pilgrim people

As we wrap up this four-part series of posts on why we need creeds and confessions, I want to make the brief point, without repeating what has already been said in the previous posts and comments, that creeds and confessions provide basic instruction on the essentials of the historic Christian faith.

Creeds and confessions help us “connect the dots” of the Bible. They instruct us on the doctrine which arises from the story of redemption. They are one of the ways the church fulfills her responsibility to “Go…and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [Christ has]commanded.” (Matt 28.18-20) The church has the responsibility to teach apostolic doctrine, which has been laid as a foundation for our faith. Incidentally, this is why we call is the Apostles’ Creed. It is not because we believe that the apostles themselves wrote it, but because it is a faithful expression of apostolic doctrine, which Christ commanded his church to teach and continue in.

Moreover, this is why the Reformation gave us rich catechisms. The Heidelberg Catechism goes through the Apostles’ Creed and explains it, line by line, so that we are instructed in what we believe and why we believe it. You see, we don’t confess the Apostles’ Creed or any creed or confession without reading it critically and understanding it. But when we do, we should be able to say with the Reformed churches in 1561-62, who sent a copy of the Belgic Confession to the Roman Catholic King Philip II along with a letter that said that they were ready to obey the government in all lawful things, but that they would “offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to fire” rather than deny the truth expressed in their confession.

Are you ready to say that? Are you willing to die for what you confess to believe is true? Are you ready to stand with the historic Christian church and confess what she has confessed through the ages? Are you prepared to teach these things diligently to your children, and talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise?

Indeed, it requires work. It means we cannot be lazy. But this is a necessary part of every Christian’s growth and survival; to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and not let the sword drop from our hands. We must be willing to work our doctrinal confession into the fabric of our lives. What we confess should consistently be part of who we are, our worship, our prayer life, our evangelism, everything.