This document outlines the core beliefs that guide our church, grounded in Holy Scripture. Community In Christ is a congregation of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren (CLB). Return to About.
Foundational Theology
1. The Holy Scriptures
The Bible, including both Old and New Testaments as originally given, is the verbally and plenarily inspired Word of God and is free from error in the whole and in the part, and is therefore the final authoritative guide for faith and conduct.
(References: 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Psalm 19:7; John 17:17)
2. The Trinity
We believe in one God, who eternally exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one in divine essence.
(References: Deuteronomy 6:4; Matthew 28:19; John 1:1, 1:14; 2 Corinthians 13:14)
3. God the Father
God the Father has revealed Himself as the Creator and preserver of the universe, to Whom the entire creation and all creatures are subject.
(References: Genesis 1:1; Psalm 104; Colossians 1:16-17; Acts 17:24-25)
4. Creation and the Fall of Humanity
God created Adam and Eve in His image, intending for them to live in fellowship with Him. However, they fell into sin through the temptation of Satan, thereby losing their fellowship with God. As a consequence of their disobedience, the entire human race has become totally depraved. We are by nature self-centered sinners who oppose God, inherently unable to trust, fear, or love Him. We are subject to the devil and condemned to death under the eternal wrath of God.
(References: Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 3:1-7; Romans 3:23; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3)
5. Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son, is the image of the invisible God. To accomplish our redemption, He became fully human, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man, by His perfect obedience and substitutionary death on the cross, has purchased our redemption. He arose from the dead for our justification, in the very body in which He was crucified. He ascended into heaven, where He now sits at the right hand of God the Father as our interceding High Priest. He will return personally, bodily, and visibly to gather believers to Himself and to establish His millennial kingdom. At His return, He will judge the living and the dead, making an eternal separation between believers and unbelievers. His kingdom shall have no end.
(References: John 1:1, 1:14; Colossians 1:15; Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18-25; Philippians 2:5-8; Romans 3:24-25; Isaiah 53; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 4:25; Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 7:25; Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7; John 5:22; Luke 1:33)
6. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is a divine person, eternally one with the Father and the Son. Through the Word of God, He convicts people of sin, persuades them to confess their sinfulness to God, and calls them to faith through the Gospel. He regenerates, sanctifies, and preserves believers in the one true faith. He comforts, guides, equips, directs, and empowers the church to fulfill the Great Commission.
(References: John 16:8; Titus 3:5; John 3:5-6; Romans 15:16; 1 Peter 1:2; John 10:28-29; Romans 8:38-39; John 14:16, 26; John 16:13; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:16)
Salvation and the Means of Grace
7. The Means of Grace
The knowledge and benefit of Christ's redemption from sin are made available to the human race through the means of grace: the Word and the sacraments.
(References: Romans 10:17; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 21)
a. The Word: Through the Word of the Law, God brings sinners to recognize their lost condition and to repent. Through the Word of the Gospel, He brings sinners to believe in Jesus Christ, to be justified, to enter the process of sanctification, and to receive eternal life. This occurs as the Holy Spirit awakens them to their sin, convicts them of their guilt, and calls them to repent and believe, inviting and enabling them to accept God's grace in Christ. Every person who believes is instantly forgiven and credited with Christ's righteousness. The Word then instructs and guides the believer in living a godly life.
(References: Romans 3:20; Galatians 3:24; Romans 1:16; John 3:16; Acts 4:12; John 6:44; Acts 16:14; Ephesians 1:7; Philippians 3:9; Psalm 119:105)
b. The Sacrament of Baptism: In Baptism, God offers the benefits of Christ's redemption to all people and graciously bestows the washing of regeneration and newness of life upon all who believe. God calls the baptized person to live in daily repentance—sorrow for sin, turning from sin, and personal faith in the forgiveness of sin obtained by Christ. By grace, we are daily empowered to overcome sinful desires and live a new life in Christ. Those who do not continue in God's grace need to be brought again to repentance and faith through the Law and Gospel. Because the sinfulness of human nature is passed from generation to generation and God's promise of grace includes little children, we baptize infants. Through baptism, they become members of Christ's believing church. These children need to come to know they are sinners with a sinful nature opposed to God. Through the Holy Spirit's work, they must confess their sinfulness, yield to God, and personally claim the forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. They are led from the faith received in infant baptism into a clear, conscious, personal faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior, assured of salvation, and reliant solely on Christ's finished work and the power of the Gospel to live as children of God.
(References: Titus 3:5; Acts 22:16; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38, 41; Romans 6:4; Romans 6:11-13; Acts 2:39; Genesis 17:7)
c. The Sacrament of Holy Communion: In Holy Communion, Christ gives to the communicants His body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine. He declares the forgiveness of sins to all believers and strengthens their faith.
(References: Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17)
8. Eternal Salvation
Eternal salvation is available to every living human being on earth by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This salvation comprises an instantaneous aspect and an ongoing, continual aspect.
(References: Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 4:12; John 14:6)
a. Justification: Justification is God's gracious act by which He, for Christ's sake, instantaneously acquits repentant and believing sinners and credits them with Christ's righteousness. At that moment, God imparts to each believer a new and godly nature, and the Holy Spirit begins the process of sanctification. Human effort has no part in justification.
(References: Romans 3:24; Romans 5:1; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1)
b. Sanctification: Sanctification is God's gracious, continual work of spiritual renewal and growth in the life of every justified person. Through the means of grace, the Holy Spirit works to reproduce the character of Christ within believers, instructing and urging them to live according to their new nature. The Holy Spirit increasingly enables believers to resist the devil, overcome the world, and consider themselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit produces spiritual fruit and bestows spiritual gifts upon all believers. He calls, empowers, and equips them to serve God in the home, community, and as part of the Church Universal. The process of sanctification will be complete only when the believer reaches glory.
(References: Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Peter 3:18; Romans 8:29; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 6:11; 1 John 4:4; 1 Peter 4:10)
The Church and Its Doctrine
9. The Church Universal and Local Congregation
The Church Universal consists of all those who truly believe on Jesus Christ as Savior. A local congregation is an assembly of believers in a specific locality where the Gospel is purely taught and the sacraments are rightly administered. The confessing membership of a local congregation shall include only those who have been baptized into "the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," confess personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, maintain a good reputation in the community, and accept the constitution of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren. It is acknowledged that hypocrites, whose unbelief is not evident to the congregation, may be present.
(References: Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 2:42; Matthew 18:20; Acts 2:38, 41; 1 Timothy 3:7)
10. Church Governance
The Church of the Lutheran Brethren practices congregational church government and upholds the autonomy of local congregations. The offices of pastor and elder are to be filled by men only. The synodical administration serves an advisory function for the congregation and an administrative function for cooperative denominational efforts.
(References: Acts 6:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9; Acts 15:1-35 — for synodical/council interaction)
11. Lutheran Confessions
The Lutheran confessions are a summary of Bible doctrines. We adhere to the following confessional writings: The Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the unaltered Augsburg Confession, and Luther's Small Catechism.
(References: These are historical confessional documents that summarize scriptural teaching, not direct Bible verses themselves.)
For more information, visit the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America website.