What is a Lutheran? What do Lutherans Believe?
Lutherans are Christians who believe that all Christian teachings should come from God’s Word, the Bible. We believe that the Bible is God’s Word. This means that everything the Bible teaches is correct and true. We believe that it is only through the Bible that we can know the one true God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – and His will for our lives.
Lutherans believe in God’s grace.
All people are sinners and would perish eternally without God’s help. The good news is that God has provided all of this help as a free gift. God’s saving grace is His undeserved love for all people through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. God loves all people, of every nation and race equally. It is God the Father’s desire for all people to hear His Word, to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, as their only Savior, and therefore to have eternal life. Jesus lived a holy life in our place and died on the cross for the forgiveness of all our sins. Through this completed work of Jesus, God the Father sees the whole world as not guilty, or in other words, He sees us justified – set right by the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. This teaching of “justification” is the central truth of the Bible.
Lutherans believe that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for eternal salvation.
This faith in Jesus, who is both God and man, our Savior, comes only as God, the Holy Spirit, works through God’s Word and Baptism in a person’s heart. We believe we sinners cannot come to faith through our own power, but that our faith is accomplished only by the power of the Holy Spirit as He connects us to Jesus as the Savior.
Want to know more?
The best way to learn more about Lutherans and Lutheranism is through a local church. We invite you to join us for Sunday Worship, every Sunday at 9:00am.
What we believe as a Church determines our journey and our destination.
What we believe about Jesus Christ determines our eternity.
We also believe that followers of Jesus continually seek to enhance their relationship with Him.
Those who desire to follow Jesus Christ share common characteristics:
- They regularly participate in worship
- They maintain individual daily devotions and personal prayer
- They desire to grow personally and spiritually through Bible study and other opportunities for learning
- They are good stewards of the blessings they have received from God and tithe their time, talents and treasures
- They reach outside the church and share the love of God in action through service to others
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gallupville NY is affiliated with the North American Lutheran Church (NALC) and as such is in line with its Confession of Faith.
Confession of Faith
We believe in: The Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe that:
Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and the Gospel is 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.
– The North American Lutheran Church
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther (1483-1546), German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and 
theologian.
Lutherans believe that individuals receive this gift of salvation through faith alone. Saving faith is the knowledge of, acceptance of, and trust in the promise of the Gospel. Even faith itself is seen as a gift of God, created in the hearts of Christians by the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word and Baptism.
The key doctrine, or material principle, of Lutheranism is the doctrine of justification. Lutherans believe that humans are saved from their sins by God’s grace alone (Sola Gratia), through faith alone (Sola Fide), on the basis of Scripture alone (Sola Scriptura).
Lutherans believe that whoever has faith in Jesus alone will receive salvation from the grace of God and will enter eternity in heaven instead of eternity in hell after death or at the second coming of Jesus.
What is the difference between Lutheran and Protestant? Protestant is a term that refers to Christians who are not members of the Roman Catholic Church. Lutheran is a denomination among the Protestants. Protestantism is a movement that began with Martin Luther, the founder of Lutheran.