Lutherans use a wide variety of musical instruments to praise God, from pipe organs to drums, and electric guitars to violins. Traditional Lutheran worship has been passed down through the centuries. Lutherans use many special words in worship. Many are from ancient church and biblical languages that have been passed down from one generation to the next. In many local congregations, there is an effort to modernise these ancient words.
Read Rhythms of Grace , an eight-part series about worship and liturgy. Want to worship with a Lutheran congregation? Find a church near you. The Lutheran Church is the largest Protestant church in the world, with over 70 million members.
This website tells the story of Australian and New Zealand Lutherans, following Jesus Christ — where love comes to life. Whoever you are, whatever your story, you're welcome here with us. Our death ends sin, the Scripture says. Just as the good angels are fixed in their sinless state now, so also we shall be. We will serve God forever willingly, but it will be impossible for us to will to sin as did our first parents.
In heaven it will not be like in the beginning of our human history. Old things have passed away, the new has come Rev. There will be only life, eternal life, and where there is eternal life there is eternal sinlessness. Are we judged immediately, and is our soul sent to heaven or hell or what?
The departed souls remain in heaven or hell until the Day of Judgment, when they shall be reunited with their own bodies Matt.
Therefore, "The Last Judgment is the grand finale of this present world, in which the sentence pronounced in death over the individual will be publicly confirmed and extended to the body, which till then has returned to the dust, from whence it came.
He who continues in the faith unto the end has nothing to fear for his soul after death or for his body and soul on the Day of Judgment Rev. Louis: Concordia, While I truly believe that Jesus died for our sins, those who accept Him as their personal Savior, I have been troubled as to where my sister and father are now.
Are they asleep until the end of the world? Are their bodies asleep, but their souls with God? Or, are they in Heaven with God now? In the moment of death the souls of the believers enter the joy of heaven. Jesus said to the malefactor: "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" Luke Stephen said in the hour of death: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" Acts Whoever dies in the Lord is blessed "from henceforth" Rev. Paul desires "to be with Christ," and adds that this is "far better" for him than to continue in the flesh Phil.
For this reason we pray that finally, when our last hour has come, God would grant us a blessed end and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself in heaven. On the day of the final judgment, the redeemed souls in heaven will be reunited with their own now glorified bodies and will begin to enjoy the bliss of heaven in both body and soul John ; Phil. The Lutheran church has always rejected as unscriptural the idea that the soul "sleeps" between death and Judgment Day in such a way that it is not conscious of heavenly bliss.
I know the Word and the promises of the Gospel are our rock, but how do we distinguish between real faith and mere intellectual assent? I ask this because many evangelicals make me nervous when they say that if one has doubts about one's salvation, one is probably not saved because the Holy Spirit is supposed to provide inner assurance.
I guess this ties in to the whole Pietist problem. But in the face of emotional ups and downs, moral failings, intellectual doubts, and confusion over doctrine, how can one know if one truly has faith in Christ?
Therefore, assurance of salvation is to be sought by looking to God's Word and promises in Christ which create and strengthen the faith through which one is saved , not by looking inward at the strength or weakness of one's own faith which creates either pride and false assurance or doubt and lack of assurance. Anxiety regarding doubts, strength of faith and certainty of salvation are signs of faith however weak it may be , not signs of unbelief, since the unbeliever has no concern or anxiety about doubts, faith or salvation.
If you would like to study this issue further, I would recommend Martin Chemnitz's book on Justification, available from Concordia Publishing House , stock no. If God already predetermined who was saved, what is the point of witnessing? ANSWER: Let me first of all refer you to a couple of resources that set forth the position of the Synod on Election and objective or "universal" justification.
From the standpoint of human reason, the scriptural teachings that God has objectively justified objective justification the whole world through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and wants all people to be saved through faith in Him subjective justification , and that He elected by grace from eternity those who are saved, cannot be resolved.
