Lutherans worldwide
rope, Lutheranism
other parts of the
he Lutheran World
ere are almost as
ia and the Middle
ere are in North
and there are more
5 million) than there
million).
n to be Lutheran,
age or geographical
ury, Martin Luther
hings, practices and
an Catholic Church.
entral message of
d news that sinners
to God by grace
e of the saving work
actually began as
her’s opponents.
iscourage his
ng themselves
really follow Jesus
her.
once wrote. “After
ot mine. Neither was I
”
ssage that remained
t his leadership.Luther
ght, preached and
did nothing; the Word
If not “Lutheran,” how did Luther and his
supporters identify themselves simply by
the church of good news.
What are the most distinctive themes of
Lutheran theology?
Justification by grace through faith for
Christ’s sake.
Luther insisted that faith is key. His
understanding of faith isn’t primarily
intellectual (having the right knowledge
about God) or emotional (how hard or
how sincerely one believes). Instead, faith
is relational: It’s a form of trust. We are
justified through faith because faith alone
trusts God’s promise of forgiveness for
Christ’s sake.
Law and Gospel
Because we are sinners, God’s law always
accuses us; only the gospel frees us. As
Luther puts it: “The law says, ‘do this,’ and
it is never done. Grace says, ‘believe in
this,’ and everything is already done.”
Means of grace
This means that worship is vitally important
for Lutherans. It forms our identity as
Christians. The Augsburg Confession
even defines the Christian church as the
assembly of believers around gospel and
sacrament.
Theology of the Cross
The theology of the stands in opposition to
a “theology of glory.” A theology of glory
looks up and says, “God’s in heaven and
all’s well with the world.”
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