Last month we explored the first section of the Apostles Creed, beginning with “I believe in God the Father Almighty” and ending with “he (Christ) will come to judge the living and the dead.” Today we’ll look at the remaining six articles.
The reason we recite the Apostles’ Creed isn’t to show that we hold correct doctrines. Rather, it’s to affirm profound aspects of God’s saving work in Christ. We want to understand and experience the meaning of the words of the Creed in our personal lives and faith.
I believe in the Holy Spirit
The work of the Holy Spirit is new creation. The Holy Spirit’s job description, we can say, is to bring renewal. God’s Spirit is at work in our lives and in the world to make all things new.
We may at times feel that our lives are stuck and will never change for the better. Like the verse in Ecclesiastes, it may seem like “There is nothing new under the sun, that which has been is what will be.” I imagine you’ve felt that way at times, as I have.
But when we say I believe in the Holy Spirit, we express our conviction that renewal can happen, that our lives can change. And we open ourselves to God for something new and wonderful to happen to us.
To believe in the Holy Spirit is also to trust that we can make a difference for good in the lives of others. It is to believe that we are empowered to aid a neighbor in need, comfort someone who is hurting, help transform someone’s life. As weak and inadequate as we may feel, we have the ability by the Holy Spirit to help bring about a more loving and just world.
I believe in the holy universal church
The word church refers to the community of believers: those who love and follow Jesus. This community is holy because its members are consecrated to God and are growing in the self-giving character of Christlike love.
The traditional wording is “I believe in the holy catholic church.” But in this context “catholic” doesn’t refer to a specific institution. It means universal. That is, Christ’s church includes people throughout the world from “every tribe and language and people and nation.” To believe in the holy, catholic church is to open our arms wide to welcome people like us and people different from us.
I believe in the communion of saints
The Apostles Creed, like Scripture itself, calls all Jesus-followers “saints,” or holy ones. Saints are not just the exemplary Christians of the past. We are all saints, because our lives are dedicated to God and we are committed to growing in Christlike love.
The church is a communion of saints becausewe are connected in living fellowship with all Jesus-followers who are alive now and with all who have died and are with Jesus. Whether in heaven or on earth, we are a family in Christ.
To say, “I believe in the communion of saints” is to actively commit ourselves to share a common life with our brothers and sisters in Christ. To know and love each other, to care for, encourage, and help each other become all that God calls us to be.
Talking about church raises a difficult and challenging question. There are today many different groups and movements who profess Christ. People who talk about Jesus, who say they believe in Biblical authority, and who claim the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet they embrace a variety of very different and often contradictory views of what God is like and how God is working in the world. This can be very confusing. How do we know which churches and movements are truly of God?
If Jesus’ life and teachings are the measure, the sad truth is that much of “Christianity” today and throughout history is far from what God intends for his family in Christ. Jesus himself says that not everyone who calls him Lord truly belongs to him. How do we discern the body of Christ?
Jesus and the Apostles give us the answer. Jesus said that that the world will recognize his followers by their love. The Apostle Paul wrote that faith without love is worthless. And the Apostle John wrote that it is those who love who are born of God and know God.
The sign of authentic faith in Jesus is Christlike love. Love for our fellow Believers, love for our neighbor, and love for our enemies. Love is the identification mark of God’s holy, universal church, the distinctive sign of new creation. Churches who exhibit Christlike, self-giving love for both insiders and outsiders, for both friends and enemies, are part of God’s holy universal church.
We are all far from perfect. But if we are learning to love like Jesus’ loves, we are members of Christ’s family.
I believe in the forgiveness of sins
We talked last month about the forgiveness and healing we receive through Jesus’ death on the cross. As the Psalmist writes, “as far as the East is from the West, so far has God removed our transgressions from us.”
God has removed our guilt, but sometimes it’s difficult for us to forgive ourselves, isn’t it? To say, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins” is to accept and receive the forgiveness that God has brought us. It’s to let go of our feelings of guilt and give ourselves a fresh start.
When I have trouble forgiving myself it helps me to picture Jesus on the cross. However bad my wrongdoing — however bad our wrongdoing — Jesus’ death is sufficient, as nothing else could be. Our guilt is gone, as far as the east is from the west.
Believing in the forgiveness of sins also means that we choose to forgive others for the wrong they’ve done to us, as difficult as that sometimes is. Because Jesus’ death is sufficient for their forgiveness too.
I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
Our ultimate future as followers of Jesus is eternal life in a new creation where God’s presence and glory will fill a united heaven and earth. Where love and justice are at home. Where we will be re-clothed with immortal bodies, like Jesus’ resurrected body, in a world made new.
Knowing that our future is eternal life in the renewed earth and heaven affects how we live today. We don’t try to escape this world. We embrace this world as a place where God is already at work to bring healing and renewal.
To close our two-part reflection on the Apostles’ Creed, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about new creation. And that’s the theme of the Apostles Creed.
As a church we ourselves have seen new creation recently in the baptisms and child dedications two weeks ago. We also see new creation in the flowering of the RIMI network. And in the growth in faith that each of us has experienced in our own ways.
God is making all things new. For now, in partial and less visible ways. But one Day in fullness for all to see.
Praise be to God and to our Lord Jesus Christ!
Marty Shupack, July 26, 2026