Full Transcript for The Apostles' Creed

like a lifeline from a game show. Well, is this a God that we serve? What I think is most important about the Apostle's Creed is that it reminds us that in Christianity, we are declaring more than just moral truisms, but we are declaring something bolder than that. We are declaring that it that our faith is true, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. But can we defend that? And do we understand the doctrine again that undergirds that statement? Doctor Al Mohler joins me now. Many have called Doctor Mohler one of the most influential evangelicals of our time. His intellectual prowess and his influence and impact on Christianity, uh, is, uh, goes without having to remark on. He's the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He blogs regularly at Albert mohler.com. He also is the host of the briefing. I pray that you have already become a subscriber to that. That is such an important way to start your day. The author of many books, and he's my guest today to talk about his latest, The Apostle's Creed. Doctor Mohler, how are you today? 00:04:30 S2: Chris, I'm doing great. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to to talk with you. 00:04:34 S1: It's good to be with you. I want to start on a kind of a personal note. When I'm looking at a book, there's a lot of pages that really are important to me. One of which is the dedication page. So who is Mr. Henry Albert Barnes, and why did you dedicate the book to him? 00:04:51 S2: Well, there is no better question. I'd like to be asked. Chris Henry Albert Barnes is our second grandson, following Benjamin Miller Barnes and our daughter Katie and her husband Riley now have two little boys, and Henry was born, uh, just about the time that I was, uh, I was pulling the final arrangements for this book together, and I was able to dedicate it to him. I dedicated my previous book to his big brother, Benjamin, now three. And, uh, those two little boys to Mary and to me are just the most wonderful gifts. And, and, you know, nothing seemed more appropriate when thinking about passing down the faith. Yes, uh, to generations to come than dedicating this book, uh, to, uh, to this newborn baby boy. 00:05:37 S1: We do have that responsibility. And that really was the impetus for my question. We have this responsibility to pass our faith down from one generation to the next. And one of the ways that this has been done has been through the, the writing of, of, and reciting and memorizing of creeds. What are creeds and what are their historic importance? 00:05:59 S2: Well, you know, the word creed just comes from the Latin phrase credo. I believe it's just a statement of belief. But you can't just say just a statement of belief. We require statements of belief where you find true Christianity, you find Christianity taught, you find certain essential doctrines believed and cherished and defended. And and so a creed is just a written statement. And it usually means a common creed. So it's, it's held by, by a church. It's held by a denomination. The Apostle's Creed, the oldest of the Christian creeds, uh, comes down to being, uh, held by Christians throughout the centuries, the most venerable of all creeds. It's very short, it's narrative, and it includes the most essential doctrines to the Christian faith. Right, in just a few words is how you can detect real Christianity from the imposters. 00:06:55 S1: I love that in your book you write this all Christians believe more than is contained in the Apostles Creed, but none can believe less. What do you mean by that? 00:07:05 S2: Well, every Christian church believes more than is in the Apostles Creed. Um, so for instance, uh, our beliefs about baptism, our beliefs about church government, uh, and, uh, even beliefs about how to articulate, uh, the inspiration and authority of Scripture. There are the offices in the church. All of these are differently defined. And, uh, and as a Baptist, I'm ready to get into a good argument about any of them. But, uh, even as all Christians believe more than the Apostles Creed, no real Christian church believes only what's in the Apostles Creed. The point is that all true Christian churches believe everything that's in the Apostles Creed, and it's impossible, biblically defined. To be a Christian and to believe less than that. 00:07:53 S1: In a moment I'm going to have you recite it, but I want you to go back to your college days. You say this all started for you as a as a homework assignment. This this challenge by a professor to memorize the creed. But you later on in your book, say that it became arguably the most important class you ever took. Why is that? 00:08:13 S2: Well, I guess I sometimes would say that about different classes. You know, you probably are the same way, Chris. But when I think about that class, it was this great learning process for me of what it meant to be a Christian, following a long line of Christians going all the way back to Christ and the apostles and the Apostles Creed was a part of that. It was actually the first assignment in the class. And it, it really helped me to realize it gave me hope. By the way, just thinking I am articulating the Christian faith the way Christians who were led into Coliseums to be martyred. Confessed it the way missionaries took it to the far reaches of the earth. Uh, that's just tremendously powerful. 00:08:59 S1: It is, it is. It is so important that we understand the historic line of faith that we are a part of this, this family of faith, this covenant community that extends back to the days of the death, burial, resurrection. Can you recite the Creed for us? 00:09:17 S2: I certainly will. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended

