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When Vince Lombardi came to take over as coach of the Green Bay Packers, he held his first meeting with the players. He opened the training session by saying, "We will begin with the fundamentals of football." Holding up a football, he continued, "Now this is what you call a football." One of the veteran players responded, "Coach, will you please run through that again? I didn't get it!"

In our study of the Apostles' Creed we will be dealing with the fundamentals of our Christian faith. The creed gives us the simple basics that every true Christian confesses as his/her personal faith. The Apostles' Creed is the ABC's of our Christian religion, the very minimum one needs to believe. Each of the 109 words of the creed is essential and packed with meaning. To get the full meaning and truth of the creed, we will look at almost every word in it.

A Personal Confession
The very first word of the creed is the first personal pronoun, "I." It is not "we," as though this were a corporate confession. Rather, it is an individual and personal confession usually given in a corporate experience of worship. Of course, one can use the creed for private devotions. And the first word of the creed is not "they." This creed does not refer to others of the past or of the future, but to each of us in the present. "I believe" is present tense -- here and now.

When we say "I" believe, we are indicating what the nature of Christianity is. It is a personal relationship with the triune God, a relationship established by faith in Christ who makes us acceptable to God the Father. If Christianity is to be real, it is necessary for each person to enter this relationship. Christianity is not a liturgy, not a hierarchy of clergy, a physical church plant, nor a theology or an ethical code. These may be a part of the Christian religion, but they are secondary and nonessential. The heart of our faith is the relationship with Christ. This was demonstrated at Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asked his disciples what people were saying about his identity. But it was not what "they" say but "Who do you say that I am?" A Christian says with Peter, "You are the Christ" (Matthew 16:13-16).

In a sense then, it is not really the Apostles' Creed, but my very own creed -- John's creed or Mary's creed. If our Christian religion is a personal relationship with God, the creed has to be my very own. No one can enter into this relationship but me. No one can take my place. There can be no surrogate nor substitute. No one can be a Christian by proxy. In The Road Less Traveled Scott Peck writes, "Our religion must be a wholly personal one, forged entirely through the fire of our questioning and doubting in the crucible of our own experience of reality."

There are some things that only you can do. No one can take a bath for you or take your medicine to get you well. No one can die for you. Martin Luther said, "Every Christian must do his own believing just as he must do his own dying." You cannot be absent when death comes, as Woody Allen said, "It's not that I am afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." Likewise, no one can do your loving or believing for you. In the parable of the five wise and five foolish maidens, the foolish ones allowed their lamps to go out. When the bridegroom came, the foolish ones rushed to the wise girls and begged them to give them some of their oil. The wise refused and told them to buy oil from the dealers (Matthew 25:1-13). This was not selfish or mean on the part of the wise women. It is a fact that we cannot borrow the oil of faith or use someone else's faith. Faith cannot be borrowed, purchased, stolen, or inherited. We will not get to heaven because our parents and/or grandparents were faithful Christians.

Christianity, therefore, is an individual affair. It is a private and personal relationship with God in Christ. Alfred N. Whitehead said, "Religion is what one does with one's solitariness." God calls us to be Christians not by groups or en masse, but one by one. He called one man, Abraham, to be the father of a nation; another man, Moses, to lead a people out of slavery; one woman, Mary, to be the mother of the Savior; and one rebel, Paul, to plant the church in the ancient world.

Basically, Christianity is not a corporate affair as religion was in the Old Testament. By being a citizen of Israel, a person automatically became one of God's chosen people. It was a covenant with the people as a nation. An individual shared in the covenant through circumcision. Later Jeremiah in the sixth century announced a new covenant, which would be made with each person by having the Law written on the heart of each person. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus' new covenant made with each believer. Jesus dealt primarily with individuals. To each he said, "Come, follow me." Indeed, the church is a corporate body of God's people. But the Body consists of individual members brought and kept together by the Holy Spirit.

Establishing A Relationship
Since the Christian religion is based on a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, how and when is that relationship established? The relationship begins when a person is baptized regardless of the age of the person. Baptism is God's official and objective act of adopting us as his children. He accepts us for Jesus' sake. We are given the Holy Spirit and made members of his Kingdom. The requirements for entering this relationship are repentance and faith. The water of baptism acts like a seal of the covenant relationship. Luther said that when his faith faltered that he was God's child, and he crept on his hands and knees to the baptismal font, where God accepted him originally.

In the event a person was baptized as an infant, the time comes when the child is of mature reason and can answer for him/herself. The church calls it confirmation. The promises of baptism are confirmed. The youth repeats the promises made by the sponsors of infant baptism. For the first time the youth publicly declares faith in Christ and promises loyalty to Christ and his church.

