The Nicene Creed is for Christians

Why should Christians adopt creeds and use confessions? Above all, faithful followers of our one Lord Jesus Christ are compelled to them by Scripture. Paul said all true believers possess “the same spirit of faith” in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and that they proclaim that faith. Submitting to the authority of the Old Testament (“I believed, therefore I spoke;” Psalm 116:10), the apostle declared Christians must “also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Cor. 4:13). Elsewhere, he reminded the early church they received the true faith through the Apostles preaching the gospel, which they in turn received directly from Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-11; Gal. 1:11-12). Upholding this truth while proclaiming it defines the church’s purpose (1 Tim. 3:15).

Hearing the gospel through those who preach the words Christ gave to the apostles, holding to it mentally as their personal creed, and making it their public confession are absolutely fundamental for Christian fidelity to God, indeed for salvation itself. Paul declared that both personal belief and public confession constitute salvation. Specifically, we must believe and confess that the man Jesus is God with eternal authority, and that he has conquered death: “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). He went on to explain how inner faith and external proclamation coalesce in salvation: “One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation” (v. 10).[1]

Not Many Should Become Teachers

Jesus Christ warned that every careless word a human being utters will require an account before his eternal throne (Matt. 12:36). Sloppiness in the most critical teachings of the Christian faith, especially in Trinity and Christology, is simply beyond the pale for the serious believer. Faithful expression of Christian dogma is particularly critical for teachers of the faith. God will hold to a higher account those called into this sacred work, and that ought to drive us toward precise orthodoxy in worshipful thought and utter faithfulness in dogmatic expression. Because of the judgment awaiting teachers in the eschaton, the apostle James decried those who treat the holy office glibly: “Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment” (Jam. 3:1).

Creeds are not put above the Bible; instead, they explain what a person or church believes the Bible teaches. Share on XWith words inspired by the Spirit the apostles repeatedly warned believers to consider their views of Christ. Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, and Jude prophesied that false preachers would lead believers astray by their deceptive, deplorable, and damnable teachings (Matt. 24:24; 1 Tim. 1:3-4, 7; 2 Pet. 2:1; 1 John 4:1-3; Jude 4, 12-13). It is not insignificant that every deception thrown at his church is intended to detract from the dignity of its Lord (Matt. 10:25; John 15:18). The evil one especially likes to attack God by mimicking him and perverting his gospel (Rev. 13:1-18). The thief sends deceptive appeals through his evil shepherds to hurt the flock of God (John 10:10-13; Gal. 1:6-9). As a result, we must evaluate, carefully and continually, every teaching of that Word (Acts 17:10-12).

One significant, proven, and helpful way that the church can simultaneously honor our only Lord Jesus Christ and protect itself against ancient heresies and the new errors which continually arise to diminish, distort, and denigrate the Person and work of our Savior is by adopting creeds for use in worship and proclamation. The Latin verb credo means, “I believe,” while the Latin verb confessio means, “I avow.” B. H. Carroll said a “creed” is “what we believe,” while a “confession” is “a declaration of what we believe.” The founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary argued from Scripture and reason of the “very great necessity for both creed and confession.”^[2]

Carroll identified several uses for creeds and confessions in his commentary on the New Hampshire Confession of Faith, which held sway among most American Baptists and framed the Baptist Faith and Message adopted in 1925. Creeds and confessions let you know what a group of people actually believe. They also provide a “standard to determine what is orthodoxy” so that you can judge a teaching. The leading figure in both Southern Baptist and Texas Baptist life was especially dismissive of those who rejected creeds by glib appeal to Scripture alone. “If you say the Bible is your creed, all others say the same thing. That is not the point. What does your church understand the Bible to teach?”[3] Creeds are not put above the Bible; instead, they explain what a person or church believes the Bible teaches. If a church or preacher cannot maintain the basics of the faith, fellowship must be withdrawn.

Why Creeds and Confessions Are Necessary

Christian creeds and confessions are useful in four ways: worship, evangelism, teaching, and polemics. The utility of the summary creeds developed by the early church and of the larger confessions developed in the Reformation have proven them time and again. Creeds and confessions possess usefulness in guiding Christian worship, in centering Christian evangelism, in structuring Christian teaching, and in protecting the flock of God.

First, creeds help us by guiding our understanding of who God is and remembering what he has done. They provide a verbal map so that we might know him truly in our minds and hearts and worship him for his transcendent greatness, his eternal goodness, and his abundant graciousness. The liturgical function of a creed is evinced in orthodox Christian churches through common reading in a public service, through being set to music, and through pulpit proclamation. The liturgical use of a creed is particularly beneficial for keeping the church from worshiping false gods and directing hearts and minds toward the true God.

