Peter Terry <mombassa@yahoo.com> wrote in message
So what is it to be a Lutheran?
Being a Lutheran is being a person who believes the truths of God's
Word, the Holy Bible, as they are correctly explained and taught in
the Book of Concord. To do so is to confess the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. Genuine Lutherans, confessional Lutherans, dare to insist that
"All doctrines should conform to the standards [the Lutheran
Confessions] set forth above. Whatever is contrary to them should be
rejected and condemned as opposed to the unanimous declaration of our
faith" (FC Ep. RN, 6).
Such a statement may strike some as boastful. But it is not; rather,
it is an expression of the Spirit-led confidence that moves us to
speak of our faith before the world.
To be a confessional Lutheran is to be one who honors the Word of God.
That word makes it clear that it is God's desire for His church to be
in agreement about doctrine, and to be of one mind, living at peace
with one another (1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 13:11). It is for that reason
that we so treasure the precious confession of Christian truth that we
have in the Book of Concord. For Confessional Lutherans, there is no
other collection of documents, or statements or books that so clearly,
accurately and comfortingly presents the teachings of God's Word and
reveals the Biblical Gospel as does our Book of Concord.
Hand-in-hand with our commitment to pure teaching and confession of
the faith, is, and always must be, our equally strong commitment to
reaching out boldly with the Gospel and speaking God's truth to the
world. That is what "confession" of the faith is all about, in the
final analysis. Indeed, "It is written: ÎI believed; therefore I have
spoken.' With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore
speak" (2 Cor. 4:13). This is what it means to be a Lutheran.
For Further Study:
Robert Preus, Getting into the Theology of Concord: A Study of the
Book of Concord (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1977).
David Scaer, Getting into the Story of Concord: A History of the Book
of Concord (St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1977).
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Message 2 in thread
From: Sh'ma-Yisrael (no_no_no_splam@hotmail.com)
Subject: Re: So what is it to be a Lutheran?
View this article only
Newsgroups: alt.religion.christian.lutheran
Date: 2004-09-12 15:52:40 PST
no_no_no_splam@hotmail.com (Sh'ma-Yisrael) wrote in message news:<a4853db4.0409091953.569751b4@posting.google.com...
So what is it to be a Lutheran?
Being a Lutheran is being a person who believes the truths of God's
Word, the Holy Bible, as they are correctly explained and taught in
the Book of Concord. To do so is to confess the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. Genuine Lutherans, confessional Lutherans, dare to insist that
"All doctrines should conform to the standards [the Lutheran
Confessions] set forth above. Whatever is contrary to them should be
rejected and condemned as opposed to the unanimous declaration of our
faith" (FC Ep. RN, 6).
Such a statement may strike some as boastful. But it is not; rather,
it is an expression of the Spirit-led confidence that moves us to
speak of our faith before the world.
To be a confessional Lutheran is to be one who honors the Word of God.
That word makes it clear that it is God's desire for His church to be
in agreement about doctrine, and to be of one mind, living at peace
with one another (1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 13:11). It is for that reason
that we so treasure the precious confession of Christian truth that we
have in the Book of Concord. For Confessional Lutherans, there is no
other collection of documents, or statements or books that so clearly,
accurately and comfortingly presents the teachings of God's Word and
reveals the Biblical Gospel as does our Book of Concord.
Hand-in-hand with our commitment to pure teaching and confession of
the faith, is, and always must be, our equally strong commitment to
reaching out boldly with the Gospel and speaking God's truth to the
world. That is what "confession" of the faith is all about, in the
final analysis. Indeed, "It is written: ÎI believed; therefore I have
spoken.' With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore
speak" (2 Cor. 4:13). This is what it means to be a Lutheran.
For Further Study:
Robert Preus, Getting into the Theology of Concord: A Study of the
Book of Concord (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1977).
David Scaer, Getting into the Story of Concord: A History of the Book
of Concord (St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1977).
.
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