What We Believe

There is one God, one divine essence, but divine three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
All people are born in original sin, which, along with our own sins, condemns us to God’s eternal wrath.
Jesus Christ, true God, and also true man, was born, crucified, and died. Three days later, he rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and will come again on the last day.
Jesus’s death on the cross was a sacrifice for the sins of all people.
We do not receive the forgiveness of sins because of anything we do, but we receive it when we believe that Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven. This is how we are saved, or justified, before God.
Even this belief isn’t something that we do, but it is a gift from God. God instituted His church and the office of pastor, so that, by the Holy Spirit, he works this faith in us.
For these reasons, Christians are to do good works—not to earn salvation, but because salvation has already been given to us.
Jesus’s Church exists (and Zion Lutheran Church is in Orange in particular,) so that Jesus might give us his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. He does this through the preaching of his Word, and through the sacraments of Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Holy Absolution.
The Old and New Testaments are the inspired, infallible Word of God.
The Book of Concord is a faithful and accurate summary and exposition of the teachings of the Bible.