What Do Lutherans Believe?

Along with all Christians, Lutherans share certain beliefs:

  • The Bible is the Word of God, inspired by God but entrusted to the writing and style of human authors. It is fully trustworthy as the ultimate guide to our faith and practice.
  • Jesus, fully divine as the Son of God and fully human as the Son of Man, is the only full and complete revelation of God and is therefore the only Savior of the world and the Lord of all creation.  The life and death of Jesus on the cross is the initiative and act of God:
    • to heal our brokenness
    • to forgive our sin
    • to reconcile us to God and to each other.

    We believe that humanity is broken in that we are predisposed to worshiping ourselves. We believe that sin reflects the acting out of our brokenness wherein we make God less than God is, and others less than they are.

  • The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead:
    • as the proof of who we profess Jesus to be
    • as the redemption of the problem of evil
    • as the historical act that defeats the power of death
    • as the assurance of God’s promise of eternal life.

Lutherans emphasize:

  • God’s Amazing Grace!
  • Salvation as God’s gift is grasped through faith by grace. We contribute nothing to our salvation, it is all God’s doing. Even faith is first a gift of God to which we are called to respond. Before we believe in God, God believes in us, in and through Jesus Christ.
  • New life is offered by the Holy Spirit who brings us into spiritual rebirth and into the community of believers and followers of Christ. The Church empowers us to live and die as Jesus did, reaching out to the poor, sick, marginalized, alienated and oppressed.
  • We are called to witness this Gospel in faith and practice, in word and deed, to share this story so that others may receive and embody the forgiveness, healing, freedom and purpose borne of God’s salvation.
  • We receive this grace primarily in worship. Worship is God’s people to ask for, to receive, and to thank Him for His grace. Since God communicated His saving grace through His Word and Sacraments, Lutheran worship centers in these means of grace.
  • For more information about what Lutheran Christians believe see:
    http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/New-or-Returning-to-Church/Dig-Deeper.aspx