What We Believe | Immanuel Lutheran Ch

What we believe from the Holy Bible

We believe in the Triune God. Scripture reveals that there is only one true God, not three gods, and He has revealed Himself in three distinct persons in one divine being. God the Father who created us, God the Son Jesus of Nazareth who redeemed us and God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us.
We believe God created the world out of nothing by his almighty Word over a period of six, natural days.
We believe the Bible is inspired or "God-breathed" and wholly true. It is the Book above all books.
We believe that by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, the eternal God received a body in the virgin Mary. The name, Jesus, means "Savior." Jesus came to save all people form sin, death and eternal punishment. All who believe in Jesus alone receive forgiveness and eternal life.
We believe that God works through means to give His gifts of grace to people. These means of grace are the Word (Bible) and Sacraments (Baptism and Lord's Supper). Through these means God gives forgiveness of sins, new power for daily living and the hope of eternal life.
We believe that God comes to us to give His gifts of grace each time we gather in His house of worship. As we come to worship and receive from God, we then have the opportunity to give back to God in our prayers, praises, and offerings.
We believe that there will be a Last Day when Jesus will return to judge all men. On that day there will be only two groups of people - those who placed their faith solely in Jesus for salvation and eternal life and those who rejected God's gracious invitation to trust Jesus for salvation and eternal life. Jesus will gather up those who believe and take them to heaven, and unbelievers will suffer punishment for eternity.

All are welcome to join the Worship Service. We use an order of service that can be followed along in our hymnal or on the projected screen.

From Ancient times the Church has noted that Holy Communion is for baptized Christians. It is also a confession of unity and faith when you commune with a Church Body; i.e. when you partake of the Eucharist you are saying publically that you are in doctrinal agreement with the Biblical teachings from the Bible and as explained in the Book of Concord-our confession of faith for the past 500 years.

Holy Communion is for members of the LCMS or Christians who have talked previously to the pastor. If you have questions about Holy Communion or how we worship you are encouraged to call the pastor who will answer any question.

If you would like more information on what we teach and believe you can visit our Church Body Website at: www.lcms.org

With the universal Christian Church, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God:

the Father, creator of all that exists;

Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and

the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God’s Word and Sacraments.

The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God.

Being “Lutheran”

Our congregations accept and preach the Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the reformation of the Christian Church in the 16th century. The teaching of Luther and the reformers can be summarized in three phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.

Learn about LCMS

Sola Gratia-Grace Alone

God loves the people of the world, even though they are sinful, rebel against Him and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.

Sola Fide-Faith Alone

By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for them. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. God creates faith in Christ and gives people forgiveness through Him.

Sola Scriptura-Scripture Alone

The Bible is God’s inerrant and infallible Word, in which He reveals His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine.

Who is Jesus?

In a world in which information is readily available and opinions abound, this fundamental question stands above all other inquiries and considerations.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod believes Jesus is exactly who He said He is. Along with the ancient Church, we confess that Jesus is true God and true man in one person. He is the Son of God who was crucified and raised from the dead for the salvation of all who trust in Him.

Christ is not Jesus’s last name, but identifies Him as the Messiah (Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah), the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises that God saves His people.

This fulfillment and salvation happened in history in real time and in a real place (first century AD in Israel) through a flesh-and-blood person named Jesus.

The Bible is the true and trustworthy Word of God that records God’s love for the world through His Son Jesus. The miracles recorded in the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus are true and accurate.

Jesus physically died on a cross and physically rose from the dead in three days. He physically ascended into heaven, and the Church awaits His second coming when He will judge all people.

Those who trust in Jesus as their Savior will rise to eternal life in heaven. Those who deny Jesus and live in their sin will be cast out of His presence to hell.

We therefore reject the following:

1. That we may operate on the assumption that there may be other ways of salvation than through faith in Jesus Christ.

2. That some persons who lack faith in Christ may be considered “anonymous Christians.”

3. That there is no eternal hell for unbelievers and ungodly men.

What about Homosexuality ?