into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence he shall come to judge the quick 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. 00:09:56 S1: Such short words in number and total number. Such enormous impact. We talked about the fact that this has been a part of Christian life and worship since the fourth century. But what is the modern day importance? Why talk about this? Why write this book in 2019? 00:10:17 S2: Well, you know, there are some really important imperatives, commands in the New Testament that I don't think modern Christians give adequate attention to. You know, for instance, in Jude three, we read that we are to to receive and to defend and to contend for the faith once for all, delivered to the saints. Well, what is that? And then you look at the at the correspondence that Paul wrote to Timothy, inspired by the Holy Spirit. He tells Timothy to retain the pattern of sound words. Well, that's really important. What would that pattern of sound words be? How do you rightly say who Jesus Christ is? How do you recognize when someone is wrongly, uh, describing Jesus as person and his work? How do you know what Christians really do believe? And how do you know what sounds almost like what Christians really believe? That's why this is so important. 00:11:09 S1: You know, I was recently given a book by Peter Greer called Mission Drift. I don't know if you've read it or you're familiar with it. Uh, but but this whole thought of how susceptible we are, either in organizations or in the church itself to drift is a lot of your motivation in writing this, this concern about mission drift? 00:11:32 S2: Yes. And as I think you would agree, mission drift has to be accompanied by truth, drift, theology, drift, doctrine, drift, and yes, I mean, if you look at the average, uh, American. And if you ask them, what do you think Christians believe? Uh, I don't think we have a very high probability that we're going to get anything recognizable to biblical Christianity. Certainly not anything adequate, uh, to, to describe what Christians believe, what, what Christ taught the disciples and the disciples taught the church what's in Scripture. 00:12:08 S1: It's easy to recite. It's, it's, it's more important for us to understand the meaning behind what we recite. And so we're going to take a short break. But when we come back with Doctor Mueller, we're going to get in depth into an exposition if you will, of the Apostle's Creed. We also want to take your calls as well. Maybe you have questions about it. Uh maybe you have engaged with the book already and you have comments for for Doctor Mueller. More importantly, maybe you have questions about what we believe as Christians. We love to interact with you around that, whether you are a follower of Christ or or not yet a follower of Christ. you feel free.

But you can also interact with Doctor Moeller and myself through social media, Facebook at equip radio. That's Equip Radio on Facebook. Submit your questions as we talk about the Apostle's Creed. These things we believe it's important. Conversation. Don't change that doubt. We'll be right back with more of equip right after this. Only about 1 in 10 Americans see evangelicals as hopeful. Doctor Joel Stoll says it's time to change that. In this light of mine, he reminds us that our hope isn't in politics or elections. It's in Christ. And when we let our light shine through simple good works, a watching world just might ask why. Request your copy with the gift of any amount to equip. Call (888) 644-4144 or visit equip.org. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded and we won't be taking your calls. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks having a fascinating conversation with Doctor Albert Mohler concerning his newest book, The Apostle's Creed Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits. We want you to get a copy. You can order it by going to our website, equip radio.org. We have all the links there. Again, equip radio dot ORG. Doctor Mohler, I want to get into the, uh, the the Apostle's Creed line by line as much as we can. But I want to say this, and I would love for you to respond to it. I've long held the conviction that innovation is a very dangerous aspiration for theologians, and that creativity is a dangerous practice for preachers. Why is that so? 00:14:48 S2: Well, it certainly is the urge, isn't it? People say we have to be creative and innovative, but that runs directly into contradiction with what Paul told Timothy, as I mentioned earlier, Chris. You know, we are to retain the pattern of sound words. We are to guard the deposit. That passage I mentioned in Jude verse three. We are to contend for the faith once for all, delivered to the saints. Our goal as preachers, teachers, Christians, theologians should be to be as accurate as possible. Teaching what the Bible reveals. Now, in pedagogy, we can be creative. We have creative means of teaching, but we better not be creative in what we teach. 