The Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed, confessed weekly in the Divine Service, is a summary of what the one, holy, Christian, and apostolic Church believes, teaches, and confesses about the Triune God. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in A.D. 325. Athanasius and the church fathers chose each word and phrase carefully to protect, defend, and confess the Scriptural faith handed down to us from the prophets and apostles. This creed explicitly confesses that Jesus is true God in opposition to Arius, who claimed that Jesus was created by God.

Below is a Scriptural look at the Nicene Creed, prepared by Richard Gilbert of Hacienda Heights, California.

The Nicene Creed According to the Scriptures

I believe
Romans 10:9, James 2:19, John 14:1

in one God,
Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 44:6

the Father
Isaiah 63:16, 2 Peter 1:17, Matthew 6:9

Almighty,
Genesis 17:1, Psalm 91:1, Revelation 4:8

Maker
Job 4:17, 35:10, Isaiah 17:7, 54:5

of heaven
Genesis 1:1, 8

and earth
Psalm 104:5, Jeremiah 51:15

and of all things
Genesis 1:31

visible and invisible.
Psalm 89:11-12, Amos 4:13, Revelation 3:5, Colossians 1:16

And in one Lord
Ephesians 4:5

Jesus Christ,
Acts 10:36, 11:17, Romans 1:7, 5:1, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:11, 2 Corinthians 1:2, 8:9, Galatians 1:3, 6:14, Ephesians 1:2, 3:11, Phililppians 1:2, 3:20, Colossians 1:3, 2:6, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 5:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:1, 2:14, 1 Timothy 6:3, 14, 2 Timothy 1:2, Philemon 1:3, 25, Hebrews 13:20, James 1:1, 2:1, 1 Peter 1:3, 3:15, 2 Peter 1:8, 14, Jude 17, 21, Revelation 22:20-21

the only-begotton
John 1:18

Son of God,
Matthew 3:17, John 3:16

begotten of His Father
Hebrews 1:5

before all worlds,
John 1:1, Colossians 1:17, 1 John 1:1

begotten,
John 1:1, Hebrews 1:5

not made,
Micah 5:2, John 1:18, 17:5

being of one substance with the Father,
John 10:30, 14:9

by whom all things were made;
1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:16

who for us men
Matthew 20:28, John 10:10

and for our salvation
Matthew 1:21, Luke 19:10

came down from heaven
Romans 10:6, Ephesians 4:10

and was incarnate
Colossians 2:9

by the Holy Spirit
Matthew 1:18

of the Virgin Mary
Luke 1:34-35

and was made man;
John 1:14

and was crucified
Matthew 20:19, John 19:18, Romans 5:6, 8, 2 Corinthians 13:4

also for us
Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:15

under Pontius Pilate.
Matthew 27:2, 26, 1 Timothy 6:13

He suffered
1 Peter 2:21, Hebrews 2:10

and was buried.
Mark 15:46, 1 Cor. 15:4

And the third day
Matthew 27:63, 28:1, 1 Corinthians 15:4

He rose again
Mark 16:6, 2 Timothy 2:8

according to the Scriptures
Psalm 16:10, Luke 24:25-27, 1 Corinthians 15:4

and ascended
Luke 24:51, Acts 1:9

into heaven
Mark 16:19, Acts 1:11

and sits at the right hand of the Father.
Psalm 110:1, Matthew 26:64, Acts 7:56, Hebrews 1:3

And He will come again
John 14:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:16

with glory
Matthew 16:27, 24:30, 25:31, 26:64, Mark 8:38, Colossians 3:4

to judge
Matthew 25:31-46, Acts 17:31

both the living and the dead,
Acts 10:42, 1 Peter 4:5

whose kingdom
John 18:36, 2 Timothy 4:1, 18

will have no end.
Luke 1:33, Revelation 11:15, Psalm 145:13

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:19, Acts 13:2

The Lord
2 Corinthians 3:17

and giver of life,
John 6:63, Rom. 7:6, 8:2, 2 Cor. 3:6

who proceeds from the Father
John 14:16-17

and the Son,
John 15:26, Romans 8:9, Galatians 4:6

who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped
Luke 4:8, John 4:24

and glorified
John 4:24, 1 Timothy 1:17

who spoke by the prophets.
1 Peter 1:10-11, 2 Peter 1:21

And I believe in one
1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 12:12-13

