# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S329
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

442 INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS

president of this congregation, be forwarded to the President arid
Secretary of Synod.
Attested by Wuu1am A. MESssner, Président
Grace EvanceLicaL LUTHERAN Cruge
New Yorx, N.Y.

[603]
The Common Confession of Faith
We, the undersigned members of the Missouri Synod, hereby
reject the proposed “Common Confession of Faith” as a basis
for church fellowship with the American Lutheran Church for
the following reasons: — _

Plenary Verbal Inspiration ;

The: “Common Confession” reads: “Since the Holy Spirit by
divine inspiration supplied to the holy writers content and fitting
word, therefore we acknowledge the Holy Scriptures in their
entirety as the inspired Word of God.” (Par. V.)

The expression that the Holy Spirit by divine inspiration
“supplied to the holy writers content and fitting word” is taken
from the “Declaration” of the A. L. C. and the “Pittsburgh Agree-
ment” between the A. L. C. and the U. L. C. The late Dr. Reu,
who was the chief exponent of this expression, taught a verbal
inspiration in the sense that the holy writers wrote their words
under the “guidance” or “influence” of the Holy Spirit. But he
denied plenary verbal inspiration, that is, that every word of
Scripture is inspired. Nor do the words “in their entirety” imply
a plenary verbal inspiration. According to dictionaries in common
use, the word “entirety” has the meaning of “whole” and does not
“necessarily imply parts.” ;

Over against this, our Catechism confesses: “ ‘By inspiration of
God’ means that God the Holy Ghost moved the holy men to write,
and put into. their minds, the very thoughts which they expressed
and the very words which they wrote.” (Qu. 10.) “Whose word,
then, is every word of the Bible? Every word of the Bible is God's
Word, and therefore the Bible is without error.” (Qu. 11.)

The “Common Confession” does not confess the plenary verbal
inspiration of Holy Scripture.

Objective Justification
The “Common Confession” reads: “God by raising Christ from
the dead proclaimed to the world that He has accepted the atone-
ment for man’s sin as completed.” (Par. III.) Again it says: “By
His redemptive work Christ is the propitiation for the sins of the

INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS 443

whole world; hence, forgiveness of sin has been secured and pro-
vided for all men. (This is often spoken of as objective justi-
fication.)” (Par. VI.)

~ Over against this, our Brief Statement confesses: “Scripture
teaches that:God has already declared the whole world to be
righteous in Christ, Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Rom. 4:25.” (Par. 17.)
pr. Pieper, Dogmatik, II, p. 411, says: “God, then, already in His
heart forgave the whole world its sin, justified the whole world.”
In 1941 our Committee on Doctrinal Unity reported to our Synod:
“We regret that the statement [of the A.L. C. at Detroit] does not
include a definition of objective justification such as was before
the joint meeting of the two commissions and found mutually
acceptable, “That God has already in Christ absolved all the world
of its sins.’” (Proceedings, 1941, p. 280.) There is a vast difference
between the statement that “forgiveness of sin has been secured
and provided for all men,” and the statement that “God has
already in Christ absolved all the world of its sins.” The former
opens the door to work-righteousness, while the latter closes the
door against it.

The “Common Confession” does not confess the Scriptural

doctrine of an objective justification.

Conversion

The “Common Confession” reads: “The siriner’s conversion . . .
is the work of God the Holy Spirit, without any co-operation
whatsoever from sinful man.” (Par. VII.) ,

The A. L. C. has taught, and does teach to this day, that all
unconverted men “naturally” resist the converting grace of God.
But whoever adds to his natural resistance a so-called “willful”
resistance places an obstacle in the way of grace which the Holy
Spirit cannot overcome.

The “Common Confession” does not rule out the false and
unscriptural distinction between a “natural” and a “willful”
resistance as a factor in man’s conversion.

Election

The “Common Confession” reads: “God from eternity, solely
because of His grace in Christ and without any cause whatever in
man, elected as His own all those whom He makes and keeps mem-
bers of His kingdom and heirs of eternal life.” (Par. IV.)

Our Brief Statement rejects this as a doctrine of election.
“By election of grace, Scripture does not mean that one part of
God’s counsel of salvation according to which He will receive into
heaven those who persevere in faith unto the end” (or as the