Questions & answers

That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, and has set me free from all the power of the devil.

He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation.

Therefore, by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him.

First, how great my sins and misery are; second, how I am delivered from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to be thankful to God for such deliverance.

From the law of God.

Christ teaches us that briefly in Matthew 22:37-40: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the great commandment; and the second is like it, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

No, I am by nature prone to hate God and my neighbour.

No. God created human beings good and in His own image, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might rightly know God their Creator, love Him wholeheartedly, and live with Him in eternal happiness to glorify and praise Him.

From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise; therefore our nature has become so corrupt that we are all conceived and born in sin.

Indeed we are, unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.

Not at all. God made humanity capable of keeping His law. But human beings, at the instigation of the devil and through their own wilful disobedience, deprived themselves and all their descendants of those divine gifts.

By no means. God is terribly displeased with our original sin as well as the sins we commit, and will punish them in His just judgement both now and eternally, as He has declared: Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do all that is written in the book of the law.

God is indeed merciful, but also just. His justice therefore requires that sin committed against the highest majesty of God be punished with the greatest penalty: everlasting punishment of body and soul.

God will have His justice satisfied, and therefore we must make this full satisfaction either by ourselves or by another.

By no means. On the contrary, we increase our debt every day.

No. First, God will not punish another creature for the sin that humanity has committed. Further, no mere creature can bear the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it.

One who is truly human and perfectly righteous, and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also truly God.

Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which has sinned should likewise make satisfaction for sin, and one who is himself a sinner cannot satisfy for others.

That He might, by the power of His divinity, bear in His human nature the burden of God's wrath, and might obtain for and restore to us righteousness and life.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has made for us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

From the holy gospel, which God Himself first revealed in Paradise, then proclaimed through the patriarchs and prophets and represented through the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law, and finally fulfilled through His only begotten Son.

No, only those who are grafted into Him and receive all His benefits by a true faith.

True faith is not only a certain knowledge by which I hold for truth all that God has revealed to us in His Word, but also an assured confidence which the Holy Spirit works by the gospel in my heart, that not only to others, but to me also, forgiveness of sin, everlasting righteousness and salvation are freely given by God, solely by grace, only for the sake of Christ's merits.

All things promised us in the gospel, which the articles of our universal and undoubted Christian faith briefly teach us.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

Into three parts: the first is of God the Father and our creation; the second of God the Son and our redemption; the third of God the Holy Spirit and our sanctification.

Because God has so revealed Himself in His Word that these three distinct persons are the one true and eternal God.

That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who made from nothing heaven and earth with all that is in them, who likewise upholds and governs the same by His eternal purpose and providence, is my God and my Father for the sake of Christ His Son, in whom I trust so completely that I do not doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for soul and body, and further, that He will make whatever evils He sends upon me in this valley of tears turn out to my advantage; for He is able to do it, being Almighty God, and willing, being a faithful Father.

The almighty and everywhere present power of God, by which, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures, so that plants and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance but by His fatherly hand.

That we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and that in all things which may later befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father that nothing shall separate us from His love, since all creatures are so in His hand that without His will they cannot so much as move.

Because He saves us and delivers us from our sins, and likewise because we ought not to seek, nor can we find salvation in any other.

They do not, for though they boast of Him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only deliverer and Saviour; for one of these two things must be true: that either Jesus is not a complete Saviour, or that those who by true faith receive this Saviour must find all things in Him necessary to their salvation.

Because He is appointed by God the Father and anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; and to be our only High Priest, who by the one sacrifice of His body has redeemed us and makes continual intercession with the Father for us; and also to be our eternal King, who governs us by His Word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in that salvation He has purchased for us.

Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in His anointing, that so I may confess His name, and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him; and also that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life, and afterwards reign with Him eternally over all creatures.

Because Christ alone is the eternal and natural Son of God, but we are children adopted of God by grace for His sake.

Because He has redeemed us, both soul and body, from all our sins, not with silver or gold but with His precious blood, and has delivered us from all the power of the devil, and thus has made us His own property.

God’s eternal Son, who is and remains true and eternal God, took upon Himself true human nature from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, through the work of the Holy Spirit. In this way He is also the true descendant of David, like His brothers and sisters in all things except sin.

That He is our Mediator, and with His innocence and perfect holiness covers in the sight of God my sins, in which I was conceived and born.

That He, all the time that He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life, sustained in body and soul the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind, that so by His suffering, as the only propitiatory sacrifice, He might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the favour of God, righteousness, and eternal life.

