THE
BELIEVER’S
PRESENT
STANDING IN GRACE:
OR
SINS
BEFORE FAITH.
-------
The
one sin of the first
Adam brought under guilt all his posterity.
As they grew up, each showed the sinful nature he had
inherited. And over
all, even before the law of Moses
was given, death reigned; and corruption held fast the mouldering
bodies of the
sinful: Rom.
5. Even infants, guilty of no
individual sin,
suffered and died.
The
Most High, in His
wisdom, determined to show further the sinfulness of human nature, by
an
experiment upon
Law
gave the shadow of forgiveness
in the sacrifices and priestly atonement which were to be made for
certain
sins. But it was
never able to pronounce
any to be righteous, the winner of eternal life.
The
prophets, however,
spoke of a righteousness to be brought in by God, which should be
salvation for
people: Isa.
45: 24; 54: 17; Jer. 23: 6. The Righteous Branch of
David’s
line at length appeared. When.
the
message by John the Baptist had gone forth to all God’s people of
Then,
as the Lord of
Righteousness, He gives, even on earth, and before His sacrifice for
sin was
offered, pardon of transgressions.
To
the palsied one of Capernaum He says, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are
forgiven thee.” And when doubt is
expressed at the
possibility of so great a gift through a man, He proves that He really
possesses the power, by removing in a moment the felt and visible
effects of
sin upon the bod – ‘Rise up and
walk.’ And
the man departs to his house cured: Matt.
9. To the woman that was
deeper dyed in sin than the rest of her fellows, so as to be an object
of
especial designation as a sinner, He could. say, “Thy sins are forgiven.
Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace:” Luke
7. He could let the
Pharisee, his host, know, that if he himself were saved, it must be in
the same
way of free forgiveness. Nor
were these
the only instances. He
testifies
generally that He came as the bearer of pardon for all sins of word and
deed
except one - the one excepted case being - blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit.
But
here stands a difficulty. How
can sin be forgiven by a God perfectly just?
Yet must it not be for by a God perfectly merciful?
How can mercy and justice meet and kiss one
another? The
Scripture discovers. The
Holy Ghost unfolds to us the wisdom
and power of God in our salvation.
The God of grace brings in justification for
the ungodly by His Son, our substitute.
“We
pray
(Men) in
Christ’s stead, ‘Be reconciled to God.’
For he made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him:”
2 Cor. 5: 20, 21. Of
this wondrous substitution of Himself for His people, Jesus in His
lifetime gave an intimation. When
the
officers of justice have come forth with torches and weapons to seize
Himself
and His disciples, and the traitor and his accomplices approach the
Garden,
Jesus goes forth and enquires - Whom they sought?
They answer – ‘Jesus
the Nazarite.’
But they are unable to seize Him without His leave.
Instead of that, as sinners assailing the
Righteous One, as enemies attacking the Lord’s Anointed, they go
backward and
fall to the ground : Psa. 27: 2; 9: 3; 35: 4; 70: 2.
Again He enquires, Whom they sought?
They reply again, ‘Jesus
the Nazarite.’ He surrenders Himself then
to them, upon
condition. ‘If
they arrest Him, they must let the disciples
go.’ Accordingly
the
eleven escape, and Jesus is led to condemnation and death in their
stead.*
*
This
was also an incident referring to Deut.
22: 6, 7. There
it
was commanded that when the mother-bird and her young were together in
the
nest, both were not to be
taken. The mother
was to be allowed to
go free.
In
endeavouring now to
present the believer’s present position, I shall consider the following
points. 1. The Forgiveness of Sins. 2.
The Righteousness of God. 3.
Our Place as in Christ. 4. The Testimony to our being
Saved. 5. The Emblematic Ordinances given of God. 6.
Some Types of our Standing.
1. FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
In
order to a lawful deliverance of the sinner from law, two things are
necessary. 1. He must have an entire
forgiveness of sins against law. 2. He
must be able to plead a righteousness
perfect in law. So
only can a
sinner be justified. For
justification
is the act of a judge pronouncing righteous according to law, one
brought
before his bar to be dealt with according to law.
The
New Testament then
states - that the believer in Christ enjoys the forgiveness of all sins, and is possessed of the righteousness
of God.
He is declared to be justified. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have* peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ:” Rom.
5: 1.
“Much more then, being now justified by his
blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through
him:” 9. “Ye were washed, ye were
sanctified, ye were justified
in
the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God:”
(Greek) 1
Cor. 6: 11.
*
The
best MSS. here read – “Let us
keep
peace with God.”
The
believer has present
forgiveness of sins. So
Peter declared
in the first sermon after the Spirit’s descent at Pentecost: Acts
2: 38.
So he stated it to the Gentiles in the first discourse
delivered to
them. “To
him
(Jesus) give
all the prophets witness, that through his name
whosoever
believeth in him receiveth*
forgiveness
of sins:”
Acts
10: 43. So says the
great apostle of the Gentiles. “Be
it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins,
and from
all things from which ye could not in the law of
Moses be justified, in him every
one that believeth is justified:” Acts
13: 38, 39. This is the order of
the Greek, and it makes the thing clearer.
This passage states the extent
of forgiveness – ‘from
all sins.’ So in another place the
apostle testifies – “And you who were dead in sins, and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
(given life to) together
with him, having
forgiven you all
trespasses:”
Col. 2: 13. “I write unto you, little children,
(says John) because your sins are forgiven you
for his name’s
sake” 1 John 2: 12.
It is not a matter of great attainment by eminent saints. The little ones in Christ
may know this: it
is for Christ’s sake they are forgiven; not because of their goodness. And Peter accounts it a
sad position when any
backsliding believer “hath forgotten that he was purged from his old
sins” 2 Pet. 1: 9.
*
Not
“shall receive.” It is the past tense – “received.”
But
that does not suit our idiom.
By
what means are those
sins put away? By
the blood of
Christ. “Now once at the end
(junction) of the ages hath he
appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself:”
(Greek) Heb. 9: 26. “Without
shedding of
blood no remission”
takes place: 22. “Whom God set forth to be a
propitiation (or mercy-seat) through
faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past:” Rom. 3: 25.
“The blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanses from
all sin.” 1 John 1: 7.
Our
present and complete
forgiveness is made the ground on which we are to forgive offences
against
ourselves. “Forbearing one another, and forgiving
one another,
if any have a quarrel (‘complaint,’ margin) against
any: even
as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” Col.
3: 13. “Be
ye kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even
as God lit Christ forgave you:” (Greek) Eph.
4: 32.
This is the Christian’s
abiding position. “He (God) made us
accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace:” Eph.
1: 6, 7; Col. 1: 14. “We have”
- it is a present an abiding possession.
The blood of Christ which brings it, alters not with our
failures.
2. POSSESSED OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
2.
The believer is also possessed
of a perfect righteousness
-
the answer to law’s demands of unblemished obedience.
For although Gentiles are not by birth under
the law of Moses; they are, under the broken law of the Garden of Eden,
condemned as unrighteous. They
need,
therefore, a perfect obedience to plead in reply to the challenge of
law.
Paul
therefore states that he is not ashamed of the gospel, because it
reveals “the righteousness of God,”
which saves all who accept it: Rom.
