What Lutherans Believe

Community of Love Lutheran Church ELCA

Our Lutheran Theology

Lutheran is a protestant denomination

of Christianity that started with the

Reformation back in the 1500s.

The central message of the Lutheran

Church is that God’s love and grace

are freely given by God to all people

through Jesus Christ.

Beyond that, being Lutheran means a myriad of things. Here

are the primary four ways of understanding Lutheranism.

Theology

The central message of Lutheran theology is that God’s love

and grace are freely given by God to all people through Jesus

Christ. God loves you, 100%, no more, no less, no matter what.

A rich history of theology unfolds from that central tenet,

beginning with the writings of Martin Luther, and continuing in

the explorations of scholars, pastors, and individuals today.

The core themes of Lutheran theology are outlined and

explained below.

History

Lutherans trace the roots of our theology back 500 years, to

the work of Martin Luther, a German monk who advocated for

reform within the Catholic church of his day (at the time the

only official church in the West). Today, Lutherans stand in

close communion with Episcopalians, Presbyterians,

Methodists and other mainline Christian denominations in

preaching the good news of God’s love to all people.

We support and engage the ordination and thriving of women,

the celebration of all people, their cultures, and a commitment to

working toward being an actively anti-racist church.

Culture

Lutheranism is not defined by or limited by a single culture. It is

a global faith rooted in the grace of God. God's love is not

limited to a single culture or peoples, so neither can

Lutheranism. Lutheranism is open to the expression of all

cultures, new worship styles, and new traditions.

Institution

As a Lutheran congregation, we are connected to a much

larger community of local, regional, nationwide, and global

church bodies. We support and work with organizations like

Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Disaster Response, Lutheran

Immigration Camp Refugee Services. By partnering with Lutheran

organizations nearby and worldwide, our efforts to serve our

neighbors and seek justice have a much further reach.

lutheran theology

8 CORE THEMES OF LUTHERAN THEOLOGY

THE LUTHERAN PERSPECTIVE ON CHRISTIAN FAITH AND THE BIBLE. NO JUDGEMENT. ONLY GRACE.

This is the core belief of Lutheran theology: God's love and

grace are freely given by God to all people through Jesus

Christ. No actions, efforts, or merit of our own are required to

earn forgiveness, and to experience the freedom to live lives

unlimited by selfishness and sin. We are not judged by God,

but rather given this gift unconditionally. And we think that's

amazing!

The full theological phrase for this idea is that we are "justified

by grace through faith for Christ's sake.and mouthful, so it's

best to break it down. "Justified" is a theological term for God

saying, "We are good" It means God claims you as enough and

righteous just the way you are. "Grace" means this is a gift

from God to us. Faith is our sense of trust in that promise. And

Christ is, in a sense, the deliverer of that gift.

Means of grace.

We believe the word and sacraments are the "means of

grace" The word “means” refers to how things actually

happen. We refer to different means of communication, means

of transportation, etc. By calling word and sacrament means of

grace, we are saying: “This is one way we can point to how and

where grace happens, here and now.” When the good news is

preached, when someone is baptized, when we receive

Communion, grace happens.

Faith is at work in our work.

The term “vocation” literally means “calling.” Until Luther’s time

it was used primarily to refer to those with a special religious

calling to be a priest, monk or nun. Luther expanded the idea to

include all Christians.

First, Luther affirmed that all Christians are priests. This

“priesthood of all believers” doesn’t mean that we each have

an individual pipeline to God but that we all have a

responsibility to teach and to pray for others.

Second, Luther affirmed that all human work is a calling from

God if done in faith and for the service of neighbor. According

to Luther, God doesn’t need our good works, but people do.

Christian faith, then, should express itself in how we live in our

professions, in our family relationships and as citizens, since

these are all arenas for the service of neighbor.

Faith is relational.

For Lutherans,"faith" means God is calling you into a

relationship with God and your neighbors, based on openness,

love, and understanding. Faith is not how much you know, and

how fervently you believe. It is being open to and engaging in

these relationships in your own way, and having a sense of

trust in God's promise of forgiveness and unconditional love

through Christ.

God is with us in our brokenness.

Called the "theology of the cross," this idea refers not just to

the events of Good Friday. It refers to a cross-centered

approach to theology that stands in opposition to a “theology of

glory” focused on the power and majesty of God abstracted

from God’s action in history.

A theology of glory looks up and says, “God’s in heaven and

all’s well with the world.” A theology of the cross, in contrast,

keeps its feet firmly planted on our broken Earth and says,

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to God.”

The incarnation witnesses to a God who puts aside divine

characteristics to become human, to suffer and to die. The God

who chooses to come down from heaven chooses not to come

down from the cross. The theology of the cross is a constant

critique of human expectations. While the cross is a scandal to

nonbelievers, Christians confess that God’s saving power

works precisely through such weakness.

Deliver the goods.

This idea, called "contextual theology" means placing faith in

the context of the community and needs around you. The

Greek word diakonos, often translated in the New Testament

as “minister” or “servant,” can also refer to a waiter. This image

reminds us how essential it is for the food to reach the hungry

diners at the table. No matter how exquisite the chef or the

food, it’s no good if the meal stays in the kitchen. Similarly, the

church needs to deliver the goods.

In The Freedom of a Christian, Luther insists that it’s not

enough simply to acknowledge that Christ is Christ. Instead,

the purpose of preaching is to make the connection, to deliver

the goods so Christ may “be Christ for you and me.”

Laws, but also, grace.

Law and Gospel are two different ways the Bible informs us.

On one hand, the Bible provides instructive wisdom about

human nature, and teaching how we should strive to live. This

includes the 10 Commandments and New Testament

commandments like the "Golden Rule" love your neighbor as

yourself.

The Gospel, on the other hand, is the good news that God

already loves, forgives, and reconciles us through Christ. We

value the law, and aim to live by it. But we own up to our

imperfection, and believe God's forgiveness and love are still

freely given to everyone, unconditionally. As Luther puts it:

“The law says, ‘do this,’ and it is never done. Grace says,

‘believe in this,’ and everything is already done.”

We're all saints. And sinners too.

Luther described Christians as “simultaneously saint and

sinner.” Some religious traditions distinguish between “saints,”

who obey God’s will, and “sinners,” who disobey. Lutherans

cling to a both/and understanding of Christian identity that

redefines the word “saint”: a saint is a forgiven sinner.

Our dual identity as saints and sinners reminds us that our

righteousness always depends on God’s grace, never on our

own religious behavior. At the same time, our recognition that

sin, while forgiven, remains a powerful force in the world and in

ourselves gives us a realistic ability to confront cruelty and evil,

confident that God will have the last word.