3 ½ Lutheran Answers to Every Question

On Sundays throughout August I’ve been teaching a series of Christian basics for new members, a sort of Lutheranism 101. Years ago I used to provide handouts that scrolled on for half a dozen pages or more. Now that I’m old and tired, I try to keep things simple and single-page. So far we’ve discussed Word and Sacrament: the story and structure of Holy Scripture, followed by the mission and marks of the Church. This week we’re tackling what makes Lutheran Christians particularly Lutheran.

 The 3 ½ Lutheran Answers to Every Question

Lutheranism is a branch of and reform movement within the greater Christian Church. There are many ways that we could talk about what makes some Christians “Lutheran.” We could talk about history, or institutional organization, or the Book of Concord. But the best way that I know to explain Lutheranism is with these “3 ½ Answers.”

1. Salvation by Grace through Faith

Lutherans emphasize that salvation is God’s work, not our works-righteousness. We are not saved because we are worthy or have earned our place in Heaven. We are saved by the grace and love and mercy of God, which we know by faith. This does not mean that good works are unimportant; faith without works is dead! But good works are the fruit of faith rather than the root of faith. Nor is this “double-predestination”; we are saved by grace, not by fiat. The heresies at either extremity are Pelagianism and Antinomianism.

2. Law and Gospel

Lutherans interpret all of Scripture through the lens of Law and Gospel. The Law is anything that reveals to us God’s justice and righteousness. The Gospel is anything that reveals to us God’s mercy and grace. The Law shows us our unworthiness and our need for the Gospel—“kills” us. The Gospel reveals that God loves us and forgives us our sins—makes us alive. Without Law we do not run to Gospel; without Gospel we despair in our sins. Both Law and Gospel are found all throughout both Old and New Testaments. We are in real need of salvation, and we are really saved.

3. Theology of the Cross

God reveals Himself to us in the last place that we expect to find God. God is present in the poor and marginalized, in the suffering and oppressed. He is also found in the simplest things of life: bread, wine, hearth and home. God’s strength is perfected in weakness: His crown is thorns, His throne a Cross. We have a God Who knows exactly what it is to suffer, mourn, and die. The Cross is a sure mark of the Church, not as a symbol but as a way of life.

3 ½. The Two Kingdoms

The Two Kingdoms forge a way of living Christian life in but not of the world. It is not merely the separation of Church and State, nor is it quite “two swords.” With His “left hand,” God creates a Kingdom of order and justice for all people. With His “right hand,” God creates an eternal Kingdom for all Christians. In the Kingdom on the Right we are all equal; in the Left there is hierarchy. Christians live in both Kingdoms at once and must respect both as God’s work. The institutional Church is part of the Kingdom on the Left!

Lutherans are not the only Christians who have these “answers.” We emphasize them. Other Christians talk about these same ideas using language both different and familiar.