Around 381AD, the early church fathers found themselves compelled to draft a creedal statement which was meant to bring unity of belief across the church. That is how we came to have the Nicene Creed.
Why was a creedal statement needed? Too many people came up with different (some fanciful, some heretical) ideas and practices which were causing division among the believers.
In the Nicene Creed, each important truth of Christian faith is introduced with the words, “I believe…”
Times are a changing now. I say it matters, it really does, what one believes!
Belief is not a shallow affirmation of some abstract idea. It is, and it must be a clear and definite affirmation about what the Bible teaches us regarding the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and Christian life.
Paul believed that Jesus is Lord. Full stop. For Paul Jesus was Lord in the church and in the market place; Jesus was Lord when Paul was well fed and when he was hungry; when he was free and when he was in jail; when he saw others coming to faith and grow spiritually and when he was being beaten, falsely accused and made fun of. At any time Paul could say, “Jesus is Lord!”
It mattered what Paul believed! What he believed made him and Silas pray and sing hymns to God in an unlikely place (Acts 16:19ff).
They ended up in jail after a tumultuous day: being dragged into the market place (v.19); being charged with advocating customs unlawful for the Romans (v.23); being stripped and beaten (v.22); being severely flogged and thrown in jail (v.23); being thrown into the inner cell with their feet fastened in the stocks (v.24).
Say, “What a day for an apostle of Jesus Christ the Lord!” I say, “What an unwavering faith – a firm belief that Jesus is Lord, no matter the context.
Listen to them – they are praying and singing hymns to their Lord!
It does matter what you believe!