00:15:26 S1: You talk in your in your book about coming out of seminary and being given, uh, Gordon Kaufmann's book, God the Problem, in which Kaufmann argued that the language we use about God was somehow outdated and obsolete. This is ultimately the slippery slope, right when we start making for the theologian. For the preacher, creativity and innovation are loftiest aim. We ultimately get to the place where the Bible becomes inadequate. 00:15:55 S2: Yeah. You know, Gordon Kaufmann, now dead for for decades, he, uh, he had the audacity to argue that our concepts of God are simply out of date and have to be replaced. Our language for God has to be replaced. Well, if you're going to do that, then at least acknowledge that you are leaving Christianity and creating some kind of new religion. Um, yeah, that that would be, uh, apostasy. That would be heresy, but it would be honesty. Uh, what is more dangerous is, is where you have people who claim to be Christians. They claim that their teaching is Christian, but it does not correspond to Scripture. And that's one of the reasons why the Apostles Creed emerged, so that Christians would be able to hear and say, that's real Christianity. Or listen in here, that's not real Christianity. We need that today as much or more than the early church needed it. 00:16:46 S1: Whether you're calling in from Idaho or Minnesota or Indiana, just stay on the line. We're going to get to your calls in just a moment. You can't, Doctor Mohler, get beyond the first two words of the Apostles Creed without running face to face into controversy, I believe. Why is that controversial in our generation? 00:17:04 S2: Because we have so many people who want to say that belief really isn't necessary. There are people who want to. Well, you hear them talk about the fact I'm spiritual but not religious. And what they often mean is I want a spirituality, but I don't want any any specific beliefs. I don't want to be told anything about a specific God in whom I have to believe, much less that he's revealed himself in Scripture. I don't want all this about the Trinity and the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. I don't want all this about the cross and resurrection. I don't want any definition of any of these things. I just want spirituality. And furthermore, we live in a society where everything seems to be a matter of choice. A consumer society that says we actually deserve whatever we want, customized for exactly how we want it. And, and an awful lot of people who come to church come with that mentality. It's deadly. It runs right into direct confrontation with biblical Christianity. 00:18:02 S1: Yeah. And it connects directly to the affirmation of the Lordship of Christ, later found in, in, in the Creed, the Creed specifically saying, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. A lot of what we hear taught today emphasizes Jesus as Savior, but de emphasizes, Jesus is Lord. His lordship is critical, isn't it? 00:18:31 S2: Well, absolutely. You know every word of this historic creed based upon the Scripture is weighted because there are only a few dozen words in the entire creed. And so what would be the most important truths to confess about Jesus? Well, it mentioned so many that he was conceived by the Holy Ghost. That he was born of the Virgin Mary, that he was crucified, dead, and buried. And it goes on speaking of his of his descent to the dead and his resurrection from the dead. And then it speaks, however, of his title as Lord, as in Philippians chapter two, Paul tells us that based upon Christ's obedience, the completion of his saving work, the father has given him the. The title Lord and. And one day we're told, every knee shall bow, and every tongue

shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And so the. The Christians who confess this creed are saying. The one thing we have to say first about Jesus is that he is the Son of God and our Lord. 00:19:34 S1: Let's go to the phone lines Doctor Mueller. Greg is calling from Minnesota. Greg thank you so much for listening to equip. What's your question for Doctor Mueller. 00:19:44 S3: Well in the Creed it says that you believe in a holy Catholic church. And I understand that that has different meanings. I I used to be in a Catholic church, but I would prefer to say Christian church because I know it's not talking about the Roman church, but but Catholic, Catholic is a Christian. But why not just use the word Christian? 00:20:03 S2: Oh, Greg, that's a good question. And I'm just not going to give up the word Catholic. When I read it aloud, such as just when I did with Chris a moment ago, I want to quickly come back and say, here's what that means, because it sounds to the ear, uh, people are going to hear it as Catholic. And. But the word Catholic is not just a word claimed by the Roman church. I don't want to I don't want to concede that word because it means universal. It means wherever Christians are found. And that's an important affirmation. It would require more words to say it, but I'm just not going to surrender the commonality and the universality of the church, meaning that where you find Christians and Christian churches anywhere, this is what they're going to believe. And so I fully concede the problem to the ear. And, and that's why sometimes, you know, churches will change this to the holy universal church, uh, meaning all true churches holding to the true faith wherever. And by the way, whenever they are found throughout the centuries. Uh, but I, I'll just have to say, as an historical theologian, I feel a danger in changing the language where it's not necessary. And if this put Roman in front of Catholic, I'd have a I'd find it impossible, but it doesn't. But you raise a good question. I knew that was going to be an early call, and I thank you for listening so carefully and for caring about this issue so I could easily say we believe in the Christian church, but the universality of the church has to be in that confession somewhere. 00:21:39 S1: Absolutely. And I think you can anticipate what hot button calls will get next. So we'll we'll try our best to get to as many calls as possible. Thank you, Greg, for calling. Uh, we'll give you, uh, Greg, just as a way of saying thank you, a free copy, a complimentary copy of the Apostle's Creed, this wonderful new work by Doctor Albert Mohler. So stay on the line. Our producer will get your information. I'm thinking of the words in the foreword by, uh, your friend John MacArthur, and he says this. And I think it's an important note that in the 1800s, William Cunningham, one of the founders of the Free Church of Scotland, an author of historical theology, wrote regarding the creeds, if men appeal

to the creed as proof of their orthodoxy, they are, of course, bound to explain its meaning. So this is an example where this rings true, that when we say, uh, that, uh, that, that we, uh, believe in the Holy Spirit and the holy Catholic church, we are bound to explain what we mean by that, Doctor Mueller. 00:22:44 S2: Absolutely. That's why the creed is the starting point. It's not the end. That's why, as I say, all Christians believe more than is in the Apostles Creed. But no Christian can believe less. And so, sure, we're going to go on talking. That's why, by the way, an historic Christian worship. The Creed has never been the, uh, the sermon. The sermon is the sermon, the creed is the affirmation. And a part of, by the way, the reason why so many churches throughout the centuries have incorporated the Apostles Creed, uh, within worship is because no sermon can cover every doctrine that's good. And, and so at that brief moment in the service, every major essential doctrine to the Christian faith is, is affirmed. And then, of course, the church goes on to sing, to preach, to pray. We're going to say a lot more. 00:23:30 S1: Let's let's go to Helen, who's listening in Kokomo, Indiana. Hey, Helen, thank you so much for listening to equip. What's your comment today for Doctor Moller? 00:23:40 S4: Oh you're welcome. You're welcome sirs. I'm so impressed and so overwhelmed. I've never called before. Um, and when you talked about the Creed, it reminded me I, I'm 75. I was 75 last October. I'm here in Kokomo, Indiana. And I remember as a Catholic, I had to learn and memorize that in the Our Father before communion. And my goodness, that was many years ago. I don't even remember how old I was when I had to do that. But after all that, I still know it. I can still recite it. I said it when the gentleman said it, and I, um, became a born again Christian out here in Indiana. January of 2000, the Lord healed me in front of a congregation of rheumatoid arthritis. I was very scorned and very unhappy, and my daughter managed to take me to this church meeting. She said. They were going to pray for me and I was just so angry. Walker and everything. And I walked up, the pastors took me up, I gave my life to Christ. And then they asked that ask him if he would heal me. And right then and there in front of the congregation, I got the light of bolt, the bolt of lightning, the heat that got talking, caressing me. And I just have never been the same. I mean, I feel it, I get and there's nothing in this world that'll ever take that place I need. 00:25:14 S1: Thank you so much. I appreciate you giving us a call. What a what a story of the work of Christ in her life. 75 years young, Doctor Mohler. 00:25:25 S2: Yes. And yet born again. And, uh, what a wonderful testimony to the necessity of being born again. And I appreciate so much Helen's call and her enthusiasm, and remembering that she learned the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles Creed as a child. The three we'll talk

