Question 1

The Bible

Accepted Answer

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On The Bible

We believe, teach, and confess that Holy Scripture (the canonical books of the Old and New Testament) differs from all other books in the world in that it is the very Word of God. We believe what Scripture says about itself: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16); "For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21); "The Word of the Lord endures forever" (Psalm 119:9).

The Holy Spirit caused every Word to be written through the prophets, evangelists, and disciples. Since Scripture is the Word of God, it contains no errors or contradictions, but, in all its parts, includes the infallible truth (John 10:35; Romans 3:21; 1 Corinthians 2:13), even when it speaks of historical, geographical, scientific, and other secular matters (John 10:35).

We reject the doctrine which under the name of science has gained wide popularity in the Church of our day that Holy Scripture is not in all its parts the Word of God, but in part, the Word of God and in part the word of man and therefore does, or at least, might contain an error. We reject this erroneous doctrine as horrible and blasphemous, contradicts Christ and His holy apostles, sets up men as judges over the Word of God, and thus overthrows the foundation of the Christian Church and its faith.

Furthermore, we also believe that Holy Scripture is complete and that the canon is closed, as Scripture says, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1–2).

For this reason, we do not search for the Word, Will, or Revelation of God in "signs and wonders," that is, apart from the words of Holy Scripture; instead, with complete confidence, we find His Word, Will, and Revelation in the very words of Holy Scripture, which He has given to us and all people. The Holy Scriptures are the sole source from which all doctrines proclaimed in the Christian Church must be taken and, therefore, the sole rule and norm by which all teachers and doctrines must be examined and judged.

Question 2

God

Accepted Answer

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On God
Because Holy Scripture is the Word of God, we believe, teach, and confess the Triune God: the One true God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4) is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, but of one and the same divine essence, equal in power, equal in eternity, equal in majesty, because each person possesses the one divine essence entirely (Colossians 2:9; Matthew 28:19). We hold that all teachers and religions that deny the doctrine of the Holy Trinity are outside of the Christian Church. The Triune God is the God who is gracious to man (John 3:16-18; 1 Corinthians 12:3).

Since the Fall of man (Genesis 1-3), no man can believe in the "fatherhood" of God except he who believes in the eternal Son of God, who became man and reconciled us to God by His vicarious satisfaction (1 John 2:23; John 14:6). This is a sacred mystery, one that we do not seek to explain through analogy, metaphor, or simile. Reason cannot comprehend God; instead, the Triune God gives us faith to believe. We do not explore the Trinity; we adore Him. We worship the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity. We confess all the three Trinitarian Creeds of the universal Church: The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.

We condemn Unitarianism, a widespread and popular false teaching in our country.

Question 3

Creation

Accepted Answer

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On Creation

We teach that God created heaven and earth in the manner and in the amount of time recorded in Holy Scripture. We believe, teach, and confess the historicity of Genesis 1–2, namely, that God created all things by His almighty creative word in the time of six regular, ordinary days.

We reject every doctrine that denies or limits the work of creation as taught in Scripture. In our days, it is denied or limited by those who assert, ostensibly in deference to science, that the world came into existence through a process of evolution; that is, that it has, in immense periods (millions or billions of years), developed more or less of itself. Since no one was present when it pleased God to create the world, we must look for a reliable account of creation to God’s own record, found in God’s own book, the Bible. We accept God’s record with complete confidence and confess with Luther’s Catechism: I believe God has made me and all creatures.

Question 4

Humans and Sin

Accepted Answer

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On Humans and Sin

We affirm that God, in His divine image, created man (Genesis 1:26, 27; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10). This creation, endowed with true knowledge of God, true righteousness and holiness, and a profound understanding of nature (Genesis 2:19–23), is a testament to His divine power. The first humans, Adam and Eve, were brought into being by God, as we read in the historical account of Genesis 1–3.

We also teach that sin came into the world by the Fall of the first man, as described in Genesis 3. By this Fall, not only he himself but also his natural offspring have lost the original knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and thus, all men are sinners by birth, dead in sins, inclined to evil, and subject to the wrath of God (Romans 5:12, 18; Ephesians 2:1-3). All men are unable, through any efforts of their own or by the aid of "culture and science," to reconcile themselves to God and thus overcome death and damnation.

We condemn the false doctrine that man evolved from a different species or kind, and we condemn the false doctrine that the first man was brute-like. We also condemn the unbiblical teaching that death existed before the Fall into sin.

