Exposition of the Apostles' Creed Part 5

ARTICLE 8

_I believe in the Holy Ghost_

The eighth article of the Creed declares belief in the third Divine Person--the Holy Ghost.

The words "I believe," implied in every clause, are here repeated, to mark the transition from the Second to the Third Person of the Trinity.

While this doctrine underlies all the teaching of the Old Testament Scriptures, it was yet in a measure not understood or realised by the Jews, and as Christ came to make known the Father, so to Him we owe also the full revelation of the Holy Spirit. Prophets and Psalmists had glimpses of the doctrine, but they lived in the twilight, and saw through a gla.s.s darkly many truths now clearly made known.

While we speak freely of spiritual life, our conception of it is so vague that we are apt to overlook, or to regard lightly, the work of the Holy Spirit in redemption. The disciples of John, whom Paul met at Ephesus, believed in Jesus and had been baptized, and yet they told the Apostle that they had not so much as heard whether there was any Holy Ghost.[165] John tells us that even while Jesus was on earth the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.[166]

That the Holy Ghost is a Person, and not, as some hold, a mere energy or influence proceeding from the Father, or from the Father and the Son, is apparent from the pa.s.sages of Scripture which refer to Him. An energy has no existence independent of the agent, but this can not be maintained with reference to the Holy Ghost. He is a.s.sociated as a Person with Persons. In the baptismal formula and in the apostolic benediction the Holy Spirit is spoken of in the same terms as the Father and the Son, and is therefore a Person as they are Persons. He is said to possess will and understanding. He is said to teach, to testify, to intercede, to search all things, to bestow and distribute spiritual gifts according to His will.

The Holy Ghost addresses the Father, and is therefore not the Father. He intercedes with the Father, and so is not a mere energy of the Father.

Jesus promised to send the Spirit from the Father, but the Father could not be sent from or by Himself. It is said that the Spirit when He came would not speak of Himself--a statement that cannot apply to the Father; and while Christ promised to send the Spirit, He did not promise to send the Father.

The Holy Ghost is not the Son, for the Son says He will send Him. He is "another Comforter," who speaks and acts as a person. The Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work where-unto I have called them."[167]

The arguments for the distinct personality of the Holy Ghost prove also that He is G.o.d. The baptismal formula and the apostolic benediction a.s.sume His Divinity. The words of Christ with reference to the sin against the Holy Ghost imply that He is G.o.d, and Peter affirms this doctrine when, having accused Ananias of lying to the Holy Ghost, he adds, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto G.o.d."[168] Paul also a.s.serts it when, in arguing against sins of the flesh, he affirms that the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and also declares of it that the temple of G.o.d is holy. Divine properties are ascribed to the Holy Spirit. Thus _Omnipotence_ is attributed to Him--"The Spirit shall quicken your mortal bodies",[169] _Omniscience_--"The Spirit searcheth all things",[170] _Omnipresence_--"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?"[171] Divinity is attributed to the third Person in the statement that "holy men of G.o.d spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,"[172] taken in connection with the other statement, "all Scripture is given by inspiration of G.o.d."[173]

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and, because of this, though born of a woman, He was in His human nature the Son of G.o.d. "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee ... therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of G.o.d."[174] Each of the three Persons has part in the work of redemption. The Father gave the Son, and accepted Him as man's Sinbearer and Sacrifice; the Son gave Himself, and a.s.sumed human nature that He might suffer and die in the room and stead of sinners, and the Holy Ghost applies to men the work of redeeming love, taking of the things of Christ and making them known,[175] till they produce repentance, faith, and salvation. The Father's gift of the Son and the Son's sacrifice of Himself are of the past; the work of the Holy Spirit has gone on day by day, ever since the risen and glorified Redeemer sent Him to make His people ready for the place which He is preparing for them. It is through Him that we understand the Scriptures, and receive power to fear G.o.d and keep His commandments. He comes to human hearts, and when He enters He banishes discord and bestows happiness and peace. Then with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and the fruits of the Spirit are manifested in his life.

