God is both loving and holy. God mercifully redeems fallen creation, while righteously opposing all sin and evil. The Lord Jesus Christ is the fullest revelation of God’s holy love.
God is one divine Being eternally existing in three divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Trinity.
The fourteen books of the Apocrypha, historically acknowledged by this church, are pre-Christian Jewish writings that provide background for the New Testament and are included in many editions of the Bible. They may be read as examples of faithful living but “not to establish any doctrine.”
Through Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit will teach, rebuke, correct, and train me in the righteousness that God desires. The prayerful study of Scripture forms me for life in Christ and theservice of God and my neighbor.
Because Holy Scripture was given by God to the Church, it should always be understood in ways that are faithful to its own plain meaning, to its entire teaching, and to the Church’s historic interpretation. It should be translated, read, taught, and obeyed accordingly.
The fullness of God’s revelation is found in Jesus Christ, who not only fulfills the Scriptures, but is himself God’s Word, the living expression of God’s mind. The Scriptures testify about him, “In the beginning was the Word,” and “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” ( John 1:1, 14). Therefore, “ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.”
The Old Testament is to be read in the light of Christ, and the New Testament is to be read in light of God’s revelation to Israel. Thus the two form one Holy Scripture, which reveals the Person of Jesus Christ and his mighty works. As Saint Augustine says, “The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.”
The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twentyseven books of the New Testament together form the whole of Holy Scripture.
Holy Scripture is “God’s Word written” (Articles of Religion, 20), given by the Holy Spirit through prophets and apostles as the revelation of God and his acts in human history, and is therefore the Church’s final authority in all matters of faith and practice.
22: Why do you receive and believe these creeds? 23: Why should you know these creeds? 24 What is the Apostles’ Creed?
This church believes the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
A creed is a statement of faith. The word “creed” comes from the Latin credo, which means “I believe.” The purpose of the creeds is to declare and safeguard for all generations essential truths about God, the Church, and the world, as revealed in Holy Scripture. Belief in the creeds signifies acceptance of God’s revealed truth and the intention to live by it. To reject any element of the creeds signifies a departure from the Christian faith.
The first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Following this pattern, I will be transformed within the life of the Church through reading Scripture and receiving the sacraments; worship and prayer; fellowship with God’s people and loving witness to the world.
God desires to free me from captivity to sin and transform me into the image of Jesus Christ, by the power of his Holy Spirit.
God grants me reconciliation with him, forgiveness of my sins, union with him in Christ, adoption into his family, citizenship in his Kingdom, new life in the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal life.
After receiving instruction in the faith, I should be baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, thus joining his Body, the Church. If I have already been baptized, I should confess my sins, seek the guidance of a minister, affirm the promises made at my baptism, and take my place as a member of the Church.
With God’s help, I can acknowledge and turn from my sins, receive the gift of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, and embrace the new life he freely gives me.
To have faith means that I believe the Gospel is the truth: that Jesus died for my sins, rose from the dead, and rules over my life. Therefore, I entrust myself to him as my Savior, and I obey him as my Lord.
To repent means that I have a change of heart, turning from sinfully serving myself to serving God as I follow Jesus Christ. I need God’s help to make this change.
Question 10: How should you respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? As soon as I receive and believe the Gospel, I should repent of my sins, put faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, and prepare to be baptized. “Now is the day of salvation.” (Psalm 32; Isaiah 55:6-7; Acts 2:37-39; 2 […]
No. The Apostle Peter said of Jesus, “There is salvation in no one else.” (Acts 4:12) Jesus is the only one who can save me and reconcile me to God.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the Savior of the world. Fully divine, he took on our human nature, died on the cross for our sins, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now rules as Lord and king over all creation.
Because he loves me, God saves me from sin and judgment, so that I may love and serve him for his glory.
God forgives my sins and reconciles me to himself through his Son Jesus Christ, whom he has given to the world as an undeserved gift of love. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
No. I have no power to save myself, for sin has corrupted my conscience, confused my mind, and captured my will. Only God can save me.
The way of death is a life without God’s love and Holy Spirit, a life controlled by things that cannot bring me eternal joy, leading only to darkness, misery and eternal condemnation.
The Catechism Question with full Scriptural references pasted in
Question 2: What is the Gospel?
The Catechism of the Anglican Church in North America
