# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1924_S7
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1924. 7

the Head and therefore also with the members one with another as parts of the same body of Christ. Gal. 3:26: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." (Cf. Gal. 2:20; 3:2, 7; Eph. 3:17.)

The bond that unites Christians is not something external or visible: not uniform ceremonies, not sameness in customs and usages, not certain tokens of recognition, not certain identical words or phrases; the bond that unites Christians is spiritual and invisible. In Luke 17:20, 21 Christ says: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." And Peter says in the second chapter of his first epistle, v. 5: "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house." The fact is that outwardly the members of the body of Christ are in many respects very different; inwardly, however, they are all one through the one Spirit who dwells in them all and works the same faith in them all. Through the same Word the same Lord Jesus Christ has become known to them all, and through the sacraments He has been sealed in them all. This is the unity in the Spirit. Through the same saving faith, which has been kindled in each one of them by the same Holy Spirit, every member is joined with the same Lord Jesus Christ and with all the other members of His body, with all other believers.

Dr. Stöckhardt says in his commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians, page 180: "Believing Christians are really and truly one with one another and united. The one Spirit and faith unites and binds them. Christian faith is, if one may so express it, the foremost social principle. Christian faith has in itself a vis unitiva [uniting force]; it joins human hearts together. Yes, with faith, which indeed is not everyone's affair, but also is never confined to one single human soul, the congregation of believers is eo ipso [by that very fact] posited and given. It is not the case that Christians first set up this society of theirs by free agreement, deliberation and resolution. The Church is not at all man's work, but a work, an institution, of God. And this work of God coincides in substance with the foremost work that God has on earth, the working of faith. In that the Holy Spirit calls one soul after another, ever more people, through the Gospel, enlightens them with His gifts, sanctifies and preserves them in the right faith, He gathers, calls and enlightens eo ipso the whole of Christendom on earth and preserves it with Jesus Christ in the right, united faith."

All external differences among Christians may in their own way be important, but they do not disturb the unity of the Church as long as they do not endanger or destroy saving faith. Therefore St. Paul says in Gal. 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." Outwardly Christians differ with regard to language, race, nationality, color, customs, sex, culture, and in various degrees of civilization and rank. Such differences are neither against Christ's will nor do they disturb the unity of the Church. There is, however, an outward separation that is incompatible with the inner unity of the Christian Church, dangerous to the spiritual life of Christians, dangerous