# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1882_S15
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

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Prof. Schmidt understands by this foreseen "conduct" in consequence of which the elect are supposed to have been elected is most clearly evident from his later, already mentioned assertion that a man can, not by grace but from his own natural powers, or by virtue of his free will, give up the wilful resistance against the inner grace of conversion. By this synergistic explanation of the mystery of election he not only falsifies this lofty article of our most holy Christian faith, but abolishes it altogether. For if God, as Prof. Schmidt says, has elected the elect in the "presupposition" that they conduct themselves rightly, not through the working of grace but from their own natural powers or by virtue of their so-called free will, that is, that by their own strength they cease to resist wilfully, by their own strength thus yield themselves to God and "prepare" themselves for grace; then the election which Prof. Schmidt teaches depends on what man does, then it is one founded on human doing, then it is no election of grace. This is a quite terrible, ruinous doctrine, which not only, as said, falsifies the doctrine of election and indeed abolishes it altogether, but also overthrows the crown of all doctrines, the doctrine of justification by grace alone, for Christ's sake alone and through faith wrought by God alone. For the very same "presuppositions" which being saved has, being justified before God also has, as Holy Scripture teaches and our Confession bears witness. For thus writes the holy Apostle Paul: "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness," and adds thereupon: "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Rom. 4:5-8.) But our Confession testifies: "It is also wrong when it is taught that man must be saved in another manner or by something else than as he is justified before God, so that we are indeed justified by faith alone without works, but to be saved without works or to attain salvation without works is impossible. This is false, for it is directly against the saying of Paul, Rom. 4: 'Blessedness is of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without works.' And Paul's ground is that we obtain salvation in the same manner as righteousness, indeed that by this very fact, when we are justified by faith, we also at the same time receive the sonship and inheritance of eternal life and salvation."