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“concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” -Romans 1:3–4
It is well argued and probably accurate that Paul is using an early church creed here to provide his explanation of the gospel to the church at Rome. Doing so not only lends him credibility with the Roman church that doesn’t yet know him, personally, but it also accurately articulates orthodox Christian belief held by the apostles that had been with Jesus in his earthly ministry.
In the first place, the creed contrasts and connects the two natures of Jesus (hypostatic union): his human nature as part of the lineage of David and his divine nature (declared to be the Son of God) according to the spirit of holiness (not to be confused with the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost who is the third person of the Godhead), the proof of which was demonstrated by his resurrection from the dead.
This Son of God is, in fact, Jesus, the Christ (Messiah), our Lord (Kyrios). It is by him all things were created and through him that all things consist (Colossians 1:16, 20)—including Paul’s own ministry.
In addition to learning from his theology, one important takeaway from Paul’s example is his use of creeds. We would be helped to know that less than 30 years after the resurrection of Christ, there were already creeds in circulation amongst Christians summarizing orthodox faith. While Scripture is premiere, we would be wise not to dismiss—as some modern traditions have unfortunately done—the trustworthy summaries of Christian faith that the church has produced over its long history.
They are as helpful today for the edification of believers as they were in the early church.
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