the nicene creed 1.“truly we believe…” faith & hope

The Nicene Creed

1.“Truly we believe…”Faith & Hope

Items of Study

1.What is Faith?2.Faith & Hope3.Characteristics of Faith4.I believe –We believe5.Only One Faith6.Faith and works7.Lack of Faith = doubt

What is Faith?

By Revelation: The Invisible God reveals Himself to man

By Faith, man submits his will and intellect to God.

Faith is the adequate response to God’s revelation.

What is Faith?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.Hebrews 11:1

..faith is the substance of things hoped for..

• We hope to attain what we believe in.-we hope to walk according to the commandments that we believe-in as God’s Laws,.believing in the commandment as God’s laws is the reason of our hope.

-We hopeto reach eternal life through Christ because we believein eternal life in God.believingthat eternal life is in God, is the reason of our hope.

Faith & Hope

• When Gods promise is given to a specific person by name, the only response possible is faith, no place for hope:-Abraham and the promise land.-The thief on the cross and paradise.

• When the promise of God is given to a people. As a group, they can believe in the promise given. As individuals, each one can also hope to attain it:-The Israelites and the promise land (not all of them reached it).-The twelve disciples and the promise of 12 seats (Judas did not reach it)

Faith & Hope

• •To trust the promise is one thing (faith) and to receive the promise (hope) is another thing.

Faith & Hope

• Faith is complete and perfect trust to attain a personal promise, while hope is less than complete trust to attain a general promise.

• The reason for the perfect trust of Faith is God’s perfect faithfulness, the reason of the less than perfect trust of Hope is the human imperfect faithfulness.

Faith & Hope

• Faith is the perfection of Hope.• ”Who (Abraham) against hope, believed in

hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thyseed be.” Romans 4:18

Faith & personal promises• Hebrews 11 examples.

Person Promise TestAbraham in Isaac shall

thy seed be called

offered up Isaac:

Moses Parents

he was a proper child

his parents hid him three months

David To be on the throne of Israel

Facing Goliath

Rahab To be saved Receive the spies and hid them

Faith -Believing

• The articles of our Faith as Christians are the revelation of God Summarized in the Nicene creed:

• We believe in one God..• We believe in one Lord..• We believe in the Holy Spirit..• ..one baptism • One Holy universal apostolic church• Resurrection of the dead• The life of the age to come

Characteristics of Faith

1. Faith is Grace2. Faith is a human act3. Faith and understanding:– faith is certain– faith seeks understanding– faith and science

4. The freedom of faith5. The necessity of faith6. Perseverance in faith7. Faith the beginning of eternal life


1. Faith is Grace:

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven”. Matthew 16:17

There are three levels of believing represented by the three oils used to anoint a person in their initiation into the Christian life : sermon and ghalilawn (before Baptism) and Myeron (after Baptism)


2.Faith is a human Act:It is the cooperation of the human intellect and will with the divine grace.

It is not contrary to human dignity to believe what another person promises (for example, when a man and a woman marry) to share a communion of life with one another.


3.Faith & understanding• We believe because of the authority of God, and not because

the revelation is intelligible in the light of our natural reason.

• God willed that: the submission of our faith should be in accordance with our natural reason. He willed that the internal work of the Holy spirit should be joined with the external proofs of the Miracles of Christ and the Saints, prophesies, the churches growth and holiness.

But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: John 12:37


3. Faith & understandinga- Faith is certain, more certain than all human knowledge because it is found on the word of God who can not lie

b- Faith seeks understanding:“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” Luke 1:34

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened”; Ephesians 1:18

“I believe in order to understand; and I understand, the better I believe”St Augustine


3.Faith & understandingc-Faith & science: Though faith is above reason, there can never be any discrepancy between faith & reason. Truth can never contradict truth. Methodical research in all branches of knowledge , provided it is carried in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith. Both the things of the world and the things of the faith are driven from the same God.