We must say with Paul when he contemplates the mystery of our election, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! And yet, we can say this on the basis of God's Word. By faith we hold that it is precisely because we Christians are God's elect that we proclaim the good news of salvation. We see this in Ephesians, where Paul begins by praising God for His election the purest of Gospel and only meant for our comfort; Eph.
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ This same Apostle, who regarded himself as among God's elect, wrote to the Corinthians, "For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! We witness, therefore, because God commands us to make known His saving will to others and because we are in fact part of God's elective plan being carried out in history Eph.
How does this relate to being saved by grace? ANSWER: The statements of the Creed read as follows: "At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies and will give an account of their own works.
And they that have done good will go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. It is important to note that the Athanasian Creed does not here say that certain people will "enter eternal life" because they "have done good.
On Judgment Day, God will point to our good works not as the cause of our salvation but as the evidence of the faith through which we have been saved and which enabled us to do that which was well-pleasing in his sight. There are numerous Bible passages that make the same point and use the same language e. The confession of these sentences in the Athanasian Creed in our churches is, in fact, a helpful reminder of the relation of faith and good works as taught in the Bible.
In this connection you may wish to review the following comments on Rom. Rather, he is discussing the principle of judgment according to deeds. Judgment will be rendered according to one's deeds in the sense that the good works of the believer give evidence that he has faith.
Good works, which are seen, give evidence of faith, which is unseen. However, in your Theses on Justification on this website it says plainly that believers have eternal assurance paragraph Which is it?
ANSWER: Lutherans believe both are true and Scriptural: It is possible for a believer to fall from faith and lose salvation, and it is possible for a believer to have complete assurance of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. If this seems paradoxical to human reason, then Lutherans say this is only because the teaching of Scripture itself on this issue as on many other issues appears paradoxical to human reason.
For Lutherans, this is essentially a matter of properly distinguishing between Law and Gospel: Warnings against falling from faith are the strongest form of God's Law, intended to warn against "carnal security" based on "good works" or against the attitude that "since I'm saved, I can do anything I want to do. Assurances of God's constant and eternal love in Christ are the sweetest and purest form of Gospel, intended to comfort those who are plagued by their sins and by their failures to keep God's Law perfectly.
QUESTION: I am having some trouble coming to understanding of faith alone based off of the Scripture that was cited on your website, and I was hoping for further explanation regarding the seemingly conflicting messages.
I think for me what is most problematic is actually Romans 2 — not listed as a reference but essential in understanding fully Romans 3 and 4. Romans 2 is based on the idea that to be truly Jewish is to be inwardly circumcised and not outwardly circumcised and inwardly something else. Then given Romans 3 and 4, is this necessarily an attack on good works as being a means for salvation or is this an attack on professing to be one thing and actually being another?
I was just wondering because of the obvious stark contrast to James As you no doubt are aware, the central and consistent teaching of Paul that we are justified by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ is nowhere more beautifully summarized than in Eph. By its very definition "grace" means that human works do not contribute in any way to a person's salvation or justification, as St.
Paul says in Rom. Or as the apostle had already said in , " Paul said this, of course, in the context of Jewish opinions regarding what was required for salvation. By making circumcision a necessary requirement for one to be saved See Acts ff.
The faith of which Paul speaks, of course, is a living faith in Jesus Christ that produces, by God's Spirit, the good works that God wills be done in the Christian's life.
That is why, immediately after his beautiful summary of the Gospel in Eph. Of this living faith, Luther so eloquently said: "Oh faith is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, so that it is impossible for it not to be constantly doing what is good.
Likewise, faith does not ask if good works are to be done, but before one can ask, faith has already done them and is constantly active" Formula of Concord, SD, IV, This is precisely what the entire book of James is all about. Genuine faith is a faith that shows itself in good works. Or as Luther again put it once, as an apple tree makes fruit and the fruit does not make an apple tree, so works do not make a Christian, but a Christian does good works.
