Word and Spirit

“… And thus we might go on, and show that what is ascribed in one place to the Spirit, is ascribed in another place to the Word – proving conclusively that the two always go together. Where one is, there the other is also. The Spirit operates through the Word, whether it be the written, the preached, the sacramental, or the Word in conversation or reflection. The ordinary operations of the Holy Spirit are through that Word. Those who are renewed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit are those who have been influenced by this regenerating and sanctifying Word.”

– G. H. Gerberding, pp. 146-147,
“The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church”, Press of Lutheran Book of Concern, 1919.