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At the heart of our Christian faith is the sure confidence that we
are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Jesus Christ
alone. All that we believe, teach, and confess is based on God's Word alone.
The following is a brief summary of our beliefs, drawn from the
Holy Bible, the infallible Word of God:
1. There is one true God, who created us and loves us.
Psalm
139:13 - You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
Psalm
145:8-9 - The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in
love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.
2. The one true God is the Holy Trinity - the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
1
Corinthians 8:4 - There is no God but one.
Matthew
28:19 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
3. We do not
fully experience God's love because our sin has separated us from Him.
Isaiah
59:2 - Your iniquities have separated you from God.
Romans
8:7 - The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor
can it do so.
4. Lost in
our sin, we cannot bring ourselves into a right relationship with God.
Psalm
51:5 - I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Ephesians
2:1 - You were dead in your transgressions and sins.
5. Although
our sinful rebellion deserves God's punishment, God does not want us to receive
the judgment we deserve. In His love and mercy, God the Father sent his Son,
Jesus, to save us from sin, death, and the devil.
John
3:16 - God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1
John 4:9-10 - This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and
only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins.
6. God the
Son, Jesus Christ, saved us by becoming a man, living a sinless life, and dying
on the cross as our substitute to pay the price for all our sins.
Isaiah
53:4-5 - Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we
considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was
pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
Galatians
4:4-5 - When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born
under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of
sons.
7. Jesus'
victory over sin, death, and the devil was publicly demonstrated and declared
in His bodily resurrection from the dead.
1
Corinthians 15:3 - For what I received I passed on to you as of first
importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He
was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
Romans
4:25 - He was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our
justification.
8. The free
gifts of pardon and peace won for all mankind on the cross are now delivered to
us personally in Holy Baptism, in God's Word, and in Holy Communion. Through
these means of grace, God creates and strengthens saving faith in our hearts.
Mark
16:16 - Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not
believe will be condemned.
Matthew
26:26-28 - While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it,
and gave it to His disciples, saying: "Take and eat; this is My
body." Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying,
"Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the new covenant, which is
poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
9. God's free
gifts of forgiveness and everlasting life become ours personally when we
receive them in faith. We are not saved by anything we do, but by the grace of God
alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Ephesians
2:8-9 - By grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.
Romans
5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ.
10. All who receive Christ in faith have the assurance of
everlasting life.
John
11:25-26 - Jesus said... "I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me, will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes
in Me will never die."
Romans
8:1 - Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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