Spring Lake Evangelical Lutheran Church

Lutherans

For in the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith"  Romans 1:17

The following text is derived from Wikipedia with our thanks.

"Lutheranism is a movement within Christianity that began with the theological insights of Martin Luther in the 16th century. Martin Luther StatueLuther's writings launched the Protestant Reformation. This attempt to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church led to the separation between a large number of Christians and the Roman Catholic tradition. Today nearly seventy million Christians belong to Lutheran churches worldwide, with many of the four hundred million Protestant Christians tracing their history back to Luther's reforming work."

The Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions

The formal principle of Lutheranism is the Bible. Lutherans believe the Bible is divinely inspired and is the final authority for all matters of faith and doctrine. Lutherans also hold that Holy Scripture is explained and interpreted faithfully by Scripture itself. This teaching is expanded upon in the Book of Concord, a series of Confessions of faith composed by Lutherans in the 16th Century. Martin Luther Seal known as Luther RoseTraditionally, Lutheran pastors, congregations, and church bodies agree to teach in harmony with the Lutheran Confessions. Some Lutheran church bodies require this pledge to be unconditional, while others allow their congregations to do so "in so far as" the Confessions are in agreement with the Bible. Historically, Lutherans consider the canon to include the Epistle of James and the Revelation of John. Some Lutherans consider the Apocrypha to be a useful and valuable non-canonical collection of books. Historically, Lutherans have regarded the Bible as inerrant. In contrast to this view, some Lutheran denominations see the Bible as an essentially human document and therefore capable of error, particularly in historical and scientific matters.

Lutherans...

...teach that sinners cannot do anything (i.e. "good works") to satisfy God's justice. Every human thought and deed is colored by sin and sinful motives. God has intervened in this world because He loves sinners and does not want them to be eternally damned. By His grace, a person is forgiven, adopted as a child of God, and given eternal salvation.

Two Sacraments...

Lutherans generally speak of two sacraments: Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar, the Lord's Supper. They teach that Holy Baptism is a work of God, founded on the word and promise of Christ[4]. Thus it is administered to both infants and adults. Children born to practicing Lutheran families are usually baptized shortly after birth. This tradition of infant baptism distinguishes Lutheranism culturally and doctrinally from some other forms of Christianity.

Lutherans believe that the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are the true body and blood of Christ given to Christians to eat and drink (1 Cor 10:16, 11:27) instituted by Christ Himself.

Lutherans believe that all who trust in Jesus alone can be sure of their salvation, for it is in Christ's work and his promises in which their surety lies. They teach that, at death, Christians are immediately taken into the presence of God in Heaven, where they await the resurrection of the body at the second coming of Christ. Lutherans do not believe in any sort of millennial kingdom of Christ either before, or after, his second coming on the last day.

Although Lutherans believe that good works do not satisfy God's justice, this is not to say that they hold good works to play no role in the Christian life. Good works always and in every instance spring spontaneously from true faith, and have their true origin in God, not in the fallen human heart or in human striving; their complete absence would demonstrate that faith, too, is absent.

The key to the Lutheran form of the Christian religion is "Justification by faith alone." Justification by faith alone was Martin Luther's great spiritual and theological breakthrough. It did not come easily. He had tried everything from sleeping on hard floors and fasting to climbing a staircase in Rome while kneeling in prayer. Monasteries, disciplines, confessions, masses, absolutions, good works-all proved fruitless. Peace with God eluded him. The thought of the righteousness of God pursued him. He hated the very word "righteousness," which he believed provided a divine mandate to condemn him.

In Christian theology, justification is God's act of declaring or making a sinner righteous before God. The extent, means, and scope of justification are of significant debate for all in the Western church. Justification was the fault line that divided Catholic from Protestant during the Reformation.

Justification by faith alone, according to Gerhard Forde, is "the article by which the church stands or falls." He insists that "where the church no longer speaks this word, it has lost its reason for being." That is a powerful claim.

"The famous cry of the Reformers was by faith alone (sola fide in Latin). The Reformers were combating the prevailing view of the gospel in their day, which was that people are justified by faith plus works, not by faith alone." [sic]

Another key Latin phrase affecting the Lutheran denomination is sola scriptura. More on this can be read at Dr. Dennis Bielfeldt article.

Organizations and Enigmas

The foregoing describes, on a fairly high level, fundamental Lutheran ideologies. Today's Lutheran churches belong to a variety of national churches (organizations). The largest of these, the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) is, in its leadership, decidedly on the political left side of the aisle. The LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod), on the other hand, is decidedly right and is the second largest of the two main national churches (organizations). An interesting paradox and why this section is labeled "Enigmas," is that in the ELCA there are a large number of church-goers that are politically on the "right" side and in the LCMS there is a number of church-goers that are considerably left of their leadership. While all this has nothing intrinsically to do with the Lutheran faith, it does point out that the leadership of these organizations is not necessarily in touch with the rank and file.

There are a few other Lutheran organizations to which a Lutheran church might join or become associated with. Of these, one that is gaining ground is the LCMC (Lutheran Churches in Missions for Christ). This organization is congregational in its form rather than hierarchical. They lean toward a more orthodox view of Scriptural interpretation. Their roots are in WordAlone® but they separated themselves from that organization in an apparent attempt at focusing on things "church" rather than things "politic." WordAlone® is an organization that espouses an orthodox view of Lutheranism. Orthodox, their leaders and membership appreciate and practice a fairly straightforward approach to Scriptural interpretation.

This is all reminiscent of America. There have been states that for years had been "red" that are now "blue" and vice-versa. As a state goes from one color to another, it does not mean the entire population of that state made any political changes. In actuality, those people of the political stripe the state changed "from" continue to "rally their forces" and try to regain the majority. The same is happening in many of these national Lutheran organizations...as well as most, if not all, of the other Protestant denominations. In the ELCA, WordAlone® and its political arm, Lutheran CORE work for changes within the larger organization.

Spring Lake Evangelical Lutheran Church strives to maintain the "center." There is no concerted effort afoot that would cast our congregation as orthodox or liberal. We read the Bible, we all love Jesus Christ, and we are committed to Him as our Lord and Savior. It isn't difficult at all.

Links for Lutherans...