Bible Translators Theologians The Lutheran sacraments are "sacred acts of divine institution".
[1] They teach that God earnestly offers to all who receive the sacrament forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.
Lutherans teach that at baptism, people receive regeneration and God's promise of salvation.
Lutherans baptize by sprinkling or pouring water on the head of the person (or infant) as the Trinitarian formula is spoken.
Martin Luther discussed baptism in detail in his 1520 work called On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church.
(It has been called "consubstantiation", but most Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term, as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.
[7] The Lutheran Churches affirm the seal of the confessional, which mandates that a priest can not disclose the contents of a confession to any third party as he is acting in persona Christi.
In English, it is known as the "affirmation of baptism"[21] and is a mature and public profession of the faith that "marks the completion of the congregation's program of confirmation ministry".
[24] Although the Lutheran Confessions do not deny that Holy Orders may be considered Sacramental (See "Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Article XIII," paragraphs 11-12: "But if ordination be understood as applying to the ministry of the Word, we are not unwilling to call ordination a sacrament.
"), Lutherans, on the whole, reject the Roman Catholic teaching of Holy Orders because they do not think sacerdotalism is supported by the Bible.
[25] Martin Luther taught that each individual was expected to fulfill his God-appointed task in everyday life.
[26] In Luther's Small Catechism, the holy orders include, but are not limited to the following: bishops, pastors, preachers, governmental offices, citizens, husbands, wives, children, employees, employers, young people, and widows.