What Do Christians Believe?નમૂનો

And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

“Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

There is only one God. There is also one community of people who worship Him: the worldwide church. Everyone who believes in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ belongs to that church. The flip side of that is, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ “does not belong to us” (see 1 John 2:19).

The church is holy, as we just read. This is because the Holy Spirit dwells in her — not because believers are so blameless by themselves. “Holy” means that the church is different from the rest; it belongs to God's reality.

Moreover, the church is “catholic,” which means “all-encompassing.” This is true in the geographical and social sense. Every Christian belongs to this one church. “Catholic” also means that the church accepts all aspects of the faith, the full truth taught in the Bible. Vincent of Lerins, a church father from the 5th century, summed it up this way, “Catholic is what all men have at all times and everywhere believed.”

Finally, the church is apostolic. It is connected to, and based on, the teaching of the apostles, the eyewitnesses of Jesus' words and deeds. That foundation has remained the same throughout the centuries.

Do you feel at home in the church? What role does the church play in your life?