As seen in the essay on Saint Athanasius, the being who became incarnate in Jesus Christ was God the Word, the eternal Son of God who forever comes forth from the Father. Since Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the Son of God, and since the Son of God is also God, the words and deeds of Jesus are also the words and deeds of God. As seen in the essay, Trinity and Incarnation, those who hear and see the words and deeds of God as known in Jesus, believe in him by faith, and live according to his commands, receive a new life of love, beginning in this life and completed in the life to come. This life of love enables believers to enter into redeemed relationships with each other and with God the Father and the Son. This occurs as the Holy Spirit enlivens the words and deeds of Jesus as known in the Christian community so that Christ becomes real in our experience.
The foregoing, however, raises some questions: where are the words and deeds of Jesus to be found on a daily basis? Who or what conveys these words and deeds? In what context are they best received? What role can Christians play in the conveying of the words and deeds of Jesus? This essay will address these questions and will do so by describing something of what is meant when the Nicene Creed states that we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Let us begin by making some observations about the Nicene Creed
The Creed begins with the statement, “We believe.” That is, the Creed is proclaiming the faith of the church and not simply the opinions of individuals. The Creed was developed by the church. It is what we believe. Further, the initial phrase, “We believe,” applies to all three paragraphs, that is, “We believe” in God the Father, … and the Son (second paragraph) … and in the Holy Spirit (third paragraph). Further, the “We believe” also applies to the one, holy, catholic church, so that the phrase, “We believe in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church” is a part of the Creed.
Notice that the church is described in the third paragraph of the Creed, the section that begins with the work of the Spirit. As seen in lesson three, the work of the Spirit is to enliven the words and deeds of Jesus so that Christ himself becomes a living reality. As believers come to Christ, as they believe in him and obey his commands, they form a community. That community is the church, and according to the Creed, we are called to believe in the church.
Why, we might ask, should we believe in the church when it is filled with so much sin? Why not simply believe in Christ as stated in the second paragraph of the Creed? Would that not be enough? Wasn’t Christ sinless, the revelation of God, and isn’t the church riddled with sin, corruption, and ambition? Why should we believe in a sinful institution, and how can the church possibly be holy as claimed by the Creed? Or how can the Creed speak of the church as one when it is broken into a thousand pieces with some of them hostile to one another? How can the church be catholic when so many of its members do not embrace the fullness of the Christian faith as known through the centuries in the universal church?
The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in so far as she is faithful to Christ. In fact, the true life of the church is Christ himself, together with his people who, in spite of the fact that they are sinners and subject to evil passions, do listen to his voice and do obey his commands. To the degree that faith and obedience really do occur, the church is on the way to fully becoming one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Or, to put it another way, the church only exists in so far as it is derived from Jesus Christ. It exists only in so far as it receives his life and obeys his commands. It exists only as it conveys the life of Christ to others. Sin is found throughout the church, but that sin does not deny that Christ is in his church, forever giving her new life and enabling believers to enter into that new life. As that happens, the body of believers becomes the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
Notice that the creed does not say that we believe in holy individuals who then band together to form the church. No, the Creed says we believe in the church. Christ called individuals to follow him, but he simultaneously called them into a community. He chose twelve disciples, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, and when he called them, he called them into that community. One does not follow Christ alone, but the call to follow Christ is always a call to enter into his community the church. There is no salvation apart from the community Christ creates. Salvation is always corporate, carried out by persons who receive and live the life of Christ in community with others.
In the New Testament, the church, among other designations, is called the “body of Christ.” The church is not called the “bodies of Christ.” The one body is composed of many members and each contributes to the life of the body through various offices and gifts, all and each under the Lordship of Jesus Christ who is the head of the body. He is the head of the body because the life of the body comes from him. Paul, in Ephesians 4:4-16, states these great truths with these words,
There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
As we read this passage we may note the following:
1. There is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
2. Christ gives each Christian gifts so that, when exercised, Christ might “fill all things.”
3. Certain persons, beginning with the apostles, are called to enable all members to effectively receive these gifts and carry out their ministries.
4. These ministries, carried out by all, lead to a unity in the faith as the believers come to the knowledge of the Son of God so that the “fullness of Christ” is manifested in the community.
5. As this happens, members are not led astray by false doctrine, but rather, grow deeper into Christ who is the head of the one body.
6. This growth happens because the whole body, when its relationships are working properly, receives from Christ the power to build itself up in love.
As this process of receiving the life of God in Christ goes forward, the church becomes one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. This is because these four qualities are first found in Christ, and in so far as the church receives his life by the power of the Holy Spirit, these four qualities are also found in the church. What then, is meant by the terms “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic”?
