# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_Juli 1863_S216
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

216 The Doctrinal Basis for the Union of the Evangelical Ministers' Union of Cincinnati.

Art. 9. Free Will. — The human will is free in the choosing and rejecting of good or evil, and this freedom is essential to man's accountability.

Art. 10. Man's Disobedience and Sinfulness. — Man was created righteous, but he did not obey God's law, became a sinner, and brought death upon himself and his descendants; and as a result of his disobedience all his descendants, by natural descent, are in enmity with God; they have deceitful and wicked hearts, and are forever inclined to evil, until they are born of the Spirit.

Art. 11. The Sufficiency and Freeness of Redemption. — The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sufficient for the sins of the whole world, and in the Gospel redemption is sincerely offered to all men.

Art. 12. Of the New Birth. — Except a man be born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God; and every man who is in Christ is a new creature.

Art. 13. Justification through Faith Alone. — Sinners are justified by the free grace of God, not for the sake of the works of righteousness which they have done, but solely through faith in the atoning merit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Art. 14. Sanctification. — The fruit of the Spirit in the believer is, in all things, goodness and righteousness and truth, and every Christian is made fit, solely through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, for the perfect holiness of heaven.

Art. 15. The Church. — The Church is a divine institution, and Jesus Christ is its builder and head, and he loves it and gave himself for it. In the Church the praise of God is to be sung, his word read, prayer offered up, the Gospel preached, and baptism and the Lord's Supper administered. Every Christian should be a member of the visible church and should strive to promote its purity, peace, unity, and happiness, and to extend its influence. And the Church should exclude from its fellowship anyone who denies the faith or walks disorderly.

Art. 16. Baptism. — The sacrament of baptism was instituted by Jesus Christ in his Church, is eternally binding, and is to be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Art. 17. The Lord's Supper. — The Lord Jesus, on the same night in which he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which is to be observed until he comes. The elements to be used in its celebration are bread and wine; and it is the duty of Christians often to eat this bread and often to drink this cup in remembrance of their crucified Redeemer.