 |
| We believe...
...in God.
...in Jesus.
...in
the Holy Spirit.
...in salvation.
...in
the confession of sin.
...in the Bible.
...in
the Lord of the future. |
|
| ...in
God.
When we say the
Apostles' Creed, we join with millions of Christians
through the ages in an understanding of God
as a Trinity—three persons in one: Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. From early in our Judaic
roots we've affirmed that God is one and indivisible,
yet God is revealed in three distinct ways. "God
in three persons, blessed Trinity" is
one way of speaking about theseveral ways we
experience God.
We also try to
find adjectives that describe the divine nature:
God is transcendent (over and beyond all that
is), yet at the same time imminent (present
in everything). God is omnipresent (everywhere
at once), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omniscient
(all-knowing). God is absolute, infinite, righteous,
just, loving, merciful…and more. Because we
cannot speak literally about God, we use metaphors:
God is a Shepherd, a Bridegroom, a Judge. God
is Love or Light or Truth.
What God does
We cannot describe
God with certainty. But we can put into words what
God does and how we experience God's action
in our lives. God works in at least these seven
ways:
- God creates.
In the beginning God created the universe,
and the Creation is ongoing. From the whirling
galaxies, to subatomic particles, to the
unfathomable wonders of our own minds and
bodies—we marvel at God's creative wisdom.
- God sustains.
God continues to be active in creation, holding
all in "the everlasting arms." In
particular, we affirm that God is involved
in our human history—past, present, and future.
- God loves.
God loves all creation. In particular, God
loves humankind, created in the divine image.
This love is like that of a parent. We've
followed Jesus in speaking of God as "our
Father," while at times it seems that
God nurtures us in a motherly way as well.
- God suffers.
Since God is present in creation, God is
hurt when any aspect of creation is hurt.
God especially suffers when people are injured.
In all violence, abuse, injustice, prejudice,
hunger, poverty, or illness, the living God
is suffering in our midst.
- God judges.
All human behavior is measured by God's righteous
standards—not only the behavior itself but
also the motive or the intent. The Lord of
life knows our sin—and judges it.
- God redeems.
Out of infinite love for each of us, God
forgives our own self-destruction and renews
us within. God is reconciling the individuals,
groups, races, and nations that have been
rent apart. God is redeeming all creation.
- God reigns.
God is the Lord of all creation and of all
history. Though it may oftentimes seem that
the "principalities and powers" of
evil have the stronger hand, we affirm God's
present and future reign.
When all is done,
if we have difficulty in imagining who God
is or in relating to God, there's a simple
solution: Remember Jesus—for in the
New Testament picture of Jesus, we see God. |
|
| ...in
Jesus.
In trying
to find words to express their faith
in Jesus, the New Testament writers gave
him various names. Jesus was Master,
Rabbi, Teacher. He was the Way, the Truth,
and the Life. He was the Doorway to the
sheepfold, the Light of the world, the
Prince of Peace, and more. In the church's
long tradition, scores of other names
or titles have been given. Let's look
at five of the most central biblical
names for Jesus:
Son of God
We believe in
Jesus as God's special child. We call this
the Incarnation, meaning that God
was in the world in the actual person of
Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospel writers explain
this in different ways. In Mark, Jesus seems
to be adopted as God's Son at his baptism.
In Matthew and Luke, Jesus is conceived by
the Holy Spirit. In John, Jesus is God's
pre-existing Word who "became flesh
and lived among us" (1:14). However
this mystery occurred, we affirm that God
is wholly present in Jesus Christ.
Son of man
Paradoxically,
we also believe that Jesus was fully human.
One of the church's first heresies claimed
that Jesus only seemed to be human,
that he was really a divine figure in disguise.
But the early church rejected this. It affirmed
that Jesus was a person in every sense that
we are. He was tempted. He grew weary. He
wept. He expressed his anger. In fact, Jesus
is God's picture of what it means to be a
mature human being.
