after His death?” Christ’s humiliation after His death consisted in His being buried and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell.

Apart from the passage in 1 Peter, there is little else about an actual descent of Jesus Christ into the realm of hell between His death and resurrection. None of the four Gospels speak of it, and neither does Paul in all of his writings.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

So the safest way to interpret this line is a combination of the 5th and 6th interpretations. His descent into hell refers to His spiritual anguish on the cross, His death, and remaining in the state of death for three days. For three days, the Son of God lay in complete and utter humiliation as death triumphed over Him. But on the third day, He rose and overcame death. He ascended into heaven. And He is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, where He actively prays and intercedes for His saints.

And He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

God the Spirit and our sanctification

“I believe in the Holy Spirit

The holy catholic church

The communion of saints

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting”

Now we come to the third and final part of the Apostles’ Creed. The creed is quite minimalistic when it comes to the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t say much about Him. And the reason for this is because the creed isn’t meant to repel the heretics. That’s the purpose of the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed and other creeds. This Apostles’ Creed simply affirms that we believe that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The holy catholic church.

The creed originally says “the holy catholic church.” The word “catholic” comes from the Greek word Katholikos, meaning “universal” or “According to the whole.” And so there are some churches change the wording to say “the holy universal church.” That what we do here at Zion.

But what do we refer to when we say “the holy universal church”?

We refer to the covenant community established by the Holy Spirit upon the precious blood of Christ. Christ purchased the church with His blood, and thus it is by His blood that we are set apart.

Acts 20:28 ESV

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Heidelberg Catechism Q.54

What do you believe concerning “the holy catholic church”?

I believe that the Son of God through His Spirit and Word, out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end, gathers, protects, and preserves for Himself a community chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And of this community I am and always will be a member.

The communion of saints.

When we say “I believe in the communion of saints”, what do we mean?

We mean that we understand that part of being a Christian is to commune with other fellow Christians. The church is the body of Christ, so each member has to be connected with the body. And the foundation of that relationship is not duty or obligation, but the love of Christ.

1 John 5:1 ESV

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Philippians 3:17 ESV

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Heidelberg Catechism Q55.

What do you understand by “the communion of saints”?

First that believers one and all, as members of Christ the Lord, have communion with Him and share in all His treasures and gifts. Second, that each member should consider it a duty to use these gifts readily and joyfully for the service and enrichment of the other members.

The forgiveness of sins.

This confesses that God is faithful to forgive us when we sin. If we didn’t believe that, then none of us would dare to confess our sins before God. But because Jesus died on the cross, we believe and know that God the Father runs to us in our brokenness, desiring to forgive.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Heidelberg Catechism 56.

What do you believe concerning “the forgiveness of sins”?

I believe that God, because of Christ’s satisfaction, will no longer remember any of my sins or my sinful nature which I need to struggle against all my life. Rather, by His grace God grants me the righteousness of Christ that I may never come into judgement.

The resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Finally, the Apostles’ Creed ends with a confession of belief in the resurrection of the body and everlasting life.

Now this is an unintentional guard against heresy. Because we don’t believe that we will only be spirits floating about in heaven. That’s not Christianity. The Bible teaches that there will be a resurrection of all the dead. The holy universal church will be raised to eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth, and those who died in sin will be raised to eternal existence in hell. So it is the forgiveness of sins that gives us hope in the resurrection.

And when the saints resurrect, our bodies will be made like Christ’s glorious body.

1 Corinthians 15:53 ESV

53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Philippians 3:21 ESV

21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Heidelberg Catechism 58.

How does the article concerning “life everlasting” comfort you?

Even as I already now esxperience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life I will have the perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has ever imagined: a blessedness in which to praise God eternally.