Today marks the 490th anniversary of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, the basic statement of Lutheran beliefs. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V asked the Protestant Princes to submit a statement of their beliefs to an Imperial Diet at Augsburg. That statement, The Augsburg Confession, was presented on June 25, 1530.

Joy Lutheran Church “accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel” (Constitution, *C2.05). But what does the Augsburg Confession talk about? Some of it is basic Christian faith–the doctrine of the Trinity and the Two Natures of Christ (Articles I and III). Some of it is basic to Lutheranism. We believe people “cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith” (Article IV).

Parts of the Augsburg Confession deal with controversies with the Roman Church of the day. For example, it rejects the teaching that priests could not marry (Article XXIII). Some points lead to controversy between Lutherans and other Protestants. For example, the Confession teaches “that through Baptism is offered the grace of God, and that children are to be baptized” (Article IX) and that in the  Lord’s Supper “the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present, and are distributed to those who eat the Supper of the Lord” (Article X). 

I have often found that even Lutherans are surprised that we teach that private confession and absolution are to be retained (Article XI).

 It’s worth reading the whole Augsburg Confession for yourself. Here’s an online version:  https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Augsburg_Confession

Read Philippians 2:9-11 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne