As we approach this Easter season, Christians celebrate the events referenced in the Apostles Creed. This Good Friday, Jesus, the One conceived by the Holy Spirit, was crucified, but arose from the dead on that glorious Easter morning. This weekend is a reminder and celebration of the essentials of Christian faith.

If you are like me, you have probably had many conversations with friends who believe in God, but not Jesus as the only way to God. The problem is that the Christian God is a triune God. You can’t separate God from Jesus and the Holy Spirit. God is three is one. Three persons make up the Godhead and while this is a bit of a mystery, it is an essential belief of Christian faith. If you believe otherwise, you are embracing something other than Christianity.

Our pastor has been preaching a series on the Apostle”s Creed. A creed is a statement of beliefs. The Apostle’s Creed is a summary of Christian belief.

This creed is a way to define what is specifically Christian. In today’s world, many people call themselves religious or spiritual. To be Christian though, one adheres to specific beliefs that are considered absolute truths.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Christianity does not believe in many gods, that God is everywhere, that God doesn’t get involved in our every day lives or that a spark of the divine is in us all. Christianity is based on essential truths that are non-negotiable. And while Christianity is criticized for being narrow, the core of the faith is that Jesus is the only way to God and that God is relationship–three in One.

If you want to explain Christianity to someone who questions what is means to be Christian, the Apostle’s Creed is a good place to begin. It contains the basic doctrine of Christianity.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
    the Maker of heaven and earth,
    and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
    born of the virgin Mary,
    suffered under Pontius Pilate,
    was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,
    and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
    from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
    the holy catholic church;
    the communion of saints;
    the forgiveness of sins;
    the resurrection of the body;
    and the life everlasting.