WE would correct the idea, which is too prevalent and is still growing, that justification by faith, and salvation, are identical. Paul was certainly justified by faith, yet he found zealous striving necessary lest he should be a castaway. 1 Cor. 9:27. He taught distinctly that we are justified by faith without works. Rom. 3:27. And with equal distinctness he exhorted his brethren to work out their salvation. Phil. 2:12.
It is easy to see the reason of this. In Rom. 3 he is speaking of “remission of sins that are past,” over which works, or future obedience, can have no possible influence. From these we must be “justified freely by his grace.” Rom. 3:24. But the gospel embraces prevention as well as cure. Future obedience cannot remit sin, but it will prevent sin; and, practically, one is of no benefit without the other.
The hackneyed expression, “Once in grace, always in grace,” finds not the least warrant in Scripture, and doubtless has been used to the destruction of multitudes of souls. It has been supposed to be the sure foundation of trust, but it is the open door to presumption. The Lord said by Ezekiel: “When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.” Eze. 33:13. All of God’s dealings with man have been based on this self-same principle. The opposite view—the view of the adage above—makes a man’s probation to end with his conversion, which is not the truth. “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt. 24:13.
The remission of sin is precisely equivalent to the remission of the penalty. But, according to the scriptures quoted, the absolute remission of the penalty is contingent on enduring to the end, or on continued faithfulness to the end; as Paul also says, God will render “to them who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life.” Rom. 2:7. Therefore, “justification by faith” does not place any one beyond probation, but brings him into such relation to God that he is enabled by divