The Creed

Assembled from the apostolic confessions preserved in the New Testament canon.

I. Of the One God

We receive what Israel received, and what Jesus named as the first of all commandments:

"Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." — Deuteronomy 6:4, as cited by Jesus in Mark 12:29 (NET)

We confess with the apostle the one God heard now through Christ:

"yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live." — 1 Corinthians 8:6 (NET)

II. Of the Son

We confess with Peter, who did not arrive at this by flesh and blood but received it from the Father:

"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." — Matthew 16:16 (NET)

We receive the hymn already on the lips of the apostolic churches before Paul set it down:

"Who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." — Philippians 2:6–11 (NET)

III. Of the Work of Christ

We receive what Paul received and delivered as of first importance:

"For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve." — 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 (NET)

We receive the six-line summary preserved in the apostolic deposit:

"He was revealed in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." — 1 Timothy 3:16 (NET)

IV. Of Eternal Life

We confess what the Son Himself declared to the Father on the night He was betrayed — the Lord's own definition of what His work produces:

"Now this is eternal life – that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent." — John 17:3 (NET)

V. Of Salvation

We confess the apostolic core of what it means to receive Him:

"because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." — Romans 10:9 (NET)

VI. Of the Holy Spirit

We confess with the apostle that the Spirit is not the conclusion of our reasoning but the condition of our confession — that no one arrives at what we have confessed here except by Him:

"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit." — 1 Corinthians 12:3 (NET)

VII. Of the Mission and the Return

We receive the commission the risen Lord gave to those who had already received everything this creed contains:

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." — Matthew 28:19–20 (NET)

He is coming. To judge the living and the dead. To raise the dead imperishable. To make all things new. The knowing that is eternal life — begun now, in this present moment — will be completed when we see Him face to face.

The Prayer of the Apostolic Church

The oldest prayer on the lips of those who have confessed what this creed confesses. The last words of the canon. The cry of every generation that has received what was delivered.

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. — 1 Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 22:20