An Introduction to the Apostles’ Creed

SESSION 1 | Three Dimensions of the Gospel, the Human Condition of Sin, and the Way of Life

The ACNA catechism To Be A Christian (TBC) defines the Gospel as follows: “The Gospel is the good news of God loving and saving lost mankind through the ministry in word and deed of his Son, Jesus Christ” (TBC, 1). This good news calls for a response on the part of human beings, and this response involves effort which is not possible apart from God’s grace. The effects of sin are so all pervasive that we cannot simply decide to “stop sinning” and restore our relationship with God.  Sin blinds us to the fact that we need a relationship with God.  Under sin, we simply love other things more than God. A mature response to the Gospel involves faith, baptism into Christ’s Body the Church, and active service to Christ in the world. 

SESSION 2 | Faith, the Norms of Faith, and God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth

Faith is the grace-enabled act by which we place our trust in Christ and obey him as our Lord (TBC, 13).  Faith is an act of the whole person (heart and mind) which brings about our union with Christ. Faith accepts what God reveals about himself to be true because God himself is the source of all Truth.

When we speak of God as Father, we are speaking about the deep and intimate relationship which God creates with us through the Son and the Holy Spirit. God does not simply reveal himself as Father but also as the Father who is “almighty.” This means God “has power over everything and accomplishes everything He wills” (TBC, 43). It is precisely because God is our almighty Father that we can trust him completely. God’s power is exercised in wisdom and motivated by love; a perfect power exercised under perfect wisdom for the sake of a perfect love. The Gospel proclaims that God’s relationship to us is not simply a function of how we respond to God. God’s relationship to us is completely gratuitous: “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us” (1 John 4:10).

SESSION 3 | Jesus Christ, His Only Son Our Lord

Jesus Christ is the center of the Gospel because in Him, the one true God is revealed (John 17:1-5) and in Him, God the Creator personally enters the world which He made to redeem it (John 3:16-19).  The Church confesses that “Jesus Christ is the eternal Word and Son of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity. He took on human flesh to be the Savior and Redeemer of the world, the only Mediator between God and fallen mankind” (TBC, 49).

Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension are the foundations of Christian hope. In affirming that Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand, we are affirming that “Jesus is Lord over the Church and all creation, with authority to equip his Church, advance his Kingdom, bring sinners into saving fellowship with God the Father, and finally to establish justice and peace upon the earth” (TBC, 68; Philippians 2:5-11).

SESSION 4 | The Holy Spirit’s Work, God’s Self-Revelation, and Pentecost

Who is the Holy Spirit? “God the Holy Spirit is the third Person in the one Being of the Holy Trinity, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son, and equally worthy of our honor and worship” (TBC, 81). The divine attributes possessed by the Father and the Son are also possessed by the Holy Spirit who is sent from the Father and who enables us share in the salvation brought about by the Son.

“The Holy Spirit equips and empowers each believer for service in the worship of Jesus Christ, for the building up of His Church, and for witness and mission to the world” (TBC, 88). God builds up His Church by building up his people by giving them different kinds of spiritual gifts. God works through the Church which He creates and sustains, and the mission of the Church requires that it be endowed with a whole range of spiritual gifts. Our sanctification and the health of the Church depend on our using our spiritual gifts.

SESSION 5 | The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, and the Sacraments as Signs of God’s Grace

We will fail to understand what the Church is if we simply attempt to understand it sociologically (as “organized religion”). To truly understand the Church, we must understand it theologically because ultimately the Church is a creation of God. The Church is not primarily a building, an institution, or even the sum total of all Christians now alive.  “The Church is the whole community of faithful Christians in heaven and on earth. The Church on earth gathers in local congregations to worship in Word and Sacrament, to serve God according to the Scriptures, and to proclaim the Gospel, under the leadership of those whom God appoints for this purpose” (TBC, 89).

The Church is a community of people, but it is also communion with the Triune God. The closeness of our communion with God mirrors the communion of the Father and the Son (John 17:20-22). By being united to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, we are also drawn into communion with one another.

SESSION 6 | Forgiveness of Sins, Resurrection of the Body, and Life Everlasting

Our broken relationship with God (sin) gives rise to patterns of living and thinking which go against the grain of creation and the grain of our genuine humanity (sins). Broken relationships are only restored through forgiveness, and the Gospel announces that in Christ, God has acted to both extend forgiveness to us and to reconcile us to himself. When we speak about the forgiveness of sin, we are not speaking simply about pardon but also about our being freed from the effects of sin and being renewed after the image of God (Colossians 3:9-10).