# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1860_S5
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

— 5 —

...the field of this world, of which the Lord Jesus calls out to us in
warning: He who has ears to hear, let him hear! That is also the
entrusted talent with which we are to trade and gain increase unto
eternal life, not for ourselves alone, but equally for our neighbor. It
is the dear, good deposit of the holy, Christian, saving doctrine, the
precious pattern of the wholesome words of faith — which is at once sure
confidence and hope — and of love in Christ Jesus, handed over to His
congregation on earth, that it may be effectual in her and go forth from
her; to be guarded only through the Holy Spirit, who bears witness in and
with it, who dwells in the Church as the pledge of the heavenly promise
attached to it, and who thereby drives her to preserve the wholesome
doctrine and its purity. Apart from this there could only be, among the
heathen as heathen, talk of the small spark of knowledge of the invisible
Creator and His righteousness, borne witness to in the innermost part of
their hearts; and among the Jews as such, of the threefold law of Moses,
the schoolmaster unto Christ — because no one else is there to fulfill it.

II.

But who has this gift of grace? This too is clear from what precedes —
the disciples of Jesus Christ, that is, His believers; for to faith every
promise is given; therefore the righteous shall live by his faith,
because the Gospel is a power of God which makes those who believe
blessed. And if this same Gospel is given to faith, just as it alone also
works faith, then the believer thereby has at the same time all the
promised blessings that do not exist on earth apart from faith:
forgiveness of sins in Word and Sacrament; a life thereby imparted from
God in love — which, as the sum and fulfillment of the Law and the bond
of perfection binding man to God as well as to one another, and
embracing all Christian virtue in the service of the neighbor, is poured
out in the heart through the Holy Spirit; and blessedness in hope, which
already tastes the future as a foretaste. When faith threatens to
vanish, when love grows cold, and the hope of the security of the flesh
recedes more and more, the last day will no longer be far off.

Of all these His disciples the words of their divine Master in the
high-priestly prayer hold true: As Thou, Father, hast sent me into the
world, so I also send them into this world. The sending of Christ, whom
the Father has sealed, took place so that the world might be saved
through Him; and herein the love of God toward us was made manifest,
that the eternal Son as Savior gave Himself up for us. What He did and
taught belongs, in their measure, to all His disciples; they are
Christ's ambassadors on earth, just as He was anointed and sent by the
Father, and they are called Christians for the sake of the anointing of
His Spirit. As He is, so are they also in this world; whoever says that
he abides in Him ought also to walk just as He walked. Now they indeed
cannot blot out sin and bring righteousness, but they can, in Him,
practice that holy love toward the neighbor through word and deed, so
that, so far as lies in them and they are able to work together for the
honor of God, through