Lutheran Vocational Evangelism

(Giving An Answer - Introduction)

So, you have invited your friend to worship and have explained the Divine Service so they feel comfortable and understand why we worship as we do. They have come to worship, they have heard the Gospel and now they begin asking, “What is different about Lutherans?”

Not everything is different about Lutherans, as a matter of fact we have many of the same core beliefs as all Christians. To begin, all Christian Churches confess the three universal Christian Creeds; the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. If anyone cannot confess these creeds, such as the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as other non-Christian religions, then they are not Christian.

As we look at what we believe, teach and confess, as Lutherans, we will see, just as the Reformers noted concerning the similarities and differences between them and the Roman Catholic church, we have many beliefs in common. With that said, there are some subtleties of difference. The Reformers made note of these as well as major differences, which in the Book of Concord, The Augsburg Confession and the Apology at times even condemned certain heretical differences.

The intent of the following is not to condemn but to instruct and to be able to make a clear distinction so as to clarify the Gospel, the reason for our hope in Jesus Christ for our salvation. As Luther believed, so we believe, as a person hears the good news of the Gospel how can they help but respond in the affirmative, yes, that is what I believe as well. And so as we clearly articulate Lutheran faith, certainly others will see the clarity of the Gospel, not mixed or commingled with the Law, not moralized, but pure and simply pointing to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

As Lutherans we believe we get it right by simply pointing to Jesus, never adding nor subtracting, never pointing to ourselves. This pointing to Jesus, just Jesus is the foundation for the purity of the Gospel in Lutheran Theology.

33 of 52    © Rev. Dr. Ronald A. Bogs (2018)