What We Believe

What we believe, teach, and confess as Christians.

Whether you are seeking a relationship with God, are a new Christian in the process of learning, or a mature Christian looking for a new home we hope that what questions you may have about what we believe can be answered here. While it's impossible to address every question you might have, we hope this overview will at least provide a good start in understanding what we believe, teach, and confess. 

Three "Solas" as a Starting Point

 

  • We believe we are saved by Grace Alone (Ephesians 2:4-7)
  • We believe grace is received as God’s gift through Faith Alone (Ephesians 2:8-9)
  • We believe God’s plan of salvation is revealed in Scripture Alone (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

 

The Essentials of Our Faith 

The Bible:

The foundation of everything we believe, teach, and confess at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church comes from the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe these Holy Scriptures to be the inspired (2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16-17) and inerrant (Psalm 12:6, John 17:17) Word of God. Inspired means that every word of the Bible written by the prophets, apostles, and evangelists was given to them by God. Inerrant means that the Bible is entirely free of error, that everything it teaches about the history of the world, the nature of man, and our redemption through the Triune God is true.

The Lutheran Confessions:

Because contradictory theologies arise around the pure teaching of the Holy Scriptures, we must remain on guard and confess the truth. We are commanded by God to have no divisions among ourselves (1 Corinthians 1:10) but at the same time to avoid those who cause division by false doctrine (Romans 16:17-18). It is because of this that The Lutheran Confessions were created. As a member congregation of The Pacific Southwest District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, we believe that the doctrine presented in the Lutheran Confessions is the true doctrine of the Bible. The truth of the Holy Scriptures is echoed by these Confessions. We also believe that the faith proclaimed in these documents is the same faith proclaimed by the Apostles, the Early Church, and the Una Sancta (the True Church both past and present).​

True God in Trinity:

To quote the words of the Athanasian Creed, at St. Paul’s, “we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity.” As the Scriptures teach, there is one God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Created by Him in perfection, mankind fell into sin and brought death into the world. But, out of His great mercy, the Father sent His Son into the world in order that Jesus Christ would die for our sins and win new life for us through His resurrection. And through the Holy Spirit’s call to faith in the bloody cross and empty tomb, we have been gathered into the Church, where the Triune God’s gifts of life and salvation forever flow.

The Sacramental Church:

Because it is by faith that we belong to Christ’s Church, we recognize that the Church is found wherever those faith-giving gifts are present. Therefore, our lives as Christians are rooted in the Word, The Office of the Keys (Confession and Absolution), Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

The Word:

Through the reading of the Scriptures, as well as through preaching on that Word, God teaches us who He is and brings us to trust in the forgiveness of sins that He won for us through the blood of Christ.

The Office of the Keys:

We believe that the Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent (John 20:22-23). Because of this special authority, ministers of Christ have the duty to exercise this divine command, in particular through church discipline, which when needed excludes openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolves those who repent of their sins. (This is not to be confused with a Christian’s personal relationship with Jesus, in which one may confess their sins and ask for forgiveness directly.)

Baptism:

We believe that Baptism is not an act of man’s obedience to God, but rather is an act of God’s mercy to man, where He gives to individuals the salvation that Jesus won for the world upon the cross. As Paul describes in Romans 6:4, baptism is an act where God drowns our sinful nature and raises us up to a new life where we can be called His very own children. We also believe that this rebirth of water and the Spirit, this gift of life, is one that Christ desires to give to all people, including infants.

The Lord’s Supper:

We believe that the Lord’s Supper is not a mere symbolic meal, but rather is the means through which Jesus Christ comes to us physically and where we eat the same flesh and drink the same blood that were broken and shed for us upon the cross. Just as in Baptism, it is through this Holy Meal that God gives us everything won for us in the Cross. And because Christ promises all His nail-pierced salvation to those who faithfully eat His body and drink His blood, we joyfully celebrate the Lord’s Supper each week. Likewise, because Christ also warns against partaking of His body and blood in an unworthy and divided manner (1 Corinthians 11:17-32), we ask that all visitors, who have not communed with us before, speak with our pastor before approaching the altar.

Holy Worship:

Because Christ has built His Church upon these gifts that give us forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, we believe that the purpose of Christian worship is for Christ’s Bride to receive those gifts from her Bridegroom. Therefore, every aspect of our worship at St. Paul’s is aimed toward that goal.

For our forms of worship, known as liturgies, we exclusively use the Divine Service and other settings from Lutheran Service Book because we believe their words and music faithfully and beautifully deliver to us the crucified Christ and prepare us to receive His Supper. Likewise, we sing hymns from the same book because they tell us the eternal story of our creation, redemption and sanctification through the Triune God.

While many congregations throughout the world may struggle with how to deliver God’s gifts to a modern world, we at St. Paul’s remain content with the ancient character of the Church’s worship mingled with different styles of music, knowing that modern sinners, just as those of ancient times, can find nothing more relevant than the awesome, infinite love and mercy of Jesus Christ that comes to us each time we gather in His name.

Hopefully this overview has answered some of your questions. If it has prompted even more, we invite you to contact our Pastor so that he may help you better understand what we believe, teach, and confess at St Paul's.