About the Lutheran Church...
We don't know where you are in your faith walk, but we understand that questions are worth answering. While it's impossible to address every question you might have, we hope this overview will at least provide a start.
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What really is a Lutheran? While there are a variety of ways one could answer this question, one very important answer is simply this,“A Lutheran is a person who believes, teaches and confesses the truths of God’s Word as they are summarized and confessed in the Book of Concord.” The Book of Concord contains the Lutheran confessions of faith.
*Being a Lutheran simply refers to being a Christian who believes the truths of God’s Word in the Holy Bible, as they are correctly explained and taught in the Book of Concord.
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What are the Lutheran Confessions
What Martin Luther began in 1517 reached its culmination in 1580, when the official statements of Lutheran belief (the Lutheran Confessions) were gathered together in what is known as the Book of Concord.
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod accepts the Scriptures as the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and subscribes unconditionally to all the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God.
We accept the Lutheran Confessions as articulated in the Book of Concord of 1580 because they are drawn from the Word of God and on that account regard their doctrinal content as a true and binding exposition of Holy Scripture and as authoritative for all pastors, congregations and other rostered church workers of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
What is the point of the Lutheran Confessions? The Lutheran Reformation was not a “revolt,” but rather began as a sincere expression of concern with the false and misleading teachings, which, unfortunately, even to this very day, obscure the glory and merit of Jesus Christ. A strong motivator for Martin Luther was a zealous concern about the Gospel of Jesus Christ being shared clearly and consistently. The Confessions or Symbols function as the binding authority for consistency in Scriptural teachings and for how we function as God's church.
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Hope is a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
What does "Synod" mean?
The word "Synod" in The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod comes from Greek words that mean "walking together." The term has rich meaning in our church body, because congregations voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod. Though diverse in their service, these congregations hold to a shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions which they believe are a correct interpretation and presentation of Biblical doctrine. Contained in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, these statements of belief were put into writing by church leaders during the 16th century. The simplest of these is Luther's Small Catechism. The Augsburg Confession gives more detail on what Lutherans believe.
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About "BEING SAVED"
Being "saved" refers to being able to be in God's pure, perfect presence, face-to-face. We can't make this happen ourselves. We are saved from our natural destiny by God Himself. Jesus Christ has made this happen through His sinless life, death, and resurrection. Everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior has been brought back into a right relationship with God. That means that, on account of Jesus, everyone who believes is "justified," or declared innocent by God. God has done justice to the world's sins; because of Jesus, all who believe are forgiven and will live eternally.
We do not cooperate in our salvation and there is nothing we could ever present to God to make our way into eternal life. We cannot reason our way to salvation, nor can we earn it. All we can do is to believe in Him, trusting that all that is necessary has been done for us through Jesus.
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| The Book of Concord - The Lutheran Confessions |
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