Question 5

Jesus and Salvation

Accepted Answer

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On Salvation

We teach that mankind is unable, through any efforts of their own, to reconcile themselves to God.

For this reason, God sent His only begotten Son into the world to redeem us from sin, death, and the devil. We believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is the Lord, who has redeemed us, lost and condemned creatures, purchased and won us from all sins, death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, so that we may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity (Galatians 4:4, 5; 3:13; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 9; John 3:16-18). The purpose of this miraculous incarnation of the Son of God was that He might become the Mediator between God and men, fulfilling the divine Law and suffering and dying in the place of mankind. In this manner, God reconciled the whole sinful world unto Himself. The Holy Ghost testifies through St. Paul: "There is no difference; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," Romans 3:23, 24. And again: "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law," Romans 3:28.
Through this doctrine alone, Christ is given the honor due Him, namely, that He is our Savior through His holy life and innocent suffering and death. Through this doctrine alone, poor sinners can have the abiding comfort that God is assuredly gracious to them. We reject as apostasy from the Christian religion all doctrines whereby man's works and merit are mingled into the article of justification before God. For the Christian religion is the faith that we have forgiveness of sins and salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, Acts 10:43.

This Gospel is preached to all men, to the end that they may believe it (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19; Romans 1:5). Therefore, faith in Christ is the only way for us to obtain reconciliation with God, that is, the forgiveness of sins, as both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures testify (Acts 10:43; John 3:16-18). This faith in Christ, through which we obtain the forgiveness of sins, is without any human effort to fulfill the Law of God after the example of Christ, but faith in the Gospel, that is, in the forgiveness of sins won by Christ and offered to us by the Gospel. This faith justifies but as laying hold of the grace given in Christ (Romans 4:16).

We reject as apostasy from the Christian religion not only the doctrine of the Unitarians, who promise the grace of God to men based on their moral efforts, not only the gross work-doctrine of the papists, who expressly teach that good works are necessary to obtain justification; but also the doctrine of the synergists, who indeed use the terminology of the Christian Church and say that man is justified "by faith," "by faith alone," but again mix human works into the article of justification by ascribing to man a co-operation with God in the kindling of faith and thus stray into papistic territory.

Question 6

Faith

Accepted Answer

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On Faith

Since God has reconciled the whole world unto Himself through the vicarious life and death of His Son and has commanded that the reconciliation effected by Christ be proclaimed to men in the Gospel, to the end that they may believe it (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19; Romans 1:5), therefore faith in Christ is the only way for men to obtain personal reconciliation with God, that is, forgiveness of sins, as both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures testify (Acts 10:43; John 3:16-18, 36). 
By this faith in Christ, through which men obtain the forgiveness of sins, is not meant any human effort to fulfill the Law of God after the example of Christ, but faith in the Gospel, that is, in the forgiveness of sins, or justification, which was fully earned for us by Christ and is offered by the Gospel. This faith justifies, not inasmuch as it is a work of man, but inasmuch as it lays hold of the grace offered, the forgiveness of sins (Romans 4:16).

Question 7

Conversion

Accepted Answer

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On Conversion

We teach that conversion consists in this that a man, having learned from the Law of God that he is a lost and condemned sinner, is brought to faith in the Gospel, which offers him forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation for the sake of Christ’s vicarious satisfaction (Acts 11:21; Luke 24:46, 47; Acts 26:18).
All men, since the Fall, are dead in sins, Ephesians 2:1-3, and inclined only to evil, Genesis 6:5; 8:21; Romans 8:7. For this reason, and mainly because men regard the Gospel of Christ, crucified for the sins of the world, as foolishness, 1 Corinthians 2:14, faith in the Gospel, or conversion to God, is neither wholly nor in the least part the work of man, but the work of God’s grace and almighty power alone, Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8; 1:19; — Jeremiah 31:18. Hence Scripture call the faith of men, or his conversion, a raising from the dead, Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12, a being born of God, John 1:12, 13, a new birth by the Gospel, 1 Pet. 1:23-25, a work of God like the creation of light at the world's creation, 2 Cor. 4:6.

On the basis of these clear statements of the Holy Scriptures, we resolutely reject every kind of synergism. This doctrine suggests that conversion is wrought not by the grace and power of God alone, but in part also by the co-operation of man himself, by man’s right conduct, his right attitude, his right self-determination, his lesser guilt or less evil conduct as compared with others, his refraining from willful resistance, or anything else whereby man’s conversion and salvation is taken out of the gracious hands of God and made to depend on what man does or leaves undone. For this refraining from willful resistance or from any kind of resistance is also solely a work of grace, which changes unwilling into willing men, Ezekiel 36:26; Philippians 2:13. We reject also the doctrine that man is able to decide for conversion through powers imparted by grace, since this doctrine presupposes that before conversion man still possesses spiritual powers by which he can make the right use of such powers imparted by grace.