Second, creeds identify with propositional exaction the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Every time an evangelist or pastor preaches both the death of Jesus Christ for sinners and his resurrection to justify believers, the heart of the Christian creed is exhibited. The earliest creeds, found repeatedly in Scripture, are focused precisely on his saving gospel (e.g., Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 15:3-8; 1 Tim. 3:15-16). The gospel that saves sinners and makes disciples is ensconced at the heart of the classical creeds. The apostolic proclamation is prominent, for instance, in the evangelical centers of the Nicene Creed, the Apostles Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

Third, creeds are useful for instructing the faithful generally but also for requiring teachers to adhere to the beliefs of the Christian church rather than to follow their own vivid and erring imaginations. The classical creeds emphasize the identity of the one true God through a biblically derived triune structure, identifying God as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). The creeds also preserve the identity of Jesus Christ by rebuking those who would diminish his unity of Person, his deity, or his humanity. The greatest teachers in Christian history have followed the creeds in crafting their own proclamation, as seen in the baptismal lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem, in the catechisms of Martin Luther, and in the catechisms of the early Baptist preachers Thomas Grantham and Hercules Collins,[4] among many others.

The fourth great reason why creeds have been identified as absolutely necessary for use in a true Christian church is polemical. Polemics preserve the people of God from rapacious wolves and self-centered hirelings. Polemics compelled Athanasius to expend his life fighting against the greatest heresy, Arianism. After that first great historical conflagration, orthodox stalwarts like Gregory of Nazianzus, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Maximus the Confessor, as well as Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, and Charles Haddon Spurgeon joined in using creeds and confessions to identify false teachings and rebuke false teachers. They were driven to do so, not by desire for conflict, but to magnify and honor our Lord Jesus Christ and to protect his people.

Defending the Faith Today

Alas, too many evangelical churches unwisely neglect the creeds. Share on XTrue Christian teachers must be ever vigilant to “defend the faith delivered to the saints once for all” (Jude 3). During four decades of public ministry, I have seen numerous ways in which the Nicene Creed could have been used by American evangelicals to promote the true faith against false alternatives coming from within the churches and from without. Alas, too many evangelical churches unwisely neglect the creeds.[5]

First, as a young pastor in North Carolina, I encouraged an association to discipline a church for its countenance of a teacher who explicitly and viciously denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ, on an Easter Sunday to boot. Contrary to such apostasy, the Nicene Creed clearly confesses, “and the third day he rose again.” It was difficult for conservative ministers as we watched other ministers argue against disciplining such blasphemy in a fellow church. But it reminded us of the need to uphold the resurrection faith against gross vanity (1 Cor. 15:12-14).

Second, the ancient heresy of Arianism has assumed new forms throughout Christian history. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists, alongside orthodox Anglicans, rejected as “Arian” those who taught that the Son had less authority than the Father.[6] As an antidote, the Nicene Creed thrice affirms the Son is “begotten” rather than made and is “of one substance with the Father.” Thousands of modern evangelicals have been misled by a new Arian cult, the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Too often pastors have failed to teach our people that Christ is truly God, equally with the Father and the Spirit.

Third, one early heretic claimed he was ultra-orthodox by attacking Arius, even while he diminished Christ in another way. Marcellus of Ancyra misinterpreted Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 15:28, that “the Son also himself shall be subject,” to mean that Christ’s reign comes to an end. In response, orthodox believers made sure the Nicene Creed correctly reflected the whole of Scripture’s witness by saying Christ’s “kingdom shall have no end.” Contemporary proponents of the novel teaching of “eternal relations of authority and submission” would be wise to affirm the entire Nicene Creed.

Fourth, the Nicene Creed incorporated a statement that Christ did not merely assume a human body but “was made man.” Apollinaris of Laodicea, who passed himself off as “pro-Nicene,” nevertheless diminished the Person of Jesus Christ by reducing his humanity to the body and its desires. However, as Nazianzus reminds us, if Christ did not assume our humanity in its fullness, we are not saved. Christ is truly human as well as truly divine. Alas, some evangelical theologians today identify themselves as “Neo-Apollinarian.”[7]