Christ
We say "Jesus
Christ" easily, almost as if "Christ" were
Jesus' surname. Yet this name is another
way of expressing who we believe Jesus to
be. Christ is the Greek translation
of the Hebrew word Messiah, which
means God's Anointed One. For years before
Jesus' time the Jews had been expecting a
new king, a descendant of the revered King
David, who would restore the nation of Israel
to glory. Like kings of old, this one would
be anointed on the head with oil, signifying
God's election; hence, the Chosen One = the
Anointed One = the Messiah = the Christ.
The early Jewish Christians proclaimed that
Jesus was, indeed, this Chosen One. Thus,
in calling him our Christ today, we affirm
that he was and is the fulfillment of the
ancient hope and God's Chosen One to bring
salvation to all peoples, for all time.
Lord
We also proclaim
Jesus as our Lord, the one to whom we give
our devoted allegiance. The word Lord had
a more powerful meaning for people of medieval
times, because they actually lived under
the authority of lords and monarchs. Today
some of us may find it difficult to acknowledge
Jesus as Lord of our lives. We're used to
being independent and self-sufficient. We
have not bowed down to authority. To claim
Jesus as Lord is to freely submit our will
to his, to humbly profess that it is he who
is in charge of this world.
Savior
Perhaps best
of all, we believe in Jesus as Savior, as
the one through whom God has freed us of
our sin and has given us the gift of whole
life, eternal life, and salvation. We speak
of this gift as the atonement, our "at-oneness" or
reconciliation with God. We believe that
in ways we cannot fully explain, God has
done this through the mystery of Jesus' self-giving
sacrifice on the cross and his victory over
sin and death in the Resurrection. |
|
|
| ...in
the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit
is God's present activity in our midst. When
we sense God's leading, God's challenge, or
God's support or comfort, we say that it's
the Holy Spirit at work.
In Hebrew, the
words for Spirit, wind, and breath are
nearly the same. The same is true in Greek.
In trying to describe God's activity among
them, the ancients were saying that it was
like God's breath, like a sacred wind. It could
not be seen or held: "The wind blows where
it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but
you do not know where it comes from or where
it goes" (John 3:8). But the effect of
God's Spirit, like the wind, could be felt
and known. Where do we find the evidence of
the Spirit at work?
In the Bible
The Spirit is mentioned
often throughout the Bible. In Genesis a "wind
from God swept over the face of the waters," as
if taking part in the Creation (1:2). Later in
the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible), we often read
of "the Spirit of the Lord."
In Matthew's account
of Jesus' baptism, Jesus "saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and alighting
on him" (3:16) and he "was led up
by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted" (4:1).
After his Resurrection Christ told his disciples, "You
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you" (Acts 1:8). A few weeks
later, on the Day of Pentecost, this came to
pass: "And suddenly from heaven there
came a sound like the rush of a violent wind....All
of them were filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts
2:2, 4). As the Book of Acts and Paul's letters
attest, from that time on, the early Christians
were vividly aware of God's Spirit leading
the new church.
In guidance, comfort,
and strength
Today we continue
to experience God's breath, God's Spirit. As one
of our creeds puts it, "We believe in the
Holy Spirit, God present with us for guidance,
for comfort, and for strength" (The United
Methodist Hymnal, No. 884). We sense the Spirit
in time alone—perhaps in prayer, in our study of
the Scriptures, in reflection on a difficult decision,
or in the memory of a loved one. The Spirit's touch
is intensely personal.
Perhaps we're even
more aware of the Holy Spirit in the community
of believers—the congregation, the church school
class or fellowship group, the soup kitchen,
the planning committee, the prayer meeting,
the family. Somehow the Spirit speaks through
the thoughtful and loving interaction of God's
people. The Holy Spirit, who brought the church
into being, is still guiding and upholding
it, if we will but listen.
In the gifts we
receive
How does the Holy
Spirit affect our lives? By changing us! By renewing
us and by strengthening us for the work of ministry.
- Fruits: Jesus
said, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew
7:16). What sort of fruit? Paul asserts that "the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians
5:22).