Equally, we firmly reject the Calvinistic perversion of the doctrine of conversion. This doctrine suggests that God does not desire to convert and save all hearers of the Word, but only a portion of them. Many hearers of the Word indeed remain unconverted and are not saved, not because God does not earnestly desire their conversion and salvation, but solely because they stubbornly resist the gracious operation of the Holy Ghost, as Scripture teaches, Acts 7:51; Matthew 23:37; Acts 13:46. As to the question why not all men are converted and saved, seeing that God’s grace is universal and all men are equally and utterly corrupt, we confess that we cannot answer it. From Scripture we know only this: A man owes his conversion and salvation, not to any lesser guilt or better conduct on his part, but solely to the grace of God. But any man’s non-conversion is due to himself alone; it is the result of his obstinate resistance against the converting operation of the Holy Ghost (Hosea 13:9).

Our refusal to go beyond what is revealed in these two Scriptural truths is not masked Calvinism (Crypto-Calvinism) but precisely the Scriptural teaching of the Lutheran Church as it is presented in detail in the Formula of Concord (Triglot, p. 1081, paragraphs 57-59, 60b, 62, 63; M. p. 716f.): That one is hardened, blinded, given over to a reprobate mind, while another, who is indeed in the same guilt, is converted again, etc. — in these and similar questions Paul fixes a specific limit to us how far we should go, namely, that in the one part, we should recognize God’s judgment. For they are well-deserved penalties for sins when God so punished a land or nation for despising His Word that the punishment extends also to their posterity, as is to be seen in the Jews. And thereby God in some lands and persons exhibits His severity to those that are His to indicate what we all would have well deserved and would be worthy and worth since we act wickedly in opposition to God’s Word and often grieve the Holy Ghost sorely; so that we may live in fear of God and acknowledge and praise God’s goodness, to the exclusion of, and contrary to, our merit in and with us, to whom He gives His Word and with whom He leaves it and whom He does not harden and reject…And this His righteous, well-deserved judgment He displays in some countries, nations, and persons so that, when we are placed alongside them and compared with them (quam simillimi illis deprehensi, i.e., and found to be most similar to them), we may learn the more diligently to recognize and praise God’s pure, unmerited grace in the vessels of mercy…When we proceed thus far in this article, we remain on the right way, as it is written, Hosea 13:9: ‘O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thy help.’ However, as regards these things in this disputation, which would soar too high and beyond these limits, we should, with Paul, place the finger upon our lips and remember and say, Romans 9:20: ‘O man, who art thou that repliest against God?’ The Formula of Concord describes the mystery that confronts us here not as a mystery in man’s heart (a psychological mystery) but teaches that when we try to understand why one is hardened, blinded, given over to a reprobate mind, while another, who is indeed in the same guilt, is converted again, we enter the domain of the unsearchable judgments of God and ways past finding out, which are not revealed to us in His Word, but which we shall know in eternal life. 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Calvinists solve this mystery, which God has not revealed in His Word, by denying the universality of grace; synergists deny that salvation comes by grace alone. Both solutions are utterly vicious since they contradict Scripture and since every poor sinner needs and must cling to both the unrestricted universal grace and the unrestricted by grace alone lest he despair and perish.

Question 8

Good Works

Accepted Answer

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On Good Works

Good works, a result of Christ's free gift of salvation, are performed by the Christian through faith in the Gospel (John 15:4, 5). Faith always precedes good works, and they are never a means to earn salvation. The only way we, as Christians, can be rich in good works (Titus 2:14) is by constantly remembering the grace of God we have received in Christ (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 8:9). Good works are not a way to merit salvation, but a result of the salvation given by grace through faith in Christ.

Only those works that are good before God are done for God's glory and man's good, according to the rule of divine Law. No man performs such works, however, unless he first believes that God has forgiven him his sins and has given him eternal life by grace, for Christ’s sake, without any works of his own (John 15:4, 5).

We reject as a great folly the assertion, frequently made in our day, that works are to be considered first and foremost primary, and that faith in doctrine must be secondary (In other words, "Deeds, not creeds."). Instead, we teach that the Gospel of Christ crucified for the world's sins must be the first and chief thing. So, we reject as unchristian and foolish any attempt to produce good works by the compulsion of the Law or through carnal motives.

