Called to Grace
Committed to God's Call.
We Believe

That the Almighty, infinite God has revealed Himself as One essential God, yet three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

That this Triune God has made His saving works known to man, attested to in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

That in six days, as the Scripture says, God created all things in both heaven and earth by His almighty word, purely out of His goodness and mercy; and by His almighty word He continues to graciously preserve all things, providing all people with everything that they need for this body and life.

That God created, and continues to create mankind, both male and female, in His own image to live in blissful fellowship and service with Him.

That our original parents disobeyed God, as the Scripture says, and so sin passed upon all people; and with sin, God's judgment of death also passed upon all people.

That God nevertheless loves all people, and does not desire that anyone should parish.

That from the beginning, God promised to send a Savior who would remove the curse of sin. In God's time, the eternal Son of God entered this world of sin by assuming a human nature. Jesus is that Christ, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, God and man united in one person, who willingly humbled himself in order to take mankind's place under the law. He lived a perfectly righteous and God-pleasing life, yet suffered the punishment that all mankind deserved by humbly suffering and dying on the cross.

That Jesus rose on the third day, as the Scriptures declare, showing His victory over sin and death, and assuring the sufficiency of His work for mankind's salvation.

That through Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection, God has declared all mankind completely just, forgiven and reconciled. The sin that has separated man and God has been removed. This objective verdict is complete, solely by God's grace alone in Christ.

That this gift of justification includes every blessing of the Triune God, including forgiveness of sin, eternal life, fellowship with God and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

That this gift of forgiveness is freely extended through the ministry of the Gospel-the Good News of Jesus Christ-which God Himself extends to the world through the preaching and teaching of the word of Christ, and through the gifts of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. (The Means of Grace)

That Baptism and Holy Communion are special, visible means of grace by which our Lord extends His forgiveness to sinful human beings. Baptism is simple water connected to Christ's word and command, and therefore a powerful washing of renewal intended for all people. Communion is a covenant meal in which Christ gives His body and blood-the price paid for our forgiveness-in communion with the bread and wine, as an assurance of His forgiveness. Communion is intended for believers who are able to examine themselves and confess faith in Jesus Christ.

That the gift of salvation, including complete righteousness, peace with God and eternal life, is subjectively (that is, personally) received through faith alone, by merely believing in Jesus, particularly, in His gracious work on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

That faith is simply the hand that receives Christ, and therefore, does not involve any work on our part. Faith itself is completely worked in a person's heart by God the Holy Spirit, working through the Gospel offered in word and sacrament. Thus, all credit for a person's salvation must go to God and His grace alone. A person can, however, through the stubbornness of heart, resist the work of the Spirit and reject the Gospel.

That God's Law is the standard as to what God requires people to be and do. Yet, in no way is God's law a means to justification or eternal life, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God's law always shows people their sin before God and their need for the Savior.

That both God's law and Gospel must be proclaimed until the end of time-the law in order to convict hearts of sin and show the need of the Savior...the Gospel in order to comfort guilty consciences and thus bring people to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

That the God-pleasing life of love, in both heart and deed, necessarily flows from a living faith (a fruit of faith) for faith without works is dead..

That God ultimately determines the time and means of a person's death. At the time of a person's death, the body returns to the earth; and the soul departs--the soul of the believer in Jesus to bliss with the Lord Jesus, the soul of the unbeliever to torment in hell.

That the Lord Jesus will return visibly and in glory on the last day to judge all the world, both the living and those who have died. He will raise up all the dead, receive all believers in Him to His eternal glory, and reject all unbelievers to eternal damnation.

That the Church consists of all believers in Christ-and only believers in Christ-and is perfectly holy and united through Christ's forgiveness.

That the visible Church is recognized through the gathering around the means of Grace, that is, word and sacrament...that Christ calls His church to be stewards of the means of grace and thus to keep His word and sacraments pure.

That the Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments are the true word of God, verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit through His prophets and apostles. These Scriptures are the only standard for what is believed and taught in our church, for faith and life.

Martin Luther and the Reformation
writings