The love of the Father and the redemption secured by the Son's Incarnation and Pa.s.sion fail to affect us if we have not our share in the Spirit's sanctification. There is a sense in which the Holy Ghost comes nearer to us, if we may so speak, than the other Persons of the G.o.dhead. If we are true believers, the Holy Ghost is enthroned in our hearts. "He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."[176] Our bodies become the temples of the Holy Ghost.[177] It is through Him that the Father and the Son come and make their abode in the faithful.[178] We are made "an habitation of G.o.d through the Spirit."[179] "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."[180] When we consider the work He carries on in convicting men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and in converting, guiding, and comforting those whom He influences, we can understand that it was expedient for us that Christ should go away, in order that the Comforter might come.[181] If we are receiving and resting on Jesus as our Saviour, then His Spirit is within us as the earnest of our inheritance.[182] His presence imparts power such as no spiritual enemy can resist. How different were the Apostles before and after they had received the gift of the Spirit! One of them who, before, denied Christ when challenged by a maid, afterwards proclaimed boldly in the presence of the hostile Jewish council, "We ought to obey G.o.d rather than men."[183] Those who, when He was apprehended, had forsaken Him and fled, gathered courage to brave kings and rulers as they preached salvation through Him. The disciples, who, in accordance with Christ's injunction, awaited the descent of the Spirit, were on the day of Pentecost clothed with power before which bigotry and selfishness pa.s.sed into faith and charity and self-surrender; and there was won on that day for the Church a triumph such as the might of G.o.d alone could have secured--a triumph which the ministry of the Spirit, whenever it is recognised and accepted, is always powerful to repeat and to surpa.s.s.

All good comes to man through the Spirit. Every inspiration of every individual is from Him, the Lord and Giver of light, and life, and understanding. Every good thought that rises within us, every unselfish motive that stimulates us, every desire to be holy, every resolve to do what is right, what is brave, or n.o.ble, or self-sacrificing, comes to man from the Holy Ghost. He is instructing and directing us not only on special occasions, as when we read the Bible or meet for worship, but always, if we will listen for His voice. His personal indwelling in man, as Counsellor and Guide, is the fulfilment of the promise--"I will dwell in them, and walk in them." "He will guide you into all truth" is an a.s.surance of counsel and victory that is ever receiving fulfilment, and that cannot be broken.[184]

ARTICLE 9

_The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints_

SECTION 1.--THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH

In the clause of the Creed which expresses belief in Jesus Christ, He is called our Lord "And in Jesus Christ our Lord." That He is their Lord is declared by believers, when they term the society of which they are members "the Church." This word is derived from the Greek _kurios_, Lord, in the adjectival form _kuriakos_, of or belonging to the Lord--the Scottish word "kirk" being therefore a form nearer the original than the equivalent term _Church_. The Greek word translated "church" occurs only three times in the Gospels. In English the word is used in different senses, all of them, however, pointing to the Lord Jesus as their source and sanction. By "church," we sometimes mean a building set apart for Christian worship. The Jew had his Tabernacle in the Wilderness, his Temple at Jerusalem, and his Synagogue in the Provinces; the Mohammedan has his Mosque, and the Brahmin his PaG.o.da; but the Christian has his Church, in whose very name his Lord is honoured. Sometimes the word denotes the Christians of a specified city or locality--the Church at Ephesus, the Church at Corinth. Sometimes it is limited to a number of Christians meeting for worship in a house, as in Romans xvi. 5 and in Philemon.[185] Sometimes "Church" denotes a particular denomination of Christians, as the Presbyterian Church, the Episcopal Church. Sometimes it expresses the distinctive form which Christianity a.s.sumes in a particular nation--the Church of England, the Church of Scotland. In the Creed the Holy Catholic Church means the whole body of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, all who anywhere and everywhere are looking to Him for salvation, and are bringing forth the fruits of holiness to His praise and glory.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not, during His ministry, set up a Church as an outward organisation. He was Himself to be the Church's foundation; but in order to be qualified for this office it was necessary that He should first lay down His life. The work of building and extending, in so far as it was to be effected by human agency, must be undertaken by others after His departure. He came to fulfil the law, and so He was not sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He worshipped, accordingly, in the Jewish temple and synagogues, observed the sacraments and festivals of the Old Testament Church, and during His earthly ministry bade His disciples observe and do whatsoever the men who sat in Moses' seat commanded. "The faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation," with which the Christian Church was to be charged as G.o.d's message to the world, was not yet published, for Christ had still to suffer and enter into His glory, and the Holy Ghost had yet to be sent by the Father before the standard of the Church could be set up. While the Church rests on Christ, it is founded upon His Apostles also, to whom He committed the work for which He had prepared them, and for which He was still further to qualify them by bestowing power from on high.

The gifts which He received for men when He ascended were needed to equip them for the work of founding that Church, which became a possibility only through His death and resurrection. Applying to them the redemption purchased by Christ, the Holy Ghost wrought in and with them, and crowned their labours with success. The Christian Church was set up on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came down upon a band of believers a.s.sembled at Jerusalem waiting for the promise of the Father. Under His inspiration Peter preached the first Christian sermon with such power that the same day there were added unto the Church three thousand souls.