Holy
Ephesians 3:16-17, 5:27, 1 Peter 2:9

catholic
1 Corinthians 1:2

and Apostolic
Ephesians 2:20, Revelation 21:14

Church,
Acts 20:28, Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians. 1:24, Hebrews 12:23, 1 Peter 2:9

I acknowledge one Baptism
John 3:5, Romans 6:3, Ephesians 4:5

for the remission of sins,
Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, Titus 3:5

and I look for the resurrection of the dead
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:12-13, 16, 52

and the life of the world to come.
1 Corinthians 15:54-57, Revelation 22:5

Amen.
Psalm 41:13, 2 Corinthians 1:20.

Keep Watch Over the Door

King David penned numerous prayers and hymns, many of which are recorded in the book of Psalms. His prayers and hymns are applicable to every generation, for they speak of despair and hope, temptation and perseverance, suffering and endurance, sorrow and joy, sin and grace. Whatever the topic at hand, he loves to remind God’s people that one’s voice is continually to praise the name of the one true God.

“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).

“My mouth is filled with Your praise, and with Your glory all the day” (Psalm 71:8).

“I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 89:1).

Do these words describe you? Is God’s praise continually in your mouth? If a person reads these psalms in isolation, he might conclude that praising God’s name comes naturally and effortlessly for the Christian. Nothing could be further from the truth. As sinners, our mouths all too often spew forth the opposite. Foul language. Cursing. Broken promises. Little white lies. Gossip. Tearing others down. There’s a reason why two of the ten commandments—the Second and Eighth—deal directly with one’s mouth. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7). “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). The truth be told, we sinners love to use our mouths, our voices, our words for unholy purposes.

For that reason, King David also teaches us to pray: “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!” (Psalm 141:3).

As a Christian, you do well to pray this prayer daily. To beseech God to set a guard over your mouth to deliver you “from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue” (Psalm 120:2). To ask God to keep watch over the door of your lips to “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit” (Psalm 34:13). To implore God to forgive you for all the times you’ve opened the door of our lips and spoken words that tear down rather than build up. To pray that God would set a guard over your mouth so that your words will “always be gracious” (Colossians 4:6). For “whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit” (1 Peter 3:10).

Keep watch over the door of my lips, O Lord, for “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person” (Matthew 15:11). By Your grace, “let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

Keep watch over the door of my lips, O Lord, and help me to choose my words carefully, to speak the truth in love, to confess Jesus faithfully and fearlessly, and to adorn my speech with Your gracious words and promises. Because Your help is needed, I pray: “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise” (Psalm 51:15).

Keep watch over the door of my lips, O Lord, that I may serve You with gladness, that I may come into Your presence with singing, that I may enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise. For You are good; Your steadfast love endures forever, and Your faithfulness to all generations.

In joyous response to all that my Lord Jesus has done to save me from sin, death, and hell, “I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:6).

This article appears in Divine Shepherd’s June newsletter.

A Demonic Parody

Infant Drowns in Flood, Given New Life

There has been a lot of talk this past week about Noah, the ark, and the flood. For the accurate, authentic, historical account, one simply needs to turn to Genesis.

This morning I got to witness something far more extraordinary than a couple hours of Hollywood fiction. I was privileged to administer the very flood to which the original one pointed: Holy Baptism. Holy Scripture teaches us that baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word (cf. Matthew 28:19).

Two things happened before our very eyes this morning as we stood around the baptismal font. First, the flood of God’s wrath against sin came thundering down as the infant being baptized drowned and died. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3). Then, the flood of God’s mercy in Christ came raining down as the infant being baptized emerged and arose to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

It’s no wonder Saint Peter, when speaking of the flood in Noah’s day, writes: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21). Jesus Himself adds: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16).

