Nicene Creed Q&A
Last Sunday, June 28th, I invited y’all to ask me questions about the Nicene Creed. Thanks to all who asked a question! Below are all the questions and answers. As always, please reach out to me with any follow-up questions or comments! - Pastor Nathan
“He will judge the living and the dead” — Aren’t the dead already judged?
First, you are correct—a person’s death is their personal judgment day.
When Jesus returns visibly on the last day, he will separate all humanity into two groups: his believers (sheep) and unbelievers (goats) (check out Matthew 25:31-46 for more detail on that). By doing that, Jesus will make public the judgment that took place at a person’s death.
So in the case of those who died prior to the last day, it is not a matter of being judged again. It is a matter of Jesus publicly pronouncing, and supplying the evidence for, the judgment that took place at death.
Can you explain “apostolic?”
Apostolic simply means that the church is to be rooted in the historic teachings of the apostles. Essentially, this is an encouragement to the church to be founded in the Scriptures written by God through the apostles.
“We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” Is it wrong to be baptized more than once? We were baptized as infants but it’s also common for people to wait till the child is old enough to make that decision. I know we are sinful from birth therefore we should be baptized as infants…but is it wrong to be baptized again.
If baptism were something we did for God, we might want to be baptized again—and again. But, the truth of the matter—the biblical truth—is that baptism is something God does for us. Just like you alluded to—through baptism God comes to people and gives them forgiveness, faith, and eternal life. Here are a couple Bible passages that speak to this:
Acts 2:38 — Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:4-5 — But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 3:21 — This water (the water of the Flood) symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
While Jesus tells us to receive the Lord’s Supper often, there is no command, or even example, in the Bible that tells us we are to be baptized more than once.
So, if someone were to say, “Pastor Nathan, I think I’d like to be baptized again,” I’d ask them, “Why is that?” And we’d talk about their response, and I would happily assure them that their baptism—whether they remember it or not—worked. God worked through their baptism, and there is no need to be baptized again, just as there is no need for Jesus to die on the cross again. His one-time act completely took away all our sins.
Do Lutherans believe that you must be baptized to go to heaven?
The Bible says that faith in Jesus as your Savior saves, but unbelief (not the lack of Baptism) condemns. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Notice he didn’t say, “Whoever is not baptized will be condemned.”
We talk about Baptism being necessary in the sense that Jesus instructs us to baptize. Baptism is not absolutely necessary in that the Holy Spirit can create faith simply through the word of God.
Can God work faith in children (or adults) apart from Baptism? Yes, certainly (one great example of this, as far as we know, is the criminal on the cross next to Jesus, who Jesus promised would be with him in paradise—he was very likely not baptized) . Since conversion is God’s gracious, powerful work in people’s hearts, God can create faith through the word of God alone or through the word of God connected to an earthly element: Baptism.
“Begotten, not made”? I know what the word begotten means, but I guess I never considered what it means as opposed to being made.
The Nicene Creed says, We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.”
The Bible speaks of Jesus’ relationship to God the Father being one of Son to Father. And yet Jesus was not created, he was not made, he has always been in existence. And at the same time, the language the Bible uses to express the relationship between Son and Father is “begotten” (think the old King James translation of John 3:16—“only-begotten Son”).
What does this mean—True God from True God?
In 319AD a man named Arius of Alexandria (his followers are called Arians and his (false) teaching Arianism) began teaching that Jesus was begotten of the Father, and before Jesus was begotten, he did not exist. One of the main purposes of the formulation of the Nicene Creed in 325 was to refute this false teaching. The Nicene Creed emphasizes that Biblical truth that God the Father is true God, and Jesus, God the Son, is also true God. The word from is simply stating unambiguously that Jesus has his origin from the Father.
We do often speak of God the Father as the one who created the earth and the entire universe. And this is true. The Bible also says that Jesus is the one through whom the Father made everything. Here are a couple passages that state just that:
Hebrews 1:1-2 — In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
1 Corinthians 8:6 — Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
John 1:3 — Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.