What Christians Believe
The Articles of Faith

Foundational

Most people are familiar with the idea that large buildings need solid foundations. The foundation is the base on which the rest of the building is created. It is the anchor that holds the building firmly in place, and that provides strength and stability for the entire structure. In Ephesians 2:19-21, Paul spoke of the church as a building founded on the apostles and prophets. Listen to his words there:

You are … members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord (Ephesians 2:19-21).

Without a solid, true foundation, the church could not be built in a way that honored God.

And in a similar way, Christian theology must be founded on true doctrines and principles if it is to honor God and be useful to his people. Just as Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, his teachings are the cornerstone of theology. And just as the apostles and prophets became the church's foundation by introducing Christ to the world, the Apostles' Creed is foundational to theology because it introduces us to the teachings of the apostles recorded in Scripture.

The beautiful thing about the Apostles Creed is that it summarizes so well basic essential Christian doctrines that every Christian, in all of the diverse denominations that we have today, must affirm. Who God is, who the Lord Jesus Christ is, the work of the Spirit and how that works itself out in the doctrine of salvation, the church, all the way to final judgment and then the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot really have the Christian faith without these key, essential Christian doctrines. [Dr. Stephen Wellum]

We will consider the foundational nature of the Apostles' Creed in two parts. First, we will look at how it provides a standard against which other doctrines can be judged. And second, we will speak of the way that it serves as the logical basis on which other true doctrines are built. Let's begin with the Apostles' Creed as a theological standard.