We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God—eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty; completely wise, just, and good, and the overflowing source of all good.
We know him by two means:
First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, since that universe is before our eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures, great and small, are as letters to make us ponder the invisible things of God: his eternal power and his divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All these things are enough to convict men and to leave them without excuse.
Second, he makes himself known to us more openly by his holy and divine Word, as much as we need in this life, for his glory and for the salvation of his own.
We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God—because of the special care he has for us and our salvation—commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures.
We include in the Holy Scripture the two volumes of the Old and New Testaments. They are canonical books with which there can be no quarrel at all.
Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth; 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles; Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther; Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel; Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; Acts; Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon; Hebrews; James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude; Revelation.
We receive all these books and these only as holy and canonical, for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith. And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them—not so much because the church receives and approves them as such but above all because the Holy Spirit testifies in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they prove themselves to be from God. For even the blind themselves are able to see that the things predicted in them do happen.
We distinguish between these holy books and the apocryphal ones. The church may certainly read these books and learn from them as far as they agree with the canonical books. But they do not have such power and virtue that one could confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion. Much less can they detract from the authority of the other holy books.
We believe that this Holy Scripture contains the will of God completely and that everything one must believe to be saved is sufficiently taught in it. Therefore we must not consider human writings—no matter how holy their authors may have been—equal to the divine writings; nor may we put custom, nor the majority, nor age, nor the passage of time or persons, nor councils, decrees, or official decisions above the truth of God, for truth is above everything else.
In keeping with this truth and Word of God we believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties—namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three persons are only one God. These persons, thus distinct, are neither divided nor fused or mixed together. For the Father did not take on flesh, nor did the Spirit, but only the Son.
All these things we know from the testimonies of Holy Scripture as well as from the effects of the persons, especially from those we feel within ourselves. This doctrine of the holy Trinity has always been maintained in the true church against various heresies which were rightly condemned by the holy fathers. We willingly accept the three ecumenical creeds—the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian.
We believe that Jesus Christ, according to his divine nature, is the only Son of God—eternally begotten, not made nor created. He is one in essence with the Father; coeternal; the exact image of the person of the Father and the reflection of his glory. He is the true eternal God, the Almighty, whom we invoke, worship, and serve.
We believe and confess also that the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the Father and the Son—neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but only proceeding from the two of them. He is true and eternal God, as the Holy Scriptures teach us.
We believe that the Father created heaven and earth and all other creatures from nothing, when it seemed good to him, by his Word—that is to say, by his Son. He has also created the angels good, that they might be his messengers and serve his elect. Some of them have fallen into eternal perdition; the others have persisted by the grace of God.
We believe that this good God, after he created all things, did not abandon them to chance or fortune but leads and governs them according to his holy will, in such a way that nothing happens in this world without his orderly arrangement. He watches over us with fatherly care, keeping all creatures under his control.
We believe that God created man from the dust of the earth and made him in his image—good, just, and holy. But he subjected himself willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse. He lost all his excellent gifts and retained none of them except for small traces which are enough to make him inexcusable. We reject everything taught to the contrary concerning man’s free will, since man is nothing but the slave of sin.
We believe that by the disobedience of Adam, original sin has been spread through the whole human race. It is a corruption of all nature—an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother’s womb. It is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring.
We believe that God showed himself to be merciful and just. He is merciful in withdrawing and saving from this perdition those whom he has elected and chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord by his pure goodness. He is just in leaving the others in their ruin and fall into which they plunged themselves.
We believe that our good God set out to find man when he was fleeing from Him. He comforted him, promising to give him his Son, born of a woman, to crush the head of the serpent and to make him blessed.
We confess that God fulfilled the promise by sending his only and eternal Son into the world. The Son took the form of a servant, truly assuming a real human nature with all its weaknesses, except for sin. He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the person of the Son has been inseparably united with human nature, so that there are not two Sons of God, but two natures united in a single person. His divine nature remained uncreated, and his human nature remained finite, retaining the reality of a body.
We believe that God sent his Son to assume the nature in which the disobedience had been committed, in order to bear in it the punishment of sin by his most bitter passion and death. God made known his justice toward his Son and poured out his goodness and mercy on us.
