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Lutherans generally speak of only two sacraments: Holy [[Baptism]] and [[eucharist|Holy Communion]]. They teach that Holy Baptism is a work of God, founded on the word and promise of Christ<ref>Martin Luther, <cite>Small Catechism</cite> [http://www.projectwittenberg.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/little.book/book-4.txt 4]</ref>. Thus it is administered to both infants and adults. Children born to practicing Lutheran families are usually baptized shortly after birth. Holy [[Absolution]] is also confessed to be a sacrament. <ref>The [[Apology of the Augsburg Confession]] XIII, 3, 4 reads: "If we define the sacraments as rites, which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added, it is easy to determine what the sacraments are, properly speaking. For humanly instituted rites are not sacraments, properly speaking, because human beings do not have the authority to promise grace. Therefore signs instituted without the command of God are not sure signs of grace, even though they perhaps serve to teach or admonish the common folk. Therefore, the sacraments are actually baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and absolution (the sacrament of repentance).</ref>
[[eucharist|Holy Communion]], which the Lutherans also call the Sacrament of the Altar and the Lord's Supper (1 Cor 11:20),
Lutherans believe that all who trust in Jesus alone can be certain of their salvation, for it is in Christ's work and his promises in which their certainty lies. They teach that, at death, Christians are immediately taken into the presence of God, where they await the resurrection of the body at the second coming of Christ. Lutherans do not believe in any sort of millennial kingdom of Christ either before or after his second coming on the last day.
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