Apostles’ Creed (part 7)

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I believe in the holy catholic church. // The communion of saints. The forgiveness of sins.

    • The story of the Triune God is our story. “Jesus did not write a book but formed a community.”[1] Conversion is to the Lordship of Jesus where we find our identity. Our identity is found in community (1 Cor. 12:12–13). Although many of us find places in multiple communities all vying for our loyalties.
    • It is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
      • One: This refers to the unity of the Church, meaning it is a single body with Christ as its head. The church is united by love and shared beliefs. The body of Christ is the most inclusive community imaginable. Eph 4:1–4.
      • Holy: This means the Church is set apart for God and reflects his holiness. While its members may sin, the Church as a whole is considered sacred because of its connection to Christ and the Holy Spirit.
        • See John 17:17; Col. 1:22; 3:12; Eph. 1:4; 4:23–24; Heb. 12:14; 1 Thess. 4:7; 2 Tim. 1:9; 2 Pet. 3:11).
        • The church is holy (Eph. 2:21; 5:26–27; 1 Pet. 2:5).
      • Catholic: It indicates that the Church’s teachings and mission are for all people, in all places, at all times.
          • The church in the NT is represented as autonomous bodies held together by a common faith in Jesus Christ.
          • The third mark, “catholic,” stems from the Greek word“katholikos,” which essentially means “on the whole” or “universal.” Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals are united, in a sense, on the catholicity of the Church because “the body of Christ is universal” and [all] faith traditions are united in the belief that God’s “love knows no boundaries; his offer of salvation has no limits.” “Mission, service, leadership, and proclamation further the catholicity of the Church.” “In this work, … it is God in Christ who accomplishes catholicity, which is present in every community gathered in his name.”[2]
            • Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 350 says, “It is denominated Catholic because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely one and all the doctrines which ought to come to men’s knowledge, concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly; and because it brings into subjection to godliness the whole race of mankind, governors and governed, learned and unlearned; and because it  universally treats and heals the whole class of sins,  which are committed by soul or body, and possesses in itself every form of virtue which is named, both in deeds and words, and in every kind of spiritual gifts.”[3]
            • John Zizioulas defines “catholicity” as “the fullness of communion.” A local congregation must be in full communion with the rest of the local churches in the world in order to be truly a church.[4]
          • What are the possible divisions and/or gaps between people?
            • Social, Gender, Doctrine, Race, Power, Politics,
            • “The greatest barrier is death. It splits the human family into the two classes of the living and the dead.” [5] All other divisions are petty compared to the division between the living and the dead.
            • But no matter what the division, all are mysteriously united in one Spirit. Baptism unites us all. A singular gospel unites us all. The resurrection unites us all, even the living and the dead.
      • Apostolic: This signifies that the Church’s teachings and authority are directly linked to the apostles, who were chosen by Jesus. Therefore, the church is the only authentic witness of the Gospel.
  • Communion of the Saints: koinonia is used 38 times in the NT. It is not a term found in the OT or by Jesus. It’s first occurrence is found in 1 Corinthians.[6]
    • “The noun koinonia has a considerable range of meanings in the New Testament. It can mean (1) close association involving mutual interests and sharing, translated as ‘association,’ ‘communion,’ ‘fellowship,’ ‘close relationship’ (Phil. 1:5; Rom. 15:26); (2) an attitude of good will that manifests an interest in a close relationship translated as generosity (2 Cor. 9:13); (3) an abstract term for the concrete ‘sign of fellowship, proof of brotherly unity, or gift or contribution’ (Rom. 15:26; 1 Cor. 10:16); or (4) participation or sharing in something: Christ’s sufferings (Phil. 3:10), the body and blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16), the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:13), faith (Philem. 6).”[7]
    • The closest phrase to the “communion of the saints” might be “a cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1).
    • The Latin phrase is grammatically ambiguous. Another translation could be “a sharing or partaking in holy things.” Such a translation is a reference to the Eucharist. But this is not mutually exclusive as seen in 1 Cor. 10:16–17. [8]
  • Forgiveness:
    • When we are wronged, it often happens within community. It is fitting that forgiveness comes here within the creed.
    • Even in denial and apostacy, forgiveness is found. In 303 Diocletian ordered a mass persecution. But if you offered sacrifice, you would be safe. You could do the sacrifice en masse. Eventually, as things returned to normal, apostates returned seeking fellowship again.
    • Silence and the continual return of Kichijiro.

