WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A CONFESSIONAL LUTHERAN?

The name “Lutheran” originated during the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Martin Luther did not set out to invent a new religion or create a church centered upon his personality. He was a pastor and professor who became convinced that certain teachings and practices in the medieval Church had obscured the Gospel.

Luther and the other Lutheran reformers called the Church back to the authority of Holy Scripture and to the clear proclamation that sinners are forgiven and declared righteous before God solely because of Jesus Christ.

Lutherans do not believe everything Luther ever said or wrote was correct. Luther was a sinner who needed the same Savior he proclaimed. His writings are valued when they faithfully explain the Scriptures, but Luther himself is not the source of our doctrine.

We are called Lutheran because that name identifies a public confession of the Christian faith. The center of that confession is not Luther. The center is Jesus Christ.

At the center of Lutheran teaching is the biblical doctrine of justification.

To be justified means to be declared righteous before God. Because of sin, no one can achieve this righteousness through moral improvement, religious devotion, good intentions, or spiritual effort. God’s Law exposes our sin and shows that we cannot rescue ourselves.

The Gospel announces what God has done for us. The eternal Son of God took on our human nature, lived in perfect obedience, carried the sins of the world, died upon the cross, and rose from the dead. Because of Christ, God forgives sinners and counts them righteous through faith.

This salvation is by grace alone because it begins entirely with God’s undeserved mercy. It is received through faith alone because faith trusts Christ rather than our works. It is for Christ’s sake alone because Jesus accomplished everything necessary for our redemption. Holy Scripture alone is the final authority because only God’s Word can establish what the Church believes and teaches.

Faith is not another work that earns salvation. It is the empty hand that receives Christ and His gifts. Even faith is created and sustained by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel.

Good works remain important. God commands them, and our neighbors need them. They follow faith as its fruit, but they never become the cause of God’s forgiveness.

The word “confessional” comes from the idea of making a confession. To confess is to say publicly what we believe to be true.

Every church has a confession, whether it is written formally or simply assumed. Every congregation makes decisions about who God is, what the Bible teaches, what happens in Baptism and Communion, what salvation means, and how the Church should worship.

A confessional Lutheran congregation states its beliefs openly. We do not want our doctrine to shift with the personality of the current pastor, the preferences of the congregation, or the changing opinions of the culture.

Being confessional does not mean being argumentative, angry, or suspicious of everyone outside our congregation. It does mean that truth matters and that the Church should speak clearly about what God has revealed.

Our confession is not something we invented. It is something we have received from Holy Scripture and share with Christians across centuries.

We confess the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God. The Bible is the only source and final standard of Christian doctrine.

This means that the Church does not stand above Scripture as its judge. Pastors, congregations, church conventions, traditions, personal experiences, and cultural opinions must all remain accountable to God’s Word.

We do not believe the Bible is merely a record of human reflections about God. God worked through the biblical writers so that their words are truly His Word. Because God cannot lie, His Word is trustworthy.

Faithful interpretation requires careful attention to language, history, literary context, and the whole counsel of God. Christians should not isolate verses or use Scripture to justify personal opinions. We read every passage within the unified testimony of Scripture, centered in Jesus Christ.

We also distinguish between Law and Gospel. The Law reveals God’s will, exposes our sin, and shows our need for salvation. The Gospel announces and delivers the forgiveness Christ won for sinners. Confusing Law and Gospel either turns Christianity into moral self-improvement or excuses sin without repentance.

The Lutheran Confessions are a collection of writings gathered in the Book of Concord of 1580. They explain what Lutherans believe Scripture teaches.

The Book of Concord includes the three ecumenical creeds of the ancient Church: the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. It also includes the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord.

These writings address central Christian teachings such as the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, original sin, justification, faith, good works, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, repentance, confession, the pastoral office, and the Church.

The Lutheran Confessions do not stand above or beside the Bible as an additional source of revelation. Their authority is subordinate to Scripture. We receive them because they faithfully explain what Scripture teaches.

Confessional Lutheran pastors and congregations do not subscribe to these writings only when they happen to agree with personal opinions. We confess them because we believe they are a correct exposition of the biblical faith.

