Our Beliefs

Jesus

True knowledge of God and eternal salvation come only through Jesus Christ.

• For all mankind and for our salvation, the Son of God came down from heaven and was incarnate in the Virgin Mary and was made man, Jesus of Nazareth.
• Jesus is both true God and true man
• Jesus is the theme and center of the Bible.
• Jesus is the focus of all the proclamation and teaching of the Christian Church.
• Jesus is the priceless treasure of the Christian.
• Jesus is the Savior of the world.
• (Christ Alone)

God

God is one essence in three persons.

• The Christian Church, in faithfulness to the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, confesses the one, true God as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• The Christian Church, in faithfulness to the Biblical testimony, which is true and reliable in every way, has customarily used the terms “Trinity” and “Persons” to describe what God, in his Word, teaches about himself.
• God is three persons in one essence: The Father sent the Son into the world; the Son lived, died and rose again as the substitute for sinners; the Holy Spirit brings people to saving faith in Jesus.

Creation

God made all things out of nothing in six days through his all-powerful Word.

• All things were made by God and for him.
• God was not created and is not a part of what he has created, yet he fills and penetrates the entire creation as he wills to do so.
• Man is the high point of the visible creation that God made and is distinct from animals.
• God continues to provide for his creation until the end of all things.
• God has provided for the continuance of the human race through the relation of husband and wife. The conjugal relation between man and woman, as well as everything that God created, was very good.

Sin

God is not the author of sin but rather the evil will of the devil and sinful men is.

• Sin is the transgression of God's law.
• Sin entered into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
• Sin has become the condition of all mankind, with the exception of Jesus, and will be so until the end of the age.
• All people inherit from their parents both the guilt and the corruption of sin.
• The sinful nature that all human beings inherit at the moment of conception causes the sinner to do sinful acts.
• The Ten Commandments, God’s law, point out mankind’s sinful acts and the corruption of his nature.
• Because all people are sinners, they are unable to cooperate with God in any way so as to win acceptance with him and come to faith in the Savior.
• Because all people are in a state of sin, they would be under the wrath of God for ever had it not been that the Redeemer took all that wrath upon himself on the cross.

Redemption

In order to free mankind from sin, guilt and death, God sent his Son, also true God, to become a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

• From the moment of his conception, Jesus was the substitute for sinners before God so that everything mankind should have done and everything that mankind should have suffered because of sin has been done and suffered by Jesus.
• As a result of Jesus’ perfect life, innocent death and resurrection the sins of all people of all times and of all conditions of life have been paid for in full.
• On the basis of the complete redemptive work of Christ, God declares the whole world innocent (Justification).
• (Grace Alone)

The Distribution of Redemption

All of the blessings of redemption are received completely through faith alone, which is given by God without any action by the believer. God uses several means or instruments to distribute the redemption that Christ has won for all people and to bring people to saving faith.

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The Word of God.

The Bible is the Word of God.

On one hand, the Bible contains divine law by which God points out sin so that the sinner sees that he is in a state of condemnation, but the law cannot save or redeem anyone. On the other hand, the Bible contains the Gospel of Jesus by which God shows himself to be merciful to the world because of Christ, the Savior. Through the Gospel, in its various forms, the Holy Spirit offers and distributes the forgiveness of sins to sinner and assures him of the complete forgiveness of his sins that Jesus won on the cross. (Scripture alone).

Baptism.

Baptism is water used according to God’s command and connected with his Word so that it is the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, for infants as well as adults.

Absolution.

Absolution is the specific announcement of the forgiveness of sins.

The Lord’s Supper

The Holy Supper is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ are distributed to those who receive the bread and wine which has been consecrated by the words of Christ.

The means by which the forgiveness of sins is distributed are also the means by which God gives his Holy Spirit so that those who use these means can come to believe and trust in the offered redemption, receive personally the benefit of justification and be strengthened in the saving faith. (Faith Alone)

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The Christian Church

Those who, by the power of the Spirit in the Word and Sacraments, trust in Christ and the redemption won by him, are the body of Christ, the One, Holy, Christian, Universal, Apostolic Church.