He was innocent, yet condemned by an earthly judge, so that He might free us from the severe judgement of God to which we were exposed.

Yes, for thereby I am assured that He took on Him the curse which lay upon me, for the death of the cross was accursed of God.

Because with regard to the justice and truth of God, satisfaction for our sins could be made only by the death of the Son of God.

To prove that He was really dead.

Our death is not a satisfaction for our sins, but only an abolishing of sin and a passage into eternal life.

That by virtue of it our old self is crucified, dead, and buried with Him, that so the corrupt inclinations of the flesh may no more reign in us, but that we may offer ourselves to Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

That in my greatest temptations I may be assured and wholly comfort myself in this, that my Lord Jesus Christ, by His inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies in which He was plunged during all His sufferings, but especially on the cross, has delivered me from the anguish and torments of hell.

First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, that He might make us sharers in that righteousness which He had purchased for us by His death;

Secondly, we are also by His power raised up to a new life;

Lastly, the resurrection of Christ is a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.

That Christ, in sight of His disciples, was taken up from earth into heaven, and that He continues there for our benefit, until He comes again to judge the living and the dead.

Christ is truly human and truly God; with regard to His human nature He is no more on earth, but with regard to His divinity, majesty, grace, and Spirit, He is at no time absent from us.

Not at all, for since the divinity is unlimited and omnipresent, it must necessarily follow that the same is beyond the limits of the human nature He assumed, and yet is nevertheless in this human nature and remains personally united to it.

First, that He is our advocate in the presence of His Father in heaven;

Secondly, that we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, as the head, will also take us, His members, up to Himself;

Thirdly, that He sends us His Spirit as a guarantee, by whose power we seek the things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God, and not things on earth.

Because Christ is ascended into heaven for this end, that He might appear as head of His church, through whom the Father governs all things.

First, that by His Holy Spirit He pours out heavenly gifts upon us His members, and then that by His power He defends and preserves us against all enemies.

That in all my sorrows and persecutions, with uplifted head I look for the very same person who before offered Himself for my sake to the judgement seat of God and has removed all curse from me, to come as judge from heaven, who shall cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but will bring me with all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory.

First, that He is true and coeternal God with the Father and the Son;

Secondly, that He is also given me to make me by a true faith a sharer in Christ and all His benefits, that He may comfort me and abide with me forever.

That the Son of God from the beginning to the end of the world gathers, defends, and preserves to Himself by His Spirit and Word out of the whole human race a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith, and that I am and forever shall remain a living member of it.

First, all who believe, as members of Christ, share in Him and in all His riches and gifts. Second, everyone must know it to be their duty to use their gifts readily and cheerfully for the benefit and salvation of the other members.

That God, for the sake of Christ's satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, neither my corrupt nature against which I have to struggle all my life long, but will graciously credit to me the righteousness of Christ that I may never be condemned before the judgement seat of God.

That not only my soul after this life shall be immediately taken up to Christ its head, but also that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited with my soul and made like the glorious body of Christ.

That since I now feel in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, after this life I shall inherit perfect salvation which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has imagined, and I will praise God there forever.

That I am righteous in Christ before God and an heir of eternal life.

Only through true faith in Jesus Christ. My conscience accuses me that I have grievously broken all God’s commandments and kept none of them, and that I am still inclined to all evil.

Nevertheless, without any merit of mine and solely by grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He does so as if I had never had or committed any sin, and as if I had fulfilled all the obedience that Christ has fulfilled for me, provided that I receive this benefit with a believing heart.

Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith, but because only the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God, and that I cannot receive and apply the same to myself any other way than by faith only.

Because the righteousness which can be approved of before the judgement seat of God must be absolutely perfect and in all respects in conformity with the divine law, and also our best works in this life are all imperfect and defiled with sin.

This reward is not of merit but of grace.

No, for it is impossible that those who are implanted into Christ by a true faith should not bring forth fruits of thankfulness.

From the Holy Spirit, who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel and confirms it by the use of the sacraments.

The sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals appointed by God. Through their use He more fully declares and seals to us the promise of the gospel: that He freely grants us forgiveness of sins and eternal life for the sake of Christ’s one sacrifice accomplished on the cross.

Yes, indeed, for the Holy Spirit teaches us in the gospel and assures us by the sacraments that the whole of our salvation depends upon that one sacrifice of Christ which He offered for us on the cross.

Two: namely, holy baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Thus: that Christ appointed this external washing with water, adding this promise, that I am as certainly washed by His blood and Spirit from all the defilement of my soul, that is from all my sins, as I am washed externally with water by which the dirt of the body is commonly washed away.

