Bethany Lutheran Church is also a fellowship of Lutheran Christians. We are affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a Biblically conservative church body. The LC-MS is called a “confessional” church body because we publicly confess our faith. We believe that the three ecumenical creeds are faithful declarations of the Christian faith. These include the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed.
Our congregation is called “Lutheran” because we follow the Bible based teachings of Martin Luther, which were the driving force for the Reformation of the Church in the 16th century. God used Luther to proclaim again the Biblical truth that in Jesus Christ, God is loving and merciful. Forgiveness and eternal life are gifts that God wants to give people through faith in Jesus. During the time of the Reformation, much of the church was reformed and revitalized and brought back to its Biblical roots. The teachings of the Lutherans were gathered together in the Book of Concord of 1580, and are used as a confession of faith by our church body.
Lutherans still hold to Luther’s theological teaching of Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone. These comprise the very essence of Lutheranism:
- Grace Alone. The Bible teaches that we are saved from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation only by God’s grace, his undeserved favor toward us. Human beings cannot earn their way to heaven. God, in his rich mercy, wants us to have eternal life with Him. See Ephesians 2:8-10.
- Faith Alone. Faith is the only way which we can receive God’s gifts of grace. Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, and is a creation not of man, but of God. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” Faith is created and sustained by God working through his Word, through Baptism, and through the Lord’s Supper.
- Scripture Alone. The writings of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible are the only rule and norm by which all doctrines and teachers are measured and judged (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
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