- Gifts: Paul
also writes that the Spirit bestows spiritual
gifts on believers. In 1 Corinthians 12:8-10
he lists nine, which vary from one person
to another: the utterance of wisdom, the
utterance of knowledge, faith, healing, working
of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of
spirits, various kinds of tongues, and the
interpretation of tongues.
These fruits and gifts
are not of our own achievement. They and others
are the outgrowth of the Spirit's work in us, by
grace, through our faith in Jesus the Christ. And
they are not given for personal gain. Through these
fruits and gifts, the Holy Spirit empowers us for
ministry in the world. |
|
| ...in
salvation.
What
does it mean to be saved and to be
assured
of salvation? It's to know that after
feeling lost and alone, we've been found
by God. It's to know that after feeling
worthless, we've been redeemed. It's
to experience a reunion with God, others,
the natural world, and our own best selves.
It's a healing of the alienation—the
estrangement—we've experienced. In salvation
we become whole. Salvation happens to
us both now and for the future. It's "eternal
life," that new quality of life
in unity with God of which the Gospel
of John speak—-a life that begins not
at death, but in the present. But how
does salvation happen?
By grace
through faith
Salvation cannot
be earned. There's no behavior, no matter
how holy or righteous, by which we can achieve
salvation. Rather, it's the gift of a gracious
God.
By grace we
mean God's extraordinary love for us.
In most of life we're accustomed to earning
approval from others. This is true at
school, at work, in society, even at
home—to a degree. We may feel that we
have to act "just so" to be
liked or loved. But God's love, or grace,
is given without any regard for our goodness.
It's unmerited, unconditional, and unending
love.
As we come
to accept this love, to entrust ourselves
to it, and to ground our lives in it,
we discover the wholeness that God has
promised. This trust, as we've seen,
is called faith. God takes the
initiative in grace; but only as we respond
through faith is the change wrought in
us.
This is the
great theme of the Protestant Reformers,
as well as John Wesley and the Methodists
who followed: We're saved by grace alone
through faith alone. We're made whole
and reconciled by the love of God as
we receive it and trust in it.
Conversion
This process
of salvation involves a change in us that
we call conversion. Conversion is
a turning around, leaving one orientation
for another. It may be sudden and dramatic,
or gradual and cumulative. But in any case
it's a new beginning. Following Jesus' words
to Nicodemus, "You must be born anew" (John
3:7 RSV), we speak of this conversion as
rebirth, new life in Christ, or regeneration.
Following
Paul and Luther, John Wesley called this
process justification. Justification
is what happens when Christians abandon
all those vain attempts to justify themselves
before God, to be seen as "just" in
God's eyes through religious and moral
practices. It's a time when God's "justifying
grace" is experienced and accepted,
a time of pardon and forgiveness, of
new peace and joy and love. Indeed, we're
justified by God's grace through faith.
Justification
is also a time of repentance—turning
away from behaviors rooted in sin and
toward actions that express God's love.
In this conversion we can expect to receive
assurance of our present salvation through
the Holy Spirit "bearing witness
with our spirit that we are children
of God" (Romans 8:16).
Growing
in grace
Conversion
is but the beginning of the new life of wholeness.
Through what Wesley called God's "sanctifying
grace," we can continue to grow. In
fact, Wesley affirmed, we're to press on,
with God's help, in the path of sanctification,
the gift of Christian perfection. The goal
of the sanctified life is to be perfected
in love, to experience the pure love of God
and others, a holiness of heart and life,
a total death to sin. We're not there yet;
but by God's grace, as we United Methodists
say, "we're going on to perfection!" |
|
|
| ...in
the confession of sin.
Genesis
1:27 asserts that we've been made in
the image of the Creator. Like God we
have the capacity to love and care, to
communicate, and to create. Like God
we're free, and we're responsible. We've
been made, says Psalm 8, "a little
lower than God" and crowned "with
glory and honor." We believe that
the entire created order has been designed
for the well-being of all its creatures
and as a place where all people can dwell
in covenant with God.
But we do
not live as God intends. Again and again
we break the covenant relationship between
God and us. We turn our backs on God
and on God's expectations for us. We
deny our birthright, the life of wholeness
and holiness for which we were created.