Question 9

The Means of Grace

Accepted Answer

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On the Means of Grace

Although God is present and operates everywhere throughout all creation and the whole earth is therefore full of the temporal bounties and blessings of God, Colossians 1:17; Acts 17:28; 14:17, still we hold with Scripture that God offers and communicates to men the spiritual blessings purchased by Christ, namely, the forgiveness of sins and the treasures and gifts connected in addition to that, only through the external means of grace ordained by Him. These means of grace are the Word of the Gospel, in every form it is brought to man, and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Word of the gospel promises and applies the grace of God, works faith and thus regenerates man, and gives the Holy Ghost, Acts 20:24; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23; Galatians 3:2. Baptism, too, is applied for the remission of sins and is therefore a washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, Acts 2:38; 22:16; Titus 3:5. Likewise the object of the Lord’s Supper, that is, of the ministration of the body and blood of Christ, is none other than the communication and sealing of the forgiveness of sins, as the words declare: Given for you, and: Shed for you for the remission of sins, Luke 22:19-20; Matthew 26:28, and This cup is the New Testament in My blood, 1 Corinthians 11:23; Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New Covenant).

Since it is only through the external means ordained by Him that God has promised to communicate the grace and salvation purchased by Christ, the Christian Church must not remain at home with the means of grace entrusted to it but go into the whole world with the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments, Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15, 16. For the same reason, the churches at home should never forget that there is no way to win souls for the Church and keep them with it other than the faithful and diligent use of the divinely ordained means of grace. Whatever activities do not directly apply the Word of God or subserve such application, we condemn them as new methods, unchurchly activities that do not build but harm the Church. We reject the doctrine, which disrupted the Church of the Reformation, as a dangerous error, that the grace and the Spirit of God are communicated not through the external means ordained by Him but by an immediate operation of grace. This erroneous doctrine bases the forgiveness of sins, or justification, upon a fictitious infused grace, that is, upon a quality of man, and thus again establishes the work doctrine of the papists.

Question 10

Baptism

Accepted Answer

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Although God is present and works everywhere throughout all creation and the whole earth (Colossians 1:17; Acts 17:28, 14:17), we still hold with Scripture that God offers and communicates to us the spiritual blessings purchased by Christ, namely, the forgiveness of sins, only through the external means of grace ordained by Him. These are the Word of the Gospel, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. The Word of God promises and declares the grace of God, works faith and regenerates us, and gives us the Holy Ghost (Acts 20:24; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23; Galatians 3:2).
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Baptism is given for the forgiveness of sins and is, therefore, a washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Titus 3:5). It is not simple water only, but it is the water combined with God's command and included with His Word (Matthew 28). Baptism gives forgiveness, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. Christ says, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16). Acts 2:38 says, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Furthermore, 1 Peter 3:21 says, "Baptism, which corresponds to this [the flood], now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. . ."

We reject those who teach that Baptism is our work or that it is merely a symbol or act of obedience and dedication of ourselves to God. Since Baptism is God's Work, not ours, and since salvation is a gift from God, not earned (Ephesians 2:8-9), our churches Baptize infants since they are sinners and in need of blessing (Matthew 19:15; Mark 10:16), and since they too can have faith by the Word of God (Luke 1:41-44). Baptism saves you. It is not our dedication to Him but His dedication to us. He gives us the obedience of Christ. He has loved us before we could ever love Him.

Question 11

The Lord's Supper

Accepted Answer

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The Lord's Supper is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink. It is the ministration of His very Body and Blood. It gives exactly what it says: "the forgiveness of sins," as the words declare: "Given for you," and: "Shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," (Luke 22:19, 20; Matthew 26:28), and "This cup is the New Testament in My blood" (1 Corinthians 11:23; Jeremiah 31:31-34). In the Lord's Supper, we receive Christ's very body and blood into our mouths, not in a spiritual way, but truly, physically. This is a sacred mystery revealed in Scripture and believed by faith. Christ is truly present, not because of our faith, but because of His promise in the Word. Therefore, those who do not truly believe still receive Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:27 ff.). Those who receive it unworthily, that is, in ignorance or impenitence, receive it to their judgment. For this reason, we practice Closed Communion. This is an act of love on behalf of the Church to protect people from receiving it unworthily and to their harm, and to ensure that all those who receive it receive the blessing the Lord intended: The forgiveness of sins.

Question 12

The Church

Accepted Answer

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On The Church

We believe there is one holy Christian Church on earth, the Head of which is Christ, and is gathered, preserved, and governed by Christ through the Gospel.
 
The members of the Christian Church are the Christians, that is, all those who have despaired of their righteousness before God and believe that God forgives their sins for Christ's sake. The Christian Church, in the proper sense of the term, is composed of believers only, Acts 5:14; 26:18; which means that no person in whom the Holy Ghost has wrought faith in the Gospel, or — which is the same thing — in the doctrine of justification, can be divested of his membership in the Christian Church; and, on the other hand, that no person in whose heart this faith does not dwell can be invested with such membership. All unbelievers, though they are in external communion with the Church and even hold the office of teacher or any other office in the Church, are not members of the Church, but, on the contrary, dwelling-places and instruments of Satan, Eph. 2:2. This is also the teaching of our Lutheran Confessions: "It is certain, however, that the wicked are in the power of the devil and members of the kingdom of the devil, as Paul teaches, Eph. 2:2 when he says that 'the devil now worketh in the children of disobedience,' " etc. (Apology, Triglot, p. 231, Paragraph 16; M., p. 154.)

Since it is by faith in the Gospel alone that men become members of the Christian Church, and since this faith cannot be seen by men, but is known to God alone, 1 Kings 8:39; Acts 1:24; 2 Tim. 2:19, therefore the Christian Church on earth is invisible till Judgment Day, Col. 3:3, 4. In our day, some Lutherans speak of two sides of the Church, taking the means of grace to be its "visible side." Indeed, the means of grace are necessarily related to the Church, seeing that the Church is created and preserved through them. But the means of grace are not for that reason a part of the Church; for the Church, in the proper sense of the word, consists only of believers, Eph. 2:19, 20; Acts 5:14. Lest we abet the notion that the Christian Church in the proper sense of the term is an external institution, we shall continue to call the means of grace the "marks" of the Church. Just as wheat is to be found only where it has been sown, so the Church can be found only where the Word of God is in use.

We teach that this Church, which is the invisible communion of all believers, is to be found not only in those external church communions that teach the Word of God purely in every part but also where, along with error, so much of the Word of God still remains that men may be brought to the knowledge of their sins and to faith in the forgiveness of sins, which Christ has gained for all men (Mark 16:16; Samaritans: Luke 17:16; John 4:25).

Local Churches or Local Congregations. — Holy Scripture, however, does not speak merely of the one Church, which embraces the believers of all places, as in Matt. 16:18; John 10:16, but also of churches in the plural, that is, of local churches, as in 1 Cor. 16:19; 1:2; Acts 8:1: the Churches of Asia, the church of God in Corinth, the church in Jerusalem. But this does not mean that there are two kinds of churches, for the local churches also, as far as they are churches, consist solely of believers, as we see clearly from the addresses of the epistles to local churches; for example, "unto the church which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints," 1 Cor. 1:2, Rom. 1:7, etc. The visible society, containing hypocrites as well as believers, is called a church only in an improper sense, Matt. 13:47-50, 24-30, 38-43.

On Church-Fellowship. — Since God ordained that His Word only, without the admixture of human doctrine, be taught and believed in the Christian Church, 1 Peter 4:11; John 8:31, 32; 1 Tim. 6:3, 4, all Christians are required by God to discriminate between orthodox and heterodox church-bodies, Matt. 7:15, to have church fellowship only with orthodox church-bodies, and, in case they have strayed into heterodox church-bodies, to leave them, Rom. 16:17. We repudiate unionism, that is, church-fellowship with the adherents of false doctrine, as disobedience to God's command, as causing divisions in the Church, Rom. 16:17; 2 John 9, 10, and involving the constant danger of losing the Word of God entirely, 2 Tim. 2:17-21.

The orthodox character of a church is established not by its mere name nor by its outward acceptance of, and subscription to, an orthodox creed but by the doctrine taught in its pulpits, in its theological seminaries, and its publications. On the other hand, a church does not forfeit its orthodox character through the casual intrusion of errors, provided these are combated and eventually removed using doctrinal discipline, Acts 20:30; 1 Tim. 1:3.

