As a new member here I´m now gonna tell you, friends, how I believe...
I belong to Lutherian church, I agree the same concepts of Christianity like Luther did, but there are some cultural and time bound issues/aspects in some of Luther´s writings (seperated from the faith itself) which I may disagree with him. To give one example, I think Luther had a very antisemitic point of view, which, I believe however, was directly bound to his time.
God created everything to be good and free of sin. People were, however, unable to avoid sin. Not even the very first people, who had a direct contact to God, couldn´t live without committing a sin. As a consequence of sin came the death and all kind of sufferings over the all creation. In His unexamined wisdom, God, who knows and sees everything, had made already before He created the world, a precious plan to save sinful people, whom He loved. About this "mystery" or rather promise to the first people we can read on the first pages in the Bible. Adam and Eva believed this promise as it was the only meaningful reason for the life. They didn´t live in the paradise any more, but they had a task from God to tell this promise to their offspring and to pray that generations after generations would continue believing in this promise as long as it would take to be fullfilled.
Time passed, human race spread everywhere, the promise was forgotten by many, but there was always few people who stayed obedient to the word and promise of God. Later God chose Abraham and made an union with him. And still later on God got Moses to understand, that He wanted His promise to be preserved among israeli people. That was why the israeli people needed to stay holy and live according to the God´s will. Of course not all israeli people were true believers. Like today, nothing was perfect even in past days! God´s prophets, who announced the word and promise of God, were killed easily. Prophets´ warnings about people´s sinful and godless life and exhortations to regret their sins and turn back to God´s mercy, caused mostly offence among people. Only few believed in prophets message of becoming king and salvator of all created people. This message became all the time more obvious (as you can read in the Old Testament).
When it was God´s time He fullfilled His promise of the salvation, as God never quits His promises! The old prophecies about the salvator came true in the life of God´s amazing present to all human beings; in the life, in the sufferings and death (for OUR sins) and in the resurrection of Jesus. The fullfillment of God´s promise guaranteed the eternal life for all who believe in God. We people are unable to do anything to God, but humbling in front of God´s face and consenting to His pure love and mercy we can get the total forgiveness of our sins and to get the hope of the eternal life (which gives the meaning for the whole life). What does the Bible then teach about how to find this peace and salvation of the immortal soul? Like all prophets before Jesus and Jesus himself said: Look first after God´s kingdom (~any believer) and you will get the all rest, as well.
To belong to any church without the personal faith in your heart, it doesnt help you at all. But as a believer you can, however, belong to some church ( like believers did also during the old union when believers belonged to Jewish society) and stay as light for all those other church members, who doesn´t have the true faith in their heart...
I belong to Lutherian church, I agree the same concepts of Christianity like Luther did, but there are some cultural and time bound issues/aspects in some of Luther´s writings (seperated from the faith itself) which I may disagree with him. To give one example, I think Luther had a very antisemitic point of view, which, I believe however, was directly bound to his time.
God created everything to be good and free of sin. People were, however, unable to avoid sin. Not even the very first people, who had a direct contact to God, couldn´t live without committing a sin. As a consequence of sin came the death and all kind of sufferings over the all creation. In His unexamined wisdom, God, who knows and sees everything, had made already before He created the world, a precious plan to save sinful people, whom He loved. About this "mystery" or rather promise to the first people we can read on the first pages in the Bible. Adam and Eva believed this promise as it was the only meaningful reason for the life. They didn´t live in the paradise any more, but they had a task from God to tell this promise to their offspring and to pray that generations after generations would continue believing in this promise as long as it would take to be fullfilled.
Time passed, human race spread everywhere, the promise was forgotten by many, but there was always few people who stayed obedient to the word and promise of God. Later God chose Abraham and made an union with him. And still later on God got Moses to understand, that He wanted His promise to be preserved among israeli people. That was why the israeli people needed to stay holy and live according to the God´s will. Of course not all israeli people were true believers. Like today, nothing was perfect even in past days! God´s prophets, who announced the word and promise of God, were killed easily. Prophets´ warnings about people´s sinful and godless life and exhortations to regret their sins and turn back to God´s mercy, caused mostly offence among people. Only few believed in prophets message of becoming king and salvator of all created people. This message became all the time more obvious (as you can read in the Old Testament).
When it was God´s time He fullfilled His promise of the salvation, as God never quits His promises! The old prophecies about the salvator came true in the life of God´s amazing present to all human beings; in the life, in the sufferings and death (for OUR sins) and in the resurrection of Jesus. The fullfillment of God´s promise guaranteed the eternal life for all who believe in God. We people are unable to do anything to God, but humbling in front of God´s face and consenting to His pure love and mercy we can get the total forgiveness of our sins and to get the hope of the eternal life (which gives the meaning for the whole life). What does the Bible then teach about how to find this peace and salvation of the immortal soul? Like all prophets before Jesus and Jesus himself said: Look first after God´s kingdom (~any believer) and you will get the all rest, as well.
To belong to any church without the personal faith in your heart, it doesnt help you at all. But as a believer you can, however, belong to some church ( like believers did also during the old union when believers belonged to Jewish society) and stay as light for all those other church members, who doesn´t have the true faith in their heart...