Statement of Faith
From the South American Lutheran District of the LCMC
We, the members of the South American Lutheran District, believe, teach and confess the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe, teach, and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe in Him.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom all things were made and through His life, death, and resurrection God creates a new creation.
The proclamation of God's message to us, as law and evangel, is the Word of God, which reveals judgment and mercy in the person and work of Jesus Christ, through whom God was pleased to reconcile all things to Himself.
The canonical Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God. Inspired by the Spirit of God who speaks through its authors, they record and announce God's revelation centered in Jesus Christ. Through them, the Spirit of God speaks to us to create and sustain the Christian faith and communion for service in the world.
We believe, teach, and accept the canonical Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the inspired Word of God and the only authoritative source and norm of our proclamation, faith, and life.
We accept the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as true statements of the biblical faith that we believe, teach, and confess.
We believe, teach, and accept the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Small Catechism as true testimonies of the Word of God, normative for our teaching and practice. We recognize that we are one in faith and doctrine with all the churches that also accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.
We believe, teach, and confess the other confessional writings of the Book of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Articles of Smalcald, the Treatise, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as valid additional expositions of the Holy Scriptures.
We believe, teach, and confess the gospel, recorded in the Holy Scriptures and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and the Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the priesthood of all believers for God's mission in the world.
To complement and further explain the Statement of Faith established in the Constitution of the LCMC, a Statement of Faith to which the congregations of the South American Lutheran District expressly adhere, the congregations of the South American Lutheran District also add:
Sinners are justified before God solely by grace, through faith, and only by Christ. This is the article of faith by which the church stands or falls. (Augsburg Confession IV; Articles of Smalcald, Part Two, Article 1)
The Word of God is Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14), the proclamation of Him (Matthew 18:20; 1 John 1:1,2), on the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16). This Word functions as law and gospel at the same time, which must be distinguished, but not separated. The law orders society and convinces us of sin, showing us our need for a Savior (Articles of Smalcald, Part Three, “On the Law.”). The gospel is the power of God that frees us from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, and brings us, by grace, from death to life (Romans 1:16).
Christ commanded that His Word be proclaimed (Luke 24:46-47). Through it, the Holy Spirit works faith when and where He pleases (Romans 10:17; Augsburg Confession V; Small Catechism, II “The Creed”, Article Three) and repentant sinners are elected for salvation. Christians live their earthly lives as fully justified and fully sinful (Articles of Smalcald, Part Three, “On Repentance”).
Given that the church is the assembly of believers among whom the Gospel is taught with purity and the sacraments are administered correctly, it is not necessary for the traditions, rites, and human ceremonies instituted by men to be the same in every place (Augsburg Confession VII; Articles of Smalcald, Third Part, "On the Church"). God instituted a ministerial office through which the means of salvation are provided (Augsburg Confession V). For the sake of public order, a pastor is authorized to exercise this public office by virtue of the church's calling (Augsburg Confession XIV). The churches join in communion and mission to strengthen their ministries, recognizing their participation in the universal Church of our Lord (Ephesians 4:4-6).
In addition, we adhere to the Common Confession of 2005 of Lutheran CORE.