The Original and True Possessors of All Christian Rights and Privileges — Since Christians are the Church, it is self-evident that they alone possess the spiritual gifts and rights Christ has gained for and given to His Church. Thus, St. Paul reminds all believers: "All things are yours" 1 Cor. 3:21, 22, and Christ Himself commits to all believers the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 16:13-19, 18:17-20; John 20:22, 23, and commissions all believers to preach the Gospel and to administer the Sacraments, Matt. 28:19, 20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25. Accordingly, we reject all doctrines by which this spiritual power or any part thereof is adjudged as originally vested in certain individuals or bodies, such as the Pope, the bishops, the order of the ministry, the secular lords, councils, or synods, etc. The officers of the Church publicly administer their offices only by delegated powers. Such administration remains under the supervision of the latter, Col. 4:17. Naturally, all Christians also have the right and the duty to judge and decide matters of doctrine, not according to their notions, of course, but according to the Word of God, 1 John 4:1; 1 Pet. 4:11.

Question 13

Pastors

Accepted Answer

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On Pastors

Public ministry means the office by which the Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments are administered by order and in the name of a Christian congregation. Concerning this office, we teach that it is a divine ordinance; that is, the Christians of a specific locality must apply the means of grace not only privately and within the circle of their families nor merely in their ordinary fellowship with fellow Christians, John 5:39; Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:16, but they are also required, by the divine order, to make provision that the Word of God is publicly preached in their midst, and the Sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ, by persons qualified for such work, whose qualifications and official functions are precisely defined in Scripture, Titus 1:5; Acts 14:23; 20:28; 2 Tim. 2:2.

Although the office of the ministry is a divine ordinance, it possesses no other power than the power of the Word of God, 1 Pet. 4:11; that is to say, Christians must yield unconditional obedience to the office of the ministry whenever and as long as the minister proclaims to them the Word of God, Heb. 13:17, Luke 10:16. If, however, the minister, in his teachings and injunctions, were to go beyond the Word of God, it would be the duty of Christians not to obey, but to disobey him, to remain faithful to Christ, Matt. 23:8. Accordingly, we reject the false doctrine ascribing to the office of the ministry the right to demand obedience and submission in matters which Christ has not commanded.

We teach that ordination is not a divine but a commendable ecclesiastical ordinance. (Smalcald Articles. Triglot, p. 525, paragraph 70; M., p. 342.)

We reject and condemn the false doctrine of liberal churches, which attempts to place women in the Office of the Holy Ministry and treats them as if they are pastors called by God. We reject the unbiblical practice of placing women in authority over men and of delegating to women the duties and responsibilities of men and pastors.

Question 14

The State

Accepted Answer

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On the State

Although both Church and State are ordinances of God, yet they must not be commingled. Church and State have entirely different aims. By the Church, God would save men, so the Church is called the mother of believers Gal. 4:26. By the State, God would maintain external order among men, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, 1 Tim. 2:2. It follows that the means the Church and State employ to gain their ends are entirely different. The Church may not employ any other means than the preaching of the Word of God, John 18:11, John 36; 2 Cor. 10:4. The State, on the other hand, makes laws bearing on civil matters and is empowered to employ for their execution also the sword and other corporal punishments, Rom. 13:4. We teach that we are obligated to submit to the authority of the state insofar as it does not command us to sin (Acts 5:29).

Accordingly, we condemn the policy of those who would have the power of the State employed in the interest of the Church and who thus turn the Church into a secular dominion, as also of those who, aiming to govern the State by the Word of God, seek to turn the State into a Church.

Question 15

Sunday

Accepted Answer

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On Sunday

We teach that in the New Testament, God has abrogated the Sabbath and all the holy days prescribed for the Church of the Old Covenant so that neither the keeping of the Sabbath nor any other day nor the observance of at least one specific day of the seven days of the week is ordained or commanded by God, Col. 2:16; Rom. 14:5 (Augsburg Confession, Triglot, p. 91, Paragraphs 51-60; M., p. 66).

The observance of Sunday and other church festivals is an ordinance of the Church, made by Christian liberty. (Augsburg Confession, Triglot, p. 91, Paragraphs 51-53, 60; M., p. 66; Large Catechism, Triglot, p. 603, Paragraphs 83, 85, 89, M., p. 401.) Hence Christians should not regard such ordinances as ordained by God and binding upon the conscience, Col. 2:16; Gal. 4:10. However, for the sake of Christian love and peace, they should willingly observe them, Rom. 14:13; 1 Cor. 14:40. (Augsburg Confession, Triglot, p. 91, Paragraphs 53-56; M., p. 67.)