It is to receive of God the forgiveness of sins freely for the sake of Christ's blood which He shed for us by His sacrifice upon the cross, and also to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and sanctified to be members of Christ, that so we may more and more die to sin and lead holy and blameless lives.

In the institution of baptism which is expressed in these words: Go therefore and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And the one who believes and is baptised shall be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. This promise is also repeated where Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins.

Not at all, for the blood of Jesus Christ only and the Holy Spirit cleanse us from all sin.

God speaks thus for good reason, namely, not only thereby to teach us that as the filth of the body is purged away by water, so our sins are removed by the blood and Spirit of Jesus Christ, but especially that by this divine pledge and sign He may assure us that we are spiritually cleansed from our sins as really as we are externally washed with water.

Yes, for since they, as well as adults, are included in the covenant and church of God, and since redemption from sin by the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the author of faith, is promised to them no less than to adults, they must therefore by baptism, as a sign of the covenant, be also admitted into the Christian church and be distinguished from the children of unbelievers, as was done in the old covenant by circumcision, instead of which baptism is instituted in the new covenant.

Thus: that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup in remembrance of Him, adding these promises: first, that His body was offered and broken on the cross for me and His blood shed for me as certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me; and further, that He feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life with His crucified body and shed blood as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ.

It is not only to embrace with believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ and thereby to obtain the pardon of sin and life eternal, but also, besides that, to become more and more united to His sacred body by the Holy Spirit who dwells both in Christ and in us, so that we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth, are nevertheless flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and that we live and are governed forever by one Spirit as members of the same body are by one soul.

In the institution of the supper which is expressed in these words: The Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it and said: Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup after He had eaten, saying: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; this do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you show the Lord's death until He comes.

This promise is repeated by the holy apostle Paul where he says: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body, for we are all sharers in that one bread.

Not at all. Just as the water in baptism is not changed into the blood of Christ and is not itself the washing away of sin, but only its God-appointed sign and confirmation, so the bread in the Lord’s Supper is not changed into Christ’s actual body. Yet it is called the body of Christ in keeping with the nature and properties of sacraments.

Christ speaks thus for good reason, namely, not only thereby to teach us that as bread and wine support this temporal life, so His crucified body and shed blood are the true food and drink by which our souls are fed to eternal life, but more especially by these visible signs and pledges to assure us that we are as really sharers in His true body and blood by the operation of the Holy Spirit as we receive by the mouths of our bodies these holy signs in remembrance of Him, and that all His sufferings and obedience are as certainly ours as if we had in our own persons suffered and made satisfaction for our sins to God.

The Lord's Supper testifies to us that we have a full pardon of all sin by the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ which He Himself accomplished once for all on the cross, and that we by the Holy Spirit are grafted into Christ, who according to His human nature is now not on earth but in heaven at the right hand of God His Father, and will there be worshipped by us.

But the Mass teaches that the living and dead have not the pardon of sins through the sufferings of Christ unless Christ is also daily offered for them by the priests, and further that Christ is bodily under the form of bread and wine and therefore is to be worshipped in them, so that the Mass in essence is nothing else than a denial of the one sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ and an accursed idolatry.

For those who are truly sorrowful for their sins and yet trust that these are forgiven them for the sake of Christ, and that their remaining infirmities are covered by His suffering and death, and who also earnestly desire to have their faith more and more strengthened and their lives more holy, but hypocrites and those who do not turn to God with sincere hearts eat and drink judgement to themselves.

No, for by this the covenant of God would be dishonoured and His wrath kindled against the whole congregation; therefore it is the duty of the Christian church, according to the appointment of Christ and His apostles, to exclude such persons by the keys of the kingdom of heaven until they show a changed life.

The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline or excommunication out of the Christian church; by these two the kingdom of heaven is opened to believers and shut against unbelievers.

Thus: when according to the command of Christ it is declared and publicly testified to every believer that whenever they receive the promise of the gospel by a true faith all their sins are really forgiven them of God for the sake of Christ's merits, and on the contrary, when it is declared and testified to all unbelievers and those who do not sincerely repent that they stand exposed to the wrath of God and eternal condemnation as long as they are unconverted, according to which testimony of the gospel God will judge them both in this and in the life to come.

According to Christ’s command, those who call themselves Christians but maintain teachings or practices inconsistent with that confession must first be repeatedly warned in a brotherly way. If they will not abandon their errors and wicked way of life, they are reported to the church or to those appointed by the church for this work.

