Lutherans rely solely on the Word of God: Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).
They believe that a sinner is justified by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide) for the sake of Christ alone (solus Christus), which is confirmed by Scripture alone (sola scriptura).
They believe that God’s Word is independent and cannot be contradicted. Men err, but the Word does not. As St. Paul wrote in Galatians: “But should we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”[1]
In other words, God has said what He means and meant what He says. There is nothing to be added or subtracted from the theology we have been given in Holy Scripture.
Historic Lutheran doctrine teaches, as Scripture teaches, that sin is diabolical and seeks to separate you from God. You must die daily, as St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. That is to say, the Christian life matters and always will. We are to bear good fruit, and we do so by the grace of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit so that none may boast.[2]
Historic Lutheran doctrine, which again mirrors what Holy Scripture clearly teaches, is Christocentric, meaning it places Christ at the center and circumference of every teaching. Christ came to earth to die for the sins of the world, and by repentance (through the grace and ability given to us by God), we are cleansed with the blood of the Lamb. We are, in other words, set free from sin and become children of God. We are made holy. We are clothed in righteousness for Jesus’ sake.
We become children who are not free TO sin, but free FROM sin. We are still sinners (simul justus et peccator-simultaneously saint and sinner), but we are not slaves to sin. We do not follow all our evil urges, indulging in the lusts and desires of the flesh, but rather we war against them, putting on the full armor of God to do so.[3]
This, again, is historic Lutheran teaching because this is exactly what Holy Scripture clearly teaches.
So what is the problem?
The problem is many of the Lutheran churches in America (including the LCMS).
Over time, the various Lutheran churches in America have become slowly and increasingly corrupt, similar to the Catholic church. They have largely left the clear teaching of Scripture and increasingly added their own heresies. They have swung the pendulum from the Catholic heresy of works righteousness and prayer to saints, to an equally heretical but opposite preaching of cheap grace.
It’s a once-and-done bastardization of true Christian doctrine.
This preaching teaches people that there is no need for any serious Christ-following. They have been saved, after all, and not by works; therefore, eat, drink, and be merry. Do what you please. Live completely for yourself. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. You can’t fall away. You’re good. Party away!
In consequence of this, many Lutherans in America don’t go to church anymore. What’s the point?
The best you’re told is: “Well, it’s good to do.”
“Yeah, but I’ve already had the sacraments. I am forgiven. So why do I need to keep going?”
See what the problem is?
I definitely saw it as a young person, and I stopped going to church because of it! What was the point?
Grace, that beautiful gift of salvation won for us on Calvary’s cross, has become a “get out of jail free” card you just keep in your back pocket while you live as the pagans live.
This is cheap grace. It’s grace without an understanding of sin.
This is not Christianity. This is not what the apostles did or preached. This is not what Luther preached either. And it is ruining the Lutheran church in America for good reason.
We need to understand our depravity. We need to take sin with the utmost seriousness. We need to go to church. We must go to church.[4] If we are Christians, then we are to live as followers of Christ. This requires a daily death. Sin is real and has dramatic consequences. Sin consistently entices us away from the Lord and destroys faith. Sin must be taken seriously as a Christian!
We need to live as followers of Christ because we claim to be followers of Christ. If we love Him, we will care about what He says and what He tells us to do. And we know that He loves us so greatly that He sent His Son to die for us, and that He tells us all things for our good.
We should be admonished to cling to Christ daily, to cling to His Word, to throw ourselves on His mercy, and to run to Him at every opportunity, especially on Sundays. We go to church because we recognize the battle that we’re in on a daily basis and the fact that we AREN’T ok. We need the strength that comes from His sacraments, and our wayward hearts need to be brought back to repentance, receiving the forgiveness of all our sins as a free gift.
Christ has died for us. Christ loves us. Yet the material world we inhabit, and our own sinful flesh, seek to entice us away from Him. Therefore, with reverence and holy fear, we take refuge in the Lord and in His church all the days of our lives. This purity of doctrine must return to the Lutheran church in America before it is too late.
Thank God for those faithful pastors who remain and still rightly preach the one true Apostolic Christian faith in Lutheran churches today.
[1] Galatians 1:8
[2] Luke 6:44, Matt 12:33, Matt 7:16
[3] Ephesians 6:11:18
[4] Hebrews 10:25
