The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1905, Page 50

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50 The Lutheran Pioneer.

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road we take? Some of them are more attractive to
certain people than others, but they all bring out at
the same place.’’? No. There are still ministers of
the Gospel who are loyal to God’s truth, and who,
like the apostle Paul, preach Christ and Him cruci-
fied as the only Saviour from sin. Those who preach
another Gospel pour contempt on the Word of God,
rob Christ of His glory, and bring ruin on the souls
of men. The apostle therefore says: ‘‘Though we,
or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto
you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say
I now again, If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed,’’ Gal. 1, 8.9. It does make a difference
what our doctrine is. There is only one true, pure
Bible doctrine of salvation, and every other doc-
trine is wrong and rotten. It does matter which
road we take. There is but one Way, one Truth,
and one Life, and that is Jesus. By-Him alone we
enter heaven, and any attempt to reach heaven by
any other road, no matter how ‘‘attractive’’ it is,
will end in death, darkness, and destruction. Christ
Himeelf plainly says, ‘‘I am the Way, and the Truth,
and the Life; no one cometh unto the Father, but
by me,” John 14,6. And His apostle clearly testi-
fies: ‘‘Neither is there salvation in any other; for
there is none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved,’’ Acts 4,12. In
Christ alone there is salvation for sinners. In Christ
alone God’s love and mercy came down from heaven
to earth. Christ’s blood alone can cleanse us. Christ’s
righteousness alone can clothe us. Christ’s merit
alone can give us a title to heaven. Jews and Gen-
tiles, — learned and unlearned, — white and col-
ored, —kings and beggars, —rich and poor, —all
alike must either be saved by Jesus, or lost forever.
‘There is none other name’? — mark well, —‘‘none
other name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved.”’

‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved,’’ says the Bible.

How the Holy Ghost Brings Us to Christ.

We cannot come to Christ by our own reason or
strength, but the Holy Ghost is able and willing to
bring usto Him. While, on the one hand, we must
confess, ‘‘I believe that I cannot by my own reason
or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or
come to Him,’’ we may, on the otherhand, joyfully
add, ‘‘But the Holy Ghost has called me by the.Gos-
pel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and
kept me in the true faith.’ ‘

But these words do not only tell us that the Holy
Ghost brings us to Christ, they likewise inform us
how He performs His gracious work in us.

The Holy Ghost pursues a certain order in per-
forming His work. This order we call the order of
salvation, since it is in this order that the Holy Ghost
brings us to salvation. The order of salvation em-
braces four parts; for, as our Catechism tells us, the
Holy Ghost calls us, enlightens us, sanctifies us, and
keeps us in true faith. It is in this order that the
Holy Ghost leads men to Christ and keeps them
with Christ. This is the way, the only way, to
Christ and eternal salvation. This order, or way,
has been appointed by God, and whoever refuses to
make use of this way can never come to Christ, or
whoever, having come to Christ, refuses to continue
on this way, cannot stay with Christ. That God
has appointed such a way of salvation is most com-
forting and assuring, for now we need not grope in
darkness or guess how we may come to Christ,
neither need we be in doubt as to where He is to be
found; now we may with all boldness and confi-
dence take hold of Christ and appropriate Him and
His merits.

But in bringing us to Christ and salvation, the
Holy Ghost does not work upon us without certain
means, and these means are the Gospel and the
holy Sacraments. Luther, indeed, only mentions
the Gospel, but in its broad sense; as used here, the
word Gospel also includes the Sacraments. At first
sight we might think that our Catechism says that
the Holy Ghost only calls us by the Gospel, but a
closer examination of the words will soon show us
that the words ‘‘by the Gospel’’ belong to all four
parts. Our Catechism would say: ‘‘The Holy Ghost
calls us by the Gospel, enlightens us by the Gospel,
sanctifies us in the true faith by the Gospel, and
keeps us in true faith by the Gospel.’? By the Gos-
pel did the Holy Ghost bring us to Christ, and by
the same Gospel the Holy Ghost keeps us with
Christ. This Gospel is the glad tidings of salvation
in Christ Jesus; it brings us the good news that the
heavenly Father is reconciled to His disobedient
children, that the King of kings has pardoned His
rebellious subjects. But not only does the Gospel
bring these glad tidings, it does far more; forin and
through this Gospel the Holy Ghost works upon the
hearts of men and brings them to Christ and salva-
tion. Thus the Gogpel is the blessed means that
offers and gives us the grace of God which Christ
has gained for all men; it is the means of grace.
The Gospel, including holy Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper, is the means by which the Holy Ghost
works in us, and it is the only means. In him,