# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1902_S38
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

38 Proceedings of the 25th General, or

...save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The apostle calls being saved
through Christ the Crucified "the secret, hidden wisdom of God," which even
the rulers of this world did not recognize, but which God has revealed
through the Holy Spirit in the gospel of Christ. And whoever believes this
wisdom, whoever believes this gospel of Christ, is spiritually wise,
spiritually discerning.

Here, at this very point, lies the dividing line between wisdom and folly
among human beings. Whoever has recognized that a person is saved apart
from his own works, through faith in Christ, is spiritually wise. Whoever
still thinks that the essence of the Christian religion consists in man's
own morality is, in a spiritual sense, still not merely somewhat unwise but
utterly blind — even if he otherwise possessed within himself all the
knowledge there is in the world. Christ, the Savior of sinners, who
reconciled the world to God, is the one and only spiritual light for
mankind. Whoever has not taken this light into himself — that is, whoever
does not trust in Christ's doing and suffering before God, but still seeks
to establish his own righteousness before God — still dwells in thick
darkness. Such a person understands nothing of the Old Testament, for the
content of the Old Testament is Christ, the Savior of sinners, as Peter
testifies in Acts 10:43: "To him" (that is, to Christ) "give all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins." Such a person understands nothing of the New
Testament either, for the content of the New Testament is likewise Christ,
the Savior of sinners, as St. Paul testifies of his New Testament preaching:
"For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified," 1 Corinthians 2:2. To him the whole of Holy Scripture is an
utterly uncomprehended book sealed with seven seals, even if he knew the
whole of Scripture by heart, word for word. For all his talk of Christ, of
Christian morality, of love for God and neighbor, etc., such a person
understands the least thing about Christianity. He still supposes that a
whole dozen roads lead to heaven, and, depending on circumstances, he can
become in turn a Turk, a Jew, a Buddhist, a papist, a Unitarian, a lodge
member, or anything else. A proverb says: "In the night all cats are gray."
In the night — in a dark, pitch-dark night, spiritually speaking — is where
all still dwell and walk who think that one can and must come to heaven
through one's own morality. They therefore also hold all religions to be
essentially alike. But as soon as the light of the gospel of Christ, the
Savior of sinners, has dawned on someone, the time of erring in spiritual
matters comes to an end. Now he knows: not a dozen roads lead to heaven, but
only a single one — trust in Jesus Christ the Crucified. Clearly and surely
he recognizes and rejects as false all religions that make human doing the
ground of God's grace