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The Apostle's Creed
I believe in the holy Christian Church, communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins...
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In another place, Luther defines the church as “a holy little flock and a community of pure saints.” How can that be? I’m not holy. My life is not pure. The people I know aren’t holy or pure either. How could I, how could anyone, ever be part of this holy little flock, this community of pure saints? But Luther is referring to believers in Jesus. They are holy and pure because they trust in Jesus who washed all their sins away. You see, God has declared them holy because of Jesus. They are saints not because their lives are without sin but because Christ was holy in their place. That’s why this church is also called Christian. It is based on Christ. The church is made of people who place their entire hope not on who they are or what they have done but on Christ. Not surprisingly, synonyms for the church in the Bible express this tie to Christ: the bride of Christ and the body of Christ.
A synonym for the church in the creed is “communion of saints” or, as Luther put it, “community of saints.” A community consists of people. So the creed is not talking about a church building or a denomination or any kind of outward organization. Rather, it is talking about people. People like Adam, Eve, Abraham, David, Paul, Mary, Martha, Lydia, and others. They are the people the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps in the one true faith. People like you and me.
You won’t find the directory for this community anywhere on earth. You will find it in heaven though. That’s because the Lord knows who are his. He sends the Holy Spirit to create and preserve faith in Jesus through the gospel in Word and sacrament until he brings his people home to heaven.
What is the message I cling to until then? It is, as the creed says, the forgiveness of sins. I am a sinner from birth. I sin daily by thought, word, and deed. What I need more than anything else in all the world is the forgiveness of sins. Thank God I have it! In Christ I have full and free forgiveness, because he paid the price for all my sins by his death on the cross. And I’m not alone. God has made others believers too. Together we are his church on earth. This is what I believe. This is what I confess.
© 2005 Northwestern Publishing House. All rights reserved.
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