What Do You Believe?

This blog seeks to encourage people in the grace and truth of Christ, so as to know what to believe, and then to live out the true historic faith that has come through the ages.  It's been 20 centuries since Jesus lived, taught, died, and rose again from the grave.  Many billions of Christians have come to faith in that time, and there's one Creed that has lasted through the ages and has been more effective than any other.  This confession has been a great encouragement to my faith, and to many others as well.  

The Apostles' Creed was first developed by the Apostles and is a great confession.  It was informal and unofficial at first but it was Trinitarian, as it acknowledged the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and what each has done.  I've been greatly blessed by this creed because of its content, but also because we use to recite it every Lord's day, out loud, in worship, and it revived my drooping faith, it awakened my heart again to the unchanging and necessary focus on God Himself.  I highly recommend memorizing it and reciting it on a regular basis.  And I recommend reciting Scripture too.  

Here is the confession as it was given at Independent Presbyterian Church for many wonderful years.  It really was the bedrock of the sermons and the worship, and the faith we rejoiced in.  

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 Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead; I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Amen.

We need to confess our faith!  And this begins with "I believe."  And then "in God."  We must confess that we believe in God first and foremost.  He is the object of our faith, in all his glory! 

I also believe the old English helps us to see the historical nature of the confession and our need for the historic biblical faith.  This creed began with the Apostles, and it summarizes our faith in every situation in life.  We can only know God in his grace and truth through Scripture.  And we can confess our faith in a historic creed.  But let's confess our faith, not our fears.  Christ is alive and well and He calls us to Him.  

FAITH TODAY:  Galatians 5:5-6, "For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love."

Got Spirit?

 If you asked me how many times I've seen a commercial or an advertisement that promotes some product or service, I'd say it's way beyond numbering.  Our culture is filled with marketing advertisements.  Each of them has a particular angle they are promoting to have you buy their stuff.  

All the major marketing promotions have an emotional appeal to get you to like what they've got.  And often times marketing turns into emotional manipulation.  Even at sporting events we basically are hearing a similar message, you need to get into the spirit of the game, you need to buy into the wave of what's positive and popular.  We need to catch on to the gig.  

But, do we have the spirit of the world or the Spirit of Christ?  This is a good question I believe because it helps us to know Him, to understand His heart as well as His mind.  What is the Spirit of Christ?  In the sermon on the mount, Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs, is the kingdom of heaven."  Here Jesus described that we need a humble spirit that accepts the truths of God and receives Him to receive eternal life.  We cannot receive the Spirit of Christ with a proud spirit.  

We also see this as Christ taught his disciples in John 3:5, "Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."  We must be born of the Spirit of God to enter the kingdom of God.  This is not the spirit of the world but the Holy Spirit, and He is supernatural, and only He can regenerate our souls and transform our lives.  

Our faith will be inspired and strengthened when we humbly receive the Word of God and the Spirit of Truth.  The Holy Spirit seeks to lead us into all truth.  Do we have this Spirit?  

FAITH TODAY:  John 16:13, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."