They are not museum pieces from the sixteenth century. They continue to guide the Church because the questions they address remain important and the Word of God has not changed.

Yes. Lutherans do not believe the Christian Church began with Martin Luther in 1517.

The Lutheran reformers understood themselves as part of the one holy Christian and apostolic Church. They retained the historic creeds, the ancient liturgy, the Church Year, the reading of Scripture, the preaching office, Holy Baptism, Holy Communion, confession and absolution, and the Church’s historic hymnody.

The Reformation did not seek to discard everything that came before it. It tested every doctrine and practice by Holy Scripture. The reformers retained traditions that served the Gospel and rejected teachings that contradicted Scripture or burdened consciences.

This is why Lutheran worship can feel both ancient and Reformation-centered. We stand within the worship and confession of the historic Christian Church while clearly proclaiming the Gospel recovered during the Reformation.

Old practices are not automatically faithful simply because they are old. New practices are not automatically wrong simply because they are new. The question is whether a teaching or practice agrees with Scripture, serves the proclamation of Christ, and supports the faithful reception of His gifts.

Lutherans believe that Christ continues to deliver the benefits of His saving work through His appointed means of grace.

Holy Baptism is not merely a symbol of a personal decision. It is water joined to God’s Word through which He forgives sins, gives the Holy Spirit, joins sinners to Christ, and grants new birth. Because Baptism is God’s action and promise, Lutherans baptize infants as well as adults.

In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives His true body and blood under the bread and wine for Christians to eat and drink. The Sacrament is not merely a symbolic remembrance of an absent Savior. Christ is present according to His words: “This is My body” and “This is My blood.” He gives Himself for the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening of faith.

In Holy Absolution, the pastor speaks Christ’s forgiveness to repentant sinners. The pastor does not forgive by his own personal authority. He speaks according to the command and promise of Jesus.

These gifts place our certainty outside ourselves. We do not have to search our emotions to determine whether God is gracious. We look to His Word, our Baptism, His absolution, and His body and blood.

Lutheran worship is centered upon Christ serving His people through Word and Sacrament. This is why we call it the Divine Service.

We gather first to receive. Christ speaks through the Scriptures and sermon, forgives through absolution, and gives His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Having received His gifts, we respond with prayer, praise, thanksgiving, offerings, and service to our neighbors.

The historic liturgy gives our worship a stable, biblical structure. It does not depend upon the personality of the pastor, the talents of performers, or the latest religious trend. Its words and actions have been shaped by centuries of Christian prayer and confession.

Our hymns are chosen because they teach the faith and place the Word of Christ upon the lips of the congregation. The absence of projection screens and other forms of visual production during our services is intentional. We want our common attention directed toward the altar, pulpit, baptismal font, hymnal, and people gathered around Christ’s gifts.

This is not an attempt to recreate the past or declare technology sinful. It is a deliberate way of keeping the Divine Service reverent, focused, congregational, and centered upon Christ.

Doctrine simply means teaching. Everyone who speaks about God teaches doctrine, whether that person uses the word or not.

Christian doctrine matters because false teaching harms people. If Baptism is treated as nothing more than a human testimony, troubled Christians are directed back toward the strength of their own decisions. If the Lord’s Supper is treated as an empty symbol, Christ’s promise is weakened. If good works become part of the basis for salvation, consciences are left wondering whether they have done enough. If sin is minimized, the cross becomes unnecessary.

Faithful doctrine gives Christ’s gifts to people with clarity. It tells the guilty that Jesus has carried their sins. It tells the baptized that God’s promise is greater than their emotions. It tells the grieving that Christ has conquered death. It tells the dying that the resurrection of the body is certain.

Doctrine is not given merely for theological debate. It is given so that sinners may know Christ and find peace in His promises.

It should not.

A confessional congregation does not stand above the Word of God. It stands beneath it. Scripture judges our teaching, worship, behavior, and institutional life.

We confess the truth as sinners who continually need correction, forgiveness, and mercy. Doctrinal faithfulness never gives Christians permission to become arrogant, cruel, or dismissive.

At the same time, humility does not mean pretending that truth cannot be known. Christian humility receives what God has spoken, confesses it without embarrassment, and remains willing to be corrected by His Word.

