About Holy Cross Lutheran Church....
Lutherans get their name from Martin Luther, a German priest who sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1500s. Through his study of the Bible, Luther helped the Christian Church to rediscover the Biblical truth that man is "justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). God by His grace offers justification to the sinner which is received through faith apart from observing the Law (Romans 3:28).
Three great principles briefly describe the foundations of Biblical teaching and confession of the Lutheran Church. These are: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone . These are described more fully in what follows.
Grace alone
"For by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
From this passage, we learn that the cause of salvation remains with God and His grace alone. Grace belongs to God. Grace is what causes God to act. Grace is properly used to desribe God's unmerited favor in Jesus Christ. We see this grace of God which motivates him to action revealed plainly and beautifully in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world so that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Clearly, then, there is no place for human works in regard to earning or receiving God's blessings of salvation. God's blessings come to us only as a gift. There is nothing that we do to earn it, deserve it, or obtain it.
For more reading on grace, please refer to.......
"For by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God, in His grace, acts to save mankind by the death of Jesus Christ who substituted himself for sinners. (2 Corinthians 5:21 - "God made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.") God gives the blessings of salvation obtained by Christ through faith.
What is faith? Faith is the gift of God by which we apprehend Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. It is faith alone and nothing else whatever that is the means by which the grace of God and the merits of Christ are embraced, received, and applied to us. Faith which saves is a trust of the heart by which a person believes that for Christ's sake his sins are forgiven. Faith receives what God by His grace gives, namely, the forgiveness of sins. Faith is confidence in God, an assurance that God is gracious to us, and faith is not merely such a knowledge of historical events as the devil also possesses. (Mark 1:23-26 & Luke 4:33-35)
How do we get faith? People do not decide to believe. People do not participate in coming to God. Our own reason or strength do not obtain faith for us. God alone gives faith as a gift of His grace. "God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) Faith is created by God's Holy Spirit working through His Word, the Bible.
For more reading on faith, please refer to.......
Scripture alone
Holy Cross Lutheran Church teaches the Bible in all of its truth and purity. We believe that the Bible IS God's Word in all parts because it is given to us by God Himself through verbal inspiration. We learn this in God's Word itself from 1 Timothy 3: 16: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Since the Bible as we possess it is given by God, it is also trustworthy and true in all of its parts. God again tells us this in John 10:35 which says "the scripture cannot be broken."
Therefore, the Scripture/the Bible/God's Word alone is what we stand upon for the basis of our faith, our life, and our doctrine/teaching. The Bible tells us of its use again in 2 Timothy 3: 15 - 17: "And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
God's Word is made up of two major emphases. These are Law & Gospel. The Law tells us what God expects us to do and not to do and how we are to be. (Be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Leviticus 19:2). In the Law, we see our sin that separates us from God. But the Scripture reveals deliverance from sin in the Gospel. The Gospel tells us what God has done for us and our salvation through Jesus Christ who suffered and died upon the cross as the sinless offering to satisfy God's judgment upon sin. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."..."But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 6 & 8) In the Gospel, we see our sins laid upon Christ and the penalty of sin paid by Jesus that our sins are blotted from God's sight forever.
Further information on what we believe....
Lutherans get their name from Martin Luther, a German priest who sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1500s. Through his study of the Bible, Luther helped the Christian Church to rediscover the Biblical truth that man is "justified freely by God's grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). God by His grace offers justification to the sinner which is received through faith apart from observing the Law (Romans 3:28).
Three great principles briefly describe the foundations of Biblical teaching and confession of the Lutheran Church. These are: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone . These are described more fully in what follows.
Grace alone
"For by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
From this passage, we learn that the cause of salvation remains with God and His grace alone. Grace belongs to God. Grace is what causes God to act. Grace is properly used to desribe God's unmerited favor in Jesus Christ. We see this grace of God which motivates him to action revealed plainly and beautifully in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world so that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Clearly, then, there is no place for human works in regard to earning or receiving God's blessings of salvation. God's blessings come to us only as a gift. There is nothing that we do to earn it, deserve it, or obtain it.
For more reading on grace, please refer to.......
"For by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
God, in His grace, acts to save mankind by the death of Jesus Christ who substituted himself for sinners. (2 Corinthians 5:21 - "God made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.") God gives the blessings of salvation obtained by Christ through faith.
What is faith? Faith is the gift of God by which we apprehend Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. It is faith alone and nothing else whatever that is the means by which the grace of God and the merits of Christ are embraced, received, and applied to us. Faith which saves is a trust of the heart by which a person believes that for Christ's sake his sins are forgiven. Faith receives what God by His grace gives, namely, the forgiveness of sins. Faith is confidence in God, an assurance that God is gracious to us, and faith is not merely such a knowledge of historical events as the devil also possesses. (Mark 1:23-26 & Luke 4:33-35)
How do we get faith? People do not decide to believe. People do not participate in coming to God. Our own reason or strength do not obtain faith for us. God alone gives faith as a gift of His grace. "God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) Faith is created by God's Holy Spirit working through His Word, the Bible.
For more reading on faith, please refer to.......
Scripture alone
Holy Cross Lutheran Church teaches the Bible in all of its truth and purity. We believe that the Bible IS God's Word in all parts because it is given to us by God Himself through verbal inspiration. We learn this in God's Word itself from 1 Timothy 3: 16: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Since the Bible as we possess it is given by God, it is also trustworthy and true in all of its parts. God again tells us this in John 10:35 which says "the scripture cannot be broken."
Therefore, the Scripture/the Bible/God's Word alone is what we stand upon for the basis of our faith, our life, and our doctrine/teaching. The Bible tells us of its use again in 2 Timothy 3: 15 - 17: "And that from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work."
God's Word is made up of two major emphases. These are Law & Gospel. The Law tells us what God expects us to do and not to do and how we are to be. (Be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Leviticus 19:2). In the Law, we see our sin that separates us from God. But the Scripture reveals deliverance from sin in the Gospel. The Gospel tells us what God has done for us and our salvation through Jesus Christ who suffered and died upon the cross as the sinless offering to satisfy God's judgment upon sin. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly."..."But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5: 6 & 8) In the Gospel, we see our sins laid upon Christ and the penalty of sin paid by Jesus that our sins are blotted from God's sight forever.
Further information on what we believe....