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What are the Lutheran Confessions? Session 4 The Apology of the AC Part 2 Articles 15 -28
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession continues its defense of Lutheran teaching by showing how the Gospel shapes Christian life, worship, and church authority. This session covers human traditions, the two kingdoms, Christ’s return, free will, good works, invocation of saints, both kinds in the Lord’s Supper, marriage of priests, the Mass, vocation, and church authority. Throughout, human rules and works are distinguished from God’s saving work in Christ, received by grace through faith.
• Article 15 – Human Traditions: traditions may be kept for good order, but they do not earn grace or forgiveness. Worship is a response to God’s grace, not a condition for receiving it.
• Article 16 – Political Order: distinguishes the kingdom of the left from the kingdom of the right, including a local application to council, elders, and pastor.
• Article 17 – Christ’s Return: one resurrection and one final judgment; rejects millennial and dispensational schemes. Session 4 The Apology of the AC…
• Article 18 – Free Will: people have freedom in civil matters, but not spiritual freedom to come to God apart from the Holy Spirit.
• Article 19 – Cause of Sin: sin comes from the devil and fallen human will, not from God.
• Article 20 – Good Works: good works do not earn forgiveness; they flow from justification as fruits of faith.
• Article 21 – Invocation of Saints: Christ alone is Redeemer and Mediator; Christians do not pray to saints.
• Article 22 – Both Kinds in the Lord’s Supper: both bread and wine are to be given to the laity.
• Article 23 – Marriage of Priests: rejects mandatory clerical celibacy and defends marriage as God’s good institution.
• Article 24 – The Mass: Lutherans retain historic worship but reject the idea that the priest re-sacrifices Christ in the Mass.
• Article 27 – Monastic Vows: rejects monasticism as a higher spiritual calling and emphasizes vocation in ordinary life.
• Article 28 – Church Authority: church leaders may establish rules for good order, but may not bind consciences or make human regulations conditions for forgiveness.
What Are the Lutheran Confessions, Apology of the Augsburg
Confession Part 1
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession was written to defend and explain the teachings of the Augsburg Confession. This session explores original sin, justification, good works, the Church, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, confession, repentance, the Sacraments, and church order. Throughout the discussion, the focus remains on Christ and His saving work, received by grace through faith and delivered through God’s Word and Sacraments.
• What the Apology is: “Apology” means a defense or explanation, not saying sorry. Melanchthon wrote it in 1531 to answer the Roman Catholic Confutation and to expand upon the Augsburg Confession article by article.
• Article 1 – God: Lutherans reaffirm the historic Christian confession of the Trinity: one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Article 2 – Original Sin: Original sin is not merely human weakness but the loss of original righteousness and a deep corruption of human nature. Fallen humanity cannot naturally know, love, trust, or fear God rightly.
• Article 3 – Christ: Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. This teaching provides the foundation for the doctrine of justification that follows.
• Article 4 – Justification: This is presented as the central and most important article. Human beings cannot fulfill God’s Law or free themselves from sin. Forgiveness and righteousness are given for Christ’s sake, not because of works, reason, choice, or merit.
• Article 5 – Love and Fulfilling the Law: Good works and sanctification follow justification. Christians do not become acceptable to God by fulfilling the Law; instead, good works arise as the fruit of already having been justified by grace through faith.
• Articles 7–8 – The Church: The Church is not defined primarily by institutional structure or hierarchy. It is the gathering of God’s people around Christ’s Word and Sacraments, where the Gospel is proclaimed and the Sacraments rightly administered.
• Article 9 – Baptism: The Apology reaffirms Baptism as an effective means of grace and continues to defend infant Baptism against those who reject it.
• Article 10 – The Lord’s Supper: Lutherans maintain Christ’s real presence in the Sacrament. The bread and wine are not treated merely as symbols or memorials; Christ’s words are taken according to their plain meaning.
• Article 11 – Confession: Confession is valued as a gift through which forgiveness is received, but it should not be transformed into a legal requirement governed by arbitrary rules about frequency.
• Article 12 – Repentance: Repentance consists of contrition and faith. The Law exposes and condemns sin; the Gospel then brings the promise that sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. This is presented as the basic Law-and-Gospel movement of Christian ministry.
• Confession and Satisfaction: Private confession and absolution are cherished because they comfort troubled consciences. They are not to become a burden in which people perform works or penance to earn forgiveness.
• Article 13 – The Sacraments: The discussion focuses less on reaching a particular number and more on what a sacrament is. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper clearly fit the definition of rites instituted by Christ in which visible elements are joined to His promise of forgiveness; absolution can also be discussed sacramentally in a broader sense.
• Article 14 – Church Order: Lutheranism does not insist upon one divinely mandated form of church government. The presentation describes a mediating approach in which pastors are responsible especially for Word, Sacrament, the Keys, and spiritual care, while the congregation and council retain responsibility for temporal administration such as budgets, property, and stewardship.
What are the Lutheran Confessions Part 2, The Augsburg Confession Articles 15-24
The session continues the overview of the Augsburg Confession, emphasizing that Lutheran teaching is not intended as a new form of Christianity but as a confession grounded in Scripture and the historic Christian Church.
• Article 15 – Church Ceremonies: Lutherans retain useful historic ceremonies, the church year, and liturgical worship for good order and the proclamation of Christ. These practices do not earn forgiveness. In the Divine Service, the central movement is God serving us through Word and Sacrament, followed by our response of faith, prayer, and praise.
• Article 16 – Civil Government: God works through both Church and civil society. The state preserves temporal order, while the Church concerns the spiritual kingdom and the Gospel.
• Article 17 – Christ’s Return: Christ will return for final judgment and resurrection. The session rejects millennial schemes in which the Church establishes an earthly kingdom before the resurrection.
