Document - Historical information/data - Trinity Lone Oak Lutheran Church Statement of Belief and Introduction to Teachings - 3/1/2008T L P 0
Chu P.01
An Introduction to the teachings of HO and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Of God
On the basis of the Holy Scriptures we teach the
article of the Holy Trinity; that is, we teach that
the one true God, Deut. 6:4; 1 Cor. 8:4, is the
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, 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 entire, Col. 2:9, Matt. 28:19.
Of Creation
We teach that God has created heaven and earth,
and that in the manner and in the space of time
recorded in the Holy Scriptures, especially Gen.
1 and 2, namely, by His almighty creative word,
and in six days. We reject every doctrine which
denies or limits the work of creation as taught in
Scripture.
Of Man and Sin
We teach that the first man was not brutelike nor
merely capable of intellectual development, but
that God created man in His own image, Gen.
1:26, 27; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10, that is, in true
knowledge of God and in true righteousness and
holiness and endowed with a truly scientific
knowledge of nature, Gen. 2:19-23.
We furthermore teach that sin came into the
world by the fall of the first man, as described
[sic] Gen. 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 already by birth, dead in
sins, inclined to all evil, and subject to the wrath
of God, Rom. 5:12, 18; Eph. 2:1-3. We teach
also that men are unable, through any efforts of
their own or by the aid of "culture and science,"
to reconcile themselves to God and thus conquer
death and damnation
Of Redemption
We teach that in the fullness of time the eternal
Son of God was made man by assuming, from
the Virgin Mary through the operation of the
Holy Ghost, a human nature like unto ours, yet
without sin, and receiving it unto His divine
person. Jesus Christ is therefore "true God, be-
gotten of the Father from eternity, and also true
man, born of the Virgin Mary," true God and
true man in one undivided and indivisible per-
son. The purpose of this miraculous incarnation
of the Son of God was that He might become the
Mediator between God and men, both fulfilling
the divine Law and suffering and dying in the
place of mankind. In this manner God reconciled
the whole sinful world unto Himself, Gal. 4:4, 5;
3:13; 2 Cor. 5:18, 19..
Who is Jesus?
For more than 2,000 years people have asked the
question, "Who is Jesus?". We were not present
when Jesus lived on this earth, but in the Bible
we have the record of his birth, life, death on the
cross, and resurrection. Study of the Bible,
God's Word, will enable you to seek out the an-
swer to this age-old question.
The teaching of Luther and the reformers can be
summarized in three short phrases: Grace alone,
Faith alone, Scripture alone. We at TLO invite
you to explore God's Word with us.
Of Faith in Christ
Since God has reconciled the whole world unto
Himself through the vicarious life and death of
His Son and has commanded that the reconcilia-
tion effected by Christ be proclaimed to men in
the Gospel, to the end that they may believe it, 2
Cor. 5:18, 19; Rom. 1:5, therefore faith in Christ
is the only way for men to obtain personal rec-
onciliation with God, that is, forgiveness of sins,
as both the Old and the New Testament Scrip-
tures 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,
Rom. 4:16.
Of 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.
More on reverse side
Of Justification
Holy Scripture sums up all its teachings regarding the love of
God to the world of sinners, regarding the salvation wrought by
Christ, and regarding faith in Christ as the only way to obtain
salvation, in the article of justification. Scripture teaches that God
has already declared the whole world to be righteous in Christ,
Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25; that therefore not for the
sake of their good works, but without the works of the Law, by
grace, for Christ's sake, He justifies, that is, accounts as right-
eous, all those who believe, accept, and rely on, the fact that for
Christ's sake their sins are forgiven.
Of Good Works
Before God only those works are good which are done for the
glory of God and the good of man, according to the rule of divine
Law. Such works, however, no man performs unless he first be-
lieves that God has forgiven him his sins and has given him eter-
nal life by grace, for Christ's sake, without any works of his own,
John 15:4, 5.
Of 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, Col. 1:17; Acts 17:28; 14:17, still
("legal" language, if needed)
we hold with Scripture that God offers and communicates to men
the spiritual blessings purchased by Christ, namely, the forgive-
ness of sins and the treasures and gifts connected therewith, only
through the external means of grace ordained by Him. These
means of grace are the Word of the Gospel, in every form in
which it is brought to man, and the Sacraments of Holy Baptism
and of the Lord's Supper.
Of the Church
We believe that there is one holy Christian Church on earth, the
Head of which is Christ and which is gathered, preserved, and
governed by Christ through the Gospel.
Of Church and State
Although both Church and State are ordinances of God, yet they
must not be commingled. Church and State have entirely differ-
ent aims. By the Church, God would save men, for which reason
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.
Reprinted from: A Brief Statement of the Doctrinal Position of
the Missouri Synod [Adopted 1932].
Of the Millenium
With the Augsburg Confession (Art. XVII) we reject every type of millennialism, or Chiliasm,
the opinions 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 special prosperity; or that before a general resurrec-
tion on Judgment Day a number of departed Christians or martyrs are to be raised again to
1 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.
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Over against this, Scripture clearly teaches, and we teach accordingly, that the kingdom of
Christ on earth will remain under the cross until the end of the world, Act 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; that 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; that there will be but one resurrection
of the dead, John 5:28; 6:39, 40; that the time of the Last Day is, and will remain, unknown,
Matt. 24:42; 25:13; Mark 13:32, 37; Acts 1:7, which would not be the case if the Last Day
were to come a thousand years after the beginning of a millennium; and that 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 the whole of Millennialism, since it
not only contradicts Scripture, but also engenders a false conception of the kingdom of Christ,
turns the hope of Christians upon earthly goals, 1 Cor. 15:19; Col. 3:2, and leads them to look
upon the Bible as an obscure book.
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