TOPIC 29 OF 47
Creeds and Confessions
The Church gives voice to the faith it receives from Scripture.
THE MAIN TRUTH
When the Holy Spirit brings us to believe in the Gospel of Jesus, he prompts us to confess what we believe to the world.
The teaching
From the book · pages 88–90
When the Holy Spirit brings us to believe in the Gospel of Jesus, he prompts us to confess what we believe to the world. A creed (Latin credo: “I believe”) is a statement of what Christians believe in agreement with Holy Scripture.
The first creed of the Church was “Jesus is Lord.” Another early creed is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5, concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This creed was a forerunner of the Apostles’ Creed, the baptismal creed of the Western Church. The Nicene Creed (A.D. 325 and 381) became the confession of faith concerning Christ’s deity adopted by the universal Church. The Athanasian Creed has been used in the Western Church to confess the Triune God and the two natures of Christ.
During the Reformation, Martin Luther and other reformers wrote various confessions of faith that were compiled into the Book of Concord in 1580. Every evangelical Lutheran pastor and congregation subscribes to these Lutheran Confessions because they faithfully represent what Scripture teaches about the Christian faith.
Scripture foundations
All Scripture excerpts from this topic are presented below in the book’s order. Ellipses and bracketed explanations follow the manuscript. Select a reference to read the surrounding passage in the EHV.
Reading these passages together
The passages show faith being confessed, taught, and guarded. Creeds serve the Church as faithful summaries of Scripture, while Scripture remains the final authority for teaching.
11 Scripture excerpt groups
SCRIPTURE 01
Matthew 16:15-17 ↗
“[Jesus] said to them, ‘But you, who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’”
Book page 89
SCRIPTURE 02
1 Corinthians 12:3 ↗
“. . . no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
Book page 89
SCRIPTURE 03
Matthew 10:32 ↗
“Everyone who confesses me before others, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.”
Book page 89
SCRIPTURE 04
2 Corinthians 4:5 ↗
“. . . we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. . .”
Book page 89
SCRIPTURE 05
Philippians 2:9-11 ↗
“Therefore God also highly 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 will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Book page 89
SCRIPTURE 06
Acts 4:8,12 ↗
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them . . . ‘There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must saved.’”
Book page 89
SCRIPTURE 07
Romans 10:8-9 ↗
“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith that we are proclaiming. Certainly, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, your will be saved.”
Book page 90
SCRIPTURE 08
2 Corinthians 4:13 ↗
“Since we have that same spirit of faith, which corresponds to what is written: ‘I believed; therefore, I have spoken,’ we also believe, and therefore we speak.”
Book page 90
SCRIPTURE 09
2 Timothy 1:8,12-14 ↗
“So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord . . . But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Hold fast to the pattern of sound words that you heard from me, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you.”
Book page 90
SCRIPTURE 10
1 Corinthians 15:1,3-5 ↗
“Brothers, I am going to call your attention to the gospel that I preached to you. You received it, and you took your stand on it . . . For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.”
Book page 90
SCRIPTURE 11
Jude 3 ↗
“. . . I felt it was necessary for me to write, to urge you to continue to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all.”
Book page 90
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV), copyright 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission, as noted in the manuscript.
PERSONAL REFLECTION OR GROUP DISCUSSION
Reflect and pray
Why does Christian faith naturally lead to a spoken confession?
How can shared creeds protect the central truths of the Gospel?
What is the proper relationship between Scripture and the Church’s confessions?
A prayer
God of truth, keep our confession faithful to your Word. Unite our hearts and voices in the faith centered on Jesus, and help us teach it clearly to others. Amen.