The Church is termed the _Holy_ Catholic Church. When the epithet "holy"

is applied to the Church, it is not meant that all who profess faith in Jesus Christ and are in connection with the visible Church, are holy, or that any of them are altogether holy. Our Lord taught that while in the world His Church would contain a mixture of good and bad. He likened it to a net in which good and bad fishes are caught, and to a field in which wheat and tares grow together. Though all are called to be saints, "there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not."[186] The sanctification of believers is the work of the Holy Spirit, effected not by a momentary act but by degrees, and never perfected in this life.

Upon all who truly receive the Lord Jesus a change is wrought by the Holy Spirit of G.o.d, which results in holiness. Looking unto Jesus, they behold as in a gla.s.s the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same image. The transformation which they undergo extends to every part of their being. The subject of sanctification is the whole man. The understanding, will, conscience, memory, affections are all renewed in their operations, and the members of the body become instruments of righteousness unto holiness. As believers are enabled to die unto sin, they live unto righteousness. Being renewed in the inner man by the Divine Spirit, they bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. Their desire is after holiness, for they know that the restoration of holiness is the end for which Jesus died and for which the Spirit works. "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."[187] Now, the Church is marred by many blemishes, but her imperfection is for a time only. When her period of work and probation is accomplished she will be purged and perfected, and will be a church without spot or wrinkle.

Meantime she is the Holy Church because her Head is holy, and because she is called out of the world and consecrated to the service of G.o.d.

She is holy because she is the body of Christ, of whose fulness she receives, and whose graces she reflects, and because it is through her teaching, prayers, and inst.i.tutions that the Holy Spirit usually works and influences men to follow holiness. The ministry, the preaching, the sacraments, the laws, and the discipline of the Church have as their end the turning of men from their sins and persuading them to follow holiness.

The Christian Church is a _Catholic_ Church. The word "Catholic" means universal, and implies that, unlike the Jewish Church, which was narrow and local, requiring admission to earthly citizenship as the condition of receiving spiritual privilege, the Church of Christ is coextensive with humanity, and accessible to all. The Master's charge was that the Gospel should be preached to every creature. The Church's field is the world, and her commission sets before her as a duty that she shall go into all the world bearing the glad tidings of salvation. The disciples did not at first realise this comprehensiveness of the new faith. Even after his address on the day of Pentecost, Peter had not risen above his Jewish prejudices. It was not until after he beheld in vision the great sheet let down from heaven, and was forbidden to regard anything which G.o.d had cleansed as common or unclean, that the fulness of the Gospel dispensation was understood by him, and he discovered to his astonishment that G.o.d is no respecter of persons, but that in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him.[188]

The Catholic Church is _One_. It is _the_ Holy Catholic Church, one in its origin as the household of G.o.d built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner-stone;[189]

one body, with one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.[190] The distinctive marks of the true Church are allegiance to one Lord, confession of a common creed, and partic.i.p.ation in the same Sacraments.

The unity of the Catholic Church is quite compatible with the existence of separate organisations that differ in regard to details of government or worship. There is no outward organisation which possesses a monopoly of Christian truth and privilege. While all who "hold the Head" stand fast in one spirit, they are not all enrolled as members of one ecclesiastical body, or subject to the authority of one earthly ruler.

Their citizenship is in heaven; not in Rome or in any city of this world. The claim a.s.serted by the Bishops of Rome to be infallible representatives of Christ and exclusive possessors of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, to whom all men owe allegiance, and whose decrees and discipline cannot be questioned without sin, has no support in Scripture, which, while it enjoins unity of spirit, never prescribes uniformity of organisation.

What the Romanist claims for the Pope is virtually claimed for the Church by some who reject Papal authority. By the Church they mean one visible body of Christians under the same ecclesiastical const.i.tution and government, and they maintain that the right to expound with authority the will of G.o.d is vested in this body, and that private judgment must be subordinated to its decisions. To const.i.tute the Church they say there must be bishops at its head, ordained by men whose ecclesiastical orders have come down from apostolic times in unbroken succession. Without this apostolical succession, it is affirmed, there can be no Church, no true ordination, no valid or effectual administration of sacraments.

