Jude 3 “I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all
delivered to the saints.”
Charles Wesley said, “. . . Christian faith . . . is a divine evidence or conviction wrought in the heart, that
God is reconciled to me through his Son;”
Faith is from God! The Spirit changes the heart of man and makes him respond to the gospel call. Faith is
both a gift and a miracle. Why do we say this? It’s almost impossible to change a person on our own. But
whenever God works to change a person and makes him submit to Him, that person becomes entirely
different. This individual now has a deeper understanding of what life truly is and what is truly
significant. He understands that there is more to life than this earthly existence. There is eternal life with
God.
Now, anyone can say they have faith in God but is it true? But is it true? When we talk about True Faith,
we are not referring to the OPM band True Faith, who sang “Huwag na lang kaya?” What we mean by
True Faith is the affirmation of what the Christian faith believes. It is the conviction shared by Christians
throughout history.
In many churches, like ours, the Apostles’ Creed is recited weekly. We recite it because we agree with it.
It begins with “I believe…”—a declaration that we will not believe anything other than what is stated in
this creed. This is important because many different beliefs are dividing churches. Without creeds,
churches suffer.
Some argue that doctrines and creeds divide the church, but this is false. It is wrong doctrines that
divide the church, not correct doctrines. The church must understand that every statement it makes is
already a doctrine. The real question is: is it correct doctrine? Those who disdain doctrinal studies are
often fearful that their ignorance will be exposed to the congregation. After two thousand years of
Christian teachings—teachings for which martyrs gave their lives—how shameful it would be not to
teach the church about the creed!
Remember, contemporary issues are often just old heresies in new forms and approaches. If the church
is not clear about what it believes, it is likely to be swayed by these “new” teachings. Because the church
does not want to study doctrine, it is left wandering on its own, instead of recognizing that we belong to
the one true church of God, united with all the saints of old, preserving and contending for the
unchanging doctrines of God.
D.A. Carson said, “So when you gather for public worship on the Lord’s Day and recite the creed,
remember that behind the mere words on the page are two thousand years of Christian history. The
creed serves to link Christians across cultures, languages, space, and time as, together, we say, ‘We
believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.'”
This true faith, embodied in the creed, is what stabilizes us in the present age. As we begin next week
with the first line of the creed, may we live in the true faith that leads us to a loving fellowship with God
and with one another.
