| LUTHERANS
BELIEVE |
- That
God is the Creator of the universe with all of its grandeur and
beauty, and that He sustains it with His almighty power. He also
created our first parents, Adam and Eve, in His own image that
they might live in fellowship with Him and be His instruments
to care for the creation.
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- That
Adam and Eve, whom God created, doubted and rebelled against Him.
They sinned and their natures became evil. Now every human being
is born with a self-centered nature and a tendency for evil that
violates God's will and desire. Attempts to change human nature
or to please God with our own good are doomed to failure. People
need forgiveness and new life, and God provides it through His
grace.
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- That
God out of pure love gives people forgiveness of sins and thus
reconciles them to Himself. He does this even though He is a just
God who punishes sin because His own Son, Jesus Christ, took the
punishment for all sin for all people upon Himself when He died
on the cross of Calvary. God raised him from the dead on Easter
and thus demonstrated to the world that the sacrifice of Jesus
has been accepted and human's sin paid for.
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- That
People receive forgiveness through faith. Faith is the hand which
accepts God's free gift. Faith is created by the Holy Spirit through
the means of the Gospel message which tells of God's love demonstrated
in Jesus Christ. Infant baptism is the means by which a child
is given a new life and received into God's kingdom.
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- That
the Bible is the source of knowledge about God and His forgiveness
and is also the way in which He speaks to us today. The Bible
was written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and so is true
and without error.
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- That
God has given two Sacraments to build His church, Baptism to create
faith and Holy Communion - also called the Lord's Supper or the
Eucharist - to nurture faith. In Holy Communion Jesus Christ gives
the communicant His body "in, with, and under" the bread
and wine.
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- That
the fellowship which God establishes with His believers on earth
will continue after this life as believers live with Him in Heaven
for all eternity.
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