Lueker, editor; Concordia Publishing House, contains the following helpful summary of the Lutheran understanding of what Scripture teaches regarding the freedom of the will:. The scriptural doctrine of the freedom of the human will is closely connected with the doctrine of original sin see Sin, Original. The doctrine of the freedom of the human will after the fall of man must be studied from the viewpoint of original sin. Scripture emphatically declares that man, also after the fall, continues to be a responsible moral agent, who in earthly matters, to some extent, may exercise freedom of will; but it asserts that "natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, Accordingly, Scripture denies to man after the fall and before conversion freedom of will in spiritual matters, and Scripture asserts that conversion is accomplished entirely through the Holy Ghost by the Gospel.
God "hath saved us It is also taught among us that man possesses some measure of freedom of the will which enables him to live an outwardly honorable life and to make choices among the things that reason comprehends.
But without the grace, help, and activity of the Holy Spirit man is not capable of making himself acceptable to God, of fearing God and believing in God with his whole heart, or of expelling inborn evil lusts from his heart.
Additional Scripture passages which may be helpful as you study and discuss this issue are: John ; ; Rom. The Bible does not say that there are those who are chosen and that there are those who are not. So, does that mean God chose everyone to be saved before the foundation of the world and therefore it is man's choice whether he will accept God's saving grace? However, one cannot come into God's grace by himself, but by the Holy Spirit "leading" him unto salvation.
Is that the correct interpretation? I am confused by the fact that we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world, yet the very action of choosing can mean there were those who were not chosen. Theologians throughout history have referred to this question as the "crux theologorum" "the cross of the theologians" because of the difficulty and from the Lutheran perspective, the impossibility of giving an answer to this question which is satisfactory to our human reason.
Some answer this question by pointing to man's "free will" — only those are saved who "choose" to be saved. Lutherans reject this answer as unscriptural because according to the Bible even man's will is "dead" and powerless to "choose" God and his grace in Christ. We are saved not because we "choose" to be saved but because the Holy Spirit works faith in our heart through the Gospel even faith is a gift! Others answer this question by pointing to God's sovereign will: God himself predestines from eternity some to be saved and others to be damned.
Lutherans reject this answer as unscriptural because, according to the Bible, God sincerely desires all to be saved and has predestined no one to damnation. So how do Lutherans answer this question? The answer is that Lutherans do not try to answer it because we believe the Bible itself does not provide an answer to this question that is comprehensible to human reason. Lutherans affirm, with Scripture, that whoever is saved is saved by God's grace alone, a grace so sure that it excludes all human "action" and "choice" but rather rests on the foundation of God's action in Christ and his "choice" predestination from before the beginning of time.
Lutherans also affirm, with Scripture, that those who are damned are damned not by God's "choice" but on account of their own human sin and rebellion and unbelief. From a human perspective, there is no "rational" or "logical" way to put these two truths together. Lutherans believe and confess them not because they are "rational" and "logical," but because this is what we find taught in Scripture.
Given that he is saved by faith, does God see to it that he will do good works, and, if so, does God fix the number and character of these works? Can a person with faith feel assured he is doing enough good works and that God is indifferent to further ones? Can a person who is not saved do good works? Is God indifferent to them? Or is He glad when an agnostic performs an act of Christ-like mercy?
If a Christian knows he is saved by knowing that he has faith, should he bother with the question whether he is practicing Christ's teachings, given that faith alone is sufficient for salvation?
Or should he bother with it only because a large enough absence of good works would suggest his faith might be too weak for salvation? ANSWER: You may criticize your Christian brother for failing to do good works insofar as God's Word criticizes him faith without deeds is dead — James , but you must criticize yourself at the same time because no one is perfect, all have sinned.
We need to be merciful and forgiving to one another. Also encourage one another to do good works Heb. Consider this Word to be the answer to your next two questions: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" Eph. The answer to the second part of this question is no, we cannot feel assured that we have done or are doing enough good works, since we do not know how many God has set for us to do.
