# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1872_S16
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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the objection hold. But now we see how they, precisely, in their work among the Jews did not forget the rest of the world, but, faithful to the Lord's command, went out into all lands. We must not say: What we have we need ourselves; for the treasure of pure doctrine is such that it does not diminish the farther it is spread; rather the case is that, once one becomes narrow-hearted and wants to care only for oneself, the blessing vanishes even from those who had it. The objection, "We must care for our own," is furthermore quite un-New-Testament. So long, to be sure, as the synagogue had not yet been "buried with honor," it was said: "Walk not in the way of the Gentiles." Since Christ's resurrection, however, the command holds: "Preach the Gospel to every creature." It is therefore our duty to care not only for ourselves but also for all whom we can reach. Let us only let the spring flow abundantly; the more flows out, the more richly it wells up, and we not only spread more blessing, but so much the more will flow back upon ourselves.

On section b it was remarked: The Lutheran Church is the church of the pure Word, and therefore it has the duty not only to bring the Word of God near to the heathen, but also to those who in the sects have, to be sure, some parts of the pure doctrine, yet mingled with great and dangerous errors, whereby they stand in danger of being lost. In addition, in our time the sects hold less and less firmly even to the parts of the truth that were still to be found here and there in their confessions. Of Christ and the way to salvation through Him alone they are mostly almost entirely silent. They say a different time has now dawned, that the time of confessions and catechisms is past. The result is that heathen grow up around us under a Christian name. Yet even if things were not so utterly dreadful among the sects, the duty would still remain to bring them the full truth where possible. For we know that no sectarian is saved by his doctrine, but only by that which, apart from his doctrine, of the pure truth of the divine Word is still preached to him and believed by him. But since those who adhere to false doctrine are led by it into perdition, how can we doubt that it is our holy duty to work against the soul-destroying poison of human doctrine with all earnestness? How wretched the state of things is among the sects even as regards those parts of pure doctrine, one sees now especially in the Methodists. These, because they notice that their people can no longer be stirred up by the means hitherto applied, now fall upon the doctrine of complete sanctification and push it as the chief thing. So they also trample underfoot the few crumbs of the Bread of Life that were still left over, and put in its place a human invention that wholly denies the Gospel. They think, no doubt, to give God His honor all the more rightly by this, but they dishonor the merit of Christ in the most terrible way. And in view of such