How the relationship occurs is not the same in all cases. There is the immediate style of conversion. The person is usually an adult who has had an emotional experience with God or Jesus. Like Saint Paul on the way to Damascus, the experience was sudden: he fell off his horse, he heard a voice, he saw a blinding light, he was stricken blind. The experience turned him to Christ who called him to be his servant and apostle. There is a complete turnaround in life from Satan to Christ, from sin to holiness, from disobedience to service. Though not all Christians have had this experience, it is valid and authentic.

On the other hand, the relationship can be a gradual one of growth into the relationship over the years. In my own case, I did not have an emotional conversion, but a slow, gradual evolution into an ever closer relationship. For twelve days I was not a Christian. I was born on December 19 and baptized on the following January 1. But over the years the faith has matured and the relationship with Christ has grown closer. This method is also valid and an authentic experience of relationship.

It is one thing to establish a relationship with God but it is another to maintain and increase that relationship. This is done by daily prayer, daily Bible reading, faithfully receiving the Sacraments, and weekly worship. The relationship with God can also be strengthened by Christian fellowship and unselfishly giving service to both the church and the world.

Personal Benefits
When a person says in the creed, "I," there is a personal experience. It indicates that you came to know, love, and believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior. You accepted Christ, surrendered your life, and committed to serve him the rest of your life. After physicist Arthur Compton addressed an assembly of college students, a student addressed him, "How can you really prove to me what it is like to be a Christian?" Dr. Compton asked for an orange. As everyone watched, he peeled it and began to eat it. Then he asked the student, "Do you know what the orange tasted like?" The student replied, "Of course I don't. Only the person who ate it can tell that." "So it is with Christianity," Compton concluded. "You must taste it yourself."

Job was one who tasted his faith in God. After his argument with God, he said, "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee" (Job 42:5). When Thomas confronted the resurrected Christ, he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). When Luther was preparing his university Bible lecture in the Black Tower, he read, "The just shall live by faith." For him then the heavens opened and for the first time he understood the meaning of the gospel. He said that he felt like he was born anew.

When you say, "I" believe, you have an assurance, confidence, and conviction about your relationship with God. By virtue of your faith, you know you are God's child, that you are saved, and that you are bound for heaven. Because of this "I," Paul could say with certainty, "I know whom I have believed" (2 Timothy 1:12). Faith became personal for John Wesley, who, at a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street, said, "I did know that Christ has taken away my sins, even mine, and has saved me from the law of sin and death."

This "I" of the creed confesses that you have committed your life to the triune God. As a result of your faith, your life is under new management. You gave your heart to Christ and only you can do that. John Calvin's crest consisted of a flaming heart in an outstretched hand with the words, "My heart I give Thee, Lord, eagerly and sincerely."

Only Believe
As though I were the only person in the world, I stand alone and say "I." I what? I think? I demand? I object? Before God, the church, and the world, a Christian says in the Apostles' Creed, "I believe." What do I believe? In whom do I believe?

Maybe I don't believe in anything or anyone. It is possible I can be so confused that I do not know what to believe. A student at Emory University told this story. When a student is a freshman, he/she is a Republican. By the time he/she is a sophomore, he/she is a Democrat. In the third year the student is a Marxist. But in the last year, he/she is nothing. By then the student is so confused by various professors and courses taken that he/she does not know what to believe.

A true Christian is one who says with Paul, "I know whom I have believed." What a Christian minimally believes is contained in the Apostles' Creed. A Christian is a believer. The church is a society of believers. In Hendersonville, North Carolina, there is a commercial building outside of which is this sign: "Faith Associates, Inc." This sign would be appropriate outside a church, because Christian people are faith associates.

Fundamental Faith
Faith for a Christian is absolutely essential and indispensable. Next to grace, it is the most important element in life. G. K. Chesterton once said it was more important for a landlady to know what a boarder believes than to know the amount of his weekly paycheck.

Without faith there can be no Christianity, no church, no salvation. Without faith God in Christ cannot help or save us. When Jesus came to Nazareth, his hometown, he could not help any of the people. In other places he could heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, and cleanse lepers, but not in Nazareth. Why? Because they had no faith in him. Matthew reports, "He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58).

Our salvation depends on faith. When the Philippian jailer wanted to know what he must do to be saved, Paul told him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). This coincides with what Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "By grace you have been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8). It is not that faith saves us. Grace alone saves us as demonstrated on the cross. Faith simply accepts the gift of salvation. It is the hand that reaches out to take the gift to oneself.

