Martin Luther wished people would not be called Lutherans. However, his enemies persisted, and so we 80 million Lutherans today are so identified.
We really do not mind. Just as a rose by any other name is a rose, so a Lutheran by any other name is a Lutheran.
Here is why.
We Lutherans believe, teach & confess...
that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet is one God.
that God is Creator of all things, Preserver, and Sovereign.
that the Bible is God's Word to call people to Jesus Christ and to correction in righteousness.
that the Spirit of God stirs people to believe in God.
Thus, we Lutherans believe, teach & confess...
that all men, good and bad, are debtors to and "beggars before God," that man cannot make himself right with God by better behavior because no human behavior is ever perfect in thought, word and deed.
that God by grace, in mercy, and moved by his perfect love created a plan to save His separated creatures.
that all who repent and believe that Jesus Christ by his perfect life and his sacrificial death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead restored them completely to God's good favor and automatically are God's people.
that the lines of this one and only true Church cannot be drawn clearly because "the just shall live by his faith," and only the individual knows his faith.
As to faith really working, we Lutherans believe, teach & confess...
that faith permeates the whole person and is therefore active in love toward others, especially the poor, the needy and thy neighbor.
that faith delights in God's Ten commandments as a way of life.
that faith has the built-up urge to multiply itself.
that faith accepts governments as God's ordained representative and that obedience and taxes are God pleasing and vital to civility, but that none of these may encroach on obedience to God.
Finally, we Lutherans believe, teach & confess...
that the world will come to an end.
that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and that those who did not believe in Jesus Christ for whatever reasons will perish in hell eternally.
that those who did believe will live "life after life" forever with God in heaven.
The above information was adapted from the
publication: "We Lutherans Believe, Teach, and
Confess."
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