Sacraments
(What Lutherans Believe)
Lutherans, along with Christians who worship
in many other traditions, are part of the one, holy, catholic
(meaning "universal")
church. We believe in God who is revealed to us in three persons:
as our Creator who made the heavens and earth and all things in
the earth; as Jesus Christ, God's son, who came to us as both divine
and as a human being to share our experience, suffer with us and
for us on the cross, died, and rose from the dead; and as the Holy
Spirit who continues to lead, guide, and inspire us in our daily
lives.
The Bible is central to our faith. It provides us with the
history that ties Christianity to its roots in the early Jewish
tradition,
gives us the prophecy that foretold the coming of Jesus as our
Savior, includes the law that guides us in knowing how to live
in a way that is pleasing to God and respectful of each other
and God's creation, and brings us the good news (gospel) that our
frail
and failing human condition finds its help and strength through
Jesus. We acknowledge that we are all sinners and fall short of
God's expectations for us ... but also know that we are forgiven
by God.
It is not by any act of our own that we earn this forgiveness,
but it is a gift to us from God who loves us and comes to us in
the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through Jesus' suffering and
death on the cross, the price of our sin was paid. Our faith in
Jesus Christ assures that we will share in the promise of eternal
life.
Jesus said, " Those who believe
in me, even though they die, will live, and
everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die." (John
11:25-26)
The concept
of being set right with God through faith in
Jesus
Christ
is called "justification
by grace through faith".
Our faith can be summed up as:
- We are saved by the grace of God
alone -- not by anything we do;
- Our salvation is through faith
alone -- we only need to believe that our sins are forgiven
for
Christ's sake, who died to redeem us;
- The Bible is the only norm
of doctrine and life -- the only true standard by which teachings
and doctrines are to be
judged
See our links page
for information about some of the
documents that
help to explain the Lutheran faith further.
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