# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1954_S90
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

90 Proceedings of the Forty-Third Convention,

us all teaching will be observed as Christ has commanded and
that there is a complete willingness to observe in practice those
things that are asked of us by our Lord (Matt. 28: 20). However, we
will not apply the “avoid” and “withdraw” as though we were deal-
ing with men who want to persist in error and will not let God’s
Word be the judge in all things.

Let us indeed be in earnest in all our endeavor to oppose
unionism in our own midst wherever it makes itself manifest,

according to the Gospel admonition in Gal. 6:1: “Ye which are
spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness’?

In conclusion, let us summarize briefly what has been said
about church fellowship and unionism:

1. There is one fellowship that is real and that is lasting, cre-
ated by God and preserved by Him. That is the fellowship the Holy
Spirit speaks of in His Word, that unites us with the Triune God
by a Spirit-given faith in Christ Jesus and makes us partakers of
all the blessings Christ brings us. It binds us together in faith and
love with all that are one in Christ. Without that fellowship we
have nothing that is of lasting value. Through that fellowship we
have everything, we have life eternal. Therefore we should prize
it highly, cultivate it where we can, and share its treasures with
others wherever and whenever we can. (See C. T.M., XXIII, 637.
“New Testament Concept of Fellowship,” F, E. Mayer.)

2. The manifestation of that fellowship, called church fellow-
ship, is the manifestation of the unity of the Spirit in word and
deed, in doctrine and practice according to God's Word. Through
Word and Sacrament we are brought into and kept in fellowship
with Christ and with each other by faith. Anything that adds to