Such a definition of the Catholic Church excludes from partic.i.p.ation in the ordinary means of grace the whole body of Presbyterians, nearly all the Protestant Churches of Europe, and all who refuse to admit direct transmission of orders from the Apostles as a primary condition of the Church's existence. Carried to its logical conclusion, it would exclude even those who maintain it; for all attempts to trace back a continuous and complete series of ordinations from modern times to the apostolic age fail to show an unbroken line. It is therefore not possible for any bishop or minister in Christendom to be certain that, in this sense, he is a successor of the Apostles. The Catholic Church is not exclusively Episcopalian or Presbyterian or Congregational. It is found in all Christian communities, and maintains its ident.i.ty in all. It is said by Paul to be made up of "them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours."[191] As it is not the Pope that admits to, or excludes from, heaven, so it is not the prerogative of any church to bestow or to withhold salvation. The right of private judgment, a.s.serted and secured by the Scottish Reformers, is one which we are not only ent.i.tled but bound to exercise. We must search the Scriptures for ourselves, that in their light we may prove all things and hold fast that which is good. A famous saying of Ignatius, who first applied the term "Catholic" to the Church, supplies the true description of a living church--"Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."[192]

SECTION 2.--THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

This article appears to have first found place in the Creed as a protest against the tenets of a sect called the Donatists, from Donatus their leader. He seceded (314 A.D.) from the Christian Church in North Africa, carrying with him numerous followers, and set up a new church organisation, claiming for it place and authority as the only Church of Christ. Circ.u.mstances put powers of excommunication and persecution at his disposal, which he directed against those who refused to become his followers.

Augustine was for a time a Donatist, but his truth-loving spirit soon discovered the real character of Donatus, and then he became his active and uncompromising opponent. It was probably as a protest against the arrogance of the Donatists, and in deference to Augustine's wish, that the clause was inserted. In this profession it is declared that the Holy Catholic Church is one not in virtue of outward forms, or even through perfect agreement among its members upon all details of doctrine, but because of the holiness of those who compose it. It refuses to excommunicate any who hold fast the form of sound words, and who adhere to one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one G.o.d and Father of all. It is a brotherhood of which all who have the spirit of Christ are members.

Differences in colour, or country, or rank do not suffice to separate those who are "the body of Christ and members in particular." The spirit of Christian fellowship that marks the saints finds fitting expression in the n.o.ble words of Augustine, "In things essential, unity; in things doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity."

The primary meaning of the word "saint" is a person consecrated or set apart. In this sense all baptized persons who are professing members of the Church of Christ are saints. In the New Testament the whole body of professing Christians resident in a city or district are called saints, although some among them may have been unworthy; just as in the Old Testament the prophets even in degenerate times termed the people of Israel an "holy nation," that is, a nation separated from the rest of the world and consecrated to G.o.d's service. Thus we read that Peter visited the saints which dwelt at Lydda.[193] Paul speaks of a collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, and writes letters to all the saints in Achaia,[194] to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, and to the saints at Ephesus; and Jude speaks of the faith once delivered to the saints. In these pa.s.sages the t.i.tle is applied to all who were in outward fellowship with the Christian Church.

The term "saint" is used also in a more restricted sense. As they were not all Israel who were of Israel, and as not every one that saith "Lord, Lord" shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, so all who are enrolled as members of the Christian Church do not lead saintly lives, and those only are truly saints who are striving to live G.o.dly in Christ Jesus, and to be holy, even as He who hath called them is holy. This clause of the Creed expresses the doctrine that Christians ought to have fellowship one with another, and that there ought to be harmonious relations and stimulating communion between their several churches and congregations--such fellowship and communion as may lead the world to believe that they are one in Christ, and that, though compelled by circ.u.mstances to a.s.semble in different places and to form separate societies, they are, nevertheless, all members of one body, of which Jesus Christ is the Head; all stones in one building, of which He is the chief Corner-stone; all branches in one true vine, of which He is the Stem; and all animated and directed by the same Spirit. Thus regarded, the clause is a protest against the exclusiveness which often marks Christian churches, and is a recognition of the spirit of charity.

