How we define God!

 

How we define God, is how we will live our lives!

We believe God is Love and so loves the world (John 3:16). We believe God’s love was given to us as a “gift” (Ephesians 2:8-9); given to the world by the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, The Christ. The arrow you see can be seen as the basis of our definition of God:

 

GOD CAME DOWN!

 

 

Because God came down, in the person of Jesus, we believe we do not have to, and can’t, “go up” to earn God’s grace. We cannot do enough to atone for our sin against God, or, atone for all our sins against each other. Knowing God’s love came down to the world, giving us eternal life, here and now, and forever, we also believe, even though we don’t have to do anything to earn God’s grace, we firmly believe in doing all we can to live God’s love (Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 28:19-20), to help all people know God’s amazing grace; giving us all more hope and peace. If you are new to our understanding of God and God’s grace and have any questions, please leave a comment below.

"How we define God, is, how we will live our lives!"

As ELCA Lutherans, we define God as love (1 John 4:4b). We believe God’s love was best seen through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus, The Christ. We also believe God’s love is seen throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We also believe God’s love is for all of creation. Through this faith formation blog, we will delve into our faith beliefs as ELCA Lutherans to help nurture us in our definition of God. Like Martin Luther, I feel there is a great need for us all to know more about our faith beliefs. Then, as we grow into our ELCA faith beliefs, the other purpose for this blog is to equip us to live the faith God gives us, to live our definition of God, to love all as God does.

If you have specific questions about the Bible (specifically the hard-to-understand verse or stories), our Lutheran faith beliefs, and living our lives of faith, you can, anonymously if you want, add your questions below in the comment section. I am looking forward to this time of nurturing and growth in the faith God gives us.

Pastor Rick Roberts

St. John’s Lutheran Church, ELCA

Nashville, TN