The Apostles’ Creed is an ancient statement of belief used by Christians as a baptismal confession for over 1800 years. We repeat it in our church when a new believer is baptized. It best summarizes what shapes our life and faith as Nazarenes.
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;”
We believe in one God. He’s always existed, rules the universe, and takes an active role in the affairs of men. He is holy, loving, and just. God reveals Himself to us as three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God’s greatest desire is to be in relationship with us, but we all have rejected Him by choosing our own way.
“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, dead, and buried; He descended into Hades; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”
Jesus always existed with the Father. He came to live among us, fully God and fully man, so that He could show us the love God has for us. His dying, coming back to life and rising back to the Father were real, historical events. Jesus makes it possible for us to have access to the Father. We believe that just as His first coming was real, He will come back some day to right all the wrongs in a fallen world, and finish the work of restoring us to a perfect relationship with God.
“I believe in the Holy Spirit,”
God’s Spirit is active in the world today. He calls us back to God. He does the work of saving us from our sins, and making us pure. As Nazarenes, we believe that complete power to love as God loves, and cleansing from all sin are available to all Christians who are willing to give 100% of their lives to God, allowing Him to replace our selfish natures with the Holy Spirit. We call this entire sanctification.
“The holy Church universal, the communion of saints,”
The Church is the community of all the confess Jesus Christ as Lord. God has covenanted with the Church to build His Kingdom on earth until He returns. It is through the Church that we worship God, receive baptism and the Lord’s Supper, pray, teach, and spread the good news of Jesus. As Nazarenes, we believe that all Christians have equal access to God’s grace. We are all saints, priests, prophets, and ministers.
“The forgiveness of sins,”
Sin is anything we do that hurts God, hurts others, and hurts ourselves. We’ve all done these things. It’s our nature. God hates sin because He hates the pain it causes. However, God, in His love, makes it possible to still have a relationship with Him by completely wiping out our sins. He does this when we repent (admit we’ve sinned, express sorrow for it, and commit to stop), believe that Jesus lived, died, and lives again, and confess Him as our Lord (Romans 10:9). We call this salvation.
“The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
As Christians, we believe that death isn’t the end of the story. When Jesus returns, everyone who has ever lived will come back to life to account for how they lived. Those who have had their sins forgiven (see above) will live eternally with God, while those who have rejected His forgiveness face eternal separation from God.
“Amen.”
This is the Hebrew way of saying “I agree with this!” As members of the Church of the Nazarene, we have staked our lives on these beliefs. May all of our thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions be a constant “amen” to the faith into which we were baptized.
