Creeds

[B-A-C]

Some churches (it seems mostly liturgical denominations) emphasize their statement of faith on something called creeds.
In fact one church I attended, says that if you can recite these from memory, you are a Christian. (hmmmm, needless to say, I haven't attended there again)

The Nicene creed goes something like this. (it depends of who you ask). The Anglican/Episcopal version slightly different.

<dl><dd>We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible.</dd><dd>And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the Only-begotten, that is of the essence of the Father.</dd><dd>God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same nature of the Father, by Whom all things came into being, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.</dd><dd>Who for us humanity and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate, was made human, was born perfectly of the holy virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.</dd><dd>By whom He took body, soul, and mind, and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance.</dd><dd>He suffered, was crucified, was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven with the same body, [and] sat at the right hand of the Father.</dd><dd>He is to come with the same body and with the glory of the Father, to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there is no end.</dd><dd>We believe in the Holy Spirit, in the uncreated and the perfect; Who spoke through the Law, prophets, and Gospels; Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles, and lived in the saints.</dd><dd>We believe also in only One, Universal, Apostolic, and [Holy] Church; in one baptism in repentance, for the remission, and forgiveness of sins; and in the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgement of souls and bodies, and the Kingdom of Heaven and in the everlasting life.


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[B-A-C]

The Apostles creed

Again, there seem to be many versions of this, this version is from the Lutheran ELCA church.

<dl><dd>I believe in God, the Father almighty, <dl><dd>creator of heaven and earth.</dd></dl> </dd><dd>I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, <dl><dd>who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,</dd><dd>born of the virgin Mary,</dd><dd>suffered under Pontius Pilate,</dd><dd>was crucified, died and was buried;</dd><dd>he descended to the dead.*</dd><dd>On the third day he rose again;</dd><dd>he ascended into heaven,</dd><dd>he is seated at the right hand of the Father,</dd><dd>and he will come to judge the living and the dead.</dd></dl> </dd><dd>I believe in the Holy Spirit, <dl><dd>the holy catholic Church,</dd><dd>the communion of saints,</dd><dd>the forgiveness of sins,</dd><dd>the resurrection of the body,</dd><dd>and the life everlasting. Amen.

Rich Mullins - the singer wrote a song simply called "creed" based on this version.
NOTE: the "holy catholic" church is considered all believers, not the Roman Catholic church.
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[B-A-C]

I guess the point of all this, is to ask what do you believe? Do you have a specific creed?
Does your church have a statement of faith? Is believing a certain creed enough to save you?
Some church have infant baptism, some of these churches have something called confirmation which is usually a few classes about the creeds.
It seems this is mostly done to junior high and high school students. There is then usually a ceremony, after all this, then you are considered a Christian.

Some churches say believing in Jesus is enough.
Some churches emphasize the 5 sola's (solae).

1 Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
2 Sola fide ("by faith alone")
3 Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
4 Solus Christus or Solo Christo ("Christ alone" or "through Christ alone")
5 Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")

Some churches are a mixture or partial of the above.

Many churches, such as the Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God have what they call "core doctrines".
Now you don't have to believe everything said in every service, but you are supposed to at least believe the core doctrines of that specific church.

 

[B-A-C]

As far as infant baptisms go. Some churches believe the infant is saved at that point.
Most of the churches I have attended, believe that infant baptisms are more for the parents than the child.
They don't believe the infant is saved yet (many believe infants go to heaven, because they haven't reached the age of accountability yet)
but when they do reach the age of accountability (usually around the teens) the child has to make their own decision about faith.
The ceremony is for the parents in the sense that they are committing and promising before the congregation that they will do their best to raise
their child in a biblical and Godly way.

I myself was not baptized as an infant.

