LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1967, Page 72

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72 THE DOCTRINAL, ESSAY

Christ, believe in Christ, and be Saved to serve Christ.

Of the apostles Luther said: “How mightily they
take hold of Scripture as if they had studied it a hundred
thousand years and knew it inside out! I could not take
hold of Scripture with such certainty, although I am a
doctor of the Holy Scriptures. - ++ Thus God, through
the foolishness and ignorance of these’ miserable weak
beggars, displays the greatest wisdom that has come
into the world, so that no One can do what they did,
neither Annas nor Caiaphas nor any man on earth.”
(St. Louis XIII, 2053—2054)

Word of Christ

The church is apostolic as long as it has the apos-
tolic Word of Christ. Wilhelm Loehe said in his Drei
Buecher von der Kirche: “If it has and holds fast to the
word of the apostles, the church is living and truly
apostolic. If it has departed from the apostolic word, it
is dead,” “un-apostolic,” “even if it had been founded by
apostles and lived on the very graves of apostles.”
(Quoted by Schlink, Theology of the Lutheran Confes-
sions, p. 204)

With typical exaggeration to make a Point, Luther
Says: “Whatever does not teach Christ is not Apostolic,

preaches Christ would be Apostolic, even though J udas,
Annas, Pilate, and Herod did it.” (Quoted by Pieper,
Christian Dogmatics, Vol. I, p. 295)

sTow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ if it is to
be apostolic. Enjoying fellowship with Christ, the
church must further fellowship with other believers in
Christ if it is to be truly apostolic. The church must be
given to prayer in the name of Christ if it is to be truly
apostolic,

The church apostolic is like a building, founded on
the teaching of the apostles, which is nothing less than
the Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself being the Key-
stone, in whom the whole building rises up to become
a mighty temple in the Lord,

He will cause the seed of this 800d Word to take root
and to grow, at least in the hearts of some.

Continuity of Word

The continuity of the apostolic church js the con-
uity of the Word of Christ, through which the Spirit
of God does His work in the hearts of men. He turns

in Holy Baptism. The people came to Peter and the
other apostles asking, “What shall we do, brothers?”
Peter said to them: “Turn away from your sins, each

grace in Christ. “Be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ,” said Peter, “that your sins may be forgiven; and
you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit.”

grace of God in Christ. As Luther said, whoever be-
lieves these words, “Given and shed for you for the re-
mission of your Sins,” has what the words say and ex-
Press, the forgiveness of sins,

The Lutheran Church has always declared that the
Proclamation of the 800d Word of God in Christ and

Into All the World

The apostolic church carries the Good News of
Christ into all the world. The apostles were sent, and
they went. In faith towards Christ they went, out of
love for People. The apostles had a real heart for People,
like the heart of Christ. The fact that people were
dead in trespasses and sings did not cause the apostles

The church is apostolic when it proclaims the Good

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