GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH:
- Holds to the orthodox Lutheran faith that the Bible is God’s very own inspired and without-error Word, totally reliable in all it teaches historically, scientifically, and geographically;
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” – 2 Timothy 3:16
“Thy Word is truth.” – John 17:17
- Confesses that the only true God as revealed in the Bible is the Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Three Distinct Persons, equally holy, powerful, and loving, yet only one God;
“Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” – Matthew 28:19
- Proclaims foremost that the main purpose of our loving God giving us His Word is to point a world of condemned sinners to their only Savior, the God-Man Jesus Christ, who has gained forgiveness for all sin through His perfect life, death, and resurrection;
“All have sinned.” – Romans 3:23
“The wages of sin is death.” – Romans 6:23
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16
“The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7
“The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ.” – 2 Timothy 3:15
- Teaches that God the Holy Spirit works faith only through His chosen means – the preached Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper – through which He offers and works faith in the forgiveness of sins.
“Remission of sins should be preached in Christ’s name among all nations.” – Luke 24:47
“Arise, and be baptized and wash away your sins.” – Acts 22:16
“This is My body, this is My blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” – Luke 22:19, Matthew 26:28
- Professes the doctrines of the Holy Christian Church as confessed in the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, and summarized in Luther’s Small Catechism;
“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” – Matthew 28:20
“They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine.” – Acts 2:42
- Teaches that the universe was created by God, not evolved without God, in six twenty-four hour days;
“In six days the Lord made the heavens, and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.” – Exodus 20:11
- Teaches the proper headship-servant role of the man in the Church, and in the home;
“The head of the woman is the man.” – 1 Corinthians 11:13
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.” – Ephesians 5:25
Teaches the proper submissive role of women in the church and in the home as taught in Scripture;
“Let your women keep silent in the churches, but they are to be submissive.” – 1 Corinthians 14:34
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” – 1 Timothy 2:12
“As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so let wives be subordinate to their husbands in everything.” – Ephesians 5:24
- Holds and uses the ancient liturgies of the Church as set forth in the 1941 Lutheran Hymnal;
- Practices closed communion. We believe, as the Bible teaches, that Jesus’ body and blood are present in the Sacrament, and that receiving it together is a public statement of oneness in our beliefs. Confirmed members of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod may receive the Sacrament. By this we do not intend to insult those worshipping with us, or suggest that they are not Christians; but rather, we wish to give them an opportunity to study our teachings so that they may stand together with us.
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