What Missouri-Synod Lutherans Believe

 

 

THE BIBLE

We believe that every word in the Bible is inspired by God and therefore the whole Bible is the true, unalterable Word of God, clearly teaching the way of salvation. (2 Timothy 3:15-17)

 

GOD

We believe that God is One (Deuteronomy 6:4) and that He has revealed Himself in three distinct Persons (Matthew 3:13-17), the Father, our Creator, and Preserver; the Son, Jesus, Who is both God and man, and our only Savior; the Holy Ghost, who creates faith in our hearts and enables us to live a God-pleasing life.

 

MAN

We believe that God created man with body and soul, in His image, but man of his own free will lost this image through sin. (Genesis 1:27; 2:7; & Genesis 3)

 

SIN

Sin is the transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4). There are two kinds of sin: Original (inherited) sin (Psalm 51:5) and Actual sin (sin in thought, word, and deed) (Matthew 15:19). Mankind is subject to death and eternal damnation by reason of guilt that attaches to sin.

 

REDEMPTION

We believe that God out of pure love and mercy redeemed mankind from sin through the all-sufficient sacrifice of His Only Son, Jesus, and His resurrection shows that God was satisfied with the work of Christ (John 3:16; Romans 4:25).

 

THE CHURCH

We believe that the church, established by Christ, is the whole number of believers in Christ, for only believers are members of the church. Jesus Christ is its one and only foundation (Ephesians 2:19-22). The church is found wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and the Sacraments are administered.

 

SACRAMENTS

We believe that Christ instituted two sacraments; and when Baptism is administered to infants and adults, according to the command of Christ, God offers His grace and forgiveness of sins (Acts 22:16). In the Lord’s Supper, believing communicants, with the Bread and Wine, also receive Christ’s Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of faith (1 Corinthians 11:24, 25).

 

SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

We believe that Christ will return visibly to earth (Acts 1:11) on the Last Day (Mark 13:22) to judge the world (Acts 10:42). The believers will go to heaven to be with God forever (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The unbelievers will go to Hell, eternally separated from God (Matthew 25:32, 46).

 

RESURRECTION

We believe that on the Last Day believers in Christ will rise from the dead, their souls reunited with their earthly bodies and glorified by Christ (John 14:19; 17:24).

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FAITH

It is through faith in Jesus that we receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life — by believing that He has freed us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin. Faith is a gift worked in us by the power of the Holy Spirit; it doesn’t come to us through anything we are capable of, but through what God does for us. We simply receive what God is already offering out of His great love.