Perhaps
you have attended an ordination of a pastor and heard him
promise that he will perform the duties of his office in
accord with the Lutheran Confessions. When people are received
into membership into a Lutheran congregation through
confirmation they are asked if they confess the doctrine of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as they have learned to know
it from the Small Catechism, to be faithful and true.
These solemn
promises indicate to us just how important the Lutheran
Confessions are for our church. Let's take a look at the
various items contained in the Lutheran Confessions
and then we
will talk about why the Lutheran Confessions are so important
for being a Lutheran.
In the year 1530,
the Lutherans were required to present their confession of
faith before the emperor in Augsburg, Germany. Philip
Melanchthon wrote the Augsburg Confession and it was read
before the imperial court on June 30, 1530. One year later,
the Lutherans presented their defense of the Augsburg
Confession, which is what "apology" here means. It
too was written by Philip Melanchthon. The Lutheran Confessions
or another largest document in
the Book of
Concord, its longest chapter, is devoted to the
most important truth of the Christian faith: the doctrine of
justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone.
What
are the Ecumenical Creeds?
The
three ecumenical creeds are the
Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed.
They are described as "ecumenical" [universal]
because they are accepted by Christians worldwide as correct
expressions of what God's Word teaches.
What
are the Small
and Large
Catechisms?
Martin
Luther realized early on how desperately ignorant the laity
and clergy of his day were when it came to even the most basic
truths of the Christian faith. Around 1530, he produced two
small handbooks to help pastors and the heads of families
teach the faith.
The Small Catechism
and the Large Catechism are organized around six topics: the
Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Holy
Baptism, Confession, and the Sacrament of the Altar. So
universally accepted were these magnificent doctrinal
summaries by Luther, that they were included as part of the what
are Lutherans.
What
is the connection between the Bible and the Confessions?
We
confess that, "The Word of God is and should remain the
sole rule and norm of all doctrine" . What the Bible
asserts, God asserts. What the Bible commands, God commands.
The authority of the Scriptures is complete, certain and
final. The Scriptures are accepted by the Lutheran Confessions
as the actual Word of God. The Lutheran Confessions urge us to
believe the Scriptures for "they will not lie to
you" and cannot be "false and
deceitful". The Bible is God's "pure, infallible,
and unalterable Word".
The Lutheran Confessions
are the "basis, rule, and norm
indicating how all doctrines should be judged in conformity
with the Word of God". Because the Confessions are
in complete doctrinal agreement with the written Word of God,
they serve as the standard in the Lutheran Church to determine
what is faithful Biblical teaching, insofar as that teaching
is addressed in the Confessions.
What
is a "confessional" Lutheran?
The word
"confession" is used in a variety of ways, but when
we speak of a "confessional" Lutheran we mean a
Lutheran who declares to the world his faith and most deeply
held belief and conviction, in harmony with the documents
contained in the Small
and Large
Catechisms. Look in what
are Lutherans go and check this out.
Therefore, it is our intent to give witness before God and all
Christendom, among those who are alive today and those who
will come after us, that the explanation here set forth
regarding all the controversial articles of faith which we
have addressed and explained--and no other explanation--is our
teaching, faith, and confession. In it we shall appear before
the judgment throne of Jesus Christ, by God's grace, with
fearless hearts and thus give account of our faith, and we
will neither secretly nor publicly speak or write anything
contrary to it. Instead, on the strength of God's grace, we
intend to abide by this confession