We don't know what God's plans are. If God has prepared in advance the works we are to do, He cannot be indifferent to any of our good works. Again, we need to encourage one another to do good works. All our good works are tainted with sin. Therefore, they cannot be counted for our salvation. Only the perfect, all-sufficient righteousness Jesus accomplished for us with His perfect life will be enough for our salvation.
This comes to us by grace, imputed to us through faith, faith being a gift of God Eph. God recognizes the Christ-like good works of the unbeliever as good in the sense that they are done according to the divine Law written in their hearts Rom. However, since they come from a wicked heart that is dead in trespasses and sins Eph. In the Kingdom of God's power, the civil righteousness — the good works of unbelievers — are good only outwardly.
These are necessary for the welfare of human society, and God even rewards them with temporal blessings. But these good works of the unbelievers get them nowhere with God in His Kingdom of grace. Even works of civil righteousness will ultimately receive the condemnation of Jesus and will not prevent eternal punishment Matt.
By grace, God has given him faith in Jesus, and it is through that faith he is saved. For example, Abraham believed God had faith, not just knew he had faith , and it was credited to him as righteousness Rom. How is the reign of God modeled and embodied in worship … [and] ritual combined with direct action and advocacy?
The one who gathers us, speaks to us the living word, washes and feeds us in grace, and sends us into the world is the living Jesus Christ. No wonder, then, that worship, as diverse as the body of Christ itself, comes alive in embodied practice. Visit elca. This story continues as a monthly online series further exploring Lutheran worship. Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Washington, D.
Virgin Islands. Photo: Will Nunnally. Related Articles Perspective: Experience Pentecost in every worship service. Engaging body, mind and soul in worship. Assembly song. Being a Christian means to be a follower of Christ. Thats it. Jesus is the only important thing. Chloe, I respect you for voicing your opinion but when it comes to salvation neither your opinion nor my opinion counts for anything.
You see it takes more that simply believing and accepting Jesus as your only savior to save you, Jesus himself said you must obey to be saved. Personally, I choose not to argue with Jesus on this point. Baptist doctrine is different than Lutheran doctrine and Christian doctrine is different than Baptist and Lutheran doctrines. Here in lies the rub. I know you mean well but you have been taught things that can not be proved out to be true according to scripture and I know you would agree that scripture is our ultimate authority.
May God bless you and give you understanding. Even a child can be a Christian, can be saved. Simply by believing and accepting who He says He is and what He has done to you. If you truly believe in Him, then He will change your heart.
He will change the way you think, hear, see, say, and do. Are you saying that if you disobeyed God, you stopped being saved? Are you saying that in order to be saved, you have to constantly obey Him?
The whole point of Jesus dying on that Cross for me, for you, and for everyone is to for our sins. And one of those sins is disobedience. And to be saved from those sins is to simply believe who He says He is and what He is to you and what He has done for you. If you truly believed that, then you are saved. That Romans is all a lie? Since you always accept the scriptures at face value then why not accept what John and Romans at face value?
I, myself, know that I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I am continually wanting to grow deeper into my relationship with Dad [Jesus]. My personality changed. The way I see, say, think, and do things changed. All because of His grace. Every single day I still mess up. But He still loves me. And I still believe in Him. Not true at all. One is justification, believing in the fact that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that He rose again.
Once you believe that. The second part is sanctification. Simply by believing in Him. And confessing it with your mouth. So simple that a child can understand. Thanks for the patience if you read the whole thing, Tom. You try your best to do what he says and obey him, but he also knows your gonna disobey him. You understand that. He died on the cross for our sins, so his torture is caused by us sinning.
Obey him and when you mess up say your sorry, if not to God to spare Jesus from the ignorance inside of all of us, then to Jesus for causing him pain. How did the thief on the cross get to be with Jesus in paradise? Was he baptized? Did he ever experience any of he sacraments? He knew who Jesus was…his Lord. We must stop all this legalistic stuff and know that we know that we know that Jesus is Lord!!
