...IN A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WORLD

This is often called "the good confession" (MAT 16:16), pronounced by the apostle Peter as the definitive answer to Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter would later expand on this statement in the first full Gospel message preached in Jerusalem (ACT 2:22-41).

This gospel creed seems overly broad, but was sufficient for the church of the first century. All subsequent creeds were men attempting to 'improve' on this basic creed, which, over time, served as borders for the particular types of 'Christianity' the subsequent creed-writers sought to promote, thus solidifying the divisions (denominations) so prevalant today.

When a person desires to accept both Jesus' offer of salvation and insistance on Lordship over his/her life, this creed is all he/she needs to accept. To ask one to initially agree to these latter, elongated creeds with their many delineated doctrines is both unnecessary and unfair. It is akin to expecting an infant to agree to all that his/her culture may practice and expect before being accepted into that culture. They may understand only the very basics of some doctrines on their profession of faith, but they've accepted the basic doctrines of (1) God's purpose for creation (to have a people for Himself), (2) mankind's willful disobedience to God's authority, (3) the results of such disobedience (death), and (4) God's desire and plan to redeem mankind from that consequence.

All subsequent doctrines taught will be by the authority of Jesus and His apostles. No other post-apostolic authority will be recognized.