We call this alienation from God, sin.
A distinction
should be made between sin and sins.
We use the word sins to denote
transgressions or immoral acts. We speak
of "sins of omission and commission." These
are real enough and serious, but they're
not the essential issue.
The issue
is sin in the singular. Sin is
our alienation from God, our willful
act of turning from God as the center
of life and making our own selves and
our own wills the center. From this fundamental
sin our various sins spring. Sin is estrangement
of at least four kinds:
Separation
from God
Sin is breaking
the covenant, separating ourselves from the
One who is our origin and destiny. It's trying
to go it alone, to be out of touch with the
God who is the center of life. Based on the
story in Genesis 3, the church has described
this break in dramatic terms: the Fall.
Separation
from other people
In our sin we
distance ourselves from others. We put ourselves
at the center of many relationships, exploiting
others for our own advantage. Instead of
loving people and using things, we love things
and use people. When confronted with human
need, we may respond with token acts of kindness
or with lip service or perhaps not at all.
Toward some people and some groups, we're
totally indifferent or actively hostile.
Sin is a denial of our common humanity and
our common destiny on this one small planet.
Separation
from the created order
In our sin we
separate ourselves from the natural environment.
Greedily we turn upon it, consuming it, destroying
it, befouling it. As natural resources dwindle,
as possibilities increase for long-term damage
to the atmosphere and seas, we pause to wonder.
But our chief concern is for our own survival,
not for the beauty and unity of all God's
creation.
Separation
from ourselves
We
turn even from our own center, from the goodness,
happiness,
and holiness that is our divinely created
potential. Sometimes it seems that there
are two wills warring within us. As Paul
put it, "I do not understand my own
actions. For I do not do what I want, but
I do the very thing I hate" (Romans
7:15).
Paul
continues: "Wretched
man that I am! Who will rescue me from
this body of death?" (Romans 7:24).
Like Paul, we discover that we are powerless
to extricate ourselves from sin. Though
we work ever so earnestly at various
means of saving ourselves—being good,
going to church, reading the Bible—these
in themselves cannot save us. Sin is
not a problem to be solved. It's our
radical estrangement from God, a separation
that only God can heal by a radical act
of love. We yearn for this reunion, this
reconciliation, this redemption, this
salvation. |
|
|
| ...in
the Bible
We say that
the Bible is vital to our faith and life,
but what exactly is the Bible? Here are
four ways to view it:
A library
The Bible is
a collection of sixty-six books, thirty-nine
in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) and
twenty-seven in the New Testament. These
books were written over a one-thousand-year
period in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic
(the language Jesus spoke), and Greek.
The books
are of different lengths and different
literary styles. In the Hebrew Bible
we find legends, histories, liturgies
for community worship, songs, proverbs,
sermons, even a poetic drama (Job). In
the New Testament are Gospels, a history,
many letters, and an apocalypse (Revelation).
Yet through it all the Bible is the story
of the one God, who stands in a covenant
relationship with the people of God.
Sacred Scripture
In early times
and over many generations, the sixty-six
books were thoughtfully used by faithful
people. In the process their merits were
weighed, and the community of believers finally
gave them special authority. Tested by faith,
proven by experience, these books have become
sacred; they've become our rule for faith
and practice.
In Israel
the Book of Deuteronomy was adopted as
the Word of God about 621 B.C. The Torah,
or Law (the first five books of the Hebrew
Bible), assumed authority around 400
B.C.; the Prophets about 200 B.C.; and
the Writings about 100 B.C. After a struggle
the Christians determined that the Hebrew
Bible was Scripture for them as well.
The New Testament as we know it was formed
and adopted by church councils between
A.D. 200 and A.D. 400.
God's Word
We say that
God speaks to us through the Bible, that
it's God's Word. This authority derives from
three sources:
- We hold
that the writers of the Bible were
inspired, that they were filled with
God's Spirit as they wrote the truth
to the best of their knowledge.
- We hold
that God was at work in the process
of canonization, during which only
the most faithful and useful books
were adopted as Scripture.