about the three basic, uh, instructional building blocks of the Christian church over time. And the Apostle's Creed is one of them. 00:25:51 S1: We'll be right back with more of equipped right after this. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded. While we won't be taking calls, we do want to connect with you on social media. Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. Doctor Albert Mohler is my guest today. You'll know him as the president of the Southern Baptist Seminary. Or maybe for the daily briefing, uh, the podcast that I encourage you to download and subscribe to. But his newest book, The Apostle's Creed. Discovering authentic Christianity in an age of counterfeits is well worth our attention as contemporary Christians. Why don't you go to our website, equip dot ORG that's equipped radio.org and get your hands on a copy today. I would encourage you to do so. So critical, Doctor Mohler, as a president of one of the largest seminaries, really in the entire world, what what advice do you give aspiring and and current pastors about how they can help to lead their congregation to, to a place of biblical Christianity and not only maybe new churches that are being planted, but even those who have a history, how do they remain faithfully biblical? 00:27:16 S2: Well, that is the key question, isn't it? And I think the answer from the apostle Paul, and indeed from Christ right down through the ages, is the. Is the preaching of the Word of God. I don't think anything can ever replace the expository preaching of the Word of God, opening the Word of God, reading a text and explaining it. And that does take time. So it takes time. It takes years of biblical preaching for the Word of God to begin to show real, visible growth in Christians over generations. I'm not saying it takes a long time for it to show visible signs and results, but. But if you're looking for the transmission of the faith over time, you've got to watch over time. And the expository preaching of the Word of God, you know, verse by verse and book by book, as I think by far the most faithful means. I think it's also important, though, Chris, that pastors with, with some regularity preach on the great doctrines of the Christian faith, uh, in such a way that Christians are just reminded Regrounded reaffirmed, uh, in those doctrines because given the fast pace of our society and all of its confusions, I think that clarity is is as necessary now as ever in the history of the church. 00:28:28 S1: Let's go to the phone lines. If we could. Doctor Mohler, Esther is listening in Chicago. Esther, thank you so much for calling. What's your question for Doctor Mohler? 00:28:37 S5: Yeah. Thank you so much for taking my call. So it's almost embarrassing to say, but I've been a Christian for a long time. And this is maybe only the second time in the past week that I've heard about the, um, oh my gosh, I forgot the Apostle's Creed. 00:28:53 S1: Apostle's Creed. 00:28:54 S5:

There you go. The Apostle's Creed. So this is the second time that I've even heard about it in the past two weeks. But I've been, like I said, I've been a born again Christian almost my whole life, so I guess I, I grew up in a very cultural church, so maybe that's why I never heard of it. But my question is, is this, um, something that's particular to like American Christianity? Western Christianity? Is it a certain branch of Christianity? I just I'm like almost dumbfounded that I've never come across this in my entire walk with Christ. 00:29:22 S1: Esther, do not be embarrassed. I'm grateful for your call. Such a such a beautiful call. And and really the reason for this program, and I would argue for Doctor Mueller, the reason for this book is for not only those of us who have heard of it, but but sincere believers like you that need to understand it. Doctor Mueller, what's your response to Esther's question? 00:29:45 S2: Oh I sure appreciate it. And I think it's a sign of contemporary evangelicalism in the United States. And she mentioned she she had come from kind of a cultural church. You know, there's a superficiality in so much evangelicalism where there is no continuity with that faith once for all, delivered to the saints. And I love the way she asked the question. It's an incredibly insightful way of asking it. Mhm. Does it represent just some Christians, or does it emerge from a particular branch of Christianity? And the answer is no. It comes so early. I mean, the form we have, the Apostles Creed right now has been consistent at least since, uh, the, the end of the three hundreds, you know, the end of the fourth century. And, uh, and so it precedes any kind of division into different branches of Christianity. And, you know, the most