If they reject that warning, they are excluded from the sacraments by those appointed, and so from the Christian church, and by God Himself from the kingdom of Christ. When they promise and show real amendment, they are received again as members of Christ and His church.

Because Christ, having redeemed and delivered us by His blood, also renews us by His Holy Spirit after His own image, that so we may testify by the whole of our conduct our gratitude to God for His blessings, and that He may be praised by us; also, that everyone may be assured in himself of his faith by the fruits of it, and that by our godly conduct others may be gained to Christ.

By no means, for the Holy Scripture declares that no sexually immoral person, idolater, adulterer, thief, greedy man, drunkard, slanderer, robber, or any such like, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Two parts: putting to death the old self and bringing the new self to life.

Heartfelt sorrow that we have provoked God by our sins, and increasingly hating and fleeing from them.

Heartfelt joy in God through Christ, and a love and delight in living according to God’s will in every good work.

Only those which proceed from a true faith, are performed according to the law of God, and to His glory, and not such as are founded on our imaginations or the institutions of men.

God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

First commandment: You shall have no other gods before Me.

Second commandment: You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me; and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Third commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day: therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Fifth commandment: Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.

Sixth commandment: You shall not kill.

Seventh commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

Eighth commandment: You shall not steal.

Ninth commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

Tenth commandment: You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.

Into two tables: the first of which teaches us how we must behave towards God, the second what duties we owe to our neighbour.

That I, as sincerely as I desire the salvation of my own soul, avoid and flee from all idolatry, sorcery, soothsaying, superstition, invocation of saints or any other creatures, and learn rightly to know the only true God, trust in Him alone, with humility and patience submit to Him, expect all good things from Him only, love, fear, and glorify Him with my whole heart, so that I renounce and forsake all creatures rather than commit even the least thing contrary to His will.

Idolatry is instead of or besides that one true God who has revealed Himself in His Word, to invent or have any other object in which men place their trust.

That we in no way represent God by images nor worship Him in any other way than He has commanded in His Word.

God neither can nor may be represented by any means, but as to creatures, though they may be represented, yet God forbids to make or have any resemblance of them either in order to worship them or to serve God by them.

No. We must not pretend to be wiser than God, who wants His people taught by the living preaching of His Word, not by speechless images.

We must not misuse or abuse God’s name by cursing, perjury, or rash swearing, or share in these terrible sins in others by our silence or complicity. In brief, we must use God’s holy name only with fear and reverence, so that He may be rightly confessed, worshipped, and glorified in all our words and works.

It certainly is, for there is no sin greater or more provoking to God than the dishonouring of His name, and therefore He has commanded this sin to be punished with death.

Yes, either when the authorities require it of citizens, or when necessity requires us thereby to confirm faithfulness and truth to the glory of God and the safety of our neighbour, for such an oath is founded on God's word and therefore was justly used by the saints both in the Old and New Testament.

No, for a lawful oath is calling upon God as the only one who knows the heart, that He will bear witness to the truth and punish me if I swear falsely, which honour is due to no creature.

First, the ministry of the gospel and the schools must be maintained. Especially on the Sabbath, the day of rest, I must diligently attend the church of God to hear His Word, use the sacraments, publicly call upon the Lord, and contribute to the relief of the poor.

Second, all the days of my life I must turn from my evil works and yield myself to the Lord to work in me by His Holy Spirit, and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.

That I show all honour, love, and faithfulness to my father and mother and all in authority over me, and submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience, and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities since God is pleased to govern us by their hand.

That neither in thoughts, nor words, nor gestures, still less in deeds, I dishonour, hate, wound, or kill my neighbour by myself or by another, but that I lay aside all desire of revenge; also that I do not hurt myself nor wilfully expose myself to any danger. Therefore also the government is armed with the sword to prevent murder.

In forbidding murder God teaches us that He abhors the causes of it such as envy, hatred, anger, and desire of revenge, and that He accounts all these as murder.

No, for when God forbids envy, hatred, and anger, He commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves, to show patience, peace, meekness, mercy, and all kindness towards him and prevent his hurt as far as we can, and that we do good even to our enemies.

That all uncleanness is accursed of God, and that therefore we must with all our hearts detest the same and live chastely and temperately, whether in holy marriage or in single life.

Since both our body and soul are temples of the Holy Spirit, He commands us to preserve them pure and holy; therefore He forbids all sexually immoral actions, gestures, words, thoughts, desires, and whatever can entice men to it.

