I Believe – The Christian’s Confession

Text: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12, ESV)

Theme: An introduction to the believer’s confession of fundamental doctrinal beliefs.

On most Sundays when this church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, (as we did a week ago) we read together a confession of faith that is our affirmation of the historic orthodox beliefs of the Church. It’s called the Apostles Creed, and I believe that it will be spiritually beneficial for us to journey through this confession.

In 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul commends Timothy for making a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. One of the reasons we gather to worship is to make a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. We must remember that the Christian faith is not just 'ours alone'. We did not receive it in a vacuum. Our faith has been handed down to us, to the extent that we believe what we do today because others believed it before us, and they faithfully passed it on. We must not betray that trust, we have a duty to learn and most importantly, to think about our faith, and hand it down faithfully.

This morning we begin with the thrice-repeated confession “I believe ... “ In the Latin, it’s one simple word—Credo. It begins each of the three segments of the confession.

Credo—I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

Credo—I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.

Credo—I believe in the Holy Spirit.

This simple, succinct, and clear affirmation of faith will be the focus of our attention through the rest of winter and into the Spring. It’s a confession that outlines the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. For almost 2,000 years The Apostle’s Creed has been used for ...

Teaching Christians the basics of the Christians faith,

As a baptismal confession, and

As a confessional reading in worship.

I. GREAT CONFESSIONS ARE ROOTED IN CONCRETE HISTORICAL TRUTH

1. this morning, we begin with the simple beginning affirmation, “I believe ... “

a. the Apostle Paul wrote in his Letter to the Christians at Rome: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, ... .” (Romans 1:16, ESV)

2. but belief by itself is not the most important factor

a. what we believe in is

b. in the very next verse the Apostle declares: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:17, ESV)

c. what is the in it that the righteousness of God is revealed in?

1) “It” in vs. 17 does not refer to faith or belief

2) “It” refers to the Gospel of Jesus, who is the Christ

3. have you ever noticed that the most popular New Testament title for people of the Christian faith is believer?

a. the Christian confessing the Apostles' Creed begins with the statement "I believe .. ”

1) it implies that there is a body of belief—some kind of propositional truth—that we believe in

2) it means that our faith is connected to concrete historical truth

b. the Holy Spirit does not call us to faith in general, but to faith in particular—to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ

A. OUR FAITH IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS THAN JESUS’ BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

1. writing to his friend, Theophilus, the Evangelist Luke affirms the facts of the Gospel

a. Luke had personally set himself to the task of a careful and accurate tracing down of the life of Jesus

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.” (Luke 1:1–4, ESV)

b. what has Theophilus been taught? ... the gospel of our Christ

2. the Apostle Peter asserts that they had not followed cunningly devised fables

a. what he preached was the sure word of prophecy revealed in the person of Jesus

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,” (2 Peter 1:16–19, ESV)

3. John, the beloved Apostle, is no less emphatic

a. he tells us what he had seen with his eyes, and handled with his hands, concerning the Word of Life

b. John’s 1st Epistle regularly repeats the words “we know”

1) "We know that the Son of God is come."

2) "We know Him that is true."

3) "We know that we have passed from death unto life."

4) "We know that we shall be like Him."

4. the Apostle’s Creed declares the absolute minimum historical truth that must be believed in if we are going to be confessional Christians

a. the Apostles Creed is a link connecting the Church today with the Church over the centuries all the way back to the Apostles themselves, and the Church forged in the “upper room” when the Holy Spirit came upon one-hundred and twenty followers of Christ

ILLUS. How hard it must be being a politically correct progressive secularist. You might find yourself on the right side of history one day, but woefully politically incorrect just months or even days later. Been following the news? Just ask Dianne Feinstein, the liberal senior Senator from California. The San Francisco school board just voted to remove her name from a school because twenty years ago she held a belief that they’ve now found politically incorrect. If you’re a politically correct progressive secularist you never know just what to believe, and how firmly to believe it.

b. I find it comforting to know that what I believe—the central theological affirmations of the Apostles Creed—are what fellow orthodox Christians have believed since the first Christian congregation was birthed by the Spirit 2,000 years ago

1) I can stand with true believers through the millennia and confess I believe ...

5. Great Confessions Are Rooted in Concrete Historical Truth

II. GREAT CONFESSIONS HELP US TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF FAITH

1. the Christian faith is rooted in the historical reality of the life of Christ

2. but it also profoundly touches the human will

a. a believer must not only be aware of the content of confessional Christianity, but must also give intellectual assent

b. to be a Christian, I must know that Jesus died on the cross and then believe that his redemptive act is sufficient to pay the penalty for my sins and bridge the chasm between me and a holy God, and then internalize that belief in a deliberate act of faith

A. SALVATION DOES NOT CONSIST MERELY OF OUR BELIEF ABOUT CHRIST, BUT OF OUR TRUST IN CHRIST

1. faith in the New Testament sense begins as a thinking response to God’s divine activity in the person of Jesus

a. suppose that I clearly knew and understand the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ and was willing to acknowledge that all of it was indeed true?

