Christianity is unique among all other faiths, because Christianity is more about a relationship, rather than religious practice. Instead of adhering to a list of “dos and don’ts,” the goal of a Christian is to cultivate a close walk with God. That relationship is possible because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian.

Christians believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God, and that its teaching is the final authority. Christians believe in one God that exists in three persons, Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.

Christians believe that everyone was created specifically to have a relationship with God, but that sin separates us from God. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ walked this earth, fully God, and yet fully man, and died on the cross. Christians believe that after his death on the cross, Christ was buried, rose again and now lives with God the Father, making intercession for the believers forever. Christianity proclaims that Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to  restore the broken relationship between God and humanity caused by sin.

To be saved, we must simply believe that Jesus died in our place and rose again. There is nothing that anyone can do to earn salvation. Nobody can be “good enough” to please God on his or her own.

What Lutheran Christians Believe

Lutherans accept and teach the Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the reform of the Christian church in the 16th century. The teaching of Luther can be summarized in three short phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone...

Grace Alone

God loves the people of the world, even though they are sinful, rebel against him and do not deserve his love. God sent Jesus, his Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.

Faith Alone

By his suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for them. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. God creates faith in Christ and gives people forgiveness.

Scripture Alone

Lutheran Christians accept the canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of our proclamation, faith and life.

Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483-1546) dealt the symbolic blow that began the Reformation when, on October 31, 1517, he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses, or points of debate, to the door of the Castle Church at the University in Wittenberg, Germany.

The church door functioned as a kind of bulletin board, and Luther's intent was to spur debate among the academic community. That document contained an attack on abuses by the Pope, particularly the sale of indulgences by church officials to finance, amongst other things, the construction of a new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Anyone who purchased an indulgence behalf of themselves or a deceased relative was promised a lessoning of time their souls spent in purgatory. The practice greatly enriched the church, but created great hardship among the poor.

 

But Luther himself (left) saw the Reformation as something more important than a revolt against church abuses. He believed it was a fight for the gospel. Luther even stated that he would happily have yielded every point to the pope had he affirmed the gospel.

 

And at the heart of the gospel, in Luther's estimation, was the doctrine of justification by faith, the teaching that Christ's own righteousness brought forgiveness to the those who believe, and on that ground alone, they are accepted by God.

ELCA Confession of Faith

 

Confession of Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, from the ELCA constitution.

We confess the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We confess Jesus Savior and the Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom everything was made and through whose life, death and resurrection God fashions a new creation.

The Bible is the written word of God inspired by God's Spirit speaking through its authors. It records and announces God's revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through the Bible God's Spirit speaks to us to create and sustain faith and fellowship for service to others.

We Lutherans accept the Bible, made up of the Old and New Testaments, as the inspired word of God.

We confess the Gospel, recorded in the Bible, as the power of God to create and sustain us for God's mission in the world.

We accept the Apostle's, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations faith.

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

History of the Apostles Creed

The "Apostles Creed" was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries and it is the most popular creed used in worship by Western Christians.

Throughout the Middle Ages it was generally believed that the Apostles, under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, composed this creed, each contributing one of the twelve articles. This legend dates back to the 6th century. That is not the case, though the name stuck. However, each of the doctrines found in the creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period (1st century). The earliest written version of the creed is perhaps the "Interrogatory Creed of Hippolytus" (c. 215 AD). The current form is first found in the writings of "Caesarius of Arles" (died 542).

The creed was apparently used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome and was given in question and answer format with the baptismal candidates answering yes in response to affirm their belief in the truth of each statement.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

History of the Nicene Creed

In the first three centuries after Christ's resurrection, the Church found itself in a hostile environment. On one hand, it grappled with the challenge of relating the gospel to a Greco-Roman world. On the other hand, it was threatened by both persecution and internal conflicts. In 325 AD, Constantine (272 or 274 - 337 AD) won control of the Roman Empire over his archrival, Maxentius, at the battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. Attributing his victory to the intervention of Jesus Christ, he elevated Christianity to favored status in the empire. But the new emperor soon discovered that the Church was fractured by theological disputes, especially conflicting understandings of the nature of Christ. Arius, a priest of the church in Alexandria, asserted that Christ was created by God before the beginning of time. Therefore, the divinity of Christ was similar to the divinity of God, but not of the same essence. Arianism, as this doctrine became know, was opposed by the bishop, Alexander, together with his associate and successor, Athanasius. They affirmed that the divinity of Christ, the Son, is of the same substance as the divinity of God, the Father. To hold otherwise, they said, was to open the possibility of polytheism (i.e. the worship of many gods and goddesses).

To counter a widening rift within the church, Constantine (left) convened a council in Nicaea (modern Iznik in northwest Turkey) in 325 AD. A creed reflecting the position of Alexander and Athanasius was written and signed by a majority of the bishops. Nevertheless, the two parties continued to battle each other. In 381 AD, a second council met in Constantinople (modern Istanbul), and it adopted a revised and expanded form of the earlier creed, now known as the Nicene Creed.

The Nicene Creed is the most widely accepted and used statements of the Christian faith; it is affirmed by Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and many other Christian groups. Those that do not have a tradition of using it in their services nevertheless are committed to the doctrines it teaches.