# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1910_S11
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1910. 11

From a child of the devil the Christian has become a child of God.
God sent Christ into this world precisely for the purpose of making people children of God and heirs of heaven. Christ
led a perfectly holy life in order to make good
what we had incurred by our sinful life. Christ endured
the torments of hell in body and soul, so that we might escape those very
torments of hell. Christ died the shameful death
on the accursed tree, so that we might be free from guilt and punishment and from the
dominion of sin, from the fear of death and eternal
damnation.

We hear the Law and learn to regard ourselves as God sees us,
as lost and condemned sinners. We are sorry for our sin, and
we are terrified before the punishment of the righteous Judge. Then again we hear
the Gospel and see the Savior of sinners and recognize
what he has done to save sinners. So we take heart again
and trust in Christ as the Savior, yes, as our Savior.
We see how God has loved us, and we trust him as our
Father. We are his children and heirs, joint-heirs with Christ! So
we are born again as children of God. The Gospel of Christ
is a power of God that saves all who believe in it. We
are born again, not of corruptible but of incorruptible
seed, namely of the living Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, 1 Pet. 1:23.

What, then, is the inheritance? "Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world." "Inherit," not: "earn." As
heirs we have produced nothing. The Father has prepared it all
so that we may receive it as a free inheritance. Furthermore: the kingdom
is prepared "for you," for you. You have done nothing to prepare it.
Another has done that. Christ has labored so that you may
enjoy the fruit of his labor. Again, this kingdom is prepared for you
"from the foundation of the world." That was long before you were born.
It is therefore wholly excluded that you have contributed even the
least to the preparation of this kingdom. Here Rom. 3:28; Eph. 2:8, 9 apply. Alexander, Mohammed, Napoleon and others
at the head of victorious armies conquered kingdoms for themselves by force.
Not so the Christians: they inherit the kingdom that Christ has conquered for
them.

To be a king is surely the most glorious thing one can imagine on earth.
Many have indeed already bartered their souls in order to
win a crown. The Protestant Henry of Navarre
held that "Paris is well worth a Mass," and went over to the Catholic
Church to become King Henry IV of France. A
German princess gave up her Lutheran faith to become the Greek
Catholic Empress of Russia. And an English princess
has denied her Protestant faith to become the Catholic
Queen of Spain.