# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_September 1861_S263
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

Theological Axioms. 263

...gives birth to, strengthens, builds up, preserves, and protects the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot stand for one hour." (Luther.)

72. "If we have lost this article (of justification), then we will be unable to withstand any heresy, any false doctrine, however ridiculous and vain it might be — as happened under the papacy, when we believed such things as we are now ashamed of and repent of. On the other hand, if we abide by this article, we are safe from heresy." (Luther.)

73. "If the article that teaches how one becomes sinless and righteous before God is lost, then the whole of Christian doctrine goes with it, and all the people on the whole face of the earth who do not have this doctrine must properly be either Jews or Turks, papists or sectarians and heretics." (Luther.)

74. "Everything hangs and stands on this (article of justification), and it draws all the others along with it, and everything turns on this one; so that whoever errs in the others certainly does not have this one right either, and even if he holds to the others and does not have this one, it is all in vain nonetheless. On the other hand, this article also has the grace that, where one abides by it with diligence and earnestness, it does not let one fall into heresy, nor run against Christ and his Christendom. For it surely brings the Holy Spirit with it, who thereby enlightens the heart and keeps it in a right, sure understanding, so that it can give a clean, dry distinction and judge among all the other articles of the faith, and mightily uphold and defend them. As one may also see well in the ancient fathers: where they held to this article and grounded their doctrine on it and derived it from there, they remained fine and pure in all points; but where they departed from it and disputed apart from it, they too went astray and stumbled badly — as also happened at times even to the oldest ones, Tertullian and Cyprian. And what is lacking, not only in the papists but in all our fanatical sectarians, who rage against baptism and other articles, except that, having already fallen from this one, they did not concern themselves with it and instead threw up other matters, and thereby lost their understanding, so that they can teach nothing right about it and hold no article for certain — as one can well see in their books; and thereafter they fall further from one error into another, until at last they lead themselves and other people into ruin. For where this knowledge of Christ is gone, there the sun has lost its light and there is sheer darkness, so that one no longer understands anything rightly and cannot defend oneself against any error or false doctrine of the devil. And even if one still retains the words about faith and Christ (as they remained in the papacy), there is yet no foundation of any article in the heart; and what more remains there is mere froth and uncertain persuasions, or conceit, or a painted, colored faith.. On the other hand, where this sun shines and gives light in the heart, there is a truly certain understanding of all things, so that one can stand firm and hold fast upon all the articles, such as: that Christ