1) is that saving faith?

2) not according to the Bible

b. Luke records that the first beings to recognize the true identity of Jesus were not faithful disciples

1) demons were the first to see past his veil of humanity, and instantly recognize his Deity— that he was the Son of the most high God

2) and although they recognize the truth about God, they hate that truth

c. the apostle James uses this point to distinguish between dead faith and vital faith

1) sarcasm drips from the apostle's pen when he writes ...

“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19, ESV)

d. to give intellectual assent to the things of God only elevates a person from the intellectual status of pagan to the intellectual level of the demon

1) it advances the soul not a centimeter into the kingdom of God

2. faith is belief in the propositions of Scripture and trust is believing upon the person of Jesus Christ

ILLUS. Let me illustrate the nature of true faith this way: Many years ago I took a group of teenagers to Youth Discipleship Week at Windermere Baptist Assembly on Lake of the Ozarks. Every afternoon there was a period when we could go swimming in the lake. The swimming area had a jetty that went out into the deep part of the cove, and at the end of that jetty was a high-dive platform. Every afternoon there was a young girl, perhaps eight or nine years old, who was jumping off that high-dive into twenty feet of water. She obviously couldn’t swim, but she came prepared. She wore a bright orange life jacket, a foam life belt, and those bright orange blow-up arm floats.

Every afternoon, all week long, there she was jumping off the high dive. As she would get to the edge, she’d call out to any adult below, “Hey mister! I’m about to jump. Watch me and make sure I come up!” With all the flotation devices she wore she could not have drowned if she wanted to. It would have been like trying to hold a large beech ball under water. She’d jump, pop up like a cork, and then paddle back to the ladder to do it all over again.

Toward the end of the week, I noticed that same little girl getting ready to jump off the high dive. Only this time she didn’t have any of her flotation gear on. She got to the edge of the high dive and called out, “Here I come, daddy. Catch me!” and she flung herself out to his waiting arms. She had full confidence that her father would catch her, and keep her from sinking.

c. that’s a picture of Biblical faith ... it’s not a blind leap that defies logic, but a leap that trusts the one you’re leaping to

1) it is a response to God's revelation

2) it's not asking you to contradict all known laws of rationality

d. it's asking you to trust in a God who has proven Himself over and over in His Word and by His mercy and grace has given us His Son

3. to be a Christian, I must know that Jesus died on the cross and then believe that his act is sufficient to pay the penalty for my sins and bridge the chasm between me and the Father

a. Jesus is the one who says, “Jump into my arms and I’ll catch you!”

4. Great Confessions Help Us to Understand the Nature of Faith

III. GREAT CONFESSIONS LEAD US TO WORSHIP THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD

1. authentic faith has content—it involves the mind believing certain truths about the person and work of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

2. authentic faith involves the will in a volitional acceptance of the content of the Gospel story

a. not only do I believe the story is true, but I will stake my eternal destiny on it by rejecting all other truth claims upon my soul’s allegiance

3. but great confessions also impact, touch and involve my affections in a serious way

A. THE GODLY HEART DELIGHTS IN THE THINGS OF GOD

1. the psalmist said the righteous person's delight focuses on God

a. the believer’s faith is authenticated when we joyfully embracing God's sovereign rule over our lives, and worship Him is spirit and in truth

b. the ungodly person, by contrast, is characterized throughout Scripture by personal estrangement and hostility

1) quoting Isaiah 29:13, Jesus remarked, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Matt. 15:8)

2. confessional Christians set their heart’s affection on God

a. they pursue, they seek, they press into the kingdom

b. those without true faith remain indifferent, aloof, or hostile

3. therefore, faith is more than persuasion of truth

a. faith delights in Christ and loves to lift up God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in praise

4. Great Confessions Lead Us to Worship the True and Living God

IV. GREAT CONFESSIONS HELP US APPLY SCRIPTURE TO OUR DAILY LIVES

1. the apostle Paul told a young minister named Timothy that Scripture has two primary characteristics

2. 1st, all Scripture is God-breathed

a. the King James version translates the same word as inspired

b. either way you translate it, Paul’s emphasis is that Scripture comes from God

1) I believe that it is truth without any mixture of error

2) I believe that men, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote the Bible

3) I believe that God used each authors unique characteristics and personalities to reveal exactly what He wanted us to know

c. through the written word, God has revealed the mystery of the Living Word – Jesus Christ

3. 2nd, the apostle Paul tells us what the Scriptures are good for – that is, what their practical purpose for our life is

a. God gives us the Scriptures to reveal to us Correct Doctrine

1) now, I know that “doctrine” is a word that turns many believers off these days, but doctrine is important

2) the word refers to a body of knowledge and principles that give guidance to us in our everyday living

3) everyone is guided by a set of doctrines – the question is, whose doctrine is guiding your life?

