The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1914, Page 73

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PUBLISHED BY THE EvANGELICAL LuTHERAN SyNODICAL CONFERENCE oF Nortu AMERICA.
REV. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter.

Vol. ANE:

ST. LOUIS, MO., OCTOBER, 1914.

No. 10.

I Am Satisfied.

On Calvary my Savior died,
And earned eternal life for me,
To which He leads me lovingly —
Why should I not be satisfied?

He also keeps me well supplied
With each and everything I need;
He is a glorious Friend indeed —
Why should I not be satisfied?

The Son of God is at my side

In every trouble, every pain,
For’no one trusts in Him in vain —
Why should J not be satisfied?

If I am only with my Guide,

Then come what may, I shall not quail,
I shall not even fear death’s vale —

In life and death I’m satisfied.

H. Osterius.
—-—- _-~» 0 —-———

Law or Gospel?

The annual Festival of the Reformation is near
at hand. Will you celebrate it as a true child of
the Reformation? ‘This will wholly depend upon
what answer you will give to this question: Do you

seek your salvation in the Law or in the Gospel?
If you seek salvation in the Law, if you expect
‘your good works to save you, you are in the same
pitiful and deplorable condition in which Luther
was before he saw the light. You never will find
salvation as long as you keep on looking ‘for it
where it is not to be found. The greatest truth
which Luther found, and which the Reformation
emphasized, is this, that salvation is not to be found
in the Law, but solely in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This truth, though so plainly written on almost

every page of the Bible, had almost been forgotten

you.

in Christendom. Luther again loudly proclaimed
this truth to the people. In no uncertain tones
he declared, in accordance with God’s Word, that
if a man seeks his salvation in the Law, he is only
God’s child in so far as He made him, but a true
child of God, a child of grace, he is not. No mat-
ter how much good you apparently may do, no
matter how good your life may be outwardly, no
matter how much you pray, God is not pleased with
For then you are yet in the state of sin, you
are yet in your natural state, and natural man is
the enemy of God. ;

But Luther also brought to light again the
glorious truth that if you seek your salvation in the
Gospel, well for you; for then you are a child, not
only after the flesh, in so far as God created you,
but also by promise. But how is that? Why, in
this way. The Gospel tells of Christ, the Savior;
it not only tells of Christ, however, but it gives us
Christ and all His merits, and through Christ we
receive the adoption of sons. “We are all the chil-
dren of God through faith in Christ Jesus,” says
St. Paul. Only those who believe in Christ are
God’s true children, for they are born of the Spirit
of promise. They have ‘learned to trust not in
themselves, but only in Christ; and because of this
God accepts them as His children in Christ, ac-
cepts them as His own true children for Christ’s
sake. ;

Such is the true Biblical way to salvation which
Luther again brought to light. And is this doc-
trine not comforting? Is it not comforting to
know that God is our dear Father and we His dear
children? Oh, what comfort against devil, sin,
and death! Now we know that though we have
sinned and grievously offended God thereby, God,
for Christ’s sake, is willing to forget all and adopt