June 2nd, 2024
We confess in the Nicene Creed that the Church is apostolic. The first generation of believers who received the Word of God from the apostles on the day of Pentecost devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. The Apostle Paul testifies, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). The church is apostolic because it is devoted to the apostles’ teaching, that is, the whole counsel of God, preserved in the Bible.
Devotion to the apostles’ teaching requires faithfully receiving, guarding, and passing on God’s Word. This process of receiving, guarding, and passing on was initiated and mandated by the apostles themselves. The Apostle Paul charged Timothy, “by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, guard the good deposit entrusted to you” (2 Tim 1:14) and “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2).
The good deposit passes through four generations in these verses, from Paul to Timothy to faithful men to those instructed by faithful men, and it continued to be passed on until now. When we confess the Church is apostolic, we are saying that the church receives, guards, and passes on the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).
The process of receiving, guarding, and passing on the faith is not haphazard, but institutional. In every church, the apostles appointed elders (Acts 14:23) who bear the responsibility of “entrusting faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2).
We live in an age when it’s all too easy to accumulate online teachers to suit our own passions and soothe our itching ears. We do not belong to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church by subscribing to a YouTube channel or podcast. We belong to the apostolic church by committing to a local church and submitting to elders who faithfully minister God’s Word.
Finally, let’s remember that when we confess the Church is apostolic, we are saying something about the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit-filled community of believers that devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching in Acts 2. It is “by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you” that Timothy received and guarded and passed on the good deposit entrusted to him. Our identity as the apostolic Church is a sign of the Spirit’s empowering presence.