1: 17. This
righteousness of God is not the justice
of the Father, which, as applied to sinners, can only condemn. It is the obedience of God
the Son. This is
proved very decisively by Phil.
3: 9.
“That I may (might) win Christ, and be found in him, not
having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ the
righteousness which is from God upon faith.”
(Greek.) Here righteousness is
exhibited as a robe provided by God, and worn upon the shoulders of
faith. This the
Jews refused; for they thought
themselves righteous. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and
going about (seeking) to establish their
own righteousness, submitted not themselves unto the righteousness of
God. For Christ is
the end of law unto
righteousness to every one that believeth:”
(Greek) Rom.
1: 3, 4. The
righteousness of God, then is
Christ’s active and passive obedience, which becomes ours on believing,
and
which alone discharges us from law.
“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of
Jesus Christ
to them that have obtained like precious
faith with us in the righteousness
of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:” 2
Pet. 1: 1.
(Greek.)
This
then is the blessed
contrast of our dispensation to that of the law of Moses. The law demanded
righteousness as God’s just
due - and
3. IN CHRIST.
Now
this justification,
this forgiveness, this salvation, are said to be ours in Christ. All
are by nature “in
Adam;”
and as in him all are
guilty, are unholy, and die. But
the
Holy Spirit transfers the believer from his membership with the old
Adam, to be
a member of the New. As
God accounts all
who are in Adam as condemned and unrighteous; so does he account all
who are in
Christ as righteous, sanctified, saved. For “the gift
of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord:” (Greek)
Rom. 6: 23.
“There is therefore
now no condemnation to
them that are in Christ Jesus:” 8: 1. “Of him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption:” 1
Cor. 1: 30. God
“hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings
in
heavenly places in
Christ:” Eph. 1: 3. “If any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature:” 2 Cor. 5: 17.
“I endure all
things for the elects’ sake that
they also may obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus
with eternal glory:” 2: 10. 11.
“Ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and
power:” Col. 2:
10.
This
is God’s new unity,
created by Himself. It
is the contrast
to the law’s principle. That
individualized each. He
was to stand or
fall by his own works. “The man that doeth them, shall
live by them.” “Every man shall be put to death for his own sin:” Deut.
24:
16. “Every
one that curseth his father or his mother, shall surely be put to death:”
Lev. 20: 9. 11. “Cursed is
the man
that maketh any graven or molten
image, an abomination unto the Lord:” Deut.
27: 5.
But
the Father has
deigned to make those who now through the Holy Ghost believe, members
of His
risen Son. Regenerate
by the Holy
Spirit, they are sons of God. And
because they are sons, the Spirit of God inspires them with the spirit
of
sonship, to cry to God, “Abba, Father:” Gal. 4. The Holy Spirit sent down
from on high is the
witness that the blood of the Son has put away sin, and brought in
reconciliation with God.
Since
Christ is on high,
the believer is viewed as with Him there, seated in heavenly places. As Christ is a priest, the
believer is also a
priest consecrated and cleansed. He
is
taught to draw near to God in the Holiest with the fullest confidence,
welcomed
to the Father in the value and merits of the work of the Son. He comes in Christ’s own
worthiness: he is
loved as Christ is loved: John
17: 23.
The
Christian, then, as
in Christ, takes a place before God altogether new.
He is regarded as no longer in the flesh,
labouring under the sins the responsibilities, and the curse of the old
Adam. He “is sanctified, he is justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the spirit of our God:”
1 Cor. 6: 2.
4. SAVED.
Scripture,
therefore, in
many places states that the believer is saved.
“For by grace were ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God; not of
works, lest any should boast:” (Greek) Eph.
2: 5,
8, 9. “For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but
unto us who are saved, it is the power of God:”
1 Cor. 1: 18; Acts 2: 15. Christ came to “give the
knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins:” Luke
1: 77. God
“saved us, and called
us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but to His own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began.”
So with
equal clearness and fitness is it stated in Tit.
3: 4, 7: “But after that the
kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works
of
righteousness which we did, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he
poured on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by
his grace,
we should be made heirs according to hope of eternal life.”
(Greek.)
5. EMBLEMATIC RITES.
Of
this new and blessed
position Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are God’s appointed witnesses. Baptism follows, according
to God’s
ordinance, after justification by faith.
“Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
“Repent, and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ, for the
remission of sins:”
Acts 2: 38. “And,
now, why tarriest thou? Arise,
and
be baptized, and wash away thy sins,
having called
(Greek) on
the name of the Lord:” Acts
22: 16.
1.
BAPTISM,
then, is in figure the washing
away of the old sins of the believer through Christ’s work. They are
forgiven
to the man of faith. There
is God’s
visible token. “Unto
him that loveth us, and
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made
us kings
and priests unto God and his Father: to him be glory and dominion for
ever and
ever:” Rev. 1:
5, 6. “Already ye are
clean, through the word which I have spoken unto you:” John 15: 3.
It is entire immersion: for the whole man needs cleansing.
2.
But it takes also a
deeper sense. It is
the presentation of
the believer as one with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. As Jesus died to sin and
for sin, so the
believer dies along with his sacrifice, and is buried to his old place
and
standing. The flesh
is buried as
worthless and corrupt. His
offences are
buried in the tomb of Christ. But
he
comes forth to walk in new life, in a life beyond his old
responsibilities
under law. The
immersion of God’s
commanding is the dying to, and putting off of Adam and Moses, and the
putting
on of Christ:
“For as many of you as were immersed into
Christ put on Christ:” Gal.
3: 20, 27.
“Know ye not that so many of its as
were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into his death? Therefore we were buried
with him by the
immersion into the death: that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life:”
Rom. 6: 3, 4.
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also
ye are risen with him through
faith in the operation of God, who raised him from the dead:”
(Greek) Col.
2: 12.
This
is the Lords
appointed path for the justified by faith.
And
Paul in the 7th
of Romans
unfolds to us still further the deep significance of this
rite, wherein
the believer judicially dies to law, whether that of
2.
THE SUPPER OF THE LORD,
which, in God’s
scheme follows after baptism, carries on yet further the gracious
significance
of our new position of acceptance in Christ by faith.
Jesus invites to His board the accepted in
Him. Here they are
seen as the one
priestly family of God, feasting before Him on Christ as our sacrifice. These are they who have
separated themselves
from the
They
are discovered,
then, to all as God’s elect, saved men: 1
Thess.
1: 4. Eternal life is
theirs: for it is the gift of God to faith:
“For the wages of sin is death; but the
gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord:” Rom.
6: 23.
6. TYPES OF THE BELIEVER’S
SALVATION.
(1)
God has given us
types of the Christian’s position in Noah’s deliverance of old. Christ is our Noah - the
ark of old answers
to His righteousness. Into
that ark we have
entered by faith, and are safe. The
Lord
shuts in for salvation all who enter.
But
our Noah, and His
ark have passed through the waters of death and judgment, and are
resting on
the Mount before God. So
we who have
come through the waters, after entering by faith the ark-, have passed
visibly
beyond death and judgment, into the heavenly places of acceptance
before God.
