Today we will continue looking at the Apostles’ Creed: 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Today we are beginning our last section of the Creed. You may remember we said earlier that the Creed in its very nature, is a Trinitarian statement. Each section of the Creed affirms what we believe about a specific person of the Trinity. Section one affirms what we believe about the Father, Section two is what we believe about, the Son and this third section is about the Thrid Person, the Holy Spirit.

The Apostles’ Creed affirms the same doctrine as the Nicene Creed but the Nicene goes into more detail. The flow and the doctrine are the same, but we see some explanations in the Nicene. I want to highlight what the Nicene Creed says about Jesus, but it applies to the Spirit as well – of one Being with the Father.

I say it this way, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are made of the same “stuff.”  They are three distinct persons, separate from one another, distinct. But they are one, of the same substance, of the same being. 

They are different, yet one. 

So, in the same way, the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is also God. Francis Chan wrote a wonderful book on the Holy Spirit entitled “The Forgotten God.”  In fact, if you are looking for a good book to read about the Holy Spirit, I’d suggest you start there. 

The rest of this Creed will affirm what we believe the Holy Spirit does in our lives and in the church.  But also remember, every time you’ve heard me or any preacher speak about grace, they’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit; it is the Spirit that gives grace; it is the Spirit through which we receive grace. 

So when you hear grace, think Holy Spirit.  

In the next few days, we’ll look closer at exactly what we believe that God, the Holy Spirit, does.  

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