The Apostle’s Creed – Acts 15:11

Our church, like many other churches, has something that we call our “Statement of Faith.”

It outlines most of the things that we believe.

It would be much simpler, and yet correct, to say that we believe the Bible from cover to cover.

We even believe the cover when it says, “Holy Bible” in gold foil.

A line in our statement of faith says that “the Bible is our ONLY grounds for faith and practice.”

Unfortunately, there are THOUSANDS OF HERETICS who, like us, CLAIM to believe the Bible.

And that is why it has become necessary to have Statements of Faith.

I don’t think that I could be a part of a church which didn’t have some sort of creed or doctrinal statement.

That doesn’t mean that those churches ACTUALLY believe what they SAY that they believe.

But it at the very least they begins to give people a common language with which to speak.

And I have to assume that churches which refuse to have doctrinal statements probably don’t firmly believe anything at all.

Historically, creeds, statements of faith, and doctrinal statements have been almost as necessary to declare what churches DON’T BELIEVE as much as to declare what they DO BELIEVE.

Sometimes they were written in order to say, “No we don’t believe that heresy.”

And they been around almost since the last “amen” in the Book of Revelation.

There is a short Statement of Faith called “The Apostle’s Creed” which is considered to have been compiled about fifty years after the completion of the New Testament.

Except for one line, I have little problem with that so called “Apostle’s Creed.”

It says: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again.

He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,

The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”

Other than the statement about the universal church,

I think that any of the apostles MIGHT have actually declared that this was their creed,

Although I DOUBT that ANY of them ever did.

This was not the Apostles’ Creed, but what someone said was the Apostles’ Creed.

Last week we looked at verses 7-11 under the title “Peter’s Theology.”

As in any Statement of Faith, we looked at several different doctrines.

But even though every truth is true and cannot be compromised or forgotten,

There are some doctrines which are of more importance to the eternal soul.

And verse 11 declares one of those essential, eternal truths.

I think that it would be criminal for me not to spend another 30 minutes on this critical statement.

I know that you may think that you understand every syllable in these 19 words, and perhaps you do, but my commission from the Lord requires me to look at them once again.

Let’s call this verse “The Apostle’s Creed.”

Consider first, THE BLESSING to which Peter refers – SALVATION.

“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

The words “salvation” and “saved” suggest rescue from a desperate situation.

People aren’t saved from jail when their sentences have been met; those people are released.

People aren’t saved from school when they graduate; they graduate & commence a new phase of life.

People aren’t saved from their high interest mortgage; they refinance.

But a few weeks ago there was a small child who was stuck in an old well; that child was saved.

He would died if he hadn’t been rescued.

And there was another child being held for ransom who was saved by the police.

And there was a woman who was trapped in a burning building who was saved by firemen.

The word “salvation” talks about a life and death situation which comes to a safe and happy conclusion.

But the rescue to which Peter referred was is not an earthly salvation, and it didn’t involve mere physical life.

Everyone in that theological discussion that day, knew that this salvation was from the penalty of sin.

In verse 1 certain men came down from Jerusalem telling Gentile believers that unless they implemented the laws and ceremonies of the Jews they couldn’t be “saved.”

They were clearly talking about SALVATION FROM SIN.

And when Peter got up to speak, he referred to the conversion of Cornelius, the Roman Centurion.

He said that the Lord had SAVED that man,

And had AUTHENTICATED his salvation by the evidence of the Holy Spirit.

There was no one in the room who didn’t understand that salvation from sin was the subject,

And they knew that it was the most important subject which they could discuss.

The problem is that most people today DO NOT REALIZE the importance of this salvation.

Many of our neighbors deny that they are eternal souls who will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell.

And most of the rest think that passing the entrance exam and entering into Heaven is much easier than passing a drug test.

They have no concept of the holiness of God and what that holiness requires of God,

And they have no idea about the seriousness and sinfulness of their sin.

However, when they hear the word “cancer,”

They automatically assume that the person with the disease will be dead in six weeks,

Which is not very often true,

But when they hear the preacher use the word “sin” they think that he’s talking about an imaginary monster living under the bed.

Sin, even when considered insignificant by the sinner, is the cancer of all cancers, and it is 100% and eternally fatal.

Salvation is an absolute necessity because EVERY human being is under the bondage of sin.

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

“AND the wages of sin is death.”

“BUT we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

Please don’t misunderstand my next statement.

Please don’t think that I’m advocating the elimination of Thanksgiving Day,

But there is a sense in which it doesn’t make any sense to celebrate Thanksgiving unless the celebrant has been saved by the grace of God.

