The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1906, Page 27

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

27

sarily follows that the Church can be but one. All
believers upon earth are thus most closely united.
They are one body, guided by one Spirit and look-
ing forward in hope to one heaven. They have one
Lord whom they all obey, one faith in the one
Savior, and one Baptism. They are the children
of one Father, wherefore, as members of one house-
hold, they should sincerely endeavor to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, Eph. 4,
3—6. To this end let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering and not hearken to
the opinions of men, for Christ says: “If ye con-
tinue in my Word, then are ye my disciples in-
deed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free,” John 8, 31.

The Church is also holy; it is the congregation
of saints: Of course, this does not mean that the
Church is composed of sinless people. In them-
selves the persons comprising the Church are just
as sinful as others. ‘The Church is holy through
Christ, as the apostle writes: “Christ also loved
the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the Word, that He might present it to Himself
a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish,” Eph. 5, 25—27. Jesus gave
Himself for the Church and thus gained for it
forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation. By faith
the members of the Church appropriate unto them-
selves the righteousness of Christ and clothe them-
selves in His robe of beauty, offered them in the
Gospel and holy Baptism. Such being the case,
God, for Christ’s sake, no longer sees in them
sinners, but saints. Christ’s blood has removed
all spots and wrinkles, and they are holy and with-
out blemish before God.

But the Church is holy in yet another sense.
Being justified before God for Christ’s sake, true
believers show their gratitude to God by serving
Him with holy works. As new creatures they walk
before God in newness of life, and serve Him in
godliness and holiness. k

Thus, we see, the Church is holy in a twofold
sense; namely, in the first place, because all its
members have their sins forgiven for Christ’s sake,
and, secondly, because every member of the Church
strives to lead a holy life.

Finally, the Church is called the Christian
Church. ‘The reason for this is very plain, for
Christ is the Foundation, Head, and Lord of the
Church. St. Paul says of Christ that He is the

chief cornerstone of the Church, Eph. 2, 20, and
1 Cor. 3, 11 he writes: “Other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
The Church is built on Christ, says the apostle.
Christ is the sole foundation. The Church is in-
deed built by the preaching of the Gospel, but the
center, the pith, the kernel of the Gospel is Christ.
Christ and His merits are the foundation of the
Church. This is the Rock on which Peter was

-built, and this is the Rock on which the whole

Church, the congregation of all believers through-
out the world, is built.

Christ, Thou art the sure Foundation,
Thou the Head and Cornerstone;
Chosen of the Lord, and precious,
Binding all the Church in one;

Thou Thy Zion’s Help forever,

And her Confidence alone.

F. J. L.

- + e~—______

Justified in Christ.

Christ, in His resurrection, was first of all jus-
tified for His own person (Is. 50,5; 1 Tim. 3, 16)
when the righteousness of God declared itself per-
fectly satisfied and paid by this our Substitute, and,
as it were, furnished Him with a receipt thereof;
and this took place in the resurrection, when He
was dismissed from the debtors’ prison and set free.
Now, inasmuch as the Substitute was justified, all
debtors have also been justified in Him.

J. Rambach.

Absolved in Christ.

As God punished our sins in Christ, because
they were cast upon and imputed to Him as our
Substitute, so, in like manner, by raising Him up
from the dead, He, by this very deed, absolved
Him from our sins that were imputed to Him, and
hence, in Him, has also absolved us.

John Gerhard.

Risen in Christ.

What Paul says of Christ’s death, 2 Cor. 5, 14:
“We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were
all dead,” can also be applied to Christ’s resur-
rection: If one rose for all, then are all risen and
justified; because God was in Christ and recon-
ciled the world unto Himself, and imputed their
sins not unto them, for He imputed them unto
Christ. — A. Struensee.