Christ is one and he is the revelation of the one God. Because Christ is one, there is “one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call--one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, …” The church is one because she is one in faith, love, and baptism, obedient to one God and one Christ. As her members follow the one Lord, church members become knit together in love as “all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” This creates unity, a “whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
The word “holy” means set aside, differentiated, or singled out in a peculiar fashion for a specific purpose. The church is holy because Christ was holy. He was chosen by God to save the world. He does not do this alone. He calls believers to follow him as he works for salvation. This is a call to hope, “just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,” and that one hope is God’s final salvation. In so far as the church receives the life of Christ, she will set about proclaiming, by words and deeds, Christ’s salvation as the hope of all humanity. As the church fulfills this purpose, she becomes holy. Her holiness is not simply the aggregate holiness of her individual members, but rather the work of the church as a whole reflects her holiness. The community is separated out for God's purposes, and within the community, each person in relation to others makes the salvation of Christ real in the world that surrounds the church.
The term “catholic” refers to the common beliefs and practices of the universal church down through the centuries. The church is catholic because the Lord Jesus is consistent in his words and deeds, he is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Since he is forever the same, and since the church receives grace from him to reveal his life, her common beliefs and practices will be seen wherever believers witness to him and do his deeds. “But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.” As these gifts of grace are given, the church grows “to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, …” The fullness of Christ is seen in the universal church through the centuries as she manifests living words and deeds of Christ. In general, no one local church does all his deeds, though all could and probably some have. But throughout Christendom, by different groups at different times, all his words are proclaimed and all his deeds are carried out by Christians in his Name.
At the time the Creed was written, the church was, for the most part, unified. With the passage of the centuries, however, the unity of the church was fractured into a thousand pieces. By and large each of these pieces preserves aspects of that original catholicity since Christ works among the broken pieces, calling believers to unity and creating common practices and beliefs among the churches. No branch of Christendom, however, preserves the wholeness of his revelation, nor does any local church reflect the fullness of his saving words and deeds. The church as a whole, however, witnesses to the fullness of his saving acts.
As we consider the universal church, as well as the various Christian churches today, we may notice that these churches preserve aspects of the “fullness of Christ.” Certain churches with deep historical roots recognize that Christ was the shepherd of his sheep and that he taught them the saving truth. They also recognize that he chose the apostles as shepherds to the flock, and further, as designated witnesses to his life and work. This leadership and spiritual authority led to the ancient orders of bishops, priests, and deacons. At the same time, these historic churches emphasize the sacraments, recognizing that Jesus instituted the sacraments as a means of infusing his people with his very life. These churches also have a strong corporate understanding of the church, leading them to fracture only with the greatest reluctance. Certainly Jesus chose leaders to guide his church, he instituted the sacraments, and he called his followers into a unity of love, and a church which lives by him will do the same.
Other churches, those in the evangelical tradition, emphasize the ministries of preaching and teaching founded upon the authority of the Holy Scriptures as the Word of God. Jesus went from place to place teaching and preaching, and in so far as a church reflects his life, it will be a church where the Word of God is proclaimed by preaching and teaching. Further, Jesus accepted the authority of the Old Testament as God’s Word. He also believed his own teaching to have supreme authority, and he authorized his disciples to be his witnesses. This witness to his words and deeds is preserved in the New Testament so that the whole of Scripture, both Old and New Testament is the authoritative Word of God. This is an important aspect of catholicity, belief in the Word of God in Scripture manifested in the practice of preaching and teaching.
Finally, there are those in the charismatic or Pentecostal tradition who emphasize the power of God to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to manifest the gifts and fruits of the Spirit as enumerated in Acts, First Corinthians, and elsewhere. Jesus was born by the Spirit, he received a fresh anointing of the Spirit at his baptism, and by the power of the Spirit he healed the sick, cast out demons, discerned between good and evil, and much, much more. When Jesus is active in a church, these supernatural gifts will be in evidence. Beliefs about the work of the Spirit and practices that reflect the mighty power of the Name of Jesus over the world, the flesh, and the devil belong to the catholicity of the universal church because they are rooted in the ministry of Jesus.
All these aspects of Christian faith, the sacramental and traditional, the evangelical, and the Pentecostal belong to the catholicity of the church. All three of these are rooted in the life of Christ and were practiced by the church in its early centuries. Only in recent centuries have certain churches abandoned this fullness.