important thing is, is that Christians, even throughout all the centuries, the reformers in the 16th century, the very founders of the Protestant tradition, they continued to affirm the Apostles Creed, as did Puritans and and others right up until the contemporary time. There's also been a, uh, I think of Esther's question. There's also been, uh, I think, a two fold kind of allergy that's developed among some evangelicals. One of them is an allergy to any claim of tradition because they feel that's going to displace scripture. And look, we believe in the the authority of Scripture alone, but, uh, but we are also understanding that that tradition is how we look to see how people have affirmed the authority of Scripture, uh, in, uh, in confessing the Christian faith together. So we're going to judge the creed by the Bible. We're not going to judge the Bible by the creed. But I guarantee you, when you look at the Apostle's Creed, you're going to see every single word of it repeated, uh, and, uh, and affirmed and reasserted all throughout the Bible. This is just minimal essential Christianity. And, uh, the fact that it's so old helps us because it just gives me encouragement. I want to, I want to be sure that I

define biblical Christianity the way the martyrs did. The heroes and heroines of the faith did, the way that the reformers did, the way that the Puritans did. Uh, that's the that's the the line I want to stand in. 00:32:06 S1: Esther, such a great call. We're going to bless you, Esther. You stay on the line. Our producer will get you a copy of Doctor Mueller's book for free. Just to say thank you for calling in today. Such a great question and we appreciate. Hopefully you'll grow and and from it and hopefully you'll pass it along to others. Uh, Doctor Mueller, going back to the Apostle's Creed, we read a portion of it. I want to go a little bit further. I believe in God the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. Why is it so important that we affirm the virgin birth, his suffering, his crucifixion, his death, and his burial? 00:32:54 S2: Well, it's because the Scripture affirms every one of those truths about Christ, and everyone is essential to explaining who he is and what he did, what he accomplished for our salvation. Uh, he was indeed conceived by the Holy Ghost. That, that that is right there in, in the New Testament. Matthew and Luke tell us that almost immediately. And. And born to the Virgin Mary. He was born a real baby. The incarnation was was Christ assuming real human flesh. He was born just as the scriptures had prophesied in Bethlehem of Judea. Uh. And then you continue on down. He suffered under Pontius Pilate. Uh, and we would say for our sins he was crucified, dead, and buried. And of course, the creed continues. Uh, have you noticed, Chris, that it's narrative? It's not just saying we believe in truth, a truth be truth. See? One, two, three. It's narrative. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate. It's telling a story. It is not just asserting truths. 00:33:59 S1: I think this is so essential that we understand in a narrative culture generation that longs for narrative. And I would argue, doc, Doctor Mueller, that the human heart for narrative that is such a critical point that we don't have to depart from that, that that, that we have a story, a narrative that we are telling the world. And in many ways, the Christian worldview is the story of, of, of Scripture and the basis and grounding of our faith, the doctrines that we believe. Now, there is this controversial line. I want you to explain it. He descended into hell. 00:34:37 S2: Yes he did. And there in. We have to be careful because Christians sometimes use a lot of unbiblical imagination here. Uh, the most important issue there is that he genuinely died and he descended to the realm of the dead. That's what the word Hades means in the New Testament. Uh, it does not mean Gehenna. Hell is in the place of everlasting punishment. It means that he

he died and he descended to the realm of the dead. This is the same kind of language that you would find Abraham using Jacob, uh, Joseph using in the Old Testament, uh, to Sheol, the place of the dead. That is exactly where Jesus went for us for three days in the tomb. He was in the realm of the dead, truly dead. But then on the third day, he was raised by the father. 00:35:26 S1: Yes. And this is what the Apostles Creed affirms. The third day he rose again from the dead. Praise God. A short line with such glorious import. 00:35:39 S2: That is the central affirmation of what we call Easter of Resurrection Sunday. It's central to the Christian faith. He is risen. He is risen indeed. If he were still right now in the realm of the dead, we would not be saved. In first Corinthians chapter 15, Paul makes very clear If Christ is not raised from the dead, then our sins are still upon us. And, uh and so, uh, every Lord's day, by the way, the fact that we, uh, worship on the first day of the week, the day of his resurrection, is a testimony every single Lord's Day to the essential truth that Christ was bodily, physically, historically raised from the dead. 00:36:17 S1: It goes on to say, um, not only that he he raised, but the narrative continues. He ascended into heaven and and sits at the right hand of God the Father, whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. Talk about that, Doctor Mohler. 