We should confess the faith with both courage and gentleness. Love does not require doctrinal uncertainty, and doctrinal clarity does not require hostility.

No. Salvation is found in Jesus Christ, not in a denominational label.

Everyone who trusts in Christ for forgiveness and salvation is a Christian. God’s people are found wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and the Holy Spirit creates faith.

At the same time, doctrinal differences matter. Christians may truly believe in Jesus while misunderstanding or denying certain gifts He has given. Love for other Christians does not require pretending that contradictory teachings are equally true.

We can recognize fellow Christians in other church bodies while also speaking honestly about areas of disagreement. The goal of theological conversation should not be winning arguments. It should be faithfulness to Christ, clarity about His Word, and genuine unity in the truth.

Redeemer is a congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, commonly known as the LCMS.

The LCMS was formed in 1847 as Lutheran congregations joined together around a shared confession of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. The word “synod” carries the idea of walking together.

Congregations of the LCMS cooperate in the training of pastors and church workers, theological education, missions, mercy work, disaster response, publishing, and other work that individual congregations could not accomplish as effectively alone.

Our membership in the LCMS connects Redeemer with a wider church body, but it does not replace the congregation’s local responsibility. Redeemer is called to ensure that God’s Word is preached faithfully, the Sacraments are administered according to Christ’s institution, members are cared for pastorally, and the faith is taught to every generation.

Walking together requires more than sharing an institutional name. It means striving for unity in doctrine and practice under Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

Church membership is more than having a name on a list. To become a member of a congregation is to join in its public confession of faith, receive its pastoral care, and share responsibility for its life together.

This is why Redeemer provides instruction for those who desire to become members. Catechesis is not an entrance examination or an attempt to make people prove their worth. It is an opportunity to learn what we believe, ask honest questions, and become united in the faith we confess.

The Lord’s Supper is also a public confession of unity. Those who commune together confess that they are united in the doctrine proclaimed at that altar. For this reason, visitors are asked to speak with the pastor before communing.

This practice is not intended to imply that visitors are unwelcome at worship or that only Lutherans are Christians. It recognizes that Communion is both Christ’s gift and a confession of shared faith. Pastoral care requires honesty about both.

Visitors should expect worship centered upon Jesus Christ and His saving gifts. The Scriptures will be read, the historic Christian faith will be confessed, substantial hymns will be sung, and Christ crucified and risen will be proclaimed.

We will not assume that every visitor already understands Lutheran terminology or practice. Questions are encouraged, and the pastor is glad to explain what we believe and why we worship as we do.

We will also be honest about our convictions. We do not want to hide distinctive teachings until someone becomes involved. Genuine hospitality includes clarity. Visitors should be able to understand who we are, what we believe, and what they can expect.

Redeemer is not a congregation of people who have mastered the Christian life. We are sinners who need the forgiveness of Jesus. Our confidence rests not in our faithfulness, but in His.

At Redeemer, being confessional Lutheran means that Holy Scripture governs our doctrine and practice. It means that the Lutheran Confessions accurately express the faith we teach. It means that Christ’s cross remains at the center of our preaching and pastoral care.

It means that we distinguish Law and Gospel, administer the Sacraments according to Christ’s institution, worship with the historic liturgy, teach the faith carefully, and serve our neighbors through our Christian vocations.

It also means that we are not trying to become a generic version of whatever kind of church happens to be popular. We want to be the best and most faithful version of what we have been called to be.

Our identity can be summarized in four movements:

Receive Christ’s gifts. Confess His truth. Teach the faith. Serve the neighbor.

Everything begins with what Christ gives.

You do not need to understand every point of Lutheran theology before visiting Redeemer. You may come, listen, ask questions, and learn.

Our desire is not simply to persuade you to adopt a religious label. We want you to know Jesus Christ and the gifts He has won for sinners.

Your salvation does not depend upon your spiritual achievements, emotional strength, or ability to repair your past. Jesus has carried sin to the cross. He has entered death and risen in victory. He continues to deliver forgiveness and life through His Word and Sacraments.

This is the faith we have received.

This is the faith we confess.

Christ crucified and risen, for you.