(2)
Or shall we turn to
As
justified, then, and forgiven in Christ, let us draw near to God in
full
confidence of acceptance. Our
eye is to
be fixed, not on ourselves, our unworthiness and our short-comings; but
on the
worthiness of Christ, in whom we stand, and in whom we come to God. Our sonship in Christ
abides, although we see
that evil is still found within us; and sometimes breaks forth into
action. It is for
us to abide in Christ; for, as without Him we
can do nought; so with Him,
everything. Abiding
in him, we bear
much fruit. As redeemed we are to serve God in love.
As sons, let us obey in the
spirit of sonship.
As dead to Moses, let us live to
Christ. Yea,
Christ is to live in us
by faith. And as
priests to God, let us
offer spiritual sacrifices; prayer, praise, gifts acceptable to God
through
Jesus Christ our Lord!
*
*
*
THE
BELIEVER
UNDER
RESPONSIBILITY.
SINS
AFTER FAITH.
-------
We
have seen the certainty of the believer’s [eternal] salvation, as founded on
God’s election in
eternity, and His justification of him in time.
As made a member of the Son of God, and indwelt by the
Spirit of God, he cannot fail of eternal life. But the enquiry at once
suggests itself - ‘How is provision made for
holiness in this scheme?
*
For in making
[of eternal] salvation to depend simply on faith,
you throw open the door
to all manner of sin.’
*
The
answer as given by Rom. 6,
is left
for another occasion.
The
ordinary reply is –
‘If a man is truly converted,
he will necessarily do
good works. If it
is a good tree, it
will certainly bear good fruit.’
And again, destructively, - ‘If
there be bad
fruit, the tree is bad.’
Now
it is true that the
right and proper result is, that believers should
do good works. But
it is true also, that
Scripture does not say of believers who
are not doing good works, or doing evil works, - that it is
clear
therefore, that they were never converted. Had it been so, the Holy
Spirit must have
pronounced the assembly of believers at Corinth to be no church, no
assembly of
converted ones at all, because of their many and flagrant sins. Moreover, Jesus describing
Himself as the
Stem of the true Vine, assumes that there are branches in Him, vitally
united
to Him, which do not bear fruit: John
15: 2; 2 Pet. 1: 18; Tit. 3: 4. Also, in the parable of
the Sower,
our Lord gives us to understand that many would receive His testimony,
who
would indeed grow, and even bear fruit; yet
would bring no fruit to perfection, because of their fear of the world,
or
because of the cares and pleasures of this age entering into them:
Matt.
13: 21, 22; Mark 4: 18, 19; Luke 8: 14. And Jesus owns
as a servant even the unprofitable holder of the one talent: Matt.
25: 30.
1.
The Scriptural view
is, that the Christian’s standing is twofold.
And in this, as in most other cases the two portions of
the truth are
seemingly opposed.
We
have considered,
hitherto, the Christian in his judicial standing, as justified [by faith] in Christ;
as seated with Him in the heavenlies before the throne of grace, his
previous
sins forgiven; himself taken out from among the foes of God, to be for
ever his
son. In this view
it is his privilege to
draw near to his Father in the Holiest with boldness; for he comes in
the name,
and with the acceptance, of Christ Himself.
But
this exhibits only
one side of the truth. Here,
on the
other side, the believer is regarded as an individual upon earth still
in the
body, sin dwelling within him, and at times appearing in action. He is the servant of
Christ, to whom commands
have been given, and who may or may not
obey. He
is as a son of God, called
to manifest his Father in grace to an evil world. Here
he may fail. The
light which Christ has kindled may be
almost extinguished; the salt may have lost its taste: Matt.
5; Phil. 2: 15. As set among his brethren
in the faith, whom he is to edify, and unite,
and assist,
the believer may also fail. In
short,
the Father and Son expect of those set
in the abundant grace of our dispensation, answerable good works. But it is a time of much
trial and danger to
believers, because of the watchful and powerful foes whom the Christian
is
called to encounter in this “the evil
day:” Eph. 6. If not clothed* in all
God’s
armour, and constant in vigilance and prayer, he is sure to be wounded
in the
combat.
[*
That is, I believe, he must put
on the armour himself: and the
righteousness mentioned, does not
refer to the imputed
righteousness of Christ!]
Some
Scriptures present
both these features. Colossians
2
teaches, that the believer is
complete in Christ, buried with Him in baptism, risen with Him,
forgiven. And yet: ‘Beware of
losing your reward by turning to the commandments of men.’ ‘If risen with and
Christ, let your life be in the things heavenly.
But you have also members
on earth; put
them to death:’ Col.
3: 1-6.
In
1
Cor. 6,
the apostle speaks of believers as justified and sanctified
in the name of Christ, and by the Spirit of God; while yet he complains of their being guilty of dishonesty,
and threatens them
with exclusion from the kingdom
So
Peter, in his first
epistle, speaks of believers as elect, kept by God’s power to an
incorruptible
heritage on high. And
yet, since the
Father on whom we call is already judging our work, it becomes us to
spend our time on earth in fear: 1:
17.
The
actual sins of [regenerate] believers
are testified of by Scripture;
manifested in facts.
1.
Some believers of old
were guilty of Immorality: some are
guilty now. We
have but to cite a
few instances. Look
at Ananias and Sapphira;
at the incestuous
Corinthian; at the fornicators
whom
Paul threatens, who had not repented of their sin; and of those guilty of dishonesty in the same church
: Acts,
5 ; 1 Cor. 5, 6;
2 Cor. 12: 20, 21; Heb. 13: 4; Rev. 2: 20-23.
2.
But there is another
class of sins, far more common.
Multitudes uncounted of believers are living in transgression of commands
peculiar to our dispensation. Multitudes deny,
that some of them are
offences at all. Take
the cases of law,
of oaths, of war. Thousands of believers are exacting their dues by
law; thousands take
oaths; thousands are soldiers by profession.
Millions belong to national systems which call the world ‘the church.’
Thousands of believers have married unbelievers; and
multitudes are
pressing with all eagerness to ‘make
their fortune.’
They are servants of Mammon; and so cannot
serve Christ. And among the teachers of Christianity, what abundance
of false doctrine
is to be found!
II.
(l.) What shall we
say
to these things? Does
God disregard
these offences, if they be but committed by those really regenerate? By no means.
The Saviour assures us that all things will come into
judgment before
Himself in the future day: Luke
12: 2-5. The Scripture announces,
in
various forms, that our [entrance
and] position in
the day to come depends upon our
conduct now. The
Holy Ghost informs us also, that the eye
of the Heavenly Father is upon His children; and
that His hand is put forth often in present discipline. He looks for good works as
the result of the
grace in which they are set. If
any members
of Christ bring not forth fruit, He, as the Husbandman of the Vine, removes them from the world. If any bear fruit, He
purifies them that they
may bear more: John
15: 1-8. There are sins unto death which the believer may commit; and then
the saints who may pray for them are not
to be surprised, if their supplications for the continuance of such in
life are
not heard: 1
John 5: 16, 17. Natural
disorders are often the chastisements of the Lord for sin. Hence, many at
(2.)
Apostolic action
took its stand upon offences of believers.
Jesus, after His resurrection, breathes upon the eleven
apostles, and
says, “Receive
ye the Holy Ghost.
Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them;
and whosesoever
sins ye retain, they are retained:” John
20: 22, 23. This retaining of sins
after faith
did not of course destroy the believer’s position of justification [by faith]* and
forgiveness in Christ on high. It
did
not shut him out from eternal
life. But
it
had respect to his entrance or not into the millennial, (or temporary)
kingdom
of reward. As
our Lord more fully
expresses it, when bestowing the same power on Peter in the first
instance – “On
this Rock
[Jesus
Himself risen
from the dead]
I will build my church; and the
gates of Hadees** shall not prevail against it.” For as Jesus rose, so
shall His
people rise out of [the
underworld] the
place of departed souls. And
then
begins the millennial kingdom.
Hence our Lord adds, “And I will
give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven; and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven
;
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven?”
Matt. 16: 18, 19.
[*
To distinguish the saint’s justification by faith; we also have the
believer’s justification by WORKS,
for he is also: “justified BY WHAT HE
DOES and not
by
faith alone:” (Jas. 2: 24,
N.I.V.).]
*
Not
of “Hell.” That is ‘Gehenna.’
[*
The ‘lake of fire’
is the eternal
place of the lost.]
We
see these keys used
by the apostle Paul. The
incestuous
person at
For
blasphemy openly
committed, Paul delivers over Hymenaeus
and Alexander to Satan: and this
censure seems never to have been removed: 1
Tim. 1:
20. The same apostle,
threatens believers at
(3)
Now that apostles
have ceased, it is still competent for assemblies of believers to judge open immoralities after faith
found in their midst, and to set the offenders outside the church: Matt.
18. There is no authority for
putting
out of the church any believer, because of error in doctrine. Even antichrists left the
church
voluntarily. John
neither put them out,
nor directs believers to do so: 1
John 2:
18, 19. While Paul puts out
the incestuous Corinthian, he does not
put out those who denied resurrection,*
although that is fundamental truth:
1
Cor. 15.
[*
The false
belief that we ascend into the presence of God in Heaven at
the time of Death instead of at the time of
Resurrection; for the soul
(now in Hades) will be reunited to a resurrected body (from the grave
and
decomposition). We
cannot enter into the
presence of God in Heaven as naked
souls; we must wait for
the time of Resurrection at the descent of Christ.
See Rev. 6: 9-11;
and follow the order
of events in
our Lord’s Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. John 3: 13; 14: 3; 20: 17.]
Exclusion
from the church now by the disciples is the token
and witness of a greater exclusion yet to be effected by Christ at His
coming. Here is a believer
excluded from
fellowship for intoxication. He
dies
while excluded. Then
the Lord at His
coming must own the church’s decision.
But that decision does not shut him out from eternal life. From what then can it
exclude him, but from
sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets [Moses included*], in
the millennial kingdom of glory?
[*
Here is the Scriptural
answer for
those who object to
(4)
But the Holy Ghost
not only teaches believers to act on others in cases of offending; it
directs
each believer to examine himself, before he eats the bread, or drinks
the wine
of the Lord’s Supper. For
if he eat or
drink unworthily, he shall be judged guilty of the body and blood of
the
Lord. It
is a sin which entails present judgment: 1
Cor. 11: 27-34. Wherefore each is to judge
himself. Thus while
the Christian is ever accepted
before the Lord on the ground of Christ’s merits, and his justification
in
Christ ever abides, he yet needs frequent cleansing considered as one
in the
body, living upon the earth during the evil day.
And this our Lord teaches in the 13th.
of John. The resistance of
Peter to Jesus’ washing his feet brings out to us the counsels of God
in this
matter. When Peter
first refuses to
allow the Saviour to stoop thus low, our Lord answers, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part
with me.” Peter thereon says in
eflect- ‘If that be the meaning
of your washing me, do not cleanse my
feet alone, but my whole person.’
Jesus replies – “He
that is bathed
(Greek) needeth
not
save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” That is - The great
forgiveness of the past,
granted on faith, of which the immersion of the whole man is the token,
abides
ever, and needs no repeating. But
for
daily sins, the sins after faith, there is needed a frequent partial
cleansing.* Looked at as walking on
the earth, he needs
repeated washing. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” “If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us the sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness?” 1
John 1: 7, 9. Here the forgiveness
and cleansing come after the confession.
Then, in view of our position on earth, the cleansing of
the blood is
not, as some teach, once for all, but habitual.
*
Some seem to
regard the washing of feet as a one-sided command.
They imagine that the un-fallen, or clean
brother alone, is directed to figuratively wash the feet of the fallen
one. But this is a
mistake. The
washing of feet is mutual and
literal. In the
view of John 13,
the feet of all believers need washing: ver. 14, 15.
“Blessed are they that wash their robes;”* Rev. 22: 14; Mark
7: 20-23. Here the washing of
the robe is habitual; and that washing is in blood, as Rev.
7: 13, 14,
assures us. Again, “For if the blood of bulls and of goats,
and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much
more shall the blood
of the Christ, who
through the Eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, cleanse
your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?” Heb. 9: 13,
14. The cleansing of the
unclean was an habitual thing, to be renewed as oft as the defilement
of the
flesh took, place. The
defiled
conscience, now, is to be cleansed, as oft as the case occurs, by the
blood of
the Christ. Though
the apostle be
writing to believers, he puts their cleansing in this view as yet
future. ‘The blood of the
Christ shall purge your conscience.’ “Every one that hath this hope in (over)
him, purifieth
himself, even as he is pure:” 1
John 3: 3.
*
True
reading.
The
principle on which
we are bound to forgive offending brethren on their repentance is this
- That
we ourselves perpetually need forgiveness before God, even after our
being, as
men of faith, enrolled among God’s servants.
In the parable of Matthew
18,
the offending servant
asks of his master patience, but obtains forgiveness.
Refusing to forgive his offending brother,
the offences of his service are laid upon him.
“0 thou wicked servant, I forgave thee
all that debt, because
thou desiredst me,
shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow
servant, even as
I had pity on thee?”
“For if ye forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly Father
will also forgive you. But
if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses:” Matt, 6:
14, 15.
III. We have seen, then,
that the believer’s sins of omission and of commission affect him now
before
the Father. His
justification indeed is
not destroyed by them; his eternal life is secure in Christ. How then can offences
after faith affect him
in the future?
This
we proceed further
to consider. The
doctrine to be established
is –
THAT
THE GOOD OR EVIL WORKS OF THE BELIEVER RESPECT THE COMING DAY OF
JUSTICE, AND THE APPEARING BEFORE THE JUDGMENT-SEAT OF CHRIST.
1.
The present day of
grace has reference to the throne
of grace now
set up in the heavens; before which Jesus appears as the High
Priest.
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need:” Heb.
4: 16.
It
is the throne of the
Father, on which Jesus is seated, expecting his own throne: Eph.
2: 14-18; Heb. 10: 19-22.
“To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit with me in my throne, even as I
also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne:”
Rev. 3: 21.
But
another throne is soon to be set up in heaven one of
an opposite character. God
is about to
judge the habitable earth; yea, and the angels themselves. Hence, as soon as the
churches are no longer
recognized as God’s witness on earth, a new throne is set up, Rev.