The Lord teaches us through His Word Homosexuality is a sinful distortion of His desire that one man and one woman live together in marriage as husband and wife. God categorically prohibits homosexuality. Just as His Word prohibits premarital sexual relations. It is not an unforgivable sin.

Our church, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, unlike the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) has declared that homo- sexual behavior is “intrinsically sinful.”

Why does our church take this position?

We read in God’s Word the following statements about homosexuality:

“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ... Do not defile yourselves by any of these things” (Lev. 18:22, 24).

“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination...”(Lev.20:13).

“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable pas- sions.Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men com- mitting shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error”(Rom.1:26–27).

“Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts ...shall inherit the king- dom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9–10).

“...The law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, ...immoral persons, sodomites... and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine”(1 Tim.1:9–10).

T h r o u g h H i s Wo r d , G o d t e a c h e s u s v e r y c l e a r l y t h a t h o m o - sexuality is a sin. A person who persists in homosexual behavior stands under the condemnation of God’s Word. This is true for anyone who persists in sin without repentance.

What about Abortion?

God’s Fifth Commandment is clear,“You shall not murder.” This means, in the words of the Small Catechism, that “we should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every phys- i c a l n e e d .” G o d f o r b i d s u s t o t a k e t h e l i f e o f a n o t h e r p e r s o n , a n d this most certainly includes abortion.

God’s Word also says,“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (Jer. 1:5). Psalm 139:16 says,“Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”

Our church’s explanation of the Small Catechism puts the matter well when it says,“The living but unborn are persons in the sight of God from the time of conception. Since abortion takes a human life,it is not a moral option except to prevent the death of another person, the mother.” The sin of willfully aborting a child, except in those very rare situations where it may be necessary to save the life of the mother, is a sinful act, totally contrary to the will of God.

Should We Baptize Infants?

Some of you may have Christian friends in other denominations (e.g., “Baptist” or “Assembly of God”) who ask you why Lutherans baptize infants. They want to know what our reasons are for this practice. They think we are in error. How would you answer them? Below are seven common objections to infant Baptism, and I will give a very brief response to each objection.

However, before I respond to each of these objections it would be helpful to briefly summarize what Lutheran’s DO and DO NOT believe regarding Baptism and Infant Baptism.

First we must understand what Lutherans DO NOT believe about Baptism and Infant Baptism. We do NOT believe that all infants who have not been baptized are going to hell! Some wrongly think Lutherans teach this. Even though Baptism is one important way that God brings Christ and His gifts to infants, Baptism is not the only way that God does this. God also uses His spoken Word to bring infants to faith in Christ. (In response to one of the objections to Infant Baptism below I will discuss what Scripture teaches about infant faith.)
In addition, Lutherans do NOT believe that Baptism is a magical work of humans that guarantees salvation even if a person later rejects Christ and lives as an unbeliever. Sadly, some who were baptized as infants were not nurtured by God’s Word over the years and in certain cases they eventually lost their faith in Christ. (In response to one of the objections to Infant Baptism below I will explain how those who are baptized also must have their faith in Christ nurtured by God’s Word throughout life.)

Now that we know what Lutherans do NOT believe about Baptism and Infant Baptism, I would like to carefully explain what Lutherans DO believe Baptism actually is. Simply put, some Christians view Baptism as only an outward symbol of an adult’s conscious decision to trust in Jesus. However, Lutherans do not have this understanding of Baptism because in no place does Scripture ever speak of Baptism in this way! Instead, Scripture always defines Baptism as something much more than a mere symbol. According to Scripture, Baptism is the work of God through which He gives us various gifts!
God uses Baptism to put His Name on us (see Matthew 28:19). God uses Baptism to give us “new birth,” that is, faith in