God forbids not only those thefts and robberies which the authorities punish, but He includes under the name of theft all wicked tricks and devices by which we design to appropriate to ourselves the goods which belong to our neighbour, whether it be by force or under a pretence of right, as by unjust weights, lengths, measures, fraudulent merchandise, false coins, exploitative lending, or by any other way forbidden by God; as also all greed, all abuse and waste of His gifts.

That I promote the advantage of my neighbour in every instance I can or may, and deal with him as I desire to be dealt with by others; further also that I faithfully labour so that I may be able to relieve the needy.

That I bear false witness against no man nor falsify any man's words, that I do not gossip or slander, that I do not judge nor join in condemning any man rashly or without a hearing, but that I avoid all sorts of lies and deceit as the characteristic works of the devil lest I bring down on myself the heavy wrath of God; likewise that in judgement and in all other dealings I love the truth, speak it uprightly and confess it, also that I defend and promote as much as I am able the honour and good character of my neighbour.

That even the smallest inclination or thought contrary to any of God's commandments never rise in our hearts, but that at all times we hate all sin with our whole heart and delight in all righteousness.

No, but even the holiest men while in this life have only a small beginning of this obedience, yet so that with a sincere resolution they begin to live not only according to some but all the commandments of God.

First, that throughout our lives we may learn more and more to know our sinful nature and thus become the more earnest in seeking the forgiveness of sin and righteousness in Christ; likewise that we constantly endeavour and pray to God for the grace of the Holy Spirit that we may become more and more in conformity with the image of God till we arrive at the perfection promised to us in a life to come.

Because it is the chief part of thankfulness which God requires of us, and also because God will give His grace and Holy Spirit to only those who with sincere desires continually ask them of Him and are thankful for them.

First, that we from the heart pray to the one true God only who has revealed Himself in His Word for all things He has commanded us to ask of Him;

Secondly, that we rightly and thoroughly know our need and misery that so we may deeply humble ourselves in the presence of His divine majesty;

Thirdly, that we be fully persuaded that He, notwithstanding that we are unworthy of it, will for the sake of Christ our Lord certainly hear our prayer as He has promised us in His Word.

All things necessary for soul and body which Christ our Lord has included in that prayer He Himself has taught us.

Our Father in heaven:

1. Hallowed be Your name.

2. Your kingdom come.

3. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

4. Give us this day our daily bread.

5. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

6. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

That immediately in the very beginning of our prayer He might awaken in us a childlike reverence for and confidence in God which are the foundation of our prayer, namely that God has become our Father in Christ and will much less deny us what we ask of Him in true faith than our parents will refuse us earthly things.

So that we do not form earthly conceptions of God’s heavenly majesty, and so that we expect from His almighty power everything necessary for soul and body.

Hallowed be Your name, that is, grant us first rightly to know You and to sanctify, glorify, and praise You in all Your works in which Your power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and truth are clearly displayed, and further also that we may so order and direct our whole lives, our thoughts, words, and actions, that Your name may never be blasphemed but rather honoured and praised on our account.

Your kingdom come, that is, rule us so by Your Word and Spirit that we may submit ourselves more and more to You, preserve and increase Your church, destroy the works of the devil and all violence which would exalt itself against You, and also all wicked counsels devised against Your holy Word, till the full perfection of Your kingdom take place in which You will be all in all.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is: grant that we and all people may renounce our own wills and obey Your will, which alone is good, without complaining; and that everyone may carry out the duties of their position and calling as willingly and faithfully as the angels do in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, that is, be pleased to provide us with all things necessary for the body, that we may thereby acknowledge You to be the only fountain of all good and that neither our care nor work nor even Your gifts can benefit us without Your blessing, and therefore that we may withdraw our trust from all creatures and place it alone in You.

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, that is, be pleased for the sake of Christ's blood not to credit to us poor sinners our transgressions nor that depravity which always clings to us, even as we feel this evidence of Your grace in us that it is our firm resolution from the heart to forgive our neighbour.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, that is, since we are so weak in ourselves that we cannot stand a moment, and besides this since our mortal enemies the devil, the world, and our own flesh never stop attacking us, do You therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of Your Holy Spirit that we may not be overcome in this spiritual warfare but steadfastly and earnestly may resist our foes till at last we obtain a complete victory.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, that is, all these we ask of You because You, being our King and almighty, are willing and able to give us all good, and all this we pray for that thereby not we but Your holy name may be glorified forever.

Amen means it shall truly and certainly be, for my prayer is more assuredly heard of God than I feel in my heart that I desire these things of Him.