If we say that we are not sinners, the we make God a liar. Thank you Lord Jesus!! Hallelujah and Amen!! Baptism is the outward response to what is going on inside, after salvation.
The thief did not have a chance to be baptized before death. Was he saved? You better believe it! Jesus walked this earth to teach and guide us. One of His examples was being baptized. We are to follow in His steps. Baptism comes after salvation. The Word was never meant to be complicated. He offers us a precious gift, through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The gift of salvation and everlasting life with Him. So in response to a previous post by someone else, baptism does not save. Salvation is required before baptism. In response to the person making the statement about repentance….. It is my understanding that the blood sacrifice Christ made, was to cover sins up to the point of salvation.
Because we are human, we will sin. Here is a hint. It is a concept derived from theology. Look up the baptism scripture and if you find it, please post it here. It will suprise some of us. Looking forward to you post. I am pleasantly surprised that this thread has endured the years and is still providing spiritual and intellectual stimulation.
God bless. Tom Sherman- you asked if someone finds a scripture on baptism as an outward sign to post here.. And it IS in the scriptures, contrary to your statement above…. Being baptized is an outward sign. But John tried to talk him out of it. JESUS said that. Plain as day. And as you frequently mention, you prefer not to argue with Jesus, we share that sentiment.
I agree we should all discard doctrines of men. HE is the author and finisher of our faith. NOT doctrines of men.
Have a blessed day in the LORD. When did following God become so divisive? Sadly Henri, it has always been divisive. Only the blood of Christ holds it together.
May the Lord forgive us! Hebrews KJV For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth law , there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. I agree with you Chloe. Jesus dying on the cross is the reason we received grace through faith. Its all about Him, the Trinity part.
The division is there, but if we accept what His Son did and continue in faith, we will enter into heaven. We will know all the answers when Jesus returns for us. Yo Jesus created a church. The Roman Catholic Church, the one the Lutheran church was derived from. If you truly love Jesus, then you should start going to the church he created and not the one that was tampered with by a human being, unless maybe you want to tell me that a human knows better than Jesus.
Actually Alicia, if you want to be technical, the Roman Church parted ways with the Orthodox Church, in large part, over the Catholic position that the Pope had authority over all other bishops. The Orthodox Church still holds to its original or at least early doctrine. All this can, of course, be disputed. However, it is historically documented.
And because Jesus is the only important thing you need to go to the sacraments. And the sacrament of reconciliation is literally created to help us grow closer to Jesus. And they were so close to Jesus that he graced them with miracles. Saints tell us how to live close to Jesus, and because you love Jesus so much you should look at how they lived their lives so that you can mirror them to become a better Christian. It seems a bit of a double standard regarding what you stated about Luther.
And because the Roman Catholic Church was Soo corrupt at the time, Luther felt it necessary to call out the MEN and bring the Word to the people, in many ways, but one was by translating to the language of his countrymen, something kept from the people by the RCC. You should learn the history before condemning. In the last days there will be, God will raise up an army that he has trained, that all follow Christ, all have been baptised in water and the Holy Spirit and by his Grace, serve him in love.
We are his chosen people, a Royal Priesthood. We do not belong to any denomination or church and have been taught by the Holy Spirit. So that no man can boast. I found it refreshing to find a like minded Christian…. Thank you for your message. Dont stay at home. Go out and demonstrate what he is teaching you. This is how he is reviving the church. Through these worshipers in spirit and truth.
Lol…not even all Christians are Christians. A Christian means a people or a man that follows and obeys the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Now after all these years, I want to apologize for for my abrasiveness. I was and still am, very zealous for the word of God, however, I am now tempered by love.
If I was offensive, and I was, I apologize. I continue to assert the fact that we must follow scripture as our only guide for salvation and to resist the doctrines of man, but I now realize that the love of God manifest through us as we teach truth is what is desperately needed not incendiary language. Humbly, Tom. Tom, your updated post replying to what you has posted back in warmed my heart greatly.
God continually works on and in all of us in His way and on His timeline.
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