We believe that Jesus Christ is a high priest forever and that he presented himself in our name before his Father to appease his wrath with full satisfaction by offering himself on the tree of the cross. We find all comforts in his wounds and have no need to seek any other means to reconcile ourselves with God.
We believe that the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ with all his merits. To say that Christ is not enough but that something else is needed is a most enormous blasphemy. We are justified by faith alone, apart from works.
We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ. We cling to this foundation, leaning and resting only on the obedience of Christ crucified. This is enough to cover all our sins and to make us confident.
We believe that this true faith regenerates man and makes him a "new man." Far from making people cold toward living in a holy way, this faith works within them. It is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful, though we do good works not for merit, but because we are indebted to God.
We believe that the ceremonies and symbols of the law have ended with the coming of Christ. Nevertheless, we continue to use the witnesses drawn from the law and prophets to confirm us in the gospel and to regulate our lives.
We believe that we have no access to God except through the one and only Mediator and Intercessor: Jesus Christ the Righteous. No one loves us more than Jesus Christ does. Therefore, we have no need to look for another one according to our fancy.
We believe and confess one single catholic or universal church—a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by his blood, and sealed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end. It is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world, even though for a time it may appear very small.
We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation apart from it, no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself, regardless of his status or condition. All people are obliged to join and unite with it, keeping the unity of the church by submitting to its instruction and discipline.
The marks by which the true church is known are these:
If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached;
If it maintains the pure administration of the sacraments as Christ instituted them;
If church discipline is practiced in correcting faults. In short, if everything is done according to the Word of God, rejecting all things contrary to it and holding Jesus Christ as the only Head.
We believe that this true church ought to be governed according to the spiritual order that our Lord has taught us in his Word. There should be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and administer the sacraments. There should also be elders and deacons who, together with the pastors, form the church council. By these means the true religion is preserved and propagated.
We believe that ministers of the Word of God, elders, and deacons ought to be chosen to their offices by a legitimate election of the church, with prayer in the name of the Lord, and in good order. As for the ministers of the Word, they all have the same power and authority, no matter where they may be, since they are all servants of Jesus Christ, the only universal bishop and the only head of the church.
We believe that although it is useful and good for those who govern the church to establish a certain order to maintain the body of the church, they must at all times take care not to deviate from what Christ, our only Master, has ordained. Therefore we reject all human inventions and laws introduced into the worship of God which bind and force the conscience. We accept only what is proper to maintain harmony and unity and to keep all in obedience to God.
We believe that our good God, mindful of our crudeness and weakness, has ordained sacraments for us to seal his promises in us, to pledge his good will and grace toward us, and also to nourish and sustain our faith. He has added these to the Word of the gospel to represent better to our external senses both what he enables us to understand by his Word and what he does inwardly in our hearts.
We believe that Jesus Christ has abolished circumcision and has instituted in its place the sacrament of baptism. By it we are received into God’s church and set apart from all other people and alien religions, that we may wholly belong to him. We believe our children ought to be baptized and sealed with the sign of the covenant, just as little children were circumcised in Israel on the basis of the same promises made to our children.
We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus Christ has ordained and instituted the sacrament of the Holy Supper to nourish and sustain those who are already born again and ingrafted into his family: his church. To support the physical and earthly life, God has prescribed an appropriate earthly bread; but to maintain the spiritual and heavenly life that believers have, he has sent the living bread that came down from heaven: namely, Jesus Christ.
We believe that because of the depravity of the human race, our good God has ordained kings, princes, and civil officers. He wants the world to be governed by laws and policies so that human lawlessness may be restrained and that everything may be conducted in good order among human beings. Everyone, regardless of status, condition, or rank, must be subject to the civil officers and pay taxes, holding them in honor and showing them all due obedience in all things that do not conflict with the Word of God.
Finally, we believe that when the time set by the Lord has come and the number of the elect is complete, our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, bodily and visibly, as he ascended, with great glory and majesty. Then all who have died will be raised from the earth. Those who are still alive will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, from corruption to incorruption. The books will be opened, and the dead will be judged according to what they have done in this world, whether good or evil. Therefore we look forward to that great day with high longing in order to enjoy fully the promises of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.