In this fast-changing, disaster-prone era, the idea of delving into the doctrine of Christianity might not be the most interesting thing to do. Some people might not care much when they hear of the phrase “Theology”. What is the relationship between Theology and my daily life? Isn’t it just a subject studied by people in "ivory towers" of seminaries? It is hard to imagine that around 500 years ago, many Christians would actually sacrifice themselves to defend what is the purest doctrine and theology.
Why is this theology so important then? Just like the description of Martin Luther when he understood Sola fide while investigating the book of Romans. He felt enormous joy and relief. This joy and satisfaction that comes from the truth seeped through his body, heart and spirit, It completely changed his life.
What is theology you may ask? Simply put, it is about an individual’s understanding and perspective of God. With this logic in mind, everyone has their own concept of God, whether it is through learning the bible or from personal life experiences. We continue to develop our own set of theological values.
What kind of God is our God then? What is blessing? What is salvation? What is reborn? What is trust? What is justification? What is meant by sanctification? What is eternal life? Do you believe that studying these religious doctrines can refresh your mind? The knowledge might not be as exciting as the real experience; however, we need to experience God in real live and we also need to understand the truth that God has revealed to us. Because these truths can help us understand the world better and also ourselves. We understand what is happening in the world via news and social media platforms. Nonetheless, there is nothing new under the sun, in the end we need to know that Jesus Christ is the most fundamental need of this world.
In these few months, our church continues to study the book of Romans. Perhaps you need to pause in your busy and trivial schedule, stop and have a think about your theological ideals, the God I understand, is it the same as the one in the Bible? I hope that the book of Romans will help us, just like it helped Martin Luther back then, to find the origin of true happiness.
在這瞬息萬變，災難頻發的時代裡，鑽研基督信仰的教義可能會讓人覺得有點無聊。或者當聽到“神學”這樣的詞彙的時候，有人會覺得不以為然，“神學”與我的現實生活有什麼關係呢？不過是像神學院這樣的“象牙塔”裡的人所鑽研的課題吧？難以想像的是，500多年前，卻有許多基督徒，為了捍衛什麼是最純正的教義和神學觀，而不惜付出生命的代價。
為什麼這些教義如此重要呢？好像馬丁路德所描述的，當他在研究羅馬書的過程中真正發現和明白了因信稱義的教義後，他得到極大的喜樂和釋放，這來自真理的喜樂和滿足浸透了他的身、心、靈，也徹底改變了他以後的生活。
什麼是“神學”呢？簡單來說，就是個人對於神的認識和看法。這樣說來，每個人都有自己的神學看法，不論是通過聖經學習，還是通過自己的人生經驗，我們都在不斷的建立自己的神學觀。
神是一位怎樣的神？什麼是恩典？什麼是救恩？什麼是重生？什麼是信心？什麼是稱義？什麼是成聖？什麼是永生？ 。 。 。學習並且研究這些教義，可以甦醒人心，你相信嗎？知識或許不如實際經驗叫人興奮和激動，然而，我們需要實際的經歷神，也需要在知識上明白神已經啟示給我們的真理。因為這些真理，可以幫助我們更認識這個世界，也更認識我們自己。我們從新聞，從社交媒體中了解這個世界正在發生的事，然而，日光之下並無新事，究其根源，我們需要知道，耶穌基督才是這個世界最根本的需要。
這幾個月來，我們教會一直在學習羅馬書的系列中。或許你也需要在繁忙瑣碎的生活中，停下來想一想，我的神學觀，就是我所理解的神，和聖經裡說的那一位，是同一個嗎？願羅馬書幫助我們，就像當年幫助馬丁路德一樣，找到真正喜樂的源泉。