If a man is dying, and is in need of an immediate heart and lung transplant in order to live another day, it’s kind of silly for him to be praising his doctors for healing his painful hang-nail.

There is no sense for a man with only a moldy piece of bread to be thankful for an imaginary turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

The man who is soon to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, is, in a way, wasting his time thanking God for a warm house, an SUV and a snow-mobile.

There could not have been a more important theme for the Council in Jerusalem than the salvation of the Gentiles.

There will never be a more important theme preached here in Calvary Independent Baptist Church than YOUR salvation from sin.

And “we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be SAVED, even as they.”

The CHANNEL of that salvation is through the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To me, one of the saddest things in all Christendom are all the statements and Statements of Faith which say that “salvation is by grace.”

It’s not that I disagree with the statement per se, but I know that many of those who make that statement don’t understand it or actually believe it.

I REALLY BELIEVE that salvation is by grace.

So many evangelists and preachers tell people that “grace” means “unmerited favor.”

That is the dictionary definition of the word, and that is the theological definition.

I believe that unequivocally.

There are overt and obvious false prophets and heretics who tell their disciples that unless they are baptized, unless they are circumcised, unless they are catachised and unless they are immunized they can’t go to Heaven.

But the evangelical false prophets preach that grace is God’s benevolent kindness toward undeserving sinners,

And then they will dilute the meaning of that beautiful word in any number of different ways.

For example, some will say that God’s grace refers only to His love for sinners.

“God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

True enough, but that is not the sum and substance of God’s grace.

Some will say that God’s grace is confined to SENDING His Son into the world to die for us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I believe that verse, but I don’t believe that it expresses ALL that is contained in God’s grace.

Some people say that God’s grace is seen in His OFFER of save to those who are sinners.

They say that sinners are terribly unworthy of Heaven, but God graciously proposed to save people who ask Jesus to save them.

That too is a shortened and misshapen definition of grace.

These preachers will then go on to tell their congregations that if they repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God will graciously save their souls.

The problem is that when worded that way and when believed that way, God is said to RESPOND in grace to the faith and repentance of the sinner.

When God is said to RESPOND to something, then grace is no longer a part of the equation.

This verse, Acts 15:11, along with every other scripture on the subject says that SALVATION is by grace.

The total package is by the grace of God; not just one or two parts of it.

Even the WILL to repent and to believe on Christ are just as much gifts of grace as the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary.

God’s grace wasn’t just in sending Jesus into the world to die, or in inviting us to believe.

God’s grace was seen in actually saving Cornelius the Roman Centurion and Peter the Galilean fisherman.

If it is believed or preached that God is obligated to save someone because that sinner has repented of his sin or that he has now believed on Christ,

Then grace has ceased to be true unmerited favour.

That sinner thinks that by his faith and repentance he has forced God into a corner and made the Lord obligated to save him.

Like a drug-addicted mugger, he has taken God into a dark, dead-end alley and with the pistol of repentance in his hand and the knife of faith, he has forced God into handing over His eternal salvation.

That is not the Biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith.

Faith enters the equation in the sense that through faith we understand, appreciate and enjoy salvation.

Scripture says, “THROUGH FAITH we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God,”

Likewise THROUGH FAITH those who believe UNDERSTAND that the Lord has graciously saved them.

The word “grace” if properly grasped automatically connects itself to several others words, which many preachers today don’t fully understand or appreciate.

For example there is the word “humility.”

Grace is a subject which should knock the stuffing out of sinners like us,

But in modern evangelism, the sinner can proudly stand and declare that he is bound for Heaven, because he was wise enough to repent of his sin and to believe on Christ.

Should a sinner can be proud of the fact that he has somehow caused his salvation or contributed to it?

Another word related and inexorably tied to “grace” is the adjective “sovereign.”

God is sovereign in just about every way that the dictionary defines the word.

He is THE Sovereign, the King

He exercises supreme and absolute authority.

He is paramount; the highest and best.

And the Lord is sovereign in the sense that He is self-governing and independent.

When God saves by grace, it is because He has independently chosen to do so.

“But we believe that through the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

The one who gives this salvation through grace is the Lord Jesus Christ; the GIVER is Christ.

Last Sunday morning, as I was reviewing my notes before preaching about Peter’s Theology,

I realized too late, that I didn’t really spend enough time of Peter’s doctrine of Christ; his Christology.

We talked about the SOVEREIGNTY and OMNISCIENCE of God;

We talked about the nature of SALVATION and the PURIFYING of the sinful heart;

And we talked for a few moments about the necessity of FAITH and IMPOTENCE OF THE WORKS of the flesh.

But when my six pages of notes were exhausted, I had only briefly touched upon the Lord Jesus.