The word “apostolic” has its source in the person of Jesus and refers to at least three aspects of Christ’s life. First, he was the shepherd of his sheep, giving up his life for them. Second, he taught the Truth of God. Third, he went from town to town proclaiming the good news. To continue this ministry, Christ chose specific persons to be the shepherds of his flock, to be the designated witnesses to his saving Truth, and to go forth into the world to preach the gospel. The book of Acts shows the early apostles doing these very things. Paul, one of the last of the apostles, went throughout the empire with the gospel. When there were decisions to be made in the early church, the apostles were the ones authorized to make these decisions. The teaching of the apostles, now found in the New Testament, was considered to be the authoritative witness to Christ. Because of the importance of the apostles, Paul places the apostles at the head of the list of vital Christian ministries as seen in Ephesians 4. As seen in our first lesson, the teaching of the apostles was challenged by false teachers such as the Gnostics. To preserve the apostolic witness against false teaching, the apostolic witness to Christ was preserved in the documents we now call the New Testament. An apostolic church is a church that holds to Scripture, the teaching of the apostles, as its supreme authority. An apostolic church honors its shepherds who honor their savior by serving rather than using the sheep. An apostolic church goes forth into the world as did Christ and the apostles, proclaiming the saving news of Jesus Christ the Lord. In short, an apostolic church is one which surrenders itself to the authority of Scripture, whose leaders are shepherds giving up their lives for the sheep, and a church which sends forth its members to bring the new life of Christ to the world.
In summary, the terms one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church refer to the life of Christ as it exists in the church today. Even with its divisions, the life of Christ shines throughout the scattered churches of Christendom. This universal church is one because her members love the Lord Jesus and each other and daily seek to make their unity visible in words and deeds. This church is holy because she has been chosen by God to reflect the very life of Christ in the world. The church is catholic in that even among its scattered parts the words and deeds of Jesus, the faith and practice of the ancient church, can be found. And the church is apostolic because it honors Christ, his leadership, his preaching and teaching, and his ministry from town to town. An apostolic church will honor its leaders, obey the ancient teaching, and go forth into the world to proclaim the mighty gospel of the Lord Jesus.
No one local church reveals the fullness of the life of Christ, although any local church will manifest some aspects of his words and deeds. It is easy for the church to forget that her true life is rooted in Christ and that she is called to witness to Christ by word and deed. But as Paul states in Ephesians, all receive gifts of ministry, and all are needed for a church to attain “the stature of the fullness of Christ, …” This fullness is rooted in the life of Christ as known in Scripture, and in order to help us attain a fuller picture of who Christ was and still is, and therefore, what he has done, does, and will do in the church, I offer the following list.
The Words and Deeds of Jesus Christ
1. As a true Israelite, the Lord Jesus worshipped God by attending a synagogue each Sabbath and by keeping the great festivals such as the Passover. He loved God and kept his commandments. Christians will be faithful in their worship and keep the Lord’s commands.
2. The Lord Jesus Christ reconciled sinners to God and each other by his atoning sacrifice on the cross and powerful resurrection. Believers further this work by working for reconciliation in their families, church, and community, and further, by being willing to suffer for Christ’s sake.
3. Christ forgave sinners and created a community based on forgiveness and self-sacrificial love. Believers will forgive others daily and give up their lives in service.
4. He proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom and taught people about God. Believers will teach and preach the words and deeds of Jesus.
5. He associated with people of all sorts, especially the lost, broken, and abandoned. Believers will enter into friendships with all sorts of people including non-Christians and the friendless.
6. He fed the hungry. Christians will feed the hungry.
7. He healed the sick and cast out evil spirits. Christians, in the name of Jesus, will heal the sick and cast out evil spirits.
8. He was generous. He lived simply and did not accumulate wealth, and he called his followers to be generous and to help those in any kind of material need. Christians will not pursue wealth and will help the needy.
9. He was Lord, but he was also a servant, exercising his authority in sacrificial service of others and calling all in authority to do likewise. He chose leaders, the apostles, who were to exercise authority after his death. Christians will honor their leaders and their leaders will be servants of the flock of Christ.
10. He was a prophet, proclaiming God’s judgment on a sinful people, especially those who led Israel astray. Christians will speak against corruption in the church and world. They will not profit from this prophetic ministry but be willing to suffer its consequences.
11. He chose apostles to be his chosen witnesses after his death, and by virtue of their being witnesses, were responsible for maintaining Christian truth against false teaching. Christians will submit themselves to Scripture, defend the faith, and fight against false doctrine.