Healing depends on faith. Without faith in Christ's power and willingness to heal, we cannot be healed physically or emotionally. A woman, suffering from a twelve-year hemorrhage, touched Jesus' garment and was healed. How did Jesus explain this miracle? He told her, "Your faith has made you well" (Matthew 9:22).

None of us has any idea what power is at our disposal if we have faith. The smallest amount of faith can do wonders. Hear Jesus' own words: "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing will be impossible to you" (Matthew 17:20). Note the contrast: the minimum of faith has maximum power. Faith has greater power than a nuclear explosion, because faith is the power only for good. Faith is the key that unlocks the power of God, and no one nor anything can equal the power of God.

Faith is indispensable not only for earthly but also for eternal life. At the death of Lazarus, Martha was comforted when Jesus said, "He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). To this day at the funeral of one who died believing in Christ, the mourners can truthfully say, "He is not dead but is alive in heaven."

Since faith is so indispensable for a Christian, it is absolutely essential to keep the faith. One may never fall from the grace of God but one can easily lose faith. If faith is lost; all is lost. The power is gone. Death reigns. We are lost in sin. In Revelation, the ascended Christ admonishes the church, "Be faithful unto death" (Revelation 2:10). The question for each of us is not whether we have faith, but will we have faith until death?

False Faces Of Faith
When I was a child, at Halloween we put on masks that we called "false faces." The mask of a gorilla or a devil was a false face because, happily, it was not our real face. Faith can also put on false faces. Not all faith is worthy to be held. In writing to Timothy, Paul speaks of people who have the form but not the power of religion. They have a "counterfeit faith" (2 Timothy 3:8). It is really then not a matter of having faith, but of having true faith. In order to determine whether our faith is genuine, we need to look at some of the false faces of faith.

One false face is blind faith. With a blind faith we close our eyes to reality. We refuse to use our minds. It is like a boy's definition of faith: "Faith is believing what you know ain't so." Or as a little lad said, "If my father says it is so, it's so, even if it ain't so." Gina Lollobrigida has a statue of Saint Christopher in her car and puts faith in him to protect her on the highways. Despite Pope Paul's official decree that the saint may never have existed, she insists, "I don't care. He saved my life when my car crashed last February."

Another false face of faith is demanding a sign that what you believe is real and true. We want confirmation of our faith. In Jesus' day, Jewish religious leaders were always asking him for a sign that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus refused and asked them just to have faith. After the resurrection, Thomas wanted proof that Jesus rose from the dead. He wanted the sign of wound prints in his actual body. Elton Trueblood explained what true faith is: "Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation."

There are those who say, "It does not matter what you believe so long as you are sincere in that belief." Sincerity is no proof of true faith, for we can sincerely believe what is false. It is possible to be deadly in earnest and fully convinced that something is true, but it may be false. Sincerity in faith is a virtue only when the faith is genuine.

Then there is the false face of having faith in faith itself. Life demands faith for it to be satisfactory. We were made to have faith. Many of us feel like W. C. Fields, who said, "A man's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink." Since faith is necessary for a satisfactory life, we have faith in faith, for faith results in health and happiness. For Christians faith does not always mean well-being and success. Faith may put us behind bars, in solitary confinement, or even on a cross.

One more false face of faith is the position that we should hold to our faith regardless of what that faith is. Some time ago a faithful Christian mother was upset when her son left the church for the Unification Church, the "Moonies." In commenting on her son's conversion to the sect, she said, "I think that if you believe in something, you have to stick to it." If we followed this type of thinking, we would always believe evil is good and Satan is god.

Triple-A Faith
You may belong to a Triple-A auto club, and as a Christian you have a Triple-A faith. When you are in a worship service and you say the Apostles' Creed, do you realize what you are saying when you say the word "believe"? Do you really mean it? If you knew the full meaning of "believe," would you still be willing to say it? This brings us to an understanding of the nature of faith. Belief has a Triple-A dimension -- a spiritual AAA.

1. A -- Assent
The first "A" is assent. This is an intellectual admission that a certain person or thing exists. It is like a child's believing that there is a Santa Claus. This is the easiest part of faith. It is an admission which does not require any responsibility for what you believe. To say "Jesus died" is just history. It does not have anything to do with me personally. According to a Gallup poll, 98 percent of the American people claim they believe in God. This is really not saying anything, for even Satan believes in the existence of God. This type of faith is a matter only of the mind; it is intellectual assent. It is expressed in the phrase, "I believe that...." The Apostles' Creed does not say "that." One day the French skeptic, Voltaire, went for a walk with a friend, and a procession came by. A man carrying a large cross led the procession. When the crucifix came by, Voltaire took off his hat as a respectful gesture. "What is this, Voltaire? Have you found God?" "No," replied Voltaire, "God and I salute, but we do not speak."

