These are the tradition's own historic confessions, as its members would recognise them. Every tradition varies internally.
TEACHING AND SCRIPTUREWhat Lutheranism restored — and where it stopped
The Lutheran Reformation was one of the first powerful steps back from the medieval church system toward the apostolic gospel. On the left — what was restored, what was preserved, or where the tradition stopped. On the right — Scripture. Below — the conclusion.
PART ONE
What was restored
01The authority of Scripture
LUTHERANISM RESTOREDChurch tradition and clerical authority cannot stand above the Word of God.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS2 Timothy 3:16–17God-breathed Scripture is able to fully equip the man of God.Acts 17:11Even the apostolic preaching was tested by the Scriptures.
Restored truthThe Lutheran Reformation returned this apostolic principle to the Church: not the pope, the council or tradition stands over the Word; the Word judges every human authority.
Scripture is the highest authority for faith, not church tradition.
LUTHERANISM RESTOREDA person is justified not by merits, indulgences or religious works, but by God’s grace through faith in Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSRomans 3:28A person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.Romans 4:5God justifies the one who believes, not the one who has earned justification.Ephesians 2:8–9“By grace you have been saved through faith… not of works.”
Restored truthThis is the heart of the gospel, obscured by the medieval system of merits. The Lutheran Reformation returned it to the Church.
God accepts a person through faith in Christ, not through merits.
03The sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice
LUTHERANISM RESTOREDSalvation rests on Christ’s finished work, not on human merits.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSHebrews 9:12He “entered once for all into the holy places,” having obtained eternal redemption.Hebrews 10:10–14One sacrifice has been offered once for all; He sat down forever at the right hand of God.
Restored truthLutheranism rejected the repeated offering of the sacrifice in the Mass and returned to the Church the once-for-all nature of Calvary.
Christ offered Himself once for all.
04Christ the only Mediator
LUTHERANISM RESTOREDBetween God and man no extra system of mediators is required.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Timothy 2:5“There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”Hebrews 4:14–16Through Christ the believer comes directly to the throne of grace.
Restored truthThe Lutheran Reformation removed the system of saints, Mary and a priestly class as necessary mediators, and restored direct access to Christ.
The only Mediator between God and man is Christ.
05The priesthood of all believers
LUTHERANISM RESTOREDEvery believer has direct access to God through Christ.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Peter 2:5Believers are a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices.1 Peter 2:9Believers are a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
Restored truthIn the New Testament there is no separate priestly caste between the people and God. Lutheranism returned this to the Church.
Every believer has access to God through Christ, not through a special priestly class.
KEPT
What Lutheranism preserved truly
01The Lord’s Supper is not a mere memorial
LUTHERANISM PRESERVEDClassical Lutheranism confesses the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the Supper.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSMatthew 26:26–28Christ said: “this is My body” and “this is My blood of the new covenant.”1 Corinthians 10:16“The cup of blessing… is a participation in the blood of Christ,” and “the bread… is a participation in the body of Christ.”1 Corinthians 11:27–29Unworthy participation makes a person “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”
Preserved truthLutheranism did not turn the church’s ordinances into mere symbols. The Supper is a remembrance — and more: a holy participation in the body and blood of Christ.
The bread and the cup are not an empty symbol of a past event, but a real participation in Christ.
02God really acts through the actions He instituted
LUTHERANISM PRESERVEDBaptism and the Supper are understood not only as human testimonies, but as actions bound to God’s promise and grace.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSMatthew 28:19–20Christ commands baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and promises to be with the disciples.1 Corinthians 11:23–26The Supper was received from the Lord; by it the Church proclaims the Lord’s death until He comes.
Preserved truthIn this respect Lutheranism preserved a part of the ancient understanding of the Church that many later Protestant movements greatly weakened: Christ’s ordinances are not only signs of our faith, but places where God’s promise acts.
Baptism and the Supper are not only human testimonies, but actions bound to God’s promise.
THE TURNWhere they stopped
The Lutheran Reformation restored first of all:
Scripture → grace → justification by faith → the sufficiency of Christ.
But it largely kept the church form of the former age and did not restore the fullness of the apostolic Church’s life in the Holy Spirit.
PART TWO
What was not yet restored
01Baptism in the Holy Spirit as experienced power from on high
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe Lutheran Reformation restored conversion and justification, but baptism in the Holy Spirit as being clothed with “power from on high” did not become the norm of church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSLuke 24:49Christ commands them to stay in the city until they are clothed with power from on high.Acts 1:4–8The promise is: “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and “you will receive power.”Acts 8:14–17Already believing and baptized Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit.Acts 19:1–6After the Holy Spirit comes upon them, believers speak in tongues and prophesy.
Gospel truthThe apostolic Church knew not only conversion, but also being clothed with power from on high.
Justification by faith is the foundation. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the next apostolic reality, which Lutheranism had not yet restored.
