What We Must Believe

2013-02-17 (am) LD 7 Q&A 22-23 What Must We Believe

Two weeks ago, we looked at question 21, what is true faith?

I had planned to move on to the next Lord’s Day, but I’ve decided that we need to look at question and answer 22 and 23, as they set up what the catechism will examine next, namely the Apostle’s Creed.

Does it surprise you that the question, “what is true faith,” is followed immediately by “what must we believe?”

Isn’t faith and belief the same thing?

True faith, remember, is not a blind leap, but rather it is something we can see. Now, we can’t see Jesus Christ, but answer 21 says that we have a knowledge and conviction that everything in God’s Word is true. We put our faith in something that is evidentially true. Consider this chair. I have faith that it will support me. Why? Most chairs do. I’m not in the habit of double and triple checking a chair before I sit in it. But I have had them break, like one of my beach chairs did this summer when my brother sat on it. But because one failed to perform that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly afraid to trust chairs. We trust God based on the evidence that he is trust worthy.

The eyewitness testimonies demonstrate Jesus’ existence, showing that believing in Jesus is not unlike believing that Sir John A. Macdonald really lived and was Prime Minister of Canada.

So then, how does belief fit in?

Faith is a knowledge and a conviction that what God reveals in his Word is true. Belief is the object.

So, what, or who do we believe in?

Our answer comes from the two Bible verses that are footnoted in answer 22.

The first one is Matthew 28:18-20. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This tells us something about Jesus. Jesus is the one who has all power and authority. He also has delegated that authority to us. We go out, in Christ’s authority, to make disciples.

So, then we understand that Jesus is the object of our faith; He has power and authority, not only in the universe, and in the world, but also supremely in our lives.

Belief is faith in action, as we saw this morning. We tell other people about Jesus. We make disciples. That is, we train people up in the Lord. We do this with our children, but we can do this with our friends and neighbours as well. We teach them to obey; again, this is belief in action.

In John chapter 3, Nicodemus approached Jesus and asked Him about His authority. He says, rather disarmingly, “We know you are sent from God, we can tell because you perform great miracles. Only someone from God could do that.” Jesus replied, “No one can see the kingdom of God, unless he is born again.”

What Jesus was saying, was, “No one can actually believe, no one can actually see the kingdom, that is, the truth concerning who God is and what he is doing, unless he is born again.” This is true for one simple fact. Because of Adam’s disobedience, all people are spiritually dead. Dead people can’t see. A blind eye cannot see. God must heal it first. God must raise the dead to life, first. They must be born again, a spiritual birth. The spirit is like the wind, we can’t see where it comes from, we can’t see where it is going but we can observe the effect it has on things. The Spirit of God moves in people, as He wants to move. We don’t know where from or where to, but we see the effect the Spirit has in bringing people to new life.

Now, let’s see what John 20:30-31 has to say: John says that Jesus did many miraculous signs. Certainly, we know this is true, as the three other gospels contain many miracles that John did not record. But John said that the whole purpose of writing his book was so that we might know that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus wasn’t just a man, wasn’t just a poor guy, misunderstood, who came out of the hick town of Nazareth, deluded himself into believing he was God’s son, and backed it up with a bunch of miracles

No, John wrote his gospel, so that we would know what he has written is true, that the claims Jesus made are true. That Jesus is who he says he is, and that we’re not silly or deluded in believing it. It is perfectly logical and believable.

But there is more to answer 22.

This answer claims that the gospel is summarised in a creed beyond doubt, and confessed throughout the world. Namely, the Apostle’s Creed.

Now, why do we need a creed?

Surely you’ve heard the phrase, “No creed but Christ.” But which Christ? The one described by the Mormons? The one described by Jehovah’s Witnesses? The one who is nothing more than a mere prophet, inferior to Muhammad as the Muslims teach? We need to know which Christ we’re trusting. The Apostle’s Creed does that extremely well.

The Apostle’s Creed is the oldest of the creeds confessed by our church. The form we have dates no later than the 4th century. It truly has stood the test of time, remaining unchanged for more than 1600 years!

It is called the Apostle’s Creed because it serves as a summary of the apostle’s teachings, therefore it is named after them. There are some who still hold to the unfounded but interesting idea that each apostle came up with one line. So, they were sitting around a table, one day after Pentecost, when Peter stood up and said, “We need a creed. Let’s put it together. I’ll start.

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Then John said, “yeah, that’s pretty good. How about adding, ‘And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord…’ ”

You get the picture.

The Apostle’s Creed has remained unchanged for so long because it really is very good in its simplicity. It is concise. It summarises the entire Bible in very few words. It identifies who God is. It demonstrates the different roles of the persons of the Trinity. God the Father is the almighty creator and sustainer. God the Son is the saviour and redeemer, fully God and fully man, also having power and authority. God the Holy Spirit is guardian and guide of the church, he preserves the church, communicates the truth of God, and gives assurance of forgiveness.

The history of humanity is also summarised, we were created, we fell, we were saved, and we will live in the life everlasting!

It is helpful to have this creed. It is an answer for doubts. It tells us what we believe. When Peter gives us the command to have an answer ready for anyone who asks about the hope we have in Christ, we have this as an answer!

What is our hope? Our hope is that there is a God. We can know this God. God created the world, and even became human in order to save the world. We can trust the eyewitness accounts of Jesus Christ. We can experience God in our lives. We can turn from sin and live for righteousness. The creed reminds us of that promise also.

The truth of God is not dependent upon us believing in him. The truth of God is eternal, and we come to have faith and belief in God through the power of the Holy Spirit. If you have doubts, take them up on prayer; bring them to God. He has promised to give us assurance through the spirit. He will fill you with His Spirit, and make you convinced of the truth. Amen.