However, faith as assent is important because it gives content to our faith. What or whom do we believe? We may believe falsehood. We may have faith just in ourselves. Soon after being released from prison for his part in the Watergate scandal, G. Gordon Liddy boasted, "I found within myself all I need and all I shall ever need. I am a man of great faith, but my faith is in Gordon Liddy. I have never failed me."

Having faith in wrong ideas plagued the church through the centuries. If one believes that Jesus was only human, John cries, "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is not of God?" (1 John 2:22). Not to believe in Jesus' resurrection means death: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17).

What then shall we believe? We believe in giving assent to the truths that God is our creating Father, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Holy Spirit is God the comforter. When we say, "I believe," we are accepting the truths contained in the Apostles' Creed. This is what Christians believe.

2. A -- Attitude
It is not enough to believe only in terms of assent. Faith goes beyond intellectual belief to the attitude of truth. In the creed we do not confess, "I believe that," but rather "I believe in...." There is a world of difference between "that" and "in." "That" refers to content, but "in" refers to trust in a person. There is a difference in saying "I believe you are a human" and "I believe in you." To believe in you means I put my trust in you, that you are a good and kind person. Christians say they believe in God, because our religion is a relationship with God based on trust in him.

The difference between assent and attitude of trust was illustrated by Blondin, a Frenchman who thrilled a large crowd by walking across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. When he got to the other side, he asked a spectator, "Do you believe I can carry a man across the falls?" The fellow replied, "Yes." "Do you believe that I can carry you across the falls?" At once the reply was "NO." The difference is when we say, "I believe Christ died." That is assent. When we say, "I believe Christ died for me," that is trust. With assent we use the mind. With trust we believe with the heart. Luther explained faith as trust:

To have a God properly means to have something in which the heart trusts completely. To have God, you see, does not mean to lay hands upon him, or put him in a purse, or shut him up in a chest. We lay hold on him when our heart embraces him and clings to him. To cling to him with our heart is nothing else than to entrust ourselves to him completely.

If faith is an attitude of trust, in what or in whom do we trust? Do Americans trust in God, as our coins say? A Christian has the faith that trusts in God's Word with its promises. For instance, a Christian never walks alone, because he/she trusts in God's Word, "Lo, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20). When we die, we relax in confidence because of the promise, "I will come again and take you to myself" (John 14:3). On the basis of our trust in God's Word, we know we are forgiven: "If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins" (1 John 1:9). Some years ago I learned what it means to trust someone's word. My wife, Barbara, and I bought a condo in western North Carolina. The switch in the dining room had only an off-on switch. I suggested putting in a rheostat so that it might be more romantic for dinner by being able to reduce the light. She agreed and I went out and bought a rheostat. I decided to install it by myself. As I took off the plate of the switch, I suggested that I ought to go to the basement and turn off the main switch lest I get electrocuted. She said she would do it for me. I waited and waited but no word came from her whether she did it or not. I thought of going down to see if she turned it off, but then I thought she might see me and think I did not trust her word. So I said, "Here goes, God!" I touched the wires with my screwdriver. Because she was faithful to her word, I am here to show you I am alive!

We trust not only the promises and Word of God, but we trust our very lives to God by surrender and commitment. We commit our lives to him in utter trust that he knows best what we do with our lives. We rely upon him to lead and guide us through life. Some years ago I took up water-skiing. The first time I was able to get up on the skis, the boat pulled me to the center of a large lake. Losing confidence, I fell off the skis and the boat driver kept on going because he was not aware that I had fallen. Since I am a poor swimmer, I knew I could never swim to shore. There I was in the middle of a lake as helpless as anyone could be. Then I remembered I had on a ski belt. I decided to relax and wait for the boat to return. While waiting, I put my whole weight on the ski belt, trusted it to keep me from sinking, and enjoyed the wait. That is what faith is. We put our trust, our whole trust, on the everlasting arms of God.

3. A -- Action
Action is the third "A" of faith. Faith is more than assent and attitude. However, many Christians stop in faith when it comes to doing something about their faith. James reminds us that faith without works is dead. When on a trip to England, we went to London and visited John Wesley's chapel. In back of the altar was a beautiful mahogany reredos of three parts. On the central panel Wesley had painted in gold lettering the Apostles' Creed. On the left panel was printed the greatest commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God...." On the right panel was the second greatest, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." As Wesley's people worshiped Sunday after Sunday, they were reminded that the faith expressed in the creed must be expressed in obedience to the commandments.

