The Fundamentals of the Faith: Why Creeds & Catechisms Still Matter

As I continue in pastoral ministry, the more I realize how important the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith really are, how vital it is for believers to know foundational Biblical truths well for connection to everyday life.

I grew up in the church. In my experience, from the time I was a kid through today, many Christians struggle to connect theology to life because they don’t really understand the fundamental doctrines and how they relate to life. My perception is that many Christians have no organized doctrinal framework. They believe the Bible is God’s Word. That’s right and good. However, they struggle to see how the thousands of pages of Scripture fit together and work for their daily clarity and comfort in life (and death).

It’s like the food pyramid. The food pyramid doesn’t picture every delicious food. It pictures the major food groups that compose a well-balanced diet. Of course, there are many delicious foods to eat that are not pictured. The food pyramid gives the big picture. It helps us visualize the most important categories and their proportions. Yes, we should explore the delights of each category, but we must keep a proper balance. A good doctrinal framework does much the same – it helps us deeply understand and apply the most important points of the Christian faith, well-balanced points that lead us to explore and taste the depths of God’s law and gospel.

Christians struggle with how to think about the fundamentals of the Christian faith, how to organize them in their minds, and how to connect dots. To test my perception, ask yourself this question: “What is the gospel?” Can you quickly explain it with clarity, conciseness, and completeness? Does your answer include the essentials, or are important truths missing? Again, in my experience, when Christians think and talk about the gospel, their minds and mouths often jump to the death of Christ. They say, “Jesus died for my sins, so I’m forgiven,” which is true but incomplete. Christians often forget to mention Christ’s righteous life (law), miraculous resurrection, victorious ascension, and continued intercession. These are common and significant oversights.

Ask the Christians you know to explain the law and the gospel. Ask them to differentiate them. My guess is they will struggle a bit to express the law and the gospel in a clear, succinct, and thorough way and struggle to differentiate them, not necessarily because they don’t know or believe these basic truths, but because they have no unifying framework in their minds. They lack a unifying doctrinal framework to help them understand, articulate, and apply the law and the gospel every day for their increasing comfort and joy in Christ. Thinking in clear Biblical categories is tough for us.

What if more Christians had the Apostles’ Creed memorized? What if the Apostles’ Creed was how people organized the gospel in their minds? Anchoring to historical expressions of the apostolic faith would help many Christians better know and live for Jesus. But see, many Christians have forgotten the ecumenical creeds and confessions of ages past. They’ve exchanged them for pop-psychology seasoned with Jesus. They haven’t used time-tested creeds, confessions, or catechisms in the daily rhythm of their lives, and their lives show it. Many Christians don’t know the Ten Commandments by heart and are not using the Ten to diagnose their sinful condition and struggles, nor to define for them how God wants them to live (first and third use of the law). Many Christians don’t use the Lord’s Prayer as a divinely constructed outline for effective and God-honoring prayer. Jesus taught them how to pray (Matt. 6:9-13), but they are not following his instruction. These are basic truths that many Christians simply don’t know and aren’t using for their benefit every day. I’ve struggled with this throughout my life.

Quite frankly, so many Christians today need a clear and helpful doctrinal framework. Is something happening in the church in the US, particularly in younger people? Are the ancient creeds and Reformed confessions becoming more interesting, more alluring? New is not always better. There is still a demand for old statements of faith. People want time-tested articulations of truth, profound ones. People want solidarity with the Church of ages past and its awe-inspiring piety and practice. People find comfort, security, and belonging in the doctrinal heritage of ages past.  

Small Town Theologian exists in part to help Christians return to the ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions, to know and cherish them. By ecumenical creeds, I mean the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, three creeds the Church has been confessing for over 1500 years. Even more, Small Town Theologian exists to help Christians apply the creeds and Reformed confessions to the daily rhythm of their lives. Much clarity, comfort, and joy are found in the foundational truths of Scripture presented in the creeds and confessions.

I also believe that Reformed theology (or historical Reformed Covenant Theology) most faithfully explains Scripture and presents gospel clarity and comfort. It’s sad that many Christians in the US and beyond have not spent much or any time at all in the Reformed confessions and catechisms, which would bring them so much gospel clarity and comfort. Quite frankly, so many Christians have never heard of the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, Canons of Dort (Three Forms of Unity), and the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms (Westminster Standards). May the Lord be pleased to bring many more people into the light of the Reformed faith for their significant growth in gospel clarity and comfort as faithful Reformed and Presbyterian churches champion historical confessionalism.

Christians often forget the gospel during life’s daily struggles, leaving them feeling disheartened and often spiritually drained. The ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions and catechisms help believers remember the riches of God’s grace by providing profound gospel clarity and comfort, so they live (and die) in the gospel’s assurance. How might a deeper dive into the ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions and catechisms benefit you? Dive, and I think you'll soon find yourself experiencing significant benefits.

Do you often forget the gospel during life’s daily struggles leaving you feeling disheartened? Small Town Theologian provides Reformed content to help you remember the riches of God’s grace, so you live (and die) in the gospel’s comfort. LEARN MORE ABOUT SMALLTOWN THEOLOGIAN AT smalltowntheologian.org.: