What We Believe
St. Luke’s is a Christian Church. This means that we believe and teach the three historic statements of the Christian faith – the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian creeds. We believe and teach that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, our Savior, and that human beings are saved solely by faith in him.
St. Luke’s is a Lutheran Church. This means that we believe and teach the three great truths of the Lutheran Reformation. . .
- We are saved by Grace Alone. We believe that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23,24) We believe that there is nothing we can do to contribute to our salvation because God has done it all in Christ Jesus our Savior!
- We are saved by Faith Alone. We believe that “faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17). We believe that God forgives our sins and gives us the gift of heaven through the perfect life, innocent death, and glorious resurrection of our Savior Jesus!
- We are saved by Scripture Alone. We believe that “these are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31.) Through the message of Scripture, the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith in the heart that believes in Jesus as our Savior as the only way to heaven!
St. Luke’s is an Evangelical church. The word “evangelical” comes from a Greek word focusing on proclaiming the good news of salvation that can only be found in Jesus. The message of the gospel shapes our message, our mission, and our attitude as members of God’s family!
St. Luke’s is a Confessional church. This means that we consistently and without compromise preach and teach the doctrines of God’s Word as expounded in the confessions of the Lutheran Church as contained in the Book of Concord. St. Luke’s is part of a group of more than 1200 churches called the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or WELS. The WELS is a world-wide church body with congregations across the United States as well as in Mexico and Canada. The WELS also serves over 26 foreign countries through world mission work. We are united in faith and teaching with the other churches of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod as well as churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or ELS.
Here are just a few of the basics of our faith…
- We don’t claim to be the only saving church, but we do strive to preserve and pass on the truth as it is found in the Bible. We believe and teach that…
- The Bible is the inspired Word of God, his unchanging message to all people of all times. “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)
- God created people holy and without sin, but by their own choice they disobeyed God and brought sin upon the whole human race. “There is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
- The final result of sin is not only the end of our earthly life, but eternal death and separation from God in the agony of hell. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
- The main and central message of the Bible is the gospel – the good news that “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.” (John 3:16)
- Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life in the place of every human being, and Jesus suffered the punishment of hell for the whole human race when he died on the cross. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
- God the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens saving faith in Jesus Christ through the message about him in the Bible, in Baptism, and in the Lord’s Supper. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
- Christians do good works, not in order to earn a place in heaven, but out of love and thanks to God who has already given them the gift of heaven through Jesus. “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” (Psalm 119:32)
- Christians will want to gather together regularly around the Word of God for the strengthening of their faith in Jesus and for encouraging each other in the faith. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)
- Motivated by God’s love for us in Christ, Christians seek to carry out the Lord’s great commission to share the good news of Jesus with all people. “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)
- When the Lord returns in judgment on the last day, he will raise all the dead and give the full glory of everlasting life in heaven to all who believe in him as their Savior. “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)
For a more detailed explanation of what we believe, click on the link below to read “What We Believe”, as published by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.