B.A.S.I.C #276

Volume 13, Issue 6

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The Nicene Creed

By Pastor Nathanael Mayhew

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again with glory to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And I believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

In contrast to the Apostles’ Creed which was formulated over many centuries and as a general baptismal confession of faith, the Nicene Creed was formulated in much shorter time, and was written to combat the false teachings of Arius (who denied the divinity of Christ) and the Macedonians (who taught that the Holy Spirit was not God).

Because of the Arian controversy, emperor Constantine convened an ecumenical council to meet at the city of Nicea in the year 325 A.D. to settle the dispute. A confession was written by Eusebius of Caesarea, and presented to the 318 bishops who attended the Council of Nicea. A few changes were made to Eusebius’ confession to establish more firmly the deity of Christ (the Latin word homoiousious – similar nature – was replaced with the word homoousious – same nature). The Council of Nicea accepted this form of the Creed and condemned the Arian teaching. The Nicene Creed at that time ended with the words “…and in the Holy Ghost” and an anathema against the teaching of the Arians.

In the year 381, emperor Theodosius convened a second ecumenical council at Constantinople to deal once more with the Arians, and with a dispute over the person of the Holy Spirit. It was at this council that the wording of the Third Article was added, condemning Macedonius and his followers and defending the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Latin (western) form of the Nicene Creed differs only in the addition of the Latin word “filioque” (“and the Son”), which was added at a council held in Toledo, Spain in the year 589 A.D. The Greek (eastern) church never agreed to this addition, saying that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone (John 15:26), not the Father and the Son (John 16:7). This was one of the issues that separated these two churches, bringing about their final and complete separation in 1054 A.D.

The three fold division of the creed into articles was based on our God being three in one, the Trinity (Matthew 28:18-19).

 

Scriptural Foundation of the Nicene Creed

I believe ____________ in one God ____________ , the Father ____________ Almighty ____________ , Maker of heaven and earth ____________ and of all things visible and invisible ____________.

And in one Lord ____________ Jesus Christ ____________, the only-begotten Son of God ____________ , begotten of His Father ____________ before all worlds ____________ , God of God ____________, Light of Light ____________ , Very God of Very God ____________, Begotten ____________, not made ____________, Being of one substance with the Father ____________, By Whom all things were made ____________; Who for us men ____________ and for our salvation ____________ came down from heaven ____________ And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost ____________ of the Virgin Mary ____________ And was made man ____________ ; And was crucified ____________ also for us ____________ under Pontius Pilate ____________. He suffered ____________ and was buried ____________; And the third day He rose again ____________ according to the Scriptures ____________; And ascended into heaven ____________, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father ____________ ; And He shall come again with glory ____________ to judge both the quick and the dead ____________; Whose kingdom shall have no end ____________.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost ____________ , The Lord ____________ and Giver of Life ____________, Who proceedeth from the Father ____________ and the Son ____________ , Who with the Father and the Son ____________ together is worshiped and glorified ____________, Who spake by the Prophets ____________. And I believe one ____________ holy ____________ Christian ____________ and Apostolic ____________ Church ____________ . I acknowledge one Baptism ____________ for the remission of sins ____________ , And I look for the resurrection of the dead ____________ , And the life of the world to come ____________ . Amen.

 

Passages

Deuteronomy 6:4; Psalm 2:7; Psalm 51:11; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 51:13; Matthew 1:20; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 27:60; Mark 15:15; Luke 1:27; John 1:1-2; John 1:3; John 1:14; John 3:13; John 3:18; John 10:30; John 15:26; John 16:7; John 17:3; John 20:17; Acts 2:33; Acts 2:36; Acts 2:38; Acts 2:42; Acts 4:10, 12; Acts 8:37; Acts 10:42; Romans 4:25; Romans 8:2; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Corinthians 15:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Galatians 6:8; Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 4:5 (3); Ephesians 4:10; Colossians 1:15; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 1:17; Colossians 1:18; Colossians 1:21-22; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Hebrews 2:14; 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 4:1; 2 Peter 1:21; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 21:23.

Barnabas – CLC of India

Psalms 62:1 Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.

I asked Pastor Jyothi of the CLCI to tell about God’s work with Pastor Barnabas. While there was more than one pastor in the CLCI named Barnabas, this is the man that volunteers who went to India met in the last years.

-David Koenig

Greetings in the enduring and everlasting Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Regarding Barnabas’ tumor, it is a long time back.

Barnabas was one of our seminary students from 1999 batch. From the childhood he has been suffering from health problems. In the year 1999, while we were doing summer outreach program suddenly Barnabas had severe stomach pain. And he was unable to bear the pain and he suffered a lot due to that problem. We took him to the Guntur hospital where doctors examined him and said that he had tumor inside his stomach and it was a major one and that tumor was there inside of his stomach since his childhood and it developed to a major size. So they suggested us to take him to Hyderabad. Our hearts broke when we heard this news. We became very depressed and discouraged. Since his family was very poor, I requested the honorable mission board regarding this. With much generosity, honorable Mission Board helped us to take him to Hyderabad hospital. We joined him in very big hospital at Hyderabad. There, doctors examined him through many tests. After some treatment like giving him nearly five bottles of blood, medicines and nine thousand rupees of expenditure, Doctors said that it could not be operated because it may cause him life threat and they gave some relief medication so that he could live probably six months or one year.

After we came back from Hyderabad, I had conducted some special fasting     prayer meetings. Myself, all the seminary students and some of our nearby CLCI pastors had prayed with tears in those three day fasting prayer meetings. After those fasting prayer meetings, Barnabas said that he was feeling better and he was OK with his health. We believed that the Lord answered our prayers. We really felt very happy about the healing that Barnabas had received from the Lord.

Even though the Lord gave him amazing healing, I never imagined that Barnabas could survive these many years. I personally thought that Barnabas may live two or three years. But amazingly the Lord healed him and gave him really 14 years of life. Amazingly Barnabas regained his health within no time and the wonderful Lord gave him full fitness for His work to which He called Barnabas.  Jer 30:17 “For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,” says the Lord…

After that Barnabas successfully completed the seminary course. With our Lord’s Grace, Barnabas served the Lord until 2013. Some of his pioneering works will remain forever in the CLCI.  No doubt that he was a brave young pastor and very good technician in operating computers or electrical works or in repairing sound systems etc.  In our CLCI history, he is one of the best pastors who served the CLCI and had such sincerity in doing the Lord’s service.

After seven years of that incident, he got married.  His wife’s name is Alice. She is a very nice young girl. She saw Barnabas in a prayer meeting and loved him, and inquired about him through our CLCI Pastor. Our pastor explained her all about Barnabas. Whole heartedly she agreed to marry him. With help of our CLCI pastor, Barnabas came to know about her love and agreed to marry her. We performed their marriage. The Lord blessed them with two daughters.  His daughters were 6 and 4. He was 32.

Praise the Lord.  And remember that all things are possible to him who believes.

Statistics of CLCI: 288 pastors, 38 in the seminary, 288 congregations, 230 preaching stations, 13,689 souls