Christ (see John 3:5 and Titus 3:5). God uses Baptism to give us forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:28 and 22:16; Ephesians 5:26). God uses Baptism to connect us to the death and resurrection of Jesus (see Romans 6:3-4 and Colossians 2:11-12). God uses Baptism to clothe us with Christ (see Galatians 3:27). God uses Baptism to save us by the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection (see 1st Peter 3:18 & 21).
Now that we understand what Lutherans DO and DO NOT believe about Baptism and Infant Baptism, I will give a brief response to the 7 most common objections to Infant Baptism. The first objection is: “But we’re saved by Jesus, not by our work of Baptism!” This objection wrongly thinks that Baptism is a human work. If that were the case, then Baptism could not save us. However, Scripture teaches that Baptism DOES save us (see 1st Peter 3:21) because Baptism is GOD’S WORK! In addition, this objection fails to understand that Baptism is one of the means God uses to give us the salvation of Christ. In other words, Jesus ACCOMPLISHED our salvation by His life, death and resurrection for us. However, this salvation is GIVEN and DELIVERED to us through God’s “means of grace” – and one such “means of grace” is Holy Baptism! (See Acts 2:38-39 and Titus 3:5)

The second objection is: “But infants are not sinners! Therefore, Baptism is not for infants because Baptism is for those who have consciously sinned.”

On the contrary, Scripture clearly teaches that we are sinners from the time of our conception (see Psalm 51:5) because we inherit a sinful nature from Adam (see Romans 5:12). The fact that infants die is God’s sign that they are sinners (see 1st Corinthians 15:22). We sin BECAUSE we are sinners, and we have this condition even as infants and little children (see Genesis 8:21 and John 3:6). Also, Romans 3:23 clearly shows that ALL have sinned and need the salvation that Jesus gives.
The third objection is: “But infants can’t have faith!”

First, Scripture clearly teaches that infants and children CAN have faith. In Psalm 8:2 we see that infants can give praise to God. In Psalm 22:9 we see that David trusted in the Lord when he was a breast-feeding infant. In Matthew 18:6 Jesus teaches that “little ones” can believe in Him. Jesus is speaking about the “child” mentioned in Matthew 18:2. The Greek word for child is “paidion” which can also refer to infants. For example, the plural form of “paidion” is used in Matthew 2:16 for the children who were 2 years old and younger. Also, in Luke 18:15-17 we see that Jesus uses babies as examples of sincere faith. The Greek word for babies is “brephos” which means infant. In addition, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb (Luke 1:15 & 39-45).

The fact is that Jesus holds up infants as ultimate examples of faith (Matthew 18:5-6 and Luke 18:16-17). Second, Scripture clearly teaches that faith is MORE than a conscious knowledge of facts about God. Faith is trust in God that flows from a heart made new by the Holy Spirit. If faith is ONLY a conscious awareness of God’s Word, then does one lose his or her faith when asleep or in a coma? What about those with mental disabilities? Third, those who say “Infants can’t have faith!” must either 1) say that infants who die are damned or 2) say that faith in Christ is not necessary for salvation.

The fourth objection is: “Jesus was baptized as an adult!”

If one takes this assertion to its logical end, then you must say: “Jesus wasn’t baptized until he was about 30, so no one should be baptized BEFORE that age! In addition, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, and so all baptisms must take place in the Jordan or they are not valid. In fact, Jesus was a man and so women should not be baptized!” This is ridiculous, of course! One must note that Jesus was baptized for reasons completely different than why we are baptized. First, Jesus was sinless and so He did not need the forgiveness delivered in Baptism. Second, Jesus’ Baptism was God’s way of showing that Baptism saves us because Jesus has made Himself part of it.

In other words, Jesus was not baptized to give us an example to follow (salvation by works!). Instead, He was baptized to show us the source and power behind the salvation given in Baptism. This becomes obvious when God uses Jesus’ Baptism as a public witness to show us that Jesus is His Son, our Savior!

