Christians confess the Triune God. It is not enough for anyone to say he believes in a "god." There must also be a confession of the only true—Triune—God. The 1932 Brief Statement simply declares that all who "deny the doctrine of the Holy Trinity are outside the pale of the Christian Church."
All Christians confess the Apostolic, the Nicene, and the Athanasian Creeds. The Athanasian Creed says in part: "Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic [that is, universal, Christian] faith. Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity . . . . "
Some may accuse those who cling to such a confession as relying on an outdated document. Others might suggest that such a confession is archaic and no longer to be held by modern man. Reducing God to the size of man's understanding has resulted in views that God does not punish, or that all people will eventually get to some sort of a "heaven" regardless of what is believed.
May the only true God—God the Father who created us, God the Son who redeemed us, and God the Holy Spirit who sanctified us—protect us from any denial of the triune God. Let us heed the warnings of God's Word in an age which rejects faith and obedience to God.
To the glory of God may we receive the blessing of our Lord when He prayed: "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).
— From the Lutheran Spokesman |
