Sunday Hymn: Arise, My Soul, Arise

Arise, my soul, arise;
Shake off thy guil­ty fears;
The bleed­ing sac­ri­fice
In my be­half ap­pears:
Before the throne my sure­ty stands,
Before the throne my sure­ty stands,
My name is writ­ten on His hands.

He ev­er lives above,
For me to in­ter­cede;
His all re­deem­ing love,
His pre­cious blood, to plead:
His blood atoned for all our race,
His blood atoned for all our race,
And sprin­kles now the throne of grace.

Five bleed­ing wounds He bears;
Received on Cal­va­ry;
They pour ef­fect­ual pray­ers;
They strong­ly plead for me:
Forgive him, O for­give, they cry,
Forgive him, O for­give, they cry,
Nor let that ran­somed sin­ner die!

The Fa­ther hears Him pray,
His dear an­oint­ed One;
He can­not turn away,
The pre­sence of His Son;
His Spir­it ans­wers to the blood,
His Spir­it an­swers to the blood,
And tells me I am born of God.

My God is re­con­ciled;
His par­don­ing voice I hear;
He owns me for His child;
I can no long­er fear:
With con­fi­dence I now draw nigh,
With con­fi­dence I now draw nigh,
And Fa­ther, Ab­ba, Fa­ther, cry.

—Charles Wesley

Theological Term of the Week: Apostles' Creed

Apostles’ Creed
An early creed of the Christian church that serves as a summary of apostolic teaching and emphasizes the true humanity of Christ.       

• The text of the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He arose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

• From Systematic Theology by Robert Letham:

An early Latin baptismal creed, the Apostles’ Creed probably originated in the second century in the church of Rome. It has gained universal approval in the Western church but is not in use in the East.

Learn more:

1. Stephen Nichols: The Apostles’ Creed
2. Joe Carter: 9 Things You Should Know About the Apostles’ Creed
3. Kim Riddlebarger: Why Do We Recite the Apostles’ Creed?
4. Gavin Ortlund:The Apostles’ Creed: Every Word Explained
5. R.C. Sproul: The Apostles’ Creed (series of expository messages)
6. Ligon Duncan: Apostles’ Creed (sermon series)
7. James E. Kiefer: The Apostles’ Creed Versus Gnosticism

Related terms:

• Athanasian Creed
• Chalcedon Definition
• Nicene Creed

Filed under Creeds and Confessions

---

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.

Sunday Hymn: And Can It Be

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Sav­ior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pur­sued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mys­te­ry all: th’Im­mor­tal dies:
Who can ex­plore His strange de­sign?
In vain the first­born ser­aph tries
To sound the depths of love di­vine.
’Tis mer­cy all! Let earth ad­ore,
Let an­gel minds in­quire no more.
’Tis mer­cy all! Let earth ad­ore;
Let ang­el minds in­quire no more.

He left His Fa­ther’s throne ab­ove
So free, so in­fi­nite His grace—
Emptied Him­self of all but love,
And bled for Ad­am’s help­less race:
’Tis mer­cy all, im­mense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mer­cy all, im­mense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my im­pris­oned spir­it lay,
Fast bound in sin and na­ture’s night;
Thine eye diff­used a quick­en­ing ray—
I woke, the dun­geon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and fol­lowed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and fol­lowed Thee.

Still the small in­ward voice I hear,
That whis­pers all my sins for­giv­en;
Still the aton­ing blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hos­tile Heav­en.
I feel the life His wounds im­part;
I feel the Sav­ior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds im­part;
I feel the Sav­ior in my heart.

No con­dem­na­tion now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my liv­ing head,
And clothed in right­eous­ness di­vine,
Bold I ap­proach th’eter­nal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I ap­proach th’eter­nal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

—Charles Wesley