Statement of Faith
as taught by Holy Scripture and explained in the Lutheran Confessions
I. God
We believe that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). He has revealed Himself to be three distinct Persons (Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19): God the Father, who is creator and preserver (Ephesians 4:6); God the Son, Christ Jesus, who is fully God and fully man (John 1:1-14), the only Saviour (Acts 4:12); and God the Holy Spirit, who creates faith and empowers us to lead a life of service to God and our neighbour (Ezekiel 36:27; Romans 8:12-17).
II. Creation
We believe that God created heaven and earth in perfect goodness. He formed man, consisting of body and spirit, in His own image with original righteousness: the ability to fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. Yet the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, lost that original righteousness by using their own free will to commit sin (Genesis 1-3; Psalm 8).
III. Sin
We believe that sin is falling short of God’s Law (1 John 3:4). Original or “inherited” sin (Psalm 51:5) has replaced the original righteousness with which man was created. The results of original sin are actual sins of thought, word, and deed (Matthew 15:19). Sin subjects people to physical and spiritual death.
IV. Redemption
We believe that God the Father, out of pure grace without regard to our own worthiness, redeemed mankind from original and actual sin through the merits of His only-begotten Son, Christ Jesus (Romans 5:15-20). Jesus fulfilled God’s Law (Galatians 4:4); He became the perfect and final sin offering (Hebrews 10:10). The resurrection proves that the Father was satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (Romans 4:25). Christ Jesus now sits as High Priest before the Father in heaven (Hebrews 8:26-28).
V. Personal Salvation
We believe that each sinner must personally accept God’s saving grace (Romans 3:23-24; 1 Timothy 2:4) through faith (John 3:16; 17:3). This faith is not a decision or a good work of man (Ephesians 2:8), but it is also a gift from God the Father made possible by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). Faith means sincerely trusting that Jesus died for me.
VI. The Church
We believe that the catholic or “universal” Church is the gathering place of those who receive salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:19-22), who is her head (Colossians 1:18). In this Church, the Holy Spirit forgives sins and makes us new people (2 Corinthians 5:17), instilling believers with a growing fear, love, and trust in God above all things (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:26-25). The Church is found where the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments are administered (1 Corinthians 4:1).
VII. The Sacraments
We believe that Jesus instituted the Sacraments: Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Confession. When Baptism is administered to infants and adults, according to the command of Christ (Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 2:39), God rescues from Satan and adopts them as His own (Mark 16:16). In the Lord’s Supper, all who consume the bread and wine also receive the life-giving body and blood of Jesus Himself (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). Because the Lord’s Supper also testifies to the unity of faith among believers, it must be offered only to those who share the same faith by way of “public profession” or church membership (1 Corinthians 1:10; 10:17). Confession and Absolution is instituted for the comfort of sinners with a burdened conscience. By the command of Christ (John 20:21-23), called ministers absolve the sins of all who are repentant, those who believe that the word of forgiveness comes from God Himself; but they are forbidden from pronouncing absolution to those who are unwilling to be reconciled to God and their neighbour (Matthew 18:15-20).
VIII. Judgment
We believe that on the Last Day (Mark 13:22) Christ Jesus will return visibly from heaven to earth (Acts 1:11) in order to judge the world (Matthew 25:31-46). All people, without exception, will rise from the dead as their spirits are reunited with their bodies. Believers in Christ will go to paradise, to be with God forever; unbelievers will be condemned to everlasting fire, eternally separated from God (Daniel 12:1-3; Revelation 19-20).
IX. New Creation
We believe that all believers in Christ will appear in glory alongside creation perfectly restored (1 Corinthians 15). There we will live in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, giving honour and glory to God forever and ever. Amen (Revelation 21-22).
X. God’s Word
We believe that the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures are the only reliable source of doctrine, teaching us clearly the way of salvation (Psalm 119:105; Galatians 1:8-9). Every word in Holy Scripture, though written by men, is inspired by God; therefore, the entire Bible is the infallible Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
We believe that the doctrines contained in the Lutheran Confessions are true and genuine expositions of Christian faith because they agree with Holy Scripture. These are:
The Three Ecumenical Creeds (Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian)
The Augsburg Confession (1530)
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531)
The Treatise on the Power and the Primacy of the Pope (1537)
The Small Catechism of Martin Luther (1529)
Christus Pantocrator
a sixth-century icon from the foot of Mount Sinai. The asymmetrical facial features represent the two natures, divine and human, inseparably united yet distinct in Jesus Christ. Lutherans consider it a matter of Christian freedom to display images of God, Christ, and the saints.
Nicholas of Myra
whose legacy is forever tied to that of the fictional Santa Claus. The historical Saint Nicholas was one of the bishops present at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325). He drafted the Nicene Creed, which confesses Jesus Christ to be “one substance with the Father.”
The Ark of the Covenant
was one of the ways in which God mediated His presence among the chosen people in ancient times. Today, God conveys His grace and blessing through visible, tangible means: the Word and Sacraments. Through Baptism, He makes us His own people. In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives His very self.
The Presentation of the Augsburg Confession
(AD 1530) occurred in the presence of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V on June 25th. The Augsburg Confession is the true “founding document” of the Lutheran Church. It confesses that “nothing has been received among us, in doctrine or in ceremonies, that is contrary to the church catholic.”
Saint Matthew and the Angel
The converted tax-collector writes his Gospel. The maxim “To err is human” is not always true; Jesus was fully human, yet He never sinned. God also preserved the authors of Holy Scripture from erring as they wrote, using their own words, His Word.