The baptismal rite we follow here at Divine Shepherd comes from Lutheran Service Book (LSB) and includes Martin Luther’s “flood prayer” below. Read and pray it yourself. It’s dripping wet with flood water and God’s mercy in Christ. What’s more, it reminds us that Holy Baptism places us in the holy Ark of the Christian Church, wherein we travel with our Lord Jesus across the tempestuous sea of this life to the very shoreline of His heavenly kingdom.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Let us pray:

Almighty and eternal God,
     according to Your strict judgment You condemned the unbelieving world through the flood,
    yet according to Your great mercy You preserved believing Noah and his family, eight souls in all.
You drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea,
     yet led Your people Israel through the water on dry ground,
     foreshadowing this washing of Your Holy Baptism.
Through the Baptism in the Jordan of Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
     You sanctified and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin.

We pray that You would behold _______ according to Your boundless mercy
     and bless him/her with true faith by the Holy Spirit,
     that through this saving flood all sin in him/her,

     which has been inherited from Adam and which he/she himself/herself has committed since,
     would be drowned and die.
Grant that he/she be kept safe and secure in the holy Ark of the Christian Church,
     being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving Your name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope,
     so that, with all believers in Your promise, he/she would be declared worthy of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Noah

It’s here. The big-screen release of Noah. Complete with a high-profile cast, lots of special effects, and a $130 million budget. If you plan to see this movie, remember that it is a fictitious adaptation by Hollywood and not God’s holy and inerrant Word.

For the real events surrounding the worldwide flood in Noah’s day, dust off your Bible, open it up, and read Genesis 6:5—9:17. Here you will find the accurate, authentic, historical account of Noah and the flood. It’s worth your time and attention.

As an added bonus, here are a few additional things God’s Word teaches about Noah’s righteousness and the flood, things you won’t learn from the movie.

True Righteousness: Always a Gift from God

God’s Word describes Noah as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Genesis 6:9). This righteousness is not Noah’s own doing, but a gift from God through Jesus Christ.

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. [Hebrews 11:7]

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9]

The Flood: Preview of the Last Day

Jesus teaches that the coming of the flood in Noah’s day is a preview of His own coming on the Last Day. It will be sudden, unexpected. Most people will be unprepared, lacking faith in Him as the Savior of sinners and the only One who justifies.

“Concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matthew 24:36-39; cf. Luke 17:26-27]

The Flood: Baptism Saves

Peter teaches that just as God brought eight persons safely through water in the days of Noah, so He uses the water of Holy Baptism to save His people from their sins.

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which He went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him. [1 Peter 3:18-22]

Go ahead and see the fictitious adaptation if it interests you. But don’t forget to read the real thing, the historical account in Genesis 6:5—9:17 and take to heart the aforementioned references.

Like Noah, you, too, are righteous in Jesus Christ. For He has saved you—a sinner—through Holy Baptism. And He delights in preparing you for His return on the Last Day through His holy Word and blessed Supper.

When it comes down to it, 138 minutes of Hollywood eye candy is nothing compared to an eternity with Jesus Christ and all His saints, including Noah, in the Church Triumphant!

Dear Future Mom

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalm 127:3). This includes children born with down syndrome...

Source: Dear Future Mom (YouTube)

Ash Wednesday Prayer

Gracious Savior, prostrate I fall before Your feet this day as Your Church once more enters the Lenten season to meditate upon Your passion, by which we have been eternally redeemed.

In spirit I appear before You in sackcloth and ashes in true repentance; let me receive Your full pardon. Do not let the pleasures of life, the worries of the day, and the activities of my daily routine crowd You out of my heart and out of my thoughts. Draw me to Your wounded side, and cleanse me with Your most precious blood. Bring healing to my soul and peace to my mind. By Your grace, let me crucify my sinful affections, lusts, and desires. Make me more than conqueror over every temptation.

I confess to You all my sins. Let none of them cling to me. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Teach me to love You more and more. Give me grace to confess You as my Savior, who has redeemed me on Calvary, lifting me out of the darkness of sin to be Your own. Gracious Savior, let Your constraining love keep me and all God’s children steadfast to the end. Amen.

Ash Wednesday, Lutheran Book of Prayer, p. 127, © 2005 CPH

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