4. This throne is like
Sinai; out of it proceed thunders, lightnings, voices, and the arrows
and
trumpets of God’s wrath. It
is the
throne of judgment, (that is, of justice,) of whose setting the Old
Testament
also bears witness: Psa.
97: 2.
“For thou hast maintained my right and my
cause thou satest in the throne
judging right. But
the Lord shall endure
for ever; He hath prepared His throne for judgment:” Psa. 9: 4, 7.
By
it the foes of Jesus are subjected to His feet Psa.
110.
And
commission is given
to our Lord Himself to sit on a throne of righteousness, judging the
earth and
heaven: Psa.
45: 6; Isa. 11: 4.
“But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, 0
God, is for ever and ever: a
sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom:” Heb. 1: 8.
2. For God is about to
manifest His righteous
judgment during the great day of a
thousand years: Rom. 2. He will send forth Christ
from
heaven in a new character - as the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
“That thou keep this commandment without
spot, unrebukeable, until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His time He shall show,
who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords:”
1 Tim. 6: 14, 15.
In
this passage, indeed,
it is the Father who is called King of kings and Lord of lords. But the same title is also
given to the Son,
when He comes as the Father’s viceroy.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a
white horse; and he that sat upon
him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge
and make
war. And He hath on
His vesture and on
His thigh a name written, King
of kings, and Lord of lords:”
Rev. 19: 11,
16.
Jesus
shall then appear
as the King of the
Jews, for confessing which truth He was scorned
and put to death: Luke 1:
32; Acts 2.
It
will then be the time
of that [millennial] kingdom
of glory, of which the Old Testament prophets are full: Psa.
103: 19.
3. Before the judgment-seat
of Christ all His
people are to appear, and to give account of themselves and their deeds. And the principle of
judgment will be
according to works; work for Christ, and
suffering endured for His sake: Matt.
25:
19; 18: 23-35; Luke 16: 2; Heb. 4: 13; 13: 17.
“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or
why dost thou set at nought thy
brother? for we
shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.* For if is
written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
every
tongue shall confess to God. So
then every
one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge
one another any
more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an
occasion
to fall in his brother’s way:” Rom. 14:
10-13.
*
We
should read‑, ‘Of God.’
“Wherefore we labour, that, whether
present or absent, we may be accepted
of (well-pleasing
to) him. For we mast all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ; that
every
one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath
done, whether
it be good or bad:” 2
Cor. 5: 9, 10.
Jesus
says the same Himself.
“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If
any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it;
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange
for his soul? For
the son of man shall
come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then he shall reward every man
according to his works:” Matt. 16:
24-27.
After
these words He
promised that some of the apostles should have a glimpse of His kingdom
as Son
of Man - that kingdom into which He has the power of admitting or
exclusion. Accordingly,
He took up
Peter, James, and John, to behold His glory, on the Mount of
Transfiguration.
IV. The result of
believers appearing before Christ will be twofold.
Some will be “accounted
worthy,”
some judged unworthy, to
enter the millennial kingdom.
(1.)
Some will be
accounted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from among
the dead,
as doers of good, servants of Christ.
Matt.
5: 19; 2 Pet. 1.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my
Father which is in heaven:” Matt.
7: 21.
“Marvel not at this; for the hour is
coming in the which all that are in
the
graves shall hear His voice. And
shall
come forth; they that
have done good, unto
the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection
of judgment:” (Greek) John
5:
28, 29.
The
Parables of the
Pounds, and of the Talents, add their confirmation.
The servants enter on the joy of their Lord, when adjudged to be faithful. In this scrutiny many will
be exalted, as
being authors of good deeds previously unknown, done for the Father’s
eye
alone: Matt.
6.
“For God
is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye
have showed
toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do
minister:”
Heb. 6: 10.
Some
will enter that
kingdom as sufferers for the
Lord Jesus. Those
who surrendered life
in Christ’s service are to find it again at
the first resurrection: Matt.
16:
24, 27; Luke 17: 33. The martyrs
are to occupy a prominent
place in the glory of the thousand years: Rev.
20: 4-6.
Missionaries
who have
given up much for the Lord’s sake, and have endured much in their
service, will
then receive their reward or woes.
For “through much tribulation we must enter
the
“Blessed are they which have been
persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all
manner
of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward
in heaven: for
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you:” Matt. 5: 10-12. Old
Testament prophets and New Testament believers will both meet together
in the
millennial king dom. of glory.
Then will Paul be exalted, the zealous labourer, the
indomitable
sufferer for Jesus’ sake.
“For I am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at
hand. I have fought
the good fight, I
have finished the course, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at
that day; and not to me only, but
unto
all them also that love His appearing:”
(Greek) 2
Tim. 4: 6-8.
Suffering
and service are the two pillars of the gateway of
entrance into the [millennial] kingdom: Matt. 20:
20-28.
Then
will the twelve apostles be Jesus’ fellow kings.
“Ye are they which have continued with me
in my temptations. And
I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my
Father hath appointed unto me, That ye may eat and drink at my table in
my
kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel:” Luke 22: 28-30.
(2.)
But others will be accounted unworthy- “castaways”
- or rejected in regard
of the millennial kingdom: 1
Cor. 9.
(a)
Many will not enter,
because they have no work to show.
They
put off faith in Christ to the last.
They just believed, and obtained the gift of God’s grace,
- eternal
life, - and died. Such
was the dying
robber. He asks for
a place in the
kingdom of glory at Christ’s coming.
But
while the Lord promises him an immediate entrance into the abode of
bliss [in the
underworld] set
apart for the souls of the
ransomed dead, he is silent about any place in the [millennial] kingdom: Luke
23:
42-43.
(b)
Others will not
enter, because while they were believers, and had opportunity of
service, they
were yet useless as servants. The
slothful and unprofitable servant of the Pounds, and of the Talents, is
a
specimen of such. It
will be vain to
allege faith as the ground of entrance into the millennial kingdom of
glory. That day of
reward is entered according to [a believer’s] works
alone: Jas.
2. It is the rest of
God, designed for those who have laboured
with Him: Heb.
3, 4.
It is God’s consolation for those
who have suffered for
Him: Luke
6: 24.
(c)
Some believers will
not enter this millennial kingdom, because they have refused the testimony about it: Mark
10:
15.
“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall
not receive the
Some,
because they would not confess Christ
before men. They
believed; but were afraid to put on Christ by
baptism:
John
3: 5; Gal. 3; Matt. 10: 32, 33. The “IF”
in
(d)
Some will stand
excluded as teachers of false
doctrines.
Some teachers of erroneous
doctrine, will be saved: 1
Cor. 3. For there are some
converted men among Roman
Catholics; yea, even among the priests.
Some of those perverted from the Church of England to the
Church of
Rome, are persons regenerate in heart.
They are on the true foundation,
though
thereupon they have built idolatries, the worship of Mary, and rubbish
of all
sorts. Their
work then will be burnt
up, and a fine inflicted which takes
effect during the millennial day.
(e) Some will be rejected as disobedient, and doers of evil. Such
are the dishonest persons threatened in 1
Cor. 6. Some as offending in the
matter of
money; grasping, covetous, avaricious, either squanderers or hoarders
of their
Lord’s goods: Luke 16: 1-13. Some,
as
stumblers of the world; some, as defilers of the church: Matt.