• Article 18 – Free Will: Human beings possess freedom in ordinary earthly matters, but because of sin they cannot by their own power come to God, believe in Christ, or produce spiritual righteousness. Conversion and faith are entirely the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word.
• Article 19 – Cause of Sin: God is not the cause of sin. Sin arises from the devil and fallen humanity. Original sin is presented as a profound corruption of human nature resulting from Adam and Eve’s rebellion.
• Article 20 – Good Works: Good works do not cause salvation; they flow from salvation. Christians are justified by grace through faith, and good works follow as the fruit of living faith and the work God has prepared for believers to do.
• Article 21 – Worship of the Saints: Christians may remember and honor the saints as examples of faith, but they are not to invoke them as mediators. Christ alone is the mediator, and Christians may approach God directly through Him.
• Article 22 – Both Kinds in the Sacrament: The laity should receive both Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, following Christ’s institution and command.
• Article 23 – Marriage of Priests: Scripture does not command clerical celibacy. The Church therefore has no authority to forbid pastors from marrying. Celibacy may be a gift for some, but it should not be imposed universally.
• Article 24 – The Mass: The session begins by stressing that Lutherans retain the historic form of the Mass, understood as the service of Holy Communion. The Lord’s Supper is Christ’s gift to His Church, not a human work offered to earn merit before God. The transcript ends at this point.
Overall theme: the Augsburg Confession defends historic Christian worship and practice while rejecting teachings or requirements that obscure Christ’s saving work, justification by grace through faith, and the authority of Scripture.
What are the Lutheran Confessions Part 1, The Augsburg Confession Articles 1-14
Overall theme: the Augsburg Confession presents Lutheran teaching not as a new or revolutionary faith, but as a return to the historic Christian faith grounded in Scripture alone. Articles 1–10 move in a clear progression: who God is, humanity’s fallen condition, who Christ is, how sinners are justified, how that salvation is delivered through Word and Sacrament, and how the Christian life and Church flow from that Gospel. The repeated emphasis is that salvation is entirely God’s work for us in Christ, received by grace through faith, rather than something we achieve through human reason, decision, merit, or works.
The individual articles develop that theme like this:
• Article 1 – God: Lutherans confess the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity: one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Article 2 – Original Sin: Humanity is not merely weakened by sin but profoundly corrupted by it. Sin affects the whole human nature and leaves us unable to come to God by our own powers.
• Article 3 – The Son of God: Jesus Christ is one person with two natures, truly God and truly man, in continuity with the Nicene faith of the historic Church.
• Article 4 – Justification: The central article. Sinners are declared righteous before God solely because of Christ, by grace through faith, apart from human merit or works.
• Article 5 – The Ministry: Christ’s saving work is delivered to us through the means of grace — Word and Sacrament. Through these means the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith.
• Article 6 – New Obedience: Good works do not earn salvation but necessarily follow faith. They are the fruit of justification: God’s love comes first; Christian obedience is the response.
• Article 7 – The Church: The Church is the congregation of believers where the Gospel is purely taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.
• Article 8 – What the Church Is: The effectiveness of Word and Sacrament does not depend upon the personal holiness of the minister. God’s gifts remain valid even when administered by sinful or unworthy men.
• Article 9 – Baptism: Baptism is God’s saving gift and means of grace, not merely a human confession. Because salvation depends upon God’s action rather than human reason or decision, infants are also to be baptized.
• Article 10 – The Lord’s Supper: Lutherans confess Christ’s real presence: His true body and blood are truly present in the bread and wine according to His words, “This is my body” and “This is my blood.”
An Introduction to What Are the Lutheran Confessions?
Lutheran Christians should know not only what they believe, but why they believe it and how that faith is confessed and practiced. The Book of Concord is presented as a faithful exposition of Scripture, not as a replacement for Scripture. The introduction argues that ongoing catechesis is necessary because ignorance of Lutheran doctrine can produce confusion over worship, Baptism, Communion, the pastoral office, church authority, and congregational life. Confessional Lutheranism and Christian mission are not opposites: the Church confesses the truth of Scripture precisely so that Christ’s gifts may be proclaimed and given to others.
• The need for continuing catechesis: Confirmation should not be treated as graduation from Christian instruction. The Small Catechism and Lutheran Confessions remain important throughout the Christian life.
• What the Book of Concord is: It gathers the Lutheran Confessions and explains what Lutherans believe, teach, and confess. It is not inspired or inerrant Scripture, but is received as a faithful exposition of Scripture.
• Why the Confessions matter: They answer the question, “What do Lutherans actually believe, and why?” They also provide a common doctrinal foundation so that the Church speaks with clarity and unity.
• The Divine Service and the means of grace: Lutheran worship centers on God serving His people through Word and Sacrament. Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the proclaimed Word deliver Christ’s forgiveness, strengthen faith, and equip Christians for good works.
• Doctrine affects congregational life: Questions about the pastoral office, the divine call, church councils, preaching, closed Communion, Baptism, and other practices cannot be separated from doctrine. Confusion in doctrine can therefore contribute to practical conflict.
• The Confessions and Scripture: The Confessions do not stand alongside Scripture as another source of revelation. Their authority rests on their agreement with Scripture and their purpose is to explain faithfully what Scripture teaches.
• Confessional versus missional: The introduction rejects the idea that churches must choose between doctrinal faithfulness and mission. Being confessional should lead naturally to mission, because Christians want to share the Gospel and the means of grace they themselves have received.
• The purpose of the series: The goal is to teach, educate, enlighten, and equip Christians so that they better understand their Lutheran identity and can articulate what they believe, teach, and confess.