WHAT WE BELIEVE
The North American Lutheran Church confesses:
The Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ as Lord and 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 proclamation of God’s message to us as
both Law and Gospel is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy
through word and deed, beginning with the Word in creation,
continuing in the history of Israel, and centering in all its
fullness in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
- The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New
Testaments are the written Word of God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit
speaking through their authors, they record and announce God’s
revelation centering in Jesus Christ. Through them the Holy Spirit
speaks to us to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship
for service in the world.
The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the
inspired Word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its
proclamation, faith and life, "according to which all doctrines should
and must be judged." (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Part I)
The Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true declarations
of the faith of the Church.
The Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel,
acknowledging as one with it in faith and doctrine all churches that
likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.
The other confessional writings in the Book of Concord, namely, the
Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles and the
Treatise, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of
Concord, as further valid interpretations of the faith of the Church.
The Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the
ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of
God to create and sustain the Church for God’s mission in the world.
The NALC honors and accepts The Common Confession (2005) included
below, as a summary of teachings otherwise affirmed in the Lutheran
Confessions.
The Common Confession
(The faith statement of Lutheran CORE – Coalition for Renewal.
Adopted: November 2005)
CC1) The Lord Jesus
Christ
We are people who believe and confess our faith in the Triune God
-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We trust and believe in Jesus Christ
as our Savior and Lord.
CC2) The Gospel of
Salvation
We believe and confess that all human beings are sinners, and that
sinners are redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
God alone justifies human beings by faith in Christ — a faith that God
creates through the message of the Gospel. As ambassadors for Christ,
God uses us to speak his Word and build his kingdom.
CC3) The Authority
of Scripture
We believe and confess that the Bible is God's revealed Word to us,
spoken in Law and Gospel. The Bible is the final authority for us in
all matters of our faith and life.
CC4) A Common
Confession of Faith
We accept and uphold that the Lutheran Confessions reliably guide
us as faithful interpretations of Scripture, and that we share a unity
and fellowship in faith with others among whom the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is preached and the sacraments are administered in accordance
with the Gospel.
CC5) The Priesthood
of All Believers
We believe and confess that the Holy Spirit makes all who believe
in Jesus Christ to be priests for service to others in Jesus' name,
and that God desires to make use of the spiritual gifts he has given
through the priesthood of all believers.
CC6) Marriage and
Family
We believe and confess that the marriage of male and female is an
institution created and blessed by God. From marriage, God forms
families to serve as the building blocks of all human civilization and
community. We teach and practice that sexual activity belongs
exclusively within the biblical boundaries of a faithful marriage
between one man and one woman.
CC7) The Mission and
Ministry of the Congregation
We believe and confess that the church is the assembly of believers
called and gathered by God around Word and Sacrament, and that the
mission and ministry of the church is carried out within the context
of individual congregations, which are able to work together locally
and globally.
Copyright © 2014 St. Thomas Lutheran Church