Yet other ancient heresies have also seen contemporary resurgence: Earlier, in the fifth century, Nestorianism blasphemed Christ by dividing his Person and diminishing his deity during his incarnation. Similar distortions of Christ’s deity appear today in so-called “evangelical Kenoticism.” Sixth, Sabellianism or Modalism, an early heresy which predated Nicaea, said God appeared to be but was not truly three eternal Persons. Although the classical creeds made it clear that Sabellianism was a heresy, it remains a leading Trinitarian illustration for many evangelicals.[8]

Seventh, in response to claims made by some charismatic evangelicals, some evangelicals have overreacted. Students have repeatedly confessed they were taught that worship and prayer ought to be offered only to the Father, or to the Father and the Son. However, Scripture clearly teaches the Spirit is God, and God must be worshiped.[9] Scripture declares it is unforgivable to sin against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31-32) and directs worship to him in both baptism and prayer (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14). The Nicene Creed thus correctly teaches us that the Spirit “with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.”

A Call to Faithfulness to God in Christ

These seven examples and yet others make it clear that some modern teachers must be called to repent of their teaching, to confess their error, and to seek reception back into a true church.[10] Moreover, the reader, who is personally and ultimately responsible to the Lord alone for believing in the one true God according to his Word, must ask himself or herself, “Do I hold the faith delivered to the saints once for all” (Jude 3)? If not, I encourage you to study the Nicene Creed and the other classical creeds, to embrace them as faithful summaries of the foundational teachings of the Christian faith, and to let them guide you in worship, evangelism, instruction, and polemics.

And for the Christian teacher, may I encourage you to heed the words of Spurgeon? The “prince of preachers” famously challenged evangelicals who claimed to believe both in salvation by grace through faith alone and in spiritual regeneration by water baptism. As a Baptist, Spurgeon disagreed with their doctrine, but what drove his declamation of his fellow evangelical teachers was their rank hypocrisy. As you finish this essay, would you let his strong but necessary words compel you to examine whether you truly agree with the oldest creed in Christian history, a creed that effectively summarizes the foundational dogmas of Holy Scripture, a creed prompted to address gross heresy 1700 years ago, a creed needing Christian affirmation today as much as yesterday?

For clergymen to swear or say that they give their solemn assent and consent to what they do not believe is one of the grossest pieces of immorality perpetrated in England, and is most pestilential in its influence, since it directly teaches men to lie whenever it seems necessary to do so in order to get a living or increase their supposed usefulness: it is in fact an open testimony from priestly lips that at least in ecclesiastical matters falsehood may express truth, and truth itself is a mere unimportant nonentity. I know of nothing more calculated to debauch the public mind than a want of straightforwardness in ministers….[11]

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Notes:

[1] Jaroslav Pelikan, Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition (Yale University Press, 2003), 35-38.

[2] Benajah Harvey Carroll, “A Commentary on the New Hampshire Confession of Faith: General Discussion,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 51 (2009): 134.

[3] Carroll, “General Discussion,” 135.

[4] Hercules Collins, An Orthodox Catechism, ed. Michael A. G. Haykin and G. Stepehn Weaver Jr. (Palmdale, CA: RBAP, 2014); Thomas Grantham, St. Paul’s Catechism (London, 1687), in Malcolm Yarnell, “Baptists, Classical Trinitarianism, and the Christian Tradition,” in Matthew Y. Emerson, Christopher W. Morgan, and R. Lucas Stamps, Baptists and the Christian Tradition: Towards an Evangelical Baptist Catholicity (B&H Academic, 2020), 55-79.

[5] Further details about the following heresies and their resurgences will be found in Word and Spirit, the forthcoming second and third volumes of the B&H series, Theology for Every Person.

[6] Malcolm B. Yarnell III, “‘The Point in Question’ at Salters’ Hall,” in Stephen Copson, ed., Trinity, Creed and Confusion: The Salters’ Hall Debates of 1719 (Centre for Baptist Studies in Oxford, 2020), 123-56.

[7] Apollinaris and Marcellus are both examples of how even false teachers may say they agree with classical Christianity but still diminish Christ.

[8] For instance, many are attracted to the idea that God the Trinity is like water in its solid, liquid, and gaseous states.

[9] Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Who Is the Holy Spirit? Biblical Insights into His Divine Person (B&H Academic, 2023).

[10] The Council of Constantinople wisely and graciously concluded that the church should “receive all” who repent of these various false teachings about the Trinity and Christ and “embrace orthodoxy.” Canon 7, in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, ed. Norman P. Tanner, 2 vols. (Georgetown University Press, 1990), 1:35.

[11] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “Baptismal Regeneration” (Metropolitan Tabernacle, 5 June 1864).