# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1908_S6
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

6 Proceedings of the twenty-second convention

IV.

The sadder it is that so many Christians remain in erring camps and thereby cause, and help to keep up, division and offense in the Church, the more diligently and sincerely ought those Christians who by God's grace are in the orthodox camp to maintain fellowship with one another as brethren in the faith, and carefully to avoid all disturbance of it, to the honor of God and to the greatest benefit of the world and of the Church.

Thesis I.

All Christians stand in an inner, invisible fellowship with one another, because they all, through the working of the Holy Spirit, believe in Christ as their Savior, and through this faith are joined with Christ, the one Head of the Church, and with one another into one spiritual body. In this fellowship there stand also those Christians who are found in erring church communions (unitas ecclesiae interna sive fidei in Christum).

The first thesis points to the foundation, or necessary presupposition, of outward fellowship among brethren in the faith. This is the inner, invisible fellowship in which all Christians stand with one another through faith in Christ. Because all believe in Christ as their Savior, are children of God and heirs of eternal life and members of the one body of Christ, therefore they can and should also cultivate fellowship as brethren in the faith with one another here in the world. To be sure, there have been people at all times who took part outwardly in fellowship among brethren in the faith without standing in the inner, invisible fellowship of the Church. But that is then only an outward pretense, conscious hypocrisy or self-deception. The result is an ugly caricature of true fellowship among brethren in the faith. Outward fellowship among brethren in the faith always has an inner presupposition, a presupposition in the heart: that is faith, faith in Christ, the fellowship in the Gospel. Those whom God has called into the fellowship of His Son can also cultivate fellowship as brethren in the faith with one another. They must be "in Christ" who want to cultivate Christian fellowship, or fellowship among brethren in the faith, rightly with one another. Otherwise the fellowship among brethren in the faith turns into hypocrisy and a friendship of Judas. Eph. 4: those who are one body and one spirit, etc., the Apostle exhorts to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

In the inner, invisible fellowship, however, all Christians stand in spite of their great outward differences. Among Christians, as regards their natural life in this world, there are great differences. Christians differ in sex and