“I Believe In The Son”
What do you believe?
Perhaps there is not a more fitting week to address this question than leading up to a Baptism Sunday! As we see our brothers and sisters in Christ, one by one, step into that water…each one has their own unique story and unique journey to get where they are today. God has authored their life journey in such a way to help equip them to reach others with the gospel, just as they had been reached. We will hear a little bit about their individual stories on Sunday, but the point where they will all unite, is on the same profession of Faith.
Let’s talk about that…
If you have been attending First Baptist Church for a while now, you are probably familiar with the belief statements and Public Profession of Faith that Pastor Chuck, Chad or Adam will give to each person as they come to get baptized. It sounds something like this…
- Do you admit that you are a sinner? (Romans 3:23)
- Do you believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on a cross, was buried, and rose from the dead, and is now preparing a place for us to be with Him forever? (Acts 16:31, John 14:3)
- Do you confess (choose) here now in front of this body of believers to make Jesus Christ Lord of your life. (Matthew 10:32)
Although our stories are very different from each other and we all came to faith in different ways, we all unite under this one belief. We all admit, believe and confess these truths as stated above when we come to be baptized in front of the congregation.
We see a powerful example of this in Scripture. The apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians presents a similar type of belief statement in a creedal format…
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. – 1 Corinthians 15:3-11 ESV
In this powerful statement of Paul, we see a similar theme as we see when we come to a Baptism Sunday. We see an individual story…one unique and different from the other apostles…
For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. – 1 Cor 15:9-11 ESV
Although Paul’s story is unique, he professes the SAME faith as the other apostles who had followed Jesus. We see this in the opening line of the passage. I ‘delivered’ to you…what I also ‘received’. This statement indicates that Paul is not making up the words of this belief statement. He received them and is now delivering to the church in Corinth the same belief statement and profession of faith.
We embrace our unique stories…but unite under the same faith.
What may surprise us, is that this early church creed (belief statement) that Paul presents in this passage is considered by New Testament scholars to be the earliest evidence of the early Christian church and can be dated to within months (but no more than a decade) following the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Justin Bass, PhD…a professor of New Testament has this to say in an article he wrote for The Gospel Coalition….
“This apostolic creedal statement is unparalleled in the New Testament. In fact, it’s unparalleled in all of ancient literature. Even if nothing else had survived from the early Christian movement besides this five-verse creedal tradition, we’d still have the essence of the gospel and the historical bedrock on which Christianity stands.”1 – Justin Bass, The Gospel Coalition
Why does he say this? There is so much rich information to unpack within Paul’s statement, so I encourage you to read the article which will be linked in the footnotes of the devotional, as well as Dr. Bass’s book on the subject: The Bedrock of Christianity: The unalterable facts of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection. The short version is this: Based on the way Paul introduces this statement, surrounding historical markers in other New Testament passages as well as linguistic data leads Scholars to confirm this…
“When you survey the literature, scholars from all different backgrounds and faiths (or no faith) are virtually unanimous that this creedal tradition dates, on average, to within five years of Jesus’s death. A few argue for around a decade after Jesus’s death, some for within even a year. For instance, New Testament scholar James Dunn argues, “This tradition, we can be entirely confident, was formulated as tradition within months of Jesus’s death.”2 – Justin Bass, The Gospel Coalition
Call to action:
- Looking back on this priceless evidence from Scripture, let us go out with confidence!
- Share your unique story. God has authored it, and it has more impact than you may think.
- Share and profess this one faith that unites us and brings salvation through the work of Jesus Christ.
As Pastor Chuck often asks when we come to the end of a Baptism: “Who will be in this water next, because of your witness to them?”
I close with another belief statement which comes from the lyrics to a song we will be singing in celebration on Sunday:
I believe in the Son
I believe in the risen One
I believe, I overcome
By the power of His blood
Amen, Amen
I’m alive, I’m alive because He lives
Amen, Amen
Let my song join the One that never ends
Because He lives
I was dead in the grave
I was covered in sin and shame
I heard mercy call my name
He rolled the stone away – Because He lives (Amen)
Sean Wagner
- Article: ‘What’s the Earliest Evidence for Christianity? (The Answer May Surprise you)’, The Gospel Coalition, Feb 28, 2020 – Justin Bass. What’s the Earliest Evidence for Christianity? (The Answer May Surprise You) ↩︎
- Book: ‘The Bedrock of Christianity: The Unalterable Facts of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection.’ – Justin W. Bass (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) ↩︎