The fifth objection is: “The Bible never says that we should baptize infants!”

First of all, the entire Old Testament assumes that infants were always part of the salvation acts of God. For example, God gave Abraham the ritual of circumcision as an outward sign that the Savior would come from his family line (see Genesis 12:1-3 and Galatians 3:6-9). The sign of circumcision was given to infant boys when they were only 8 days old! In Colossians 2:11-13 the Apostle Paul shows that circumcision has been replaced with Baptism through which Christ Himself works to give spiritual life to those who are dead in sin. The Jews who became Christians would have assumed that Baptism was for infants because infants had also received the Old Testament ritual of circumcision. In addition, the infants and children of Israel participated in many of the Old Testament rituals (the Passover, the Sabbath, the Day of Atonement, etc.). The infants and children of Israel were included in the high priest’s blessing which God used to put His Name on His people (see Numbers 6:22-27; also Matthew 28:19). The infants and children of Israel took part in the crossing of the Red Sea which was a picture of the New Testament gift of Baptism (see 1st Corinthians 10:1-4).

Secondly, Jesus says that we should MAKE disciples by baptizing them. He says to do this for ALL nations, and he gives no exceptions as to age. Then in Acts chapter 2:38-39 Peter tells the crowd who had been convicted by his preaching: “Repent and be baptized EVERY ONE of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you AND YOUR CHILDREN.” Simply put, the bible assumes (especially based on the practice of the Old Testament!) that infants will be baptized, and Matthew 28:19 and Acts 2:38-39 confirm this. Therefore, the burden of proof is not on Lutherans to find yet ANOTHER text that says infants should be baptized. Instead, the burden of proof is on those who deny infant baptism. They must find just 1 passage that says infants should NOT be baptized. However, there is no such passage! The reason there is no such passage is that Scripture assumes that infants will be baptized!

The sixth objection is: “Adults were taught first and then were baptized later. So we should wait for infants to grow up so we can teach them before we baptize them.”

This objection fails to distinguish the difference between infants and adults. Scripture clearly teaches that humans are conceived in sin. However, unbelieving infants have one advantage over unbelieving adults. Infants do not yet have a rebellious reason! Scripture teaches that we are conceived in sin and if we grow up as unbelievers we develop a conscious reason that is hostile to the Gospel. So, unlike infants who are in a position to receive the Gospel, adults need to have their reason humbled through the preaching of God’s Word. Adults must become like “little children” or “spiritual infants” before they can receive Holy Baptism. I use the following analogy: Unbelieving infants are like a plowed field. They do not have the “seed of life” but they are in a position to receive it. In contrast, unbelieving older children and adults are like a field with hard soil (covered by weeds and rocks) that needs to be broken up and cleared out before it can receive the “seed of life.” This
explains why infants are baptized and then taught, whereas older children and adults are taught and then Baptized. Finally, the seventh objection is this: “Joe Lutheran was baptized as an infant. But now as an adult he never attends church and he lives a life of unrepentant sin!” The Bible teaches that our faith must be nurtured by God’s Word, or it will die! Sadly, some who were baptized as infants are now living as unbelievers because their faith was not nurtured by hearing and reading God’s Word. Such people should be called back to faith in Christ by the preaching of God’s Word! However, the fact that some fall away after Baptism does NOT mean we should stop baptizing infants! For example, some adults are brought to faith in Christ through the preaching of God’s Word, but then later fall away from the Faith. Does this mean we should never preach God’s Word to adults because some later fall away? Of course not! In the same way, we still baptize infants even though, sadly, some later fall away from the Faith.

I hope this helps you understand why we Lutherans baptize infants. For a much more thorough study of this issue, read the book Baptized into God’s Family (The Doctrine of Infant Baptism for Today) by Dr. A. Andrew Das.
******************************************************
This study was written by Pastor Tom Eckstein (Concordia Lutheran, Jamestown, ND)