12. In all of this, he fulfilled the law and the prophets, establishing a Kingdom that encompassed all areas of life – spiritual, economic, personal, and social. Christians, in spite of their sins and weaknesses, will accept the daily forgiveness of Christ and set about bringing about his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
One of the great weaknesses of the church, at least in the States and probably in other areas of the world, is that so much teaching and preaching is directed at individuals who are expected to relate to God as individuals, rather than directed toward churches with the goal of enabling them to grow up to the fullness of Christ. For example, if someone is poor, they will tell a person to tithe and they will be financially blessed. If someone is sick, they will tell a person to have faith that Jesus will heal them. If someone is lost, they will tell a person to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior and thereby find salvation. If someone is troubled with lust, fear, and anxiety, they will tell them to repent and the Lord Jesus will deliver them. The Lord Jesus does indeed do all these things. He helps the poor, heals the sick, saves the lost, and delivers the afflicted. But how does he do this? When he was in the flesh he acted through his words and deeds carried out bodily in the sight of all. Where is his body today? Where are the words and visible deeds of Jesus to be found on a daily basis? Who or what conveys these words and deeds? In what context is the action of Christ best received? These were the sorts of questions that were raised in the second paragraph of this lesson.
Jesus Christ has always been seen and heard through his body. It was true in the days of his flesh and it is true today. His personal body is in heaven, but he works through his earthly body which is the church. It is the church, through her programs to help the needy that feeds the poor. It is the church through the ministry of healing, as well as helping and encouraging the sick to visit a doctor, that enables healing today. Jesus saves, but the fullness of his salvation, the love one needs to live, is found in the church. Christ delivers the afflicted, but he does so through the ministry of the church as it casts our evil spirits in the mighty Name of Jesus. If God works directly with individuals without working through the body of Christ, then there was no need for the church to be mentioned in the third paragraph of the Creed. If we are saved without others, then Jesus did not need to call twelve disciples and give them the authority to form his body the church. If Jesus heals individuals without the help of others, then there is no need for doctors or for a ministry of healing in the church. If people can come to faith alone by a direct act of the risen Christ, then there is no need for evangelism. Certainly, at any moment, the risen Christ can act alone without the presence of anyone, but normally he works through his body the Church.
Therefore, when preaching and teaching, it is imperative that Christians be taught the importance of the church, and further, that every Christian as Paul clearly stated in Ephesians 4, is given gifts “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, …” When the church grows to the fullness of Christ, then it will be an effective force in the community, bringing the life of Christ to the community as church members witness to Christ and do his deeds.
As any particular church grows into the fullness of Christ, individuals will be called to follow Christ, and further, equally important, called to enter into the fellowship and exercise their gifts for ministry. If, however, individuals are expected to find their way alone, address all their material needs without the help of others, overcome their fears, lusts, and anxieties on their own, and follow Christ without the encouragement and ministry of others, they will, by and large, sink back into apathy and fail to live the Christian life, because God does not want us to live that life alone.
From the foregoing, we may say there is a two-fold call. First and foremost there is the call to follow Christ, and simultaneously, a call to full participation in the local church. Second, as a member of the local church there is the call to exercise one’s gifts for ministry for the sake of others, and also there is the call to receive from others the ministry that is needed to follow Christ and contribute to his community. In this latter respect it is often the case that church members will not seek help when desperate, will not seek help with combating evil spirits, will not receive the teaching they need to walk daily with Christ, and will not allow others to help bear their burdens. This significantly weakens the body of Christ.
Given that the church is riddled with sin, apathy, ambition, and enmity, it is not unusual for those who have some understanding of the glory of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, to wonder if the church will ever embrace the fullness of Christ. Such persons may be tempted to despair, or to become discouraged thinking that their labors seem to bear such little fruit. Under these conditions, believers are called to recognize that God and God alone can revive his church, and although he uses the willing to enable this renewal, the results of our labors lie with God. For those who labor in his vineyard, it is enough to be faithful and obedient. God will use our labors because he works through his body, the body of Christ, the church. As he works, and he always works, God is renewing his church, and if not now, later, and if not later, then soon. It will happen, it is happening, and it will be completed on that final day when God will be all in all. Therefore, all who answer the call of Christ will persist, believing that he is using their labors to form his one, holy, catholic, apostolic church, the very life of God on earth.
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
Novermber, 2013
An Egregious Theological Failure
Anglicanism and Justification - Introduction to Anglicanism
Barth - Reconciliation and Economic Life Chapter Three
Barth's Creation and Economic Life Chapter Two
Barth's Doctrine of the Trinity - Chapter One
Capitalism and Paganism--An Intimate Connection
Creation, Science, and the New World Order
Introduction to Anglican Theology - Anglicanism and the Prayer Book
Introduction to Anglicanism - Anglicanism and Justification
Introduction to the Theological Essays
John Jewel and the Roman Church
Karl Barth, the German Christians, and ECUSA - Introduction
Mathematics, Science, and the Love of God
One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Some Reflections On Evil and the Existence of God
The Historical Jesus and the Spirit