True Christian faith calls for action. Faith works through action, the good works of love. Luther, who emphasized that we are saved by grace through faith, defined faith as follows:

It is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly. It does not ask whether there are good works to do, but before the question arises, it has already done them, and is always at the doing of them.

It is a fact of life that we do what we believe in. Faith precedes action. Because Columbus believed that the world was round, he set sail for India by going west. Because the Nazis believed Jews were a menace to society, there was a holocaust. If we believe life begins at conception, we will be anti-abortionists. If we believe stocks are the best investment, we will buy stocks. If parents believe their children should have a college education, they will start saving from the time the child is born. If we believe that Jesus is the Christ, we will get baptized and join the church.

Faith calls for action in terms of obedience. The author of Hebrews writes, "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ... and he went out, not knowing where he was to go" (Hebrews 11:8). It was faith that made Isaiah say to God, "Here am I. Send me" (Isaiah 6:8). In his book, Event in Eternity, Paul Scherer wrote: "You just cannot hold on to your faith and expect anything much to happen. You cannot leave to others the doing of what really needs to be done. If this vision you have of God does not move and drive and pull and tug and wrench and twist and hold and stride and walk off grimly after him, it is nothing."

How can we say that we believe if we do not act on this faith? It is claimed that 98 percent of Americans believe in God. Do they really? What about the commandment, "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy"? It means we are commanded to worship. Yet only thirty percent of church members are in church on a Sunday. The Bible teaches that the minimum gift God wants from us is a tenth of our income, but the average Christian donates only one percent. The average church today is a mission field!

How To Get Faith
When we consider the extreme importance of faith, we wonder how we can get it. Faith is too wonderful and difficult for it to be a human achievement. We are not born with faith. We cannot buy it. We are unable to earn or deserve it. Faith is not a matter of simple choice: "I think I'll believe." In contrast, as Luther said, "Faith is a divine work in us." The father of the epileptic boy at the foot of Mount Transfiguration asked Jesus to help him get more faith when he said, "I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:22-24).

Faith is the divine work of the Holy Spirit. One of the nine fruits of the Spirit is faith. Paul taught, "to another faith by the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:9). Again he wrote, "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3). One way the Spirit comes to us is in the hearing of God's Word. In Romans 10:17 Paul instructs us, "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ." How does the hearing of the gospel produce faith? The Word brings with it the Spirit who creates faith in us. The Word (scripture) and Spirit are inseparable. The Word comes to us in sermon and sacrament as the oral and visible Word of God. This is one good reason for going to church -- to get faith through the Spirit in the Word.

Now that we know what is involved when we say "I believe" in the creed, we realize more than ever that we need to say to Jesus, "Help my unbelief." We need divine help because faith embraces the whole person. It takes in the mind in terms of assent. It embraces the heart in terms of the attitude of trust. It involves the hand or whole body in terms of action. In your mercy, O Lord, hear our prayer: Increase our faith.



Study Guide

I Believe

Personal Experiences
1. Who went from hearing to seeing God? Read Job 42:5.

2. Who said, "My Lord and my God"? Read John 20:28.

3. Whose gospel did Paul preach? Read Romans 2:16.

4. Tell about your personal experience:
When did you first say, "I believe"?
What brought you to the point of saying, "I believe"?
Did you understand what you were saying when you confessed, "I believe"?

The Importance Of Faith
What would be the consequence of having no faith? Find the answers in the Bible references:
1. No faith: No ____________. See Acts 16:31.

2. No faith: No ____________. See Matthew 13:58.

3. No faith: No ____________. See Matthew 17:20.

4. No faith: No ____________. See John 11:25.

5. No faith: No ____________. See James 2:22.

Source Of Faith
In the following passages, discover the answers by filling in the blanks.
1. According to Matthew 3:7-9, faith cannot be ____________.

2. According to Acts 8:18-20, faith cannot be ____________.

3. According to Romans 10:17, faith cannot be ____________.

4. According to Galatians 5:22, faith is a ____________.

False Faith
Which of the following statements about faith are true or false?
Circle the appropriate letter.
T F 1. "Faith is believing what you know ain't so."

T F 2. "If my father says it is so, it's so, even if it ain't so."

T F 3. "Seeing is believing."

T F 4. "It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere."

T F 5. "Have faith in faith, for a person has to believe something."

T F 6. "If you believe something, you have to stick to it."

True Faith
True faith consists of assent, attitude, and action. Try this matching game. Place on each line the number that fits.
1 -- Assent

2 -- Attitude

3 -- Action

___ Faith of the heart

___ Faith of the mind

___ Faith of the hand

___ Obedience

___ Trust

___ Agreement

___ I respond

___ I believe that

___ I believe in