4. The freedom of faith:No body is to be forced to embrace the faith. Christ never forced anyone to himself, but he said:

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32


5.The Necessity of faith:-But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

Believing in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Father who sent Him is necessary for our salvation


6. The perseverance in faith“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.“Matthew 24:13

“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:”1 Timothy 1:19

“faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 5:6


6. The perseverance in faithNow the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? James 2:14 -26

Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; 1 Thessalonians 1:3


6.The perseverance in faithWe Must nourish our faith with the word of God; we must ask the Lord to increase our faith, it must be working through charity abounding in hope and rooted in the faith of the church.

Characteristics of Faith7. Faith-the beginning of eternal life-By faith we have a foretaste of the things to come (to see God face to face as he is). now we see as if in a mirror

-faith is often put to test, as the world we live in seems very far from the one promised us by faith.

-During dark times of injustices, sufferings and temptations we must turn to the cloud of witnesses so we can run the race with perseverance.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”Hebrews 12:1

I believe –We believe

• In the shorter Baptismal creed (after “I accept you O Christ”) The peptized confess “Ibelieve in one God”. –A personal declaration as we enter the Christian initiation mystery individually.

• In the Liturgy we recite the Nicene Creed (truly we believe..)as the Eucharis is the prayer of unity in the body of Christ.

I believe –we believe

• “We” also refer to the fact that faith is handed down.

• “we” receive the faith from others and we hand it down to others

• “we” also refer to the assembly of the bishops in the Nicene council (318 bishops)

• The Church is our mother, teacher of faith.

Only One Faith

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” Ephesians 4:4-5

We believe

• Creed is from Latin credo = (“I believe”)• The Nicene-Constantinople creed is divided

into three parts: 1. The person of God the Father and creation2. The person of God the Son and our salvation3. The person of the Holy Spirit and our

sanctification.

The Creed position in the liturgy

• The church response to the word of God in the Liturgy of the word.

• As an entrance to the liturgy of the faithful.• Is represented by the door in heaven of revelation situated

between the massages to the seven churches and the ascent to heaven.

”After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1

Faith and works

• Is there a conflict between faith and works? • The seeming contradiction between: Romans

3 and James 2

Faith and works• What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?

can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. you believe that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Do you see how faith worked with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James 2:14-26

Faith & works

• “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”. Romans 3:28

• “Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision”. Roman 4:9-10

Faith & works• St. Paul speaks to the Romans regarding a very specific issue:

“the works of the Law” i.e., circumcision & ceremonial laws. “By which a Jew can feel right”

• He is responding to the problem addressed in acts 15 (in the council of Jerusalem) regarding the Jewish Christians who wanted to circumcise the believing gentiles asking them to regard all the ceremonial laws of Moses before they could be Christians. And by no means, St Paul is canceling works of Mercy or the ten Commandments or the Mysteries of the church.

• St Paul was the one apostle to suffer the most persecution from the Jewish Christians who lead that movement. Galatians 2:4

Faith in the Mysteries

• Righteousness gained in Mysteries when we confess with the mouth , believe in the heart in the action of the Mystery:

• The Baptismal creed: and the emersion• The Amen in the Liturgy and the receiving of

the body and the blood• The Act of Confession, and the receiving of

absolution.

Lack of Faith = doubt

• Types of doubt:1. Factual doubt:is identified by questions concerning

one’s grounds for belief whether or not Christianity is based on a solid ground.

2. Emotional doubt:stems from passions and moods. It is intensified by other struggles in one’s life as loss or depression.

3. Volitional doubt:is concerned with the will. It is mainly related to issues like weak faith, forsaking sin, and one’s motivation to follow God “lukewarmness”.

Dealing with doubt1. Factual doubt: the Story of St. Thomas. This type of doubt can be

handled by pointing out the truth. “reach out your finger here…”

2. Volitional doubt: The most dangerous type.persons have very little motivation to seek God, to study the facts or to care about the truth. They need someone who loves them enough to constantly challenge them in terms of their loss of motivation

3. Emotional doubt: is the most common typeTattered feelings and distraught emotions. They judge the facts surrounding their belief based on how they feel about them. a) They need to be presented with the truth constantly. (faith is not based on

feelings but on the truth.)b) Prayer and praise takes care of the emotions freeing the person. Casting all your

care

faith is not based on feelings but on the truth that God revealed to us in His word

the nicene creed 1.“truly we believe…” faith & hope

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