The extent of this Communion of the Saints is not revealed. Much of it is spiritual, and is therefore invisible to us. G.o.d alone marks in full measure the fellowship of the churches, and is acquainted with the character and conduct of all their members. He knew the seven thousand in Israel who had never bowed the knee to Baal, and the real, though unrecognised, communion they had with one another in their common fidelity and prayer to Him; but Elijah did not know how much true fellowship he had, when he denounced the idolatries of Jezebel and pleaded with G.o.d for Israel. The ignorance of the prophet, who thought he was the only faithful Israelite, has its counterpart in our own times. G.o.d knows, but we do not know, how many faithful saints there are in the world who are in fellowship with one another because they are in fellowship with Him. We are excluded by many barriers from the knowledge of our brethren and sisters in Christ Jesus. Natural and moral difficulties stand in the way, hindering this knowledge; differences in language, in environment, in habits and modes of thought, and other limitations, disable us for truly gauging the character of those with whom we are brought into close contact. Communion is nevertheless real and true. The members of the Church of the living G.o.d, however they may be scattered and divided, have communion and fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and being in fellowship with G.o.d, they are of one mind, and are knit together by common faith and mutual sympathy.

They are all one with the same Head, and they have all one hope of their calling.

Our Lord brought life and immortality to light, and taught men that between the Church militant and the Church triumphant there is indissoluble fellowship. Those who followed holiness in this life are saints still in the life to which they have pa.s.sed. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, believers are told that they "are come to the general a.s.sembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven ...

and to the spirits of just men made perfect."[195]

While the clause was probably inserted at first to vindicate the doctrine of communion of saints in this life, it has long been regarded as extending to a communion subsisting between the spirits of just men made perfect and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ who are still on earth. The pa.s.sage last quoted justifies the inference that death does not suspend the fellowship which believers in Jesus Christ have with Him, their common Lord. Death separates the soul from the body, but it does not cut off the dead from communion with the Father or the Son. He who is the G.o.d of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob is the G.o.d not of the dead, but of the living. Of the whole family of the saints, some are in heaven and some on earth, and, between those who are there and those who are here, there is communion. Since the heavenly Church received Abel as its first member, there has been unceasing fellowship between militant and glorified saints. Those who are here are shut out by the tabernacle of the body from personal intercourse with the souls of the departed, but are yet in a fellowship with them that is very real and precious.

The holy dead act upon the living, and, it may be, are reacted upon in ways we do not understand. Of Abel we are told that "being dead, he yet speaketh."[196] Those whom death has taken do not cease to exert an influence on the lives of friends left behind. Their example, their good deeds, their writings, the undying consequences of what they did while on earth affect us. The veil which death interposes between us and them hinders us from witnessing their spirit life, and we know not whether, or in what measure, or how, they contemplate us. We do not go to them to ask them to intercede for us with the Father, for we believe there is but one Mediator between G.o.d and man. We do not invest them with attributes which belong to G.o.d alone; all that we are warranted to say about their relation to us is, that what is revealed does not forbid, but rather encourages, the thought that they are interested in us and concerned for our happiness. If the angels rejoice over the conversion of a sinner, are we to think that the spirits of just men made perfect are strangers to this joy? They are within the veil, we cannot see them, but we know they are in communion with G.o.d. The condition of the departed saints is one of waiting as well as of progress. They have not attained to fruition. There are doctrines which to them, as to us, are still matters not of experience but of faith and hope. The souls of the martyrs seen by John under the altar were in a state of expectation, desiring and pleading as when in the flesh they had desired and pleaded for the consummation of Messiah's kingdom; and from them the Apostle heard the cry ascend, "How long, O Lord?"[197] Saints here and saints who have pa.s.sed through the valley into the unseen must surely hold many beliefs in common. Both alike believe the promises of G.o.d, and antic.i.p.ate the glorious consummation for which they wait and watch, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of the living G.o.d.

They believe in the resurrection of the body and in its reunion with the soul for ever. They have common affections. Their love is given to the same G.o.d. They have community of worship, and have communion in thanksgiving, praise, and, may we not say, in prayer for the overthrow of the kingdom of darkness and the advent of the kingdom of glory? As those who are still in the body keep the New Testament feast, they feel that there is fellowship between them and saints departed, seeing that they honour the same Saviour, glory in the same cross, partake of the same heavenly food, and look for the same inheritance of perfect blessedness.

ARTICLE 10

_The Forgiveness of Sins_

The Creed acknowledges G.o.d as the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; but there is another relation which He sustains to His creatures besides those of Creator and Father. In Scripture He is represented as the King, Ruler, Governor of the universe, who imposes laws upon all His creatures, and requires of them scrupulous obedience. With the exception of man, the visible creatures have these laws, from which they cannot swerve, within their const.i.tutions. The planet never deviates from its appointed orbit; the insect, the bird, the beast all live in strict accordance with their instincts; but, unlike them, man possesses freedom of will and power of choice. This freedom, if rightly exercised, is a n.o.ble possession, but, perverted, it is an instrument of destruction.