Say The Words

Say the Words

Every Sunday at my home church, we stand and recite the words of the Nicene Creed, which Christ followers have said for centuries:

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 Spirit 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 sits 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 proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke 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.

Each time I say these words together with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am struck by something particular, because they are particular words. Saying them doesn’t make them any truer—it just keeps me tethered a little more tightly to the truth I already believe. I can believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but when I say the words, my heart is stirred all over again. And if I’m fortunate, I’ll be saying the words—and rejoicing in every syllable—as I bid good-bye to this world and embrace the life of the world to come.

Even when it may go without saying, it’s good to say the words.

Now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

1 John 5:20