• The living believers, along with those believers who have already departed this life and are in the blessed presence of God, are the church.
• Membership in the church is not voluntary as if a person could decide to become a believer and a member of Christ’s church by his own initiative, for all believers are members of Christ’s church the moment the Holy Spirit leads them to believe in the Savior.
• The Holy Spirit gathers Christians into congregations. God intends his people to be members of congregations that teach the Word of God in all its truth so that they may gather with other believers.
• God’s gifts to the church in the Means of Grace are administered by Christ’s called servants who are specially called by God through the church to the office of the Holy Ministry.

The Christian Vocation

Christians are called through the Means of Grace to be saints, that is, people who stand before God dressed in the holiness of Christ.

• All believers are saints before God, in spite of the weaknesses in their life.
• The life of the called is characterized by a daily turning from sin and turning to Christ in confession of sin and faith in Jesus.
• The Christian serves God in his vocation (calling) in this life.
• Everything that a Christian does in his vocation (father, mother, son, daughter, student, worker, government official, soldier, businessman, housewife, etc.) that is in keeping with the Ten Commandments and the requirements of his calling, are good works, caused in the believer by the work of the Holy Spirit." 
• The Christian does not hope to earn the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the works of his vocation nor through any other works.
• Through the works of his vocation, the Christian not only puts his faith into practice, but also exercises loving obedience to God the Savior as well as concern for the well-being of his neighbor. As the Christian serves his neighbor and all men, he is thanking and serving God through the neighbor.
• Throughout all his life, the Christian is in continual communion with the Triune God
• The Christian receives forgiveness, strength and encouragement through God’s Word and Sacraments
• The Christian calls upon the Lord in every trouble in prayer and at the same time praises and gives thanks to God for his manifold and abundant gifts.

The Christian Hope

The Christian hope is the physical resurrection from the dead to eternal life with God in heaven, where all believers will live with him forever, free from all sin and imperfection.

• Through faith, the Christian has received the forgiveness of all his sins and therefore does not need to live under the fear of damnation, for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and have been called according to his purpose.
• This hope which is strengthened in the Christian by the Word and Sacraments, upholds the believer so that in the middle of suffering and trials, he patiently waits for the coming of the Savior in glory who will raise all people from the dead and will give eternal life to all believers.

(These beliefs are based on the Bible and have been expressed by Christians since the beginning in the Ecumenical Creeds – The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed – and also in the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church included in the Lutheran Book of Concord – the Small and Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, the Unaltered Confession of Augsburg and its Apology, the Smalcald Articles and the Tractate of the Primacy and Power of the Pope, the Formula of Concord. More details about these beliefs can be found at http://www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=112.)

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. 

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy Christian (catholic) Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe one holy Christian (catholic) and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

The Athanasian Creed

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith;
2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.
3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated.
9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible.
10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal.
11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal.
12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty.
14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty.
15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God;
16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.
17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord;
18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord.
19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords.
20. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten.
21. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
22. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.
23. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.
24. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another.
25. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal, so that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.
26. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.
27. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
28. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man.
29. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.
30. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.
31. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.
32. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.
33. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.
34. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.
35. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;
36. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead;
37. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
38. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; and shall give account of their own works.
39. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.
40. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

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THE LUTHERAN CONFESSIONS

The Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther

http://www.bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.html

The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther

 http://www.bookofconcord.org/largecatechism.html

 See The Augsburg Confession

 http://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgconfession.html

 The Apology of the Augsburg Confession

 http://www.bookofconcord.org/augsburgdefense.html

The Smalcald Articles

http://www.bookofconcord.org/smalcald.html

The Formula of Concord – the Epitome and the Solid Declaration

 http://www.bookofconcord.org/fc-ep.html

http://www.bookofconcord.org/fc-sd.html

The images in the section “Our Beliefs” were created by Walter E. Gast and are used by
permission of the author and artist. http://home.att.net/~wegast/symbols/symbols.htm

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