“Throughout the story, Kichijiro repeatedly apostatizes, then repents, and then apostatizes again. The first time Kichijiro repents, Rodrigues is touched. “Your faith gives me strength,” he says. But Kichijiro increasingly disgusts Rodrigues; he doesn’t believe Kichijiro’s faith is real, because he keeps denying Christ. Yet in that first confession scene, Kichijiro says something interesting. He says, “My love for God is strong. Could that be the same as faith?” Rodrigues says, “Yes.” It is enough to love God, even if you are too weak to remain faithful, because God is faithful when you are not. Kichijiro laments that he happened to be born during a time of persecution. If he had been born a hundred years earlier, he notes, it would have been easy to be a Christian. Rodrigues wonders, “Where is the place for a weak man in a world like this?” But as Silence continues, we are reminded that the gospel is precisely that Jesus died for the weak and sinful, those who do not deserve forgiveness.”[9]

    • The forgiveness of sins has taken place once for all in the death and resurrection of Jesus. God is all about forgiveness due to God’s great love, grace, and mercy. Forgiveness is the function of God’s holiness. Forgiveness (salvation) is a means to restore human fellowship with God. The story of God is mostly about God’s action to provide redemption through the means of forgiveness.
    • What is stronger than the blood of Jesus? How effective is forgiveness? Once for all (2 Cor. 5:14; Rom. 5:8)?
    • Pastoral Care Case: A woman who asked the minister to pray for her forgiveness of adultery routinely and repeatedly. Maybe this was in response to an unforgiving spouse. Maybe she could not forgive herself. Maybe there were other psychological or social factors. But the fear that we are unforgiven despite having sought forgiveness in the acts of confession, penitence, and faith [10] still haunts us. It deadens our love, joy, and peace. Therefore, forgiveness must be freely received as a gift.
    • Is the notion, all you must do is confess, repent, and believe transactional in nature? Is it just “if-then” logic that festers into fear, lack of assurance, and dread?[11] Do we have to present ourselves as “forgivable”? Is forgiveness conditional?
    • Theologically, how effective is the blood? How powerful is God’s love? And to understand confession and repentance as a radical acceptance and response of appreciation to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ!
    • What does the Lord’s Prayer “Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors” mean to us? For it is through God’s forgiveness that we learn to embody forgiveness.
    • See also Eph. 4:32.
    • So, our forgiving others is a regifting of God’s gift. And that gift is without price. There is no transactional act (no legal repentance required). “Freely you have received, so now you give to others freely” (Matt. 10:8).
    • Only love can transform us into people who forgive others’ debts.
    • And yet, forgiving does not mean forgetting. Acknowledgement is foremost when confessing, repenting, and receiving forgiveness. Forgiving is taking the offense, sin, and pain seriously. How can we move forward so that the wrongs are not repeated? Being forgiven changes us. Forgiving changes the relationship I have with the pain and with the other person.
    • The church is not a place of spiritual elitism but a place where we all come together and hear the confession, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.”

[1] Leslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 227.

[2] CNA, Catholic News Agency, Accessed April 9, 2025. See also First Things, March 25, 2025.

[3] Catechetical Lecture 18.23 (Patrologia Graeca, 22:1044), cited by Susan K. Wood, “The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of the Saints,” 225, in Van Harn, Exploring & Proclaiming the Apostles’ Creed.

[4] John Zizioulas, Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1985), 257–59 cited by Wood, “The Holy Catholic Church,” 227.

[5] Myers, The Apostles’ Creed, 105.

[6] Wood, “The Holy Catholic Church,” 221.

[7] Wood, “The Holy Catholic Church,” 221.

[8] Wood, “The Holy Catholic Church,” 227.

[9] https://www.equip.org/articles/the-hidden-faith-of-silence/

[10] Hart, Confessing and Believing, 258.

[11] Hart, Confessing and Believing, 258.