# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1930_S10
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

10 Proceedings of the thirty-second convention

unity comes about, the Apostle shows in the same context: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus," v. 26. But faith is the work of the Holy Spirit, which is why in the last discourses of Jesus the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is the main theme, as for example John 14:26: "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." And again John 15:26: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." And again: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth," John 16:13. Through this Spirit, then, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the unity in the Spirit, the oneness of believers in mind, will and disposition, is wrought.

The foundation of this unity, however, its essential mark on the basis of the faith that calls it into life and sustains it, that relies on Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners, is therefore the acceptance of the Scripture. What the enthusiasts [*Schwärmer*] of the time of the Reformation held for their part, namely that faith can be wrought and exist without the Scripture, Luther and his co-workers combated with all decisiveness. For the unity in the Spirit cannot exist on the basis of imagination, of falsehood, but only on the basis of truth. Now God's Word as a whole and in all its parts is the truth, as our Savior says in John 17:17. The whole Scripture, all parts of Scripture, is the name of God, is a revelation of his being, especially of his grace in Christ Jesus. A truly believing Christian therefore accepts the Word of God as the truth. This is essential, because without this Word he can neither come to faith nor remain in it. In his faith he therefore also makes no academic distinction between doctrines of Scripture in the proper sense and other revelations of God laid down in Scripture: in the field of history, ethnology, geography, natural science; he does not distinguish between doctrine and religion; he does not even make a distinction between fundamental and non-fundamental doctrines; for him everything is truth that God has taught and revealed, whether God or Christ speak personally or the Holy Spirit speaks through the prophets, evangelists and apostles. With him it is: "The word of the LORD is right" [German: "true"], Ps. 33:4; "Thy word is nothing but truth" [German wording], Ps. 119:160 (cf. vv. 86, 142); "by the word of truth," 2 Cor. 6:7; "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth," James 1:18. There is no faith except that which comes about through the Word, and therefore it belongs to the essence of faith to accept the revealed truths. In this all Christians agree, wherever they may be found: their faith accepts God's Word as the truth and holds to the Word.

Let us understand this rightly. The point here is not that a member of a false church fellowship, who nevertheless belongs to the invisible Church, misunderstands a word of Scripture and therefore also has a false confession. One may indeed assume a distinction between outward and inward consciousness, as is also indicated in Scripture, Rom. 8:26, 27: "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the