00:36:33 S2: Well, this is also part of our salvation, Chris. You know, some some Christians think that Christ's saving acts for us. Uh, his essential work for us ends with his resurrection and ascension. But but that's not so. We are told that right now he is our great High Priest. That right now he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. And that right now he intercedes for us before the father. We need a priest, not a human priest on earth. We have a great high priest in heaven seated at the right hand of God the Father and the. The old theological word for this is his session. The current session of Christ. And you say, well, that's a strange word. Well, just think of that word intercession. It is Christ who intercedes for us. He represents us and and pleads for us before the father. And this is why John can say that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Because Christ, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, uh, claims his own and his own atoning sacrifice as full payment for our sins. 00:37:42 S1: This is so essential because we live in a generation of pop spirituality, and it's had tremendously harmful effects. And we're going to talk about that on the other side of this break, the harmful effects of of pop spirituality, not only in our moment, but what has been the historical record of that. Uh, Doctor Albert Mohler is my guest. Again, I encourage you, I urge you to get a copy of this book. Uh, J League and Duncan says this. This is profound. Every Christian will profit from this book. I would agree wholeheartedly. I want you to go to our website, equip radio dot ORG. That's equip radio.org. Or as I've shared with you, you can find us at equip radio.org or social media at Equip Radio on Facebook. Also, if you want to support the program, please do so today. Dial the number 8886444144, that's 8886444144. Don't change that down. The best is yet to come. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks. Here at equip, we want to help you to shine the light of Jesus. In a world that often feels dark and divided, every conversation we share is aimed at helping believers live out their faith with courage and compassion And when you become an equipper, your monthly support helps us bring biblical truth and hope to listeners just like you all across the country. Become an Equipper today. Call 8886444144 or visit equip radio.org. When you listen to equip, you know I love to introduce you to some incredible guests and topics, but there's one person that I want you to meet more than anyone else. His name is Jesus and he wants to have a genuine personal relationship with you. He even died on the cross to take the punishment for all of our sins so that we can join his eternal family. If you want to know more, simply call 888. Need him. That's 888 need him. Today's program has been pre-recorded so our phone lines are not open. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks again, you can order a copy of the Apostle's Creed, the book by Al Mueller, subtitled Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits. At our website equip.org. I'm really interested in the subtitle. Doctor Mueller in an Age of counterfeits is how you end it. Um, so much of what we've talked about has been a rebuttal against that. But history is replete with what happens to a people when they embrace an indoctrinated and anti creedal, if you will, Christianity form of Christianity. Talk about pop spirituality. 00:40:43 S2: It is everywhere. I really appreciated you mentioning Christian Smith's category of moralistic therapeutic deism. And in your introduction, Chris, that that is the mainstream American religion. Just a little bit of God, a little bit of moralism, a lot of therapy and, uh, and an effective deism, just a belief in some God who's out there and probably is well-intended, but who knows? And he doesn't intervene and he's never going to judge. That's not the God of the Bible. And and so it's not that we are surrounded by every once in a while, a counterfeit theological claim. We're inundated with them. They're theological confusions, increasingly the norm all over this country. And so it's more important than ever that Christians give attention to being able to recognize authentic Christianity and, and, and recognize thus the counterfeits. 00:41:32 S1: So many have seen and you've affirmed that the Apostles Creed becomes the basis for for unity, the Apostles Creed. Advocates for that type of unity. Talk about how we experience that