ILLUS. A saying in our culture says, “You are what you eat.” But the Bible teaches that; “You are what you believe.” Start with your behavior. Where do your actions come from? From your feelings. Where do your feelings come from? Your attitudes. Where do your attitudes come from? Your values. Where do your values come from? Your beliefs. Trace it back far enough and it always comes out at the same place. You are what you believe.

b. God gives us the Scriptures for Reproof

1) the doctrines given to us in the Scriptures are God’s pattern for correct thinking and correct living

2) when we fail to measure up to God’s ways, we need reproving

3) through the Bible God scolds us when we are in the wrong

c. God gives us the Scriptures for Correction

1) if we accept God’s chastisement, then the next logical step is to be Corrected in our behavior

2) God says “This is how you blew it, now let me explain to you the right way – my away – of doing things.”

d. God gives us the Scriptures for Instruction in Righteousness

1) God moves beyond merely correcting us

2) God continues to instruct us through His Word, so that we might know the mind of Christ, and understand his ways so that when we are confronted with an unexpected situation, we will instinctively know how to respond and behave

4. The Apostles’ Creed strikes at the heart of convenient Christianity, and Americans love convenient religion

a. convenient Christianity is when you believe and practice the parts of the Bible you like, and you ignore and disregard the parts you don’t like

ILLUS. Last September Linda and I went out east to Virginia to perform Brandon Webb and Alex Howell’s wedding. One of the highlights of the trip for me was our visit to Monticello—Thomas Jefferson’s home. In his library, under glass, is what has come to be called the “Jefferson Bible.” Jefferson was a true son of the Enlightenment. Though he believed in God, he did not accept the miraculous. But he did like the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus. So Jefferson ‘cut-‘n-pasted’ his own gospel. It contains all the teachings of Jesus, but omits all the supernatural events surrounding his life.

1) that’s convenient religion

2) convenient religion says, “As long as you believe in Jesus, it doesn’t matter what else you believe.”

b. this is one reason why we desperately need to study the great doctrinal truths of The Apostles’ Creed

1) it stands as an important corrective to the “me-centered” theology of the present day

c. the Creed reminds us that truth is not optional

1) there are boundaries to the Christian faith

2) not everything is negotiable – truth is not up for grabs

3) some things must be believed if you are to call yourself a Christian

6. Great Confessions Help Us Apply Scripture to Our Daily Lives

V. GREAT CONFESSIONS HELP US DEFEND THE FAITH

1. today, practically every religious faith is respected and approved—except, that is, a faith that speaks of absolute truth and narrow paths of obedience

a. an “I believe ... “ confessional faith is one of those faiths considered to be intolerant, and the root problem of all the problems in the modern world

2. to stand with other people of like-minded faith an pronounce those words “I believe“ and then to enunciate those beliefs articulated in the Apostle’s Creed is a very counter-culture thing to do

3. our age is uncomfortable with absolutes

a. in fact, according to the modern mind, the only absolute in our culture is that there are no absolutes

b. and if you dare to believe in absolutes, our age declares you as a menace to the culture

c. if we could just get rid of all the people who think they've found absolute truth, the world would be a much nicer place (or so the secularists tell us)

4. but confessional Christians stand up and say, "We don't simply believe this to be true for us, but we believe this to be (in the words of apologist Francis Schaeffer) true truth—the truth about God, the truth about Christ, the truth about the Holy Spirit, the truth about the Church, the truth about reality.”

a. that's a very threatening thing to a world that likes to live in the relative and in the subjective

b. to be a confessional Christian is to be a rebel in this culture

1) be willing to stand up for the fundamental doctrines of your faith

ILLUS. In April 1521, Martin Luther appeared before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms to defend what he had taught and written about justification by faith alone. He was convinced that he would be condemned and burned at the stake. At the end of his defense he declared, "I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”

2) not only do we need Christians with an “I-believe” kind-of-faith, we also need believers with a “Here-I-stand,-I-can-do-no-other” kind-of-faith

5. Great Confessions Help Us to Defend the Faith

One final word. The Apostles' Creed begins with the words "I believe." Why doesn't it say, "We believe?" The answer is simple. True belief is always personal. I can't believe for you and you can't believe for me. No wife can believe for her husband and parents can't believe for their children. You must make up your own mind. You can't live on the faith of those around you. The church is more than a gathering of people or a collection of Christians. At its heart, the church is a community of believers who are joined together by their common faith in Jesus Christ. That's why the church has affirmed the Apostles' Creed. It expresses our common faith in Christ.

True belief is utterly personal. The Creed begins with two simple words: "I believe." Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God? Do you? Have you confessed him openly and publically? Have you? Eternity hangs on your answer.