My personal story goes like this.
I was raised in the church. My mother was a believer, but my father wasn't (until many years later after I was an adult).
I guess I always believed in Jesus in a way.
One Sunday when I was 12 years old, the preacher gave an altar call. (it seems this becoming rare in churches these days)
I went up and prayed something called the sinners prayer. (more about that later) and confessed my belief in Jesus before the congregation.
I consider that to be the moment I was saved.
A few weeks later, the church was having a water baptism service. I was all for it, so I was also baptized in water at the age of 12.
Virtually all of the churches I have attended through the years have water baptism services every few months or so. Some more often, some
less often, but usually it's just based on the number of new believers and those asking about getting baptized. Some churches believe this is when you
are actually saved.
My father was in the military and we moved around quite a bit. (That's probably why I attended so many different churches).
We started attending a charismatic pentecostal church. Speaking in tongues was emphasized there. I have to admit I was skeptical.
After attending there for a while this just became a normal part of my beliefs. One Sunday (without any urging from anyone) I just started
speaking in tongues. Some churches believe this is when you are actually saved.

Now I'm not saying this is the right way, or the only way.. but it's the way it happened for me.
Maybe that's not for everyone. But the one thing I do believe, is that is has to be a personal choice. It can't be a choice my parents made
for me before I was old enough to understand.

 

[B-A-C]

The sinners prayer. Again there are many variations of this, so rather than post a specific one...

Generally it involves acknowledging that you are a sinner. Confessing that you are a sinner. (Some people sometimes feel the need to confess
specific sins at this point, others do not) Acknowledging that Jesus is your savior and that he paid the price for your sins (death). It usually ends
with a statement of repentance and inviting Jesus into your heart.

I myself believe once you have done that, you are saved. Some believe water baptism is required, but I guess I would ask, what happens if I die before
I got baptized?

 

[james1523]

Some churches (it seems mostly liturgical denominations) emphasize their statement of faith on something called creeds.
In fact one church I attended, says that if you can recite these from memory, you are a Christian. (hmmmm, needless to say, I haven't attended there again)

The Nicene creed goes something like this. (it depends of who you ask). The Anglican/Episcopal version slightly different.

<dl><dd>We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of things visible and invisible.</dd><dd>And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the begotten of God the Father, the Only-begotten, that is of the essence of the Father.</dd><dd>God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten and not made; of the very same nature of the Father, by Whom all things came into being, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.</dd><dd>Who for us humanity and for our salvation came down from heaven, was incarnate, was made human, was born perfectly of the holy virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.</dd><dd>By whom He took body, soul, and mind, and everything that is in man, truly and not in semblance.</dd><dd>He suffered, was crucified, was buried, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven with the same body, [and] sat at the right hand of the Father.</dd><dd>He is to come with the same body and with the glory of the Father, to judge the living and the dead; of His kingdom there is no end.</dd><dd>We believe in the Holy Spirit, in the uncreated and the perfect; Who spoke through the Law, prophets, and Gospels; Who came down upon the Jordan, preached through the apostles, and lived in the saints.</dd><dd>We believe also in only One, Universal, Apostolic, and [Holy] Church; in one baptism in repentance, for the remission, and forgiveness of sins; and in the resurrection of the dead, in the everlasting judgement of souls and bodies, and the Kingdom of Heaven and in the everlasting life.


</dd></dl>

The Nicene creed is a test for orthodoxy. If we can truthfully agree with everything said in the Nicene creed, then we know a) we are saved and b) our doctrine is on the right track. Emperor Constantine after his conversion to Christianity, gained control over both Eastern and Western Roman Empires, which was divided over the debate between Alexander and Arius. Arius taught that Christ was subordinate to the Father, and the first being that God created. The Nicene Creed was the result of a council to resolve this dispute, ordered by Constantine. There were three groups, those that sided with Alexander, those with Arius, and a third group that didn't really have an opinion and just wanted peace.

In regards to using the Nicene Creed for salvation - are we saved if we believe in the Nicene Creed? Well yes, because it contains the most basic and essential things necessary for salvation, such as belief that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:1).

The Nicene Creed is much more complete and thorough and orthodox than the "ask Jesus into your heart and tell him you are sorry for your sins" kind of altar calls and prayers that evangelical denominations use today. The liturgical denominations have a much richer and deeper understanding of the Christian orthodoxy because they continue to use the ancient creeds.

The Nicene creed can be used as a measuring stick to test which denominations are orthodox and which are heretical (JW, mormon, oneness pentecostal etc) - this is what it was meant for in the first place. And it should also be used as a way to unify churches - if two churches can agree on the Nicene creed, there is no good reason that they should remain divided. But if one agrees and one disagrees, one is a true church and the other a sect.