WE BELIEVE, TEACH, AND CONFESS ...

The First and Chief Article is this:

Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:24-25)

He alone is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and God has laid upon Him the iniquities of us all (Isaiah 53:6)

All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works or merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25)

This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us, for as St. Paul says, For we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law, and that He might be just, and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26-28)

Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, nor can anything be granted or permitted contrary to the same, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31), For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, says Peter in Acts 4:12, And with His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Upon this article everything that we teach and practice depends.



SMALCALD ARTICLES, PART TWO, ARTICLE ONE, THE BOOK OF CONCORD (The Lutheran Confessions)