18; 1 Cor. 3: 16, 17. Some, because they have
chosen the world as
their present portion; and live by professions which are in principle
opposed
to our dispensation, and the commands of Christ: 2
Tim. 4: 10. How can Christ reward
believers, who live by the sword? men compelled to slay sometimes
unbelievers,
at the command of the worldly. Sometimes
called to take away the lives of brethren for whom Christ died: Matt.
5: 38-48; 7: 12; 26: 52; 2 C or. 10: 3, 4.
Are
there no cases of
fearful backsliding in every church?
Are
there not those who are even numbered among open criminals, as such
punished by
the world?
Take
the following case
from ‘The
Convict Ship,’ by Dr.
Browning, p. 69:-
“I
was born December 27th, 1812, in the parish of
St. A- S-,
“But to proceed.
I remember when my
teacher was, one Sabbath, contrasting the happiness of the believer
with the
misery of the wicked, I thought of my dear departed father, who, I
feared,
could not go to heaven as he died: his death, through the Holy Spirit’s
teaching, led me to consider the state of my own soul, and I hope the
work of
grace then commenced in my heart [that is, when about thirteen
years of age, as above stated].
From the age of sixteen, when I became a member of a Christian
Church, up to my twenty-second year, I
continued at S‑, and was engaged in the Sabbath school, and in various
other
efforts with God’s people, to advance His glory.
During that time, I, to the praise of the
Lord, can say, that I was truly enabled to adorn the doctrine of God
our
Saviour, and to walk as it becometh the gospel.
At the age of twenty-two,
I came to London; and being in bad
health, and my trade being
laborious, my friends obtained for me a situation in a tradesman’s
office; and
for three
years I was enabled to maintain a character
consistent with the
Christian profession; and being anxious to get on in life, I applied
myself
diligently to my master’s interests, and was, at the end of the time
just
specified, made his town-traveller, and succeeded in my efforts to
increase his
connection. But my
new sphere of
business brought me into more frequent intercourse with worldly minds;
and
being exposed to the temptation of drinking, as a matter of course,
with my
customers,- to my shame and sorrow, - in time, that which I had disliked, namely, ardent spirits, I became fond
of. Many struggles,
sharp and
distressing, passed in my poor disordered mind between the powers of
grace and
sin; but, alas! it became a confirmed habit with me to drink, and to mingle with some who, though they were
respectable in society, yet proved enemies to my poor soul. Several of these were my
best customers; and my anxiety to increase
trade through them
brought me at first into contact with them, and led me to court their
society,
which ultimately accelerated my sad and awful fall.
“But the great evil, and that which lay
at the foundation of all others,
was my
neglect of the means of divine grace,
and, most particularly, my fearful neglect of secret prayer. Oh,
I mourn when 1 remember how I was wedded to the soul-destructive habit
into
which I had fallen, of drinking to excess!
I feared to approach that footstool of mercy where I had
often poured
out the desires of my soul, and found sweet access to God, and
experienced
covenant love manifested to my soul.
“One evil led to another: to deceive my
best and my Christian friends, and
most of all to deceive the wife of my bosom, who is - blessed be God! - a true
Christian, I admit was hard work.
I had to call forth all my wicked ingenuity and craft to
do the work of
the devil; and dreadful drudgery I found it.
0h, it is an evil and a bitter thing to sin against God! I have found it to be so. May the Lord preserve my
soul from evil
desires, and enable me fully to yield myself unto Him as one that is
alive from
the dead, and my members as instruments of righteousness unto God! I
madly pursued the desires of the flesh.
As I just said, one evil gave birth to another, and I was
carried down
the torrent, and plunged at length into the vortex of iniquity.- indulging in other vices besides
intemperance in drinking; but all of them the companions of my easily
besetting
and darling sin. My
heart aches; and I
need not enumerate the many crimes of
which I soon became capable.
Oh, the
holy Lord only can judge of their aggravation and turpitude! But sweet is the truth of
the gospel. It now
makes my heart tranquil and peaceful
from day to day. I
find it not only in
John’s first epistle, chapter
2: 1, 2, but in
many other parts of Scripture. It
is a precious cordial to my weak and
wavering mind. Were
it not for this
blessed assurance, I think the remembrance of my past awful career
against
light, and my most desperate and presumptuous sins against the holy
Lord, and
the blessed Saviour who died for, I hope, even wretched me,- I say that
were it
not for this hope, I think I should sink into utter despair; and
especially
when I think of the consequences of my
sins, as they affect my dear and pious wife, and sweet child, and a
whole
circle of most respectable friends, ‑oh, I should be cast
down very low,
were it not for the hope the gospel gives!
But I will, in few words, close a history which is most
grievous to my
mind; and I hope you will excuse my unconnected way of writing: but I
feel more
than I can express.
“I went on until I found my income
would not support my extravagance: and at length, to meet difficulties
of my
own seeking, I added dishonesty to all
my other crimes; and used various sums of money to my own purposes that
I had
collected from my master’s customers.
Being at length discovered, and being a considerable
defaulter, my
employer, most reluctantly, was compelled to prosecute.
I had been six
years in his
service. Previous
to taking his situation, I held one
for a short time in the city, at Messrs.-, St. P-’s, and I am happy to
remember
that I was preserved from every dishonest act up to the time I have
mentioned. No praise to me. I
thank the Lord, I was, in His mercy, restrained from outward crimes, so
that on
my trial I had the benefit of a
previous good
character, and was, therefore, sentenced to only seven years.
The Recorder of London, who tried me, most humanely and
kindly told me
he would afford every opportunity in his power for me to redeem my
forfeited
character and respectability. I
hope I
shall; but I am helpless in myself.
But I believe that those holy principles which the gospel
of Christ
creates in the renewed mind, will, in the use of means, preserve me in
His
fear, and make me once more an honourable and a useful man and
Christian.
“Gracious
Lord! keep me humble before Thee, and watchful; and grant me the true
spirit of
prayer, ‘that
I may break Thy laws no more; but love Thee
and my fellow-men better than before.’
“During
my
stay in the Justitia,
I felt the loss of privileges I once enjoyed of a
religious nature; but I bless God for those I here enjoy on board this
ship.
“Previous to taking my trial, and whilst
a prisoner in Horsemonger-gaol, I
met with great kindness from the Rev. Mr. B-, the pious chaplain. I am sorry to say I was
dreadfully hardened
up to this time; but his serious and earnest converse with me, together
with
his daily instructions from the pulpit, I am thankful to say, by God’s
blessing
brought me to a better state of mind.
I
have a letter from him which I greatly prize, sent to me when in
Newgate; I
hope - if you will allow me to ask yon - if ever you should meet with
this good
man, you will please to give my Christian love to him.
“Since I have been under your care, I
have found great benefit from the
word of the Lord, as explained and enforced by you. My mind has, I
believe,
become much more confirmed in the truth of the gospel, and consoled by
its rich
and free blessings. I
am now in the
enjoyment of peace through resting upon the blessed atonement. I desire to spend the
remnant of my days in
the service of my Saviour, and for the benefit of the souls of my
fellow-sinners. The
Lord help me! Oh,
praise the Lord with me, and lot us exalt
His name together!