02Other tongues as a living gift
WHERE IT STOPPEDIn classical Lutheran practice other tongues did not become a normal gift of the Church.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:4The believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues.Acts 10:44–46The Spirit falls on Cornelius’ household; they speak in tongues and magnify God.Acts 19:6After the Holy Spirit comes upon them, the believers speak in tongues.1 Corinthians 14:39“Do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
Gospel truthOther tongues in Acts and in Paul are not a periphery, but part of being filled with the Spirit.
The gift of tongues belongs to the New Testament Church; its absence cannot be presented as Lutheran fullness of the gospel.
03Prophecy as the Church’s ordinary life
WHERE IT STOPPEDLutheranism restored the preaching of the Word, but prophecy as a living gift of the Church was largely not restored.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSActs 2:17–18“I will pour out My Spirit… and they shall prophesy.”1 Corinthians 14:1“Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”1 Thessalonians 5:19–21“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things.”
Gospel truthProphecy is the norm of the Spirit’s outpouring, not a rare exception of sound teaching.
Sound preaching does not cancel prophecy; the apostolic response is not a ban, but testing.
04Gifts of healing and miracles
WHERE IT STOPPEDPrayer remained, but gifts of healing and miracles as standing gifts of the Spirit usually did not become part of ordinary church life.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 12:7–11The Holy Spirit gives the Church prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation and other gifts — to each for the common good.
Gospel truthPrayer is good. The New Testament also speaks of gifts by which God heals and acts supernaturally in the Church.
Healings and miracles are part of the apostolic norm, not an extra that sound teaching makes unnecessary.
05The fullness of the fivefold ministry
WHERE IT STOPPEDLutheran church form largely reduced this to pastors, teachers and episcopal oversight. Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSEphesians 4:11–13Christ gave the Church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers — until we all attain to the unity of the faith and to the fullness of Christ.
Gospel truthPastors and teachers are biblical ministries. But Paul also names apostles and prophets among Christ’s gifts to the Church.
Christ gave the Church five ministries until she comes to His fullness; to shorten that list is to narrow what He Himself established.
06A gathering in which the Holy Spirit acts through different members of the Body
WHERE IT STOPPEDThe Lutheran gathering became primarily liturgy and a ministry of the Word. The apostolic gathering assumed that one has a psalm, another a teaching, a tongue, a revelation or an interpretation.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 14:26“When you come together, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, an interpretation.”
Gospel truthThe apostolic gathering expected the living action of God among the Church through different members, not only a well-ordered liturgy.
The gathering of the Church is a place where the Holy Spirit acts through the body, not only a pulpit and an order of service.
07The pairing of the Word and supernatural power
WHERE IT STOPPEDLutheranism restored sound teaching, but preaching “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” largely ceased to be the norm.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS1 Corinthians 2:4–5“My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” — so that faith might rest in the power of God.1 Corinthians 4:20“The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
Gospel truthPaul preached not only sound doctrine, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
Apostolic preaching is the Word together with power, not sound teaching alone without the demonstration of the Spirit.
THE OLD SYSTEM
What remained from the former system
01Infant baptism and new birth through baptism
WHAT REMAINEDLutheranism kept infant baptism and bound new birth and the forgiveness of sins to baptism. This is part of classical Lutheran teaching.
WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYSIn Acts the ordinary sequence as the gospel spreads looks like this: they heard the Word → believed/repented → were baptised.
Acts 2:38–41First repentance, then baptism; those who received the word were baptised.Acts 8:12Those who believed Philip were baptised.Acts 8:36–38The eunuch hears the gospel, confesses faith and is baptised at once.Acts 18:8Crispus and many Corinthians believed and were baptised.
Gospel truthFrom the standpoint of a gospel church of believer’s baptism, baptism follows the faith of the one baptised. To bind new birth to the baptism of an infant is to attach to water what Acts attaches to repentance and faith.
The apostolic sequence is to hear, believe and be baptised — not to baptise before faith.
The Lutheran Reformation restored the foundation:
Scripture → Christ → grace → justification by faith.
It also kept the important truth that the Lord’s Supper is more than an empty symbol.
But the restoration of the apostolic Church was not yet complete.
What still remained to restore:
baptism in the Holy Spirit → power from on high → living gifts → prophecy → tongues → healings → the fullness of ministries → the Holy Spirit’s living action in the gathering.
Lutheranism restored the gospel of grace, but had not yet restored in its fullness the spiritual life of the book of Acts.
COMPARED WITH ACTS
How it differs from the apostolic church
01Baptism without faith
Lutherans teach that baptism regenerates even an infant. In Acts baptism is preceded by the repentance and faith of the one baptised.
Acts 2:38 · 8:12 · 18:8The state church
In Germany and Scandinavia the Lutheran church was a state church for centuries; a church tax still exists. People become members by birth rather than conversion. In Acts ‘the Lord added daily those who were being saved.’
Acts 2:47 · 5:29Liturgy and a silent congregation
The service is led by an ordained pastor following a liturgical order; the gifts of the Spirit hardly appear. In the apostolic church prophecy and other gifts work through different members.
Acts 13:1–2 · 1 Corinthians 14:26–31