- We hold
that the Holy Spirit works today in
our thoughtful study of the Scriptures,
especially as we study them together,
seeking to relate the old words to
life's present realities.
The Bible's
authority is, therefore, nothing magical.
For example, we do not open the text at random
to discover God's will. The authority of
Scripture derives from the movement of God's
Spirit in times past and in our reading of
it today.
A guide
to faith and life
We United Methodists
put the Bible to work. In congregational
worship we read from the Bible. Through preaching,
we interpret its message for our lives. It
forms the background of most of our hymns
and liturgy. It's the foundation of our church
school curriculum. Many of us use it in our
individual devotional lives, praying through
its implications day by day. However, we
admit that there's still vast "biblical
illiteracy" in our denomination. We
need to help one another open the Bible and
use it.
Perhaps the
Bible is best put to use when we seriously
answer these four questions about a given
text: (1) What did this passage mean
to its original hearers? (2) What part
does it play in the Bible's total witness?
(3) What does God seem to be saying to
my life, my community, my world, through
this passage? and (4) What changes should
I consider making as a result of my study? |
|
|
| ...in
the Lord of the future.
Christian
faith is, in part, a matter of hoping.
We believe in and trust the Lord of the
future, and we lean into the future that
God has promised. God goes before us,
beckoning us into the new world that
is already being created, calling us
to join in the challenging work of fashioning
it.
However,
when we're confronted with personal disasters
or with the daily horror stories of society's
ills, we may falter. Hope may seem to
be unrealistic, naive optimism.
Yet
our hope is not in trends. Our hope
is in the
Lord of all creation and all history—a
God who is still in charge and is actively
at work transforming the world. How do
we know this?
The coming shalom
The
Bible is a book of God's promises. It may
seem to
be about the past, but its outlook is toward
the future. From promises in the Book of
Genesis to Abraham and Sarah for a new land,
a son, and countless descendants (chapter
17), to promises in the Book of Revelation
of a "new heaven and a new earth" (21:1),
God was helping biblical people live into
the vision of creation's ultimate goal.
The Old Testament
(Hebrew Bible) uses the word shalom to
describe God's future. We often translate
this word as "peace," but it
means more than that. Shalom means
a world of plenty, of personal and interpersonal
harmony and righteousness, of liberation,
of just economic practices, and of ordered
political relations.
The coming
kingdom
For Jesus, the shalom of
God was the kingdom of God, the coming reign
of God in human hearts and in all human affairs.
In fact he proclaimed that this reign already "has
come near" (Mark 1:15) and that the
decision about one's part in it was an urgent
necessity: "Strive first for the kingdom
of God and his righteousness" (Matthew
6:33).
In
the resurrection of our Lord, his amazed
followers recognized
that God's reign was breaking into their
lives: "So if anyone is in Christ,
there is a new creation: everything old
has passed away; see, everything has
become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The old regime of hostility, greed, injustice,
and violence was obsolete and dying.
The new order was coming in: "See,
I am making all things new" (Revelation
21:5). For those who see with the eyes
of faith, it is apparent that our common
human future on earth is indeed the promised
reign of God.
The church
as a sign of the future
There
are signs of the coming Kingdom all about
us—from random
acts of kindness by individuals to the worldwide
family's growth in tolerance and cooperation.
In particular we see the church as a sign
of the Kingdom. Imperfect as it is, the community
of believers nevertheless provides the best
clue we have to God's vision. Day after day,
we see deeds of Christian courage, of compassion
and reconciliation, of integrity in the face
of temptation, and of witness for truth and
justice.
Our part
And
what is our role—to sit back and simply wait for
God's kingdom to arrive? By no means! We
are to pray earnestly for the Kingdom to
come on earth (Matthew 6:10). We are to watch
faithfully for any signs of its coming (Matthew
25:13). We are to put away our old selves
and clothe ourselves "with the new self,
created according to the likeness of God
in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians
4:24). As renewed people, we're to do "the
work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12).
As Easter people witness and serve, we take
part in the Kingdom's dawning. Thy Kingdom
come! |
|
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| -From United Methodist Church
website, http://www.umc.org/ |
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