The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 11

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‘The Lutheran Pioneer.

11

Church.” The true believers, the true Christians,
constitute the Church. By faith in Christ, the
Savior of sinners, a man becomes a member of the
Church, wherefore a person lacking this faith is
outside the pale of the Christian Church.

According to Scripture the Church is Christ’s
body filled by Christ, its Head, with spiritual life.
But only the believers are united with Christ as
members of His body, since they who have not
Christ’s Spirit are not His own. The Church is
also called God’s habitation and temple, but God
dwells in man’s heart only by faith in Christ. Only
the man that accepts the Gospel through which God
comes to him can be God’s temple and habitation.
The Scriptures also tell us that the Church is com-
posed of the children of God; but we become God’s
children only by faith in Christ Jesus. Eph. 2,
19—22 mentions Christ expressly as the cornerstone
of the Church. But if Christ, according to His
person, office, and work, is the foundation on which
His Church is built, it follows that only those who
believe in Christ can be the Church, since no one
can be built on Christ, unless he believe in Him.

The above-named passage also speaks of the
Church as a city, and calls the members of the
Church “fellow-citizens with the saints.” The
Church is a city whose citizens may be bond or free,
rich or poor, kings or beggars, yet they all have
equal gifts, equal rights, and equal privileges, all
being fellow-citizens of Zion, the city of God. The
Christians are of the “household of God.” The
Church forms one great family, of which God is
the Father and the believers are the brethren and
sisters. No matter how scattered the believers may
be, whether they live in America, Europe, Asia,
Africa, or Australia, by faith they have become
God’s children, and together with all other Chris-
tians they constitute God’s household, “the holy
Christian Church, the communion of saints.”

And if it be asked through whom the Church is
built, through whom men are born anew into the
family of God, we.are told: The Holy Ghost calls,
gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps the whole
Christian Church on earth. The second chapter of
Acts relates how the Holy Spirit began this work
of upbuilding the Church on the first day of Pente-
cost by the preaching of the Gospel. On that day
Peter and the other apostles proclaimed the Gospel,
and three thousand souls were added to the Church.
Since then the good work has been continued, more
and more have been born anew into the family of
God, and the boundaries of God’s kingdom have

become enlarged. Wherever the blessed Gospel is
proclaimed the Holy Ghost adds new souls unto the
Church, enlightening, sanctifying, and keeping them
unto life everlasting. F. J. L.

eo

Read Your Bible.

At the great thanksgiving meeting, recently held
by the British and Foreign Bible Society, one of the
speakers told of a child who, pointing to the Bible,
asked her mother, “Did you not say that book was
God’s book ?”

“Yes, dear,” said the mother.

“Then,” said the child, “do you not think we
had better send it home, as we never read it?”

There are too many that have the Bible in their
home, but never read it. Do you read the Bible?
The Savior says, “Search the Scriptures; for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me,” John 5, 39.

0

Faith and Love.

Faith and love make the whole essence of the
Christian man. Faith receives, love gives. Faith
brings man to God, love brings him to his fellow-
men. Through faith he receives the benefits of
God, through love he becomes the benefactor of men.
Have faith and love, and abide therein, and you
have everything, and are able to do everything. All
other things will teach themselves and adjust them-
selves. — Luther.

Condemned by God’s Law.

When the Law shows us what we ought to do,
it does not follow that we are able to do it. True,
we are bound to love God with all our heart, etc.,
and our neighbor as ourselves. But there is not a
man on this earth who acts up to this standard. The
very opposite is the case. Therefore this very Law
declares us all to be sinners. — Luther.

True Love.

True love abhors whatever is evil and rebukes it,
though it be found in father, mother, brother, sister,
or whoever it may be. It does not mind how near
our friend, how useful his favor, how honorable his
society, how threatening the enemy. — Luther.