What We Believe

Belief and Practice

With the universal Christian Church, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God: the Father, creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God's Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God.

Being Lutheran

Our congregations accept and preach the Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the reformation of the Christian Church in the 16th century. The teaching of Luther and the reformers can be summarized in three phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.

  • Grace Alone
  • Sola Gratia

  • God loves the people of the world, even though they are sinful, rebel against Him and do not deserve His love. He sent Jesus, His Son, to love the unlovable and save the ungodly.

  • Faith Alone
  • Sola Fide

  • By His suffering and death as the substitute for all people of all time, Jesus purchased and won forgiveness and eternal life for them. Those who hear this Good News and believe it have the eternal life that it offers. God creates faith in Christ and gives people forgiveness through Him.

  • Scripture Alone
  • Sola Scriptura

  • The Bible is God's inerrant and infallible Word, in which He reveals His Law and His Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the sole rule and norm for Christian doctrine.

Who is Jesus?

For more than 2,000 years people have asked this question. We were not present when Jesus lived on this earth, but in the Bible we have the record of His birth, life, death on the cross, and resurrection.  Through the study of the Bible, you can seek the answer to this age-old question.  Visit our "Who is Jesus?" section to learn more.  http://www.lcms.org/whoisjesus

What does "Synod" mean?

The word "Synod" in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod comes from Greek words that mean "walking together." The term has rich meaning in our church body because congregations voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod. Though diverse in their service, our congregations hold to a shared confession of Jesus Christ as taught in Holy Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.

Lutheran congregations are confessional. Our congregations believe the Lutheran Confessions are a correct interpretation and presentation of biblical doctrine.

Contained in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, these statements of belief were transcribed and shared broadly by church leaders during the 16th century. Luther's Small Catechism contains essential summaries of our beliefs, while the Augsburg Confession gives more detail about what Lutherans believe.

Baptism

Click here to learn about Holy Baptism in the LCMS.

"What About?" Series

"What About?" is a series of 27 pamphlets, written by former Synod President Rev. Dr. A.L. Barry, that address doctrinal topics, moral issues and concerns in the church to help Christians grow in their understanding of these important questions.

Click here to learn about our beliefs:  The About Series

Click on a topic to download further information:

Note: Permission is granted to copy any part of this series as long as there is no sale of the copied material and no change in content.
 

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Christian: the ancient text reads “catholic,” meaning the whole Church as it confesses the wholeness of Christian doctrine.

Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only‐begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life on the world to come. Amen.

Us men means all people.  Christian: the ancient text reads “catholic,” meaning the whole Church as it confesses the wholeness of Christian doctrine.

 
 The Athanasian Creed 
1 Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic* faith.  
2 Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally.  
3 And the catholic faith is this,
4 that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.
5 For the Father is one person, the Son is another, and the Holy Spirit is another.
6 But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:  the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.
7 Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit:
8 the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated;
9 The Father inifinite, the Son infinite, the Holy Spirit infinite;
10 the Father eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal.  
11 And yet there are not three Eternals, but one Eternal,
12 just as there are not three Uncreated or three Infinites, but one Uncreated and one Infinite.  
13 In the same way, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, the Holy Spirit almighty;
14 and yet there are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.
15 So the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God;
16 and yet ther are not three Gods, but one God.
17 So the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord;
18 and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord.  
19 Just as we are compelled by the Christian truth to acknowledge each distinct person as God and Lord, so also are we prohibited by the catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords.  
20 The Father is not made nor created nor begotten by anyone.  
21 The Son is neither made nor created, but begotten of the Father alone.  
22 The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son, neither made nor created nor begotten, but proceeding.
23 Thus, there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits.  
24 And in this Trinity none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another;
25 but the whole three person are coeternal with each other and coequal, so that in all things, as has been stated above the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity is to be worshiped.  
26 Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.  
27 But it is also necessary for everlasting salvation that one faithfully believe the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  
28 Therefore, it is the right faith that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is at the same time both God and man.  
29 He is God, begotten from the substance of the Father before all ages; and He is man, born from the substance of HIs mother in this age:  
30 perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh;
31 equal to the Father with respect to His divinity, less than the Father with respect to His humanity.
32 Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ:
33 one, however, not by the conversion of the divinity into flesh, but by the assumption of the humanity into God;
34 one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.  
35 For as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ,
36 who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead,
37 ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.  
38 At His comming all people will rise again with their bodies and give an account concerning their own deeds.  
39 And those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire.
40 This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.  
 
The Athanasian Creed declari

Pages