It was a part of Peter’s theology that Jesus Christ is the One who bestows God’s grace.

I hope that you can see the significance of that statement as it relates to the Christ.

There are dozens of scriptures which declare that JEHOVAH GOD SAVES sinners from their sin.

In Psalms 37, David said “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble,” he spoke of and pictured Jehovah.”

And ISAIAH said, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”

ZEPHANIAH said, “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

Paul told Titus that it was the “grace of God that bringeth salvation.”

To Timothy Paul said, “The gift of God is eternal life” and we must give “thanks unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

There is an abundance of scriptures which declare that salvation from sin is through the grace OF GOD.

But here Peter declares that it is through the grace OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST that sinners are saved.

I’m sure that there is little that I can do to convince someone whose mind is made up to the contrary,

But to say that both God and Christ dispense grace and save sinners tells me that Christ is God.

If salvation is the most important thing that any child of Adam can ever enjoy,

And if it is something that only God can do,

I must assume that the Lord is not going to delegate salvation to some creature, whether angelic or human.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Bible teaches the deity of Saviour; that Jesus Christ is God the Son.

What’s more, it was the Lord Jesus Who supplied the atonement necessary to save us.

The justice of God demands the payment of the penalty that the law demands against sin.

And the wages of sin is death.

For any sinner to pay the penalty personally it would mean his eternal death and separation from God.

But when Jesus died He paid the penalty that justice demands substitutionally.

Therefore both as God AND Saviour, “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved.”

This verse then goes on to teach us about the EXTENT of this blessing: WE AND THEY.

“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, EVEN AS THEY.”

When I picture Peter, I visualize a man with several problems in his personality and character.

In other words, I see a man very much like us.

For example, I see a bull-headed, strong willed man who sometimes had to be smacked on the top of the head before he’d realize whatever it was the Lord was teaching him.

And at other times, I see an impetuous man who ran in where angels fear to tread.

Along with other things, I see a man who was prone to pride, despite his lack of good reasons for pride.

But in THIS statement I hear a remarkable humility which delights my soul and rebukes my own pride.

I don’t know if this was just a twist of words and one of problems of translating from one language to another.

But notice that Peter puts the salvation of the gentiles BEFORE the salvation of his own race and people.

Doesn’t this verse say, “We believe that through grace, Christ saves gentiles AND EVEN us”?

“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

Rather than saying, “Those Gentiles are saved from sin the same way that we Jews are saved,”

Peter said, “We Jews are saved just the way that the Gentiles are saved.”

Some of the members of the church at Jerusalem were as crude and cruel as some are Christians today.

Human beings have always had terrible names to use when talking about people that they hate.

For example, I often hear good Christians use terrible names for homosexuals, Muslims, and blacks.

And sometimes I hear them use appropriate names, but they do it with a sneer that makes the speaker sound like a hate-filled child of Satan.

To hear some people say “Jew” makes me shudder.

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Paul’s opponents, the Judaizers, often talked about the Gentiles, in the old Pharisaic fashion, as “dogs” and “swine.”

But it lifts my heart to hear the round-about-way that Peter elevates those people.

Yes, God can and does save Gentile dogs like us.

And He can and does deliver Catholics, Muslims, Hindus and Mormons.

The Lord even saves homosexuals and pedophiles now and then to remind us of His omnipotence.

“They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.”

Praise God, “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

This verse discusses the blessing of salvation given by Christ through the channel of grace shed upon both Jews and Gentiles.

The only thing left for us to consider this morning is the REQUISITE: We believe.

I have told you a couple of times that when I was first saved, there was a little quip that I really liked:

“God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”

I like that. It’s short and concise.

And unlike so many bumper-sticker-type-statements, it’s not untrue.

I had it on a card that I used as a bookmark for a long time.

But it has occurred to me over the years that little piece of poetry is 50% longer than it needs to be.

The fact is, God said it and that settles it, whether you and I believe it or not.

BUT, if God has said, it then it is definitely to our benefit to believe it.

“WE BELIEVE that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

When Peter spoke of believing, in this case he was not talking about saving faith.

But not only are we responsible to trust Christ for salvation, we are responsible to trust all the promises, and revelations of the Word of God.

Did God say that even Gentiles can be saved through the grace of Christ?

That is something we need to believe.

That is something that we need to preach to those Gentiles.

That is a message which we Gentiles need to believe ourselves in order to become children of God.

Do you believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ sinners are saved?

Well then, are YOU trusting Christ as your Lord and Saviour?

Do you KNOW that if you died at this moment you’d enter the presence of Christ in Glory?

If you are not sure, let me talk to you about your need of Christ.