But you must remember, beloved, the predictions
of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time
there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who
cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building
yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep
yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching
them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment
stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to
present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the
only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty,
dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 17-24 ESV).
Today we will begin to look at the Apostles’ Creed. Some people object to creeds in the church, saying, “I believe in God, but I only accept the truth of the Bible.” Though the Apostle’s Creed isn’t printed in the Bible, it faithfully summarizes the Bible’s teaching. In fact, we see Jude’s short letter reveals the need for a summary of the truth. In his day there was an urgent need to defend the truth about Jesus Christ. In some ways like us today, people in the first century faced a swirling clash of ideas and claims about truth and religion, and it was easy to be misled by false teachings. Jude, an early church leader who was also a brother of Jesus, saw that false teaching threatened to mislead the church. He urged believers to hold on to the truth entrusted to them.
The Holy Spirit, using the eyewitness
accounts of Jesus’ apostles, forged the truth that we find in the New
Testament. Then, from the days of the early church through the next few
centuries, leaders and teachers summarized the main points of that truth as
they taught new believers who were preparing for baptism. And by around the
fourth century, a general statement emerged that has become known as the
Apostles’ Creed.
Our grasp of God’s truth can still be
threatened today. When we say the Apostles’ Creed, we are reciting God’s
eternal truth to help us stand firm in our faith in Christ, and we do so with
believers down through the centuries and around the world. AS we begin this
little study, refresh your memory of this great old creed:
I
believe in God,
the
Father almighty,
Creator
of heaven and earth,
and
in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who
was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born
of the Virgin Mary,
suffered
under Pontius Pilate,
was
crucified, died and was buried;
he
descended into hell;
on
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he
ascended into heaven,
and
is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from
there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the
holy catholic Church,
the
communion of saints,
the
forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and
life everlasting.
No comments:
Post a Comment