The first twelve statements below are summaries of the first seventeen articles from the Augsburg Confession, the founding document for the Evangelical Catholic (that is, Lutheran) Church, which we confess to be a faithful and true exposition of God’s Word:
1. We Believe in One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
We believe that the only true God is the Triune God, revealed in Scripture as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For this reason “we worship one God in three persons and three Persons in one God,” as we confess in the Athanasian Creed.
2. Human Beings are Conceived and Born in Sin
We confess that every person is conceived and born in sin (original sin), and deserves both temporal death and eternal death. Therefore, we are unable by our own reason or strength to believe or come to faith in Jesus, and also are unable by our reason and strength to be justified before God.
3. Jesus Christ is Our Lord who has Redeemed Us
We teach that Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, was truly crucified, died and was buried, and rose again in His body on the third day. He ascended into heaven, and will come again on the last day to be our judge.
4. We are justified by Christ alone
We teach that a person is saved (justified) entirely by God’s grace, through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, which is created by the Holy Spirit where and when He pleases.
5. The Ministry was instituted to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments
That we may obtain this faith, God instituted the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments. Through the means of the Word and the Sacraments the Holy Spirit creates saving faith.
6. Good works are a fruit of faith
Believers must do good works, but they are not to trust in them for their salvation. Good works are called “fruits” of faith, since they spring forth from faith, rather than preceding or being a prerequisite for faith.
7. There is one, holy, catholic (Christian) Church, with Jesus Christ as her Head
The Church is the congregation or communion of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the sacraments rightly administered.
8. The Sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper deliver forgiveness, life, and salvation
The sacraments were ordained not simply as marks of profession or outward ordinances, but that they actually deliver the grace of God and confirm God’s will toward us. They do not justify by the outward act, since we cannot be justified by our own strength, but rather because they are combined with God’s Word of promise, they do what God’s Word says: they forgive sins, and give life and eternal salvation to all who believe this.
9. God is a God of order
Of ecclesiastical order, we teach that no one should teach in the Church or administer the Sacraments unless he is rightfully called.
10. Ceremonies are useful in that they teach
Those rites in the Church which may be observed without sin, and which are profitable for tranquility and good order, such as particular holidays, festivals, etc., are good and are observed among us. However, consciences are not to be burdened to do or not do such things.
11. Our Lord is Lord of both Church and State
Christians live in both kingdoms at the same time. Lawful civil ordinances and laws are good works of God. Christians are to honor those in authority and are bound to obey their own governments and laws, unless they command them to sin and go against conscience, for then we must obey God rather than men.
12. Christ will return to judge
We are waiting for the consummation of the world, like a bride for her groom. Jesus shall appear and will raise up all the dead, granting believers eternal life, but those who do not believe will be condemned.
13. The canonical books of the Old and New Testaments are the true, inspired, inerrant Word of God
The Holy Scriptures are without error in everything they teach, and they are the only infallible rule and norm of Christian doctrine and practice, faith and life. The Scriptures not only contain the Word of God (as if to say, some of their teachings are the authoritative Word of God and others are not), but they are the very Word of God in their entirety. They are efficacious (powerful & life-giving), clear, and sufficient.
13. The Lutheran Confessions exposit God’s Word
As orthodox, confessional Lutherans, we embrace as our primary confessions of faith the Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church contained in the Book of Concord of 1580, namely, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds; the Augsburg Confession and its Apology; the Smalcald Articles (including the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope); Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms and the Formula of Concord (Epitome and Solid Declaration). We accept these Confessions, not in so far as but because they agree with Scripture, and we believe that they are a correct exposition of the teaching of God’s Word. Adherence to these confessions, drawn from Scripture, is in keeping with St. Peter’s exhortation: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
For a simple understanding of our doctrine, we invite you to read the Small Catechism or to read what congregations of Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) believe and practice. As an ELS congregation, we are in fellowship with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and the worldwide Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC).