Question 16

Eternal Election

Accepted Answer

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On Eternal Election

By the election of grace, we mean this truth that all those who by the grace of God alone, for Christ's sake, through the means of grace, are brought to faith, are justified, sanctified, and preserved in faith here in time, that all these have already from eternity been endowed by God with faith, justification, sanctification, and preservation in faith, and this for the same reason, namely, by grace alone, for Christ's sake, and by way of the means of grace. That this is the doctrine of the Holy Scripture is evident from Eph. 1:3-7; 2 Thess. 2:13, 14; Acts 13:48; Rom. 8:28-30; 2 Tim. 1:9; Matt. 24:22-24 (cp. Form. of Conc. Triglot, p. 1065, Paragraphs 5, 8, 23; M., p. 705).

Accordingly, we reject as an anti-Scriptural error the doctrine that not alone the grace of God and the merit of Christ are the cause of the election of grace, but that God has, in addition, found or regarded something good in us which prompted or caused Him to elect us, this being variously designated as "good works," "right conduct," "proper self-determination," "refraining from willful resistance," etc. Nor does Holy Scripture know of an election "by foreseen faith," "in view of faith," as though the faith of the elect were to be placed before their election; but according to Scripture, the faith which the elect have in time belongs to the spiritual blessings with which God has endowed them by His eternal election. Scripture teaches Acts 13:48: "And as many as were ordained unto eternal life believed." Our Lutheran Confession also testifies (Triglot, p. 1065, Paragraph 8; M. p. 705): "The eternal election of God however, not only foresees and foreknows the salvation of the elect, but is also, from the gracious will and pleasure of God in Christ Jesus, a cause which procures, works, helps, and promotes our salvation and what pertains to it; and upon this our salvation is so founded that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, Matt. 16:18, as is written John 10:28: 'Neither shall any man pluck My sheep out of My hand'; and again, Acts 13:48: 'And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.' "

But as earnestly as we maintain that there is an election of grace onto salvation, so decidedly do we teach, on the other hand, that there is no election of wrath or predestination to damnation. Scripture reveals the truth that the love of God for the world of lost sinners is universal, that is, that it embraces all men without exception, that Christ has fully reconciled all men unto God, and that God earnestly desires to bring all men to faith, to preserve them therein, and thus to save them, as Scripture testifies, 1 Tim. 2:4: "God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." No man is lost because God has predestined him to eternal damnation. — Eternal election is a cause why the elect are brought to faith in time, Acts 13:48; but election is not a cause why men remain unbelievers when they hear the Word of God. The reason assigned by Scripture for this sad fact is that these men judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life, putting the Word of God from them and obstinately resisting the Holy Ghost, whose earnest will it is to bring also them to repentance and faith using the Word, Act 13:46; 7:51; Matt. 23:37.

It is necessary to observe the Scriptural distinction between the election of grace and the universal will of grace. This universal gracious will of God embraces all men; the election of grace, however, does not embrace all, but only a definite number, whom "God hath from the beginning chosen to salvation" 2 Thess. 2:13, the "remnant," the "seed" which "the Lord left," Rom. 9:27- 29, the "election," Rom. 11:7; and while the universal will of grace is frustrated in the case of most men, Matt. 22:14; Luke 7:30, the election of grace attains its end with all whom it embraces, Rom. 8:28-30. However, while distinguishing between the universal will of grace and the election of grace, Scripture does not place the two in opposition to each other. On the contrary, it teaches that the grace of dealing with lost people is earnest and fully efficacious for conversion. Blind reason declares these two truths contradictory, but we impose silence on our reason. The seeming disharmony will disappear in the light of heaven, 1 Cor. 13:12.

Furthermore, by election of grace, Scripture does not mean that one part of God's counsel of salvation according to which He will receive into heaven those who persevere in faith unto the end, but, on the contrary, Scripture means this, that God, before the foundation of the world, from pure grace, because of the redemption of Christ, has chosen for His own a definite number of persons out of the corrupt mass and has determined to bring them through Word and Sacrament, to faith and salvation.