in a healthy, biblical way. 00:41:47 S2: Well, you know, we experience it first of all, in the spiritual unity of the church, where in in Christ all true believers are united together. I don't believe in any kind of modern ecumenical movement. They all they all tend to go liberal, trying to have an organizational unity, the church, because then you have to have some kind of theological minimalism. But the thing is, is that when we sing the great hymns of the faith, when we hear the Word of God preached, when we when we yes, uh, you know, confess the, the Apostles Creed together, we're standing with all true Christians throughout space and time. And in Christ we are united. That's an incredible promise. 00:42:24 S1: I want to talk to parents, Doctor Mueller, before we end this program, because at the end of the day, this is where I pray faith is passed down from one generation to the next. Primarily. Thank God for our weekly gatherings together on the Lord's Day. But this is where it has to be lived out most, most vibrantly is in our homes, in our living rooms. So what do you say to moms and dads about the role that the Apostle's Creed can play in the spiritual formation of their children? 00:42:53 S2: You know, the most important thing Christian parents can do is, is lead their children to Christ and, and present Christ to them, have them, uh, sitting in the preaching of God's Word, make that a priority. Uh, but they also teach them catechize them. They may not use that word, but I started to mention earlier that there have been three basic units that Christians throughout time have taught their children, and that's the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles Creed. You know, if your child knows, uh, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles Creed, that child is already, uh, you know, knowledgeable of just an incredible, uh, breadth of the truth of Christianity. You know, you were so kind, Chris, to, to mention my dedication to little Henry Albert Barnes in the beginning. But, you know, the way I ended that dedication was that praying that he would, uh, know even a taste of the joy that he's brought to us and that above all, he may come to know Christ. So that one glorious day he would say in the faith of the apostles and in the communion of Christ saints throughout the ages. I believe my great hope in writing this book on the Apostles Creed was yes, to strengthen the church and its belief in Christ and in the gospel. But my hope beyond that is that someone will read this book and come to know Jesus Christ as Savior. 00:44:10 S1: Let's finish the Apostles Creed this final stanza, if you will. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and, and and the life everlasting. Amen. I want to just mention for just a moment, with about a minute left, the forgiveness of sins because someone is listening to us that needs to understand the forgiveness of sins that is found in Christ alone. 00:44:38 S2: Yes. And I mentioned that that verse from John's epistle earlier. I'll come back to it. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A part of all authentic Christian worship is the confession of sin and the declaration of the forgiveness of sins by the very promise of Christ that that is essential to true Christianity. And Chris, it's essential to me getting through any given day. 00:45:05 S1: Absolutely. And it is the one common denominator. If you're looking for a basis for equality among humanity, start with sin, because this is one area where we are level. We are all in need of a Savior. And salvation is found in Christ, in Christ alone. And praise God, we get a chance to celebrate that, uh, each and every day as followers of Christ in this book, helps to deepen our faith in what we believe. Doctor Mueller, thank you so much for joining me. Can you quickly say a prayer for us as we as you depart? 00:45:36 S2: I certainly will, Chris, thank you so much for this conversation. And Lord, we thank you for the ability to know you, to know you by your Word, to know the faith once for all, delivered to the saints. And we pray that your believers, your church, wherever it is found, will be ever more grounded and made certain in your faith, more bold in its witness, and Christians more confident in their trust in you. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 00:46:02 S1: Today you've put your faith and trust in Christ. We'd love to hear from you. The repentance from sin is such a sweet, sweet moment in the life of any man or woman. Doctor Mueller, thank you so much. The book is called The Apostle's Creed Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits. I encourage you to get your hands on a copy. Maybe it's great for a Sunday school class. Maybe it's something that you can give as a gift to a pastor. But I would say to moms and dads across this listening audience, get your hands on it and pass the faith that is ours to the next generation, the faith that is once and for all been delivered to us. And may our children and our grandchildren also be able to say, I believe. I can't wait till we're together again next time. Until then, remember, equipped with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.