“Christian, what do you believe?” The Christian’s Creed and its workbook follow the syllabus of the Apostles’ Creed to root disciples in Christ and fortify them in the faith.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12–13, NKJV)

The benefits of salvation bound up in Christ are bestowed by the Spirit who enables belief in Christ. Our faith is in the faith, as summarized by the Apostles’ Creed.

Some parts of the contemporary church don’t recite creeds. But reciting the Apostles’ Creed brings us to join our voices with God’s people over the centuries in proclaiming the gospel of salvation.

The Creed serves a variety of purposes. By it we confess the faith. It provides a syllabus to catechize in the faith. It provides dialog for the liturgy of worship in celebration of God’s majesty and mercy. The Creed is also missional, holding aloft the banner of the kingdom of God, beckoning to belief and life in Jesus Christ.

In this last of our series on the Apostles’ Creed we close with a story found in the final pages of The Christian’s Creed: Embracing the Apostolic Faith. It emphasizes the importance of creeds in the life of the church. I can’t remember where I heard it, but its impact stuck with me.

A young pastor was asked to visit a dying man in a Washington, D.C., hospital. The man was dying of aggressive bone cancer. Of his own admission, he was not a Christian. The pastor shared the gospel with him; the man wasn’t particularly interested. But the pastor continued to visit, and a friendship formed. He got to know the dying man. The man had grown up in Spain. His mother had taught him the Christian faith, but he had rejected it when his father was killed.

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