Christians can and should be assured of their eternal election. This is evident because Scripture addresses them as chosen and comforts them with their election, Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13. This assurance of one's personal election, however, springs only from faith in the Gospel, from the assurance that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; on the contrary, through His Son's life, suffering, and death, He fully reconciled the whole world of sinners unto Himself. Faith in this truth leaves no room for the fear that God might still harbor thoughts of wrath and damnation concerning us. Scripture inculcates that in Rom. 8:32, 33: "He that spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." Luther's pastoral advice is therefore in accord with Scripture: "Gaze upon the wounds of Christ and the blood shed for you; there predestination will shine forth." (St. Louis ed., II, 181; on Gen. 26:9) That the Christian obtains the personal assurance of his eternal election in this way is taught also by our Lutheran Confessions (Formula of Concord, Triglot, p. 1071, Paragraph 26, M. 709): "Of this we should not judge according to our reason nor according to the Law or from any external appearance. Neither should we attempt to investigate the secret, concealed abyss of divine predestination, but should heed God's revealed will. For He has made known unto us the mystery of His will and made it manifest through Christ that it might be preached, Eph. 1:9ff.; 2 Tim. 1:9f." — To ensure the proper method of viewing eternal election and the Christian's assurance of it, the Lutheran Confessions set forth at length the principle that election is not to be considered "in a bare manner (nude), as though God only held a muster, thus: 'This one shall be saved, that one shall be damned' " (Formula of Concord, Triglot, p. 1065, Paragraph 9; M., p. 706); but "the Scriptures teach this doctrine in no other way than to direct us thereby to the Word, Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 1:7; exhort to repentance, 2 Tim. 3:16; urge to godliness, Eph. 1:14; John 15:3; strengthen faith and assure us of our salvation, Eph. 1:13; John 10:27f.; 2 Thess. 2:13f." (Formula of Concord, Triglot, p. 1067, Paragraph 12; M., p. 707). — To sum up, just as God in time draws the Christian unto Himself through the Gospel, He has already, in His eternal election, endowed them with "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" 2 Thess. 2:13. Therefore, If, by the grace of God, you believe in the Gospel of the forgiveness of your sins for Christ's sake, you are to be certain that you also belong to the number of God's elect, even as Scripture, 2 Thess. 2:13 addresses the believing Thessalonians as God's chosen chosen and thanks God for their election.

Question 17

The Antichrist

Accepted Answer

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On the Antichrist

As to the Antichrist, we teach the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures concerning the Antichrist, 2 Thess. 2:3-12; 1 John 2:18, have been fulfilled in the Pope of Rome and his dominion. All the features of the Antichrist as drawn in these prophecies, including the most abominable and horrible ones, for example, that the Antichrist as God sitteth in the temple of God, 2 Thess. 2:4; that he anathematizes the very heart of the Gospel of Christ, that is, the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins by grace alone, for Christ’s sake alone, through faith alone, without any merit or worthiness in man (Rom. 3:20-28; Gal. 2:16); that he recognizes only those as members of the Christian Church who bow to his authority; and that, like a deluge, he had inundated the whole Church with his antichristian doctrines till God revealed him through the Reformation — these very features are the outstanding characteristics of the Papacy. (Cf. Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 515, Paragraphs 39-41; p. 401, Paragraph 45; M. pp. 336, 258.) Hence, we subscribe to the statement of our Confessions that the Pope is the very Antichrist. (Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 475, Paragraph 10; M., p. 308.)

Question 18

The End Times

Accepted Answer

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On The End Times

With the Augsburg Confession (Art. XVII), we reject every type of millennialism or Chiliasm, the opinion that Christ will return visibly to this earth a thousand years before the end of the world and establish a dominion of the Church over the world, or that before the end of the world the Church is to enjoy a season of exceptional prosperity; or that before a general resurrection on Judgment Day, several departed Christians or martyrs are to be raised again to reign in glory in this world; or that before the end of the world, a universal conversion of the Jewish nation (of Israel according to the flesh) will take place.

Contrary to these beliefs, Scripture unequivocally teaches, and we affirm, that the kingdom of Christ on earth will endure under the cross until the end of the world, Acts 14:22; John 16:33; 18:36; Luke 9:23; 14:27; 17:20-37; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 12:28; Luke 18:8. The second visible coming of the Lord will be His final advent, His coming to judge the quick and the dead, Matt. 24:29, 30; 25:31; 2 Tim. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:8; Heb. 9:26-28. There will be but one resurrection of the dead, John 5:28; 6:39, 40, and the time of the Last Day is, and will remain, unknown, Matt. 24:42; 25:13; Mark 13:32-37; Acts 1:7. This would not be the case if the Last Day were to come a thousand years after the beginning of a millennium. There will be no general conversion, a conversion en masse, of the Jewish nation, Rom. 11:7; 2 Cor. 3:14; Rom. 11:25; 1 Thess. 2:16.

According to these clear passages of Scripture, we reject millennialism as a whole since it not only contradicts Scripture but also engenders a false conception of the kingdom of Christ, turns Christians' hope upon earthly goals (1 Cor. 15:19; Col. 3:2), and leads them to regard the Bible as an obscure book.

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