| What
Lutherans Believe
Lutherans
Believe
That God is the Creator of the universe with all of its grandeur
and beauty, and that He sustains it with His almighty power. He also created our
first parents, Adam and Eve, in His own image that they might live in fellowship
with with Him and be His instruments to care for the creation. Lutherans
Believe
That Adam and Eve, whom God created, doubted and rebelled against
Him. They sinned and their natures became evil. Now every human being is born
with a self-centered nature and a tendency for evil that violates God's will and
desire. Attempts to change human nature or to please God with our own good are
doomed to failure. People need forgiveness and new life, and God provides it through
His grace. Lutherans
Believe
That God out of pure love gives people forgiveness of sins and
thus reconciles them to Himself. He does this even though He is a just God who
punishes sin because His own Son, Jesus Christ, took the punishment for all sin
for all people upon Himself when He dies on the cross of Calvary. God raised Him
from the dead on Easter and thus demonstrated to the world that the sacrifice
of the Lamb of God has been accepted and man's sin paid for. Lutherans
Believe
That people receive forgiveness through faith. Faith is the hand
which accepts God's free gift. Faith is created by the Holy Spirit through the
means of the Gospel message which tells of God's love demonstrated in Jesus Christ. Lutherans
Believe
That the Bible is the source of knowledge about God and His forgiveness
and is also the way in which He speaks to us today. The Bible was written by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit and so is true and without error. Lutherans
Believe
That the church is the fellowship of all those who have come to
faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. The Lutheran Church gets its name
from Martin Luther, who "reformed" the church with basic principles
of faith alone, grace alone, Scripture alone. The purpose of the church is to
nurture faith through the Word and the Sacrament of the altar, and to share the
love of God through Word and deed with the whole world in order to make other
people disciples of Jesus Christ. Lutherans
Believe
That God has given two Sacraments to build His church, Baptism
to create faith and Holy Communion - also called the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist
- to nurture faith. In Holy Communion Jesus Christ gives the communicant His body
and blood "in, with, and under," the bread and wine. Lutherans
Believe
That the fellowship which God establishes with His believers on
earth will continue after this life as believers live with Him in heaven for all
eternity God provides it through His grace. from:
Creating a New Member Welcome Packet/compiled by Erwin J. Kolb and Lon R. Haack.
St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1983. | 
