# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1953_S1154
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

514 INTERSYNODI
CAL AND DOCTRINAL,
MATTERS

of teaching the truths

revealed i i
first the gdom of God and Fie og in His werd.
things shall be added unto you,” Matthew 6:33

Matth : ; l
Vy + 6-3.

2 Peter 3: 17-18- 2Ti
“BQ. Tented 3 ‘imothy 3:14-17:
6:63; Isaiah 40:8; 1 Peter 1:23°25; 2 Peter 78:1-8; John 19s

: ; :10; Acts 17: 24-28- 1 .
*<4-28; 1 Corinthians j
‘ + 18-31.

8:

1 Timothy 4:8,

vii. THE CHURCH AND GOVERNMENT

(1) God and The (
e Church :
Government ordain recognizes governmental .
dew ; ed of God, as subject to the will of aority a
function of tgned to seek the good of its citiz ied and as
such government as God’s re ens. It is the

OS
th e who do wron,; > to approve those who do right, and to

all from injusti
m injustice. The Church su
admonishing its members to obey the law, such government by

may require, provided “.
than men,” Acts 5:29, only that “we ought to obey Go

(2) Christian and .
Government The Church calls up

esty,” 1 Ti 9: '
admi ister we high oa word requires that government officers
for they shall be judged by Go ad integrity, sobriety, and h ility,

His righteousness Ye

INTERSYNODICAL AND DOCTRINAL MATTERS 515

by war. Christians, while careful not to provoke war or
to war, nevertheless in times of war have the responsibility
efend their country when in danger or under attack from its

® emies-
romans 13; 1 Peter 2:13-17; Titus 3:1-2; Matthew 22: 15-22.
wr Jeremiah 29:7; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; Romans 13:6-7.
+" Matthew 5:43-48; James 4:1-2; 1 Timothy 2:1-6; Romans 12:
21; Luke 3:14; Matthew 5:9.
e viii. THE CHURCH AND CHURCH FELLOWSHIP
* A. The Basis, Nature, and Extent of the Church
a ‘Chareh . All believers in Christ, and only believers in Christ,
Universal are members of the one, holy, Apostolic, Universal
< Church. They are made and kept members of this
Church solely through the gracious work of God. God is at work
wherever His Word is preached and His Sacraments are admin-
istered. It is in the one Christ, who comes in the Word and the
Sacraments, that the Church Universal possesses its unity.
(2) Church The oneness of the Church is not:a goal to be achieved
Unity or a task to be completed. It is a unity that belongs to
the essence of the Church because the one Christ, the
Lord of heaven and earth, is its Head. Either a man belongs to
this one Church, or he does not. Either the Church is the one
Church, or it is not the Church. This union with Christ as the
‘Head also brings about the union of believers with one another.
The uniting power of the Gospel becomes manifest both in local
congregations and groups of congregations throughout Christendom.
(3) Marks of The means of grace (the Gospel in the Word and the
the Church Sacraments) are the only genuine marks of the
Church, and by them Christ through the Holy Spirit
creates and preserves faith in the hearts of men. Through them
the Church manifests itself on earth. The Gospel in the Word is
not to be thought of as an inarticulate possession of the truth, but
as a real proclamation of the Christ for us, the declaration of God’s
forgiveness for the sake of Christ, our Substitute, “who was deliv-
ered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.” Like-
wise, it is not mere knowledge about the Sacraments which consti-
tutes a mark of the Church, but the actual administration of them
according to the institution of Christ. Without the Gospel in
preaching and Sacraments it would be impossible to speak of the
Church, for then the Church would be non-existent.
Acts 16:30; Mark 16:16; Galatians 3: 26-28; Romans 10: 9-17.
Ephesians 4:1-16; Acts 2:41-47; Romans 12: 4-5,
1 Peter 1: 23-25; Romans 10:17; 1:16; Matthew 28: 19-20; Mark
16: 15-20; Matthew 26: 26-28; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26.

se EERE REE