“Dear
Sir,- I
thank you for all your kindness to me, and I thank the Lord for all the
good I
have enjoyed through you! May
the Lord
bless you, is the humble prayer of me, a poor, but I trust a saved
sinner!”
(Signed) “W. B.”
V. But against these
views, OBJECTIONS
are
started. I will
consider some of the strongest of
them.
1.
‘If I am to be judged by
Christ, I shall be
lost. For it is
written, “Enter
not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight
shall no man living be justified.”
Ps. 143: 2.’
Answer. This is said in reference
to
justification. None
can present a perfect
righteousness of his own in answer to the demands of law. But we
are speaking of the judgment of those already justified by faith in
Christ. They
are sons: they are servants. And
the question is - What are to be the
issues of their services, or of their deeds since they were justified?
2.
‘How can Christ judge any
believer for
sins? Is it not
written, “Their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
Heb. 8: 12; 10: 17.’
Answer.
It
is. But the answer
here is the same as before. The
Holy
Ghost is speaking of the forgiveness of the sins of
ungodly past life, on faith in Christ.
The believer thenceforward takes the place, -
no longer of a foe, but of a friend.
The
place cited is from the Hebrews. Now
there is no epistle so strong as that to the Hebrews, in reference to
the
effects of the believer’s actions, for good or evil, upon his future
place. Read the
third and fourth
chapters, and see if the gist of the argument is not - that as the hope
of the
good land was set before Israel rescued out of Egypt by the blood and
through
the water, while yet they fell under the displeasure of Jehovah, and
were cut
off because of their sins; so it will be
with believers in regard of the coming millennial kingdom. If we provoke God as they
did, we shall be
shut out of the prize of our calling because of disobedience, even as
they
were.* The reader will find
several other
passages in that epistle containing the same sentiments.
*
See
a tract – ‘Christians,
seek the Rest of God, in His millennial
kingdom. Fletcher,
3.
‘Believers can’t sin - for it
is written,
“Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for
his seed remaineth in him; and he cannot sin because he is born of God.”
1 John 3: 9.’
Answer. But that same epistle says:
“If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not
sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1
John 1: 8-10.
See
also 2:
1-3; 5: 16, 17.
VI. The DISTINCTION,
here set forth account for and RECONCILE
two apparently antagonistic classes
of Scripture texts.
1.
We were chosen to eternal
life not according to our works
before
faith, but before our birth: 2
Tim. 1-9; Titus 3:
4-7. But we shall be
chosen to enter the
millennial kingdom according to our works after faith:-
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father that is in heaven.” Matt.
7: 21.
John
5:
28, 29; Luke 20: 35, 36. Eternal life is the
gift of God to those who believe in Christ: Rom.
6: 23. The millennial kingdom or
the
first resurrection is the prize of our calling proposed to them that
believe, to be attained by
seeking and effort: Phil.
3: 10-15; Matt. 11: 11, 12; 6: 33.
2.
This accounts for the
TWO
JUSTIFICATIONS
of which the New Testament speaks.
(1.)
There is a past
justification by faith, the effects
of which abide. Of
this the Scriptures
ordinarily speak: Titus
3: 7 ; Gal. 3: 8.
But
there is also a future justification by [a regenerate believer’s]
works, in answer to a future judgment.
Of this James is the
witness.
“So speak ye and so act as they that are about to be judged by the law of liberty.
For he
shall have judgment without mercy that showed not mercy. Mercy rejoiceth against
judgment.”
That
is, if you Christian take
justice as the principle of action in your dealings with others now,
justice
will be the principle on which you will be dealt with before the
judgment seat
of Christ. But
the man of mercy will
be blessed then; for he will find it on his side then when most he will
need it:
2
Tim. 1: 18. For there is a future
as well as a
present forgiveness;
a future forgiveness based on condition. “Forgive,
and ye shall be forgiven:”
Luke
6: 37.
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though
a man say he have faith, and hath
not works? Can
faith save
him?”*
[*
NOTE. Here is mention also of a future
salvation – the salvation “of your souls” (1 Pet. 1: 9, N.I.V.),
which has to do with suffering
and the “glories
that would follow” (verse
11).]
No,
it cannot! For Paul
and James are speaking of different
times. Paul says,
that without works a
man is justified by faith: Rom.
3. For he is treating of the
present day of mercy, and
of
our acceptance in the [imputed] righteousness of Christ,
which ends in eternal
life.
But
James is speaking in
reference to the day
of judgment, and
in view of the millennial kingdom of reward.
Then to plead the possession of faith will
not suffice. For
there are two salvations; as shall
presently be shown. The
future day is the day of reward according
to works; and then works alone, the works of faith, will avail. To allege the possession
of faith without
works adduced, will be vain. You
must prove your faith before the court. And that can be only by
works. If in the
case of a brother’s being starved
with cold or hunger, we show our benevolence towards him only by good
words,
without giving him aid in the way of food or clothing, how much would
he be the
better for it? So,
if on appearing before
Christ, such a believer shall receive words of kindness, but
no admission into the millennial glory, what would he be
profited? And Jesus
says, that not those
who own Him Lord, but the obedient ones
only shall be admitted to the kingdom: Matt.
7:
21. The father may hope
much from one whom he has sent to school.
But when his education is ended, will he not expect that
the boy shall
show that he has acquired knowledge while at school?
Will he think it enough that the lad should
say?-, ‘I am a scholar.’ That may do while he is
learning, but – ‘Show me what
you have learnt,’ will be the word when schooling is
past. The
possession of life and leaf
will be enough for the fruit-tree in early spring.
But will you be satisfied with green leaves
alone in autumn?
3.
There are TWO
SALVATIONS
spoken of in the New Testament. The
first is that which is possessed already by faith, and which ends
assuredly in everlasting
life: Eph.
2. Of this Paul speaks: Acts
13: 26, 46-49;
see also verses
38
and 39.
But
there is a future
salvation, which
looks onward
to the
day of Christ’s appearing
as
its time of possession. Of
this the
epistle to the Philippians is a witness: 1:
6, 10;
2: 16. Hence the Holy Ghost
calls on believers to “Work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling.” The persecution which the
believers
of
Angels
are sent forth to wait on those who shall enjoy the salvation ready
to make its appearance when Christ comes: Heb.
1:
14; 2: 3; 9: 28. And Paul can say, “And the Lord will deliver me from every
evil work,
and will bring me
safely into”
(literally,
‘will
save
me
into’)
his
heavenly kingdom:”
2 Tim.
4: 18; Luke 9: 24; 1 Peter 4: 18; Rev. 12: 10.
4.
The gift of God is one thing;
and it is received by grace. The
prize of God is another thing; and
it
is to be won, as its name shows, according to works.
For two objects are set before the eyes of
disciples, (1.) ETERNAL LIFE, and (2.) THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM. (1.) Two GOSPELS are sent
forth by God,
having reference to these two objects of faith respectively. There is on the one hand “the Gospel of the grace of God:” (Acts
20:
24)
the acceptance of which is knit to justification and eternal
life: Acts
13: 32; 14: 3; Gal. 1: 7-9; Eph. 3: 8. There is also “the Gospel of the kingdom,”
otherwise called “the Gospel of the glory:”
Matt.
4: 23; 9: 25; 24: 14; Luke 4: 18, 43; 8:
1; 9: 1-6; 16: 16; Acts 8: 12; Heb, 4: 2-6; 2 Cor. 4: 4; 1 Tim. 1: 11. This
last gospel is founded on the millennial kingdom; and the entrance
thereto is attached to degrees of sanctification, and to the works of
faith. These
two objects are independent one of the
other. Hence
scripture speaks of those
who, shut out from reward because of their works, will yet obtain the
salvation
of eternal life. The
disapproved builder
whose work is burnt up, who is fined and escapes through his house on
fire over
his head, will yet “be saved:”
1
Cor. 3: 15.
The
offenders put out of
the church, and even given over to Satan for the destruction of the
flesh,
shall yet “be saved:” 1 Cor. 5: 5. So in the description of
the millennial
day. After the
millennial reign is over,
when the rest of the dead rise, the book of life makes its appearance
before
the Great White Throne. For there are those who are written therein for
life,
citizens of the New Jerusalem, though not counted worthy of reward: Rev.
20: 4-6, 12, 15.
For
the glory of the
millennial day is sometimes exhibited as the reward of a battle which
is now
being fought, the prize of a race which the believer is now set to run:
Heb.
12: 1-4; 1 Tim. 6: 12; 1 Cor. 9: 25.
Of this crown’s bestowal Jesus is the judge: 1
Cor. 4. And only at the close
of his well-run career, was Paul assured that the victory was gained,
the crown
was won: 2
Tim. 4: 6-8.
VII. Of
this double view of the Christian’s position many TYPES
are given in Scripture.
(l.)
Abraham, father of the faithful, is
first justified by faith while uncircumcised: Heb.
11: 8;
The
wings of a bird are
given it for safety in flight. But
they
will not save the young bird when falling out of the nest, unless he
unfold and
move them. It is
use that is meant to
perfect the means bestowed. The exercise of the wings will alone make
them
perfect in fight.
But
these works must be the works of one
justified by faith. “And the Scripture was fulfilled which
saith, ‘Abraham believed
God, and it was
imputed unto him unto righteousness;’ and he was called the friend of
God. Ye see then
how that by works a
man is justified, and not
by faith only.” Paul,
speaking of
present justification in the
day of grace, assures
us that a man is justified by faith
without works. James,
looking onward to the time
of judgment and reward of
the diligent (v.
12)
tells us, with equal truth, that in that day faith
alone will not save. A
man
must then
be justified by works; for it is the day of
recompense to each
according,- not to his faith, but to his works.
In
contrast to their
father, Abraham’s sons after the flesh, though they by faith kept the
Passover
and the sprinkling of the blood, yet by their many provocations of God,
they
lost the hope set before them of entering the good land which He had
spied for
them. As Jehovah’s
oath went forth on
behalf of Abraham,
that the
promise of the land and the Seed should be his, because of his obedience; so his oath, not to be
recalled, was uttered against them: that the degenerate and
disobedient Israelites should not
enter the land: Heb.
3. Now these things are “types of us”:
1
Cor. 10.
(2)
Another type is
given us in the
deliverance out of
But
a second command is given. None
is to eat of any leavened bread for
seven days. If they
do they are to be
cut off from the congregation of
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
[*
NOTE.
Here the apostle was
contrasting the
behaviour of ‘some’
within the Church at
Might
we say in this
case – ‘If there is leaven in
the house, there is no
blood on the door?’ Or,
‘If there be blood on the door
there can be no leaven in the
house?’ The
inference in either
case would be unsound. So
neither can we
say – ‘If there be sin, the man
is no believer.’ Or
‘If the man be a believer
he will not sin.’
(3)
The priests of
Aaron’s race were consecrated to God at first by a bathing of the
entire body
in water: Ex.
29: 4. That was never repeated. But their hands and feet
were constantly
becoming soiled by their employments.
They
were required therefore to wash their hands and feet when they drew
near the
altar to minister: 30:
17-21.
(4)
Of
[*
Always keep in mind the fact that truth is always with the MINORITY: the false report of the ten
spies was partly to blame
for leading multitudes astray: let
us pay attention to ourselves
and our doctrines;
and remember that God
will judge the teachers of false
doctrines more severely!]
Let
me, then, in a few
words sum up the main truths here presented.
1.
Eternal life is
secured to the believer: for it depends upon the Father’s electing
love, and
the Son’s completed work on His behalf.
Regenerated by the Holy Ghost, the man, from being an
enemy of the Most
High, becomes a son [child] of God.
This
new standing he never afterwards loses. The one
forgiveness and cleansing away of
sin, typified by the total immersion of baptism, ever abides.
2.
But after faith the
flesh still dwells with the believer, and its notions within are
sinful, even
when resisted. Sometimes
sin appears in
word and action. These
offences need
forgiveness frequently repeated. The
Father looks for good fruits from all those set in Christ. He
deals out discipline in the present life to those who belong to his
family. Sometimes
He even removes failing ones from earth.
The church also is taught to use present
discipline, even to excluding
from the Lord’s table those openly offending by immorality. The believer also should
judge himself, that
he may escape judgment from the Lord.
3.
Moreover an object of hope is set before those already possessed of
eternal life. They
are invited to the
millennial kingdom of glory. That
is to
be sought in the way of obedience and of good works.
The Lord at His coming, in the
day of judgment will decide who
shall possess this prize.
While many will be excluded, many will enter
in.
IN
CONCLUSION,
then, let us seek the
prize set before us! Let
us seek to
obtain an entrance* into the
kingdom of glory! Matt.
6: 33; Luke 12: 31. Let us sow the good seed
now, that the
reaping may be with joy! While
other
crops may fail, the seed of the kingdom, sown while we have
opportunity, will not
disappoint us: 1
Cor. 15. For this prize Paul sought
with his utmost
zeal. Sufferings and martyrdom itself were nought, if but this were won: Phil. 3.
“Let as many of us then as be perfect be
thus
minded.” Let us - [seek always by the grace
of God and the power
of the Holy Spirit]
-
keep down the flesh, lest we fall: Matt.
18;
1 Cor. 9.
[*
This ‘entrance’ –
(as applicable to the
dead, for throughout the Scriptures it is always “the resurrection of the dead,” never
that of the living!) – points to a select resurrection of REWARD of those, “who are considered worthy of taking part in that AGE:”
(Luke 20: 35a,
N.I.V.). See also Luke 14:
14; Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 11: 5-35b; Rev. 20: 4-6, etc. ]
Let
us sow, for we shall
reap Let us not grow .weary in well doing; for in due season we shall
reap, if
we faint not. Now
the word to us is, “Son go work
to-day in my vineyard.” To-morrow those who have
laboured with God, with God shall
rest. At God’s
great harvest-home now hastening on,
both sowers and reapers shall rejoice together.
“Each shall receive his own reward
according to his own labour.”
Let
us not be as the
land, that after the rain of heaven and the tillage of earth bears
thorns and
briars, and is nigh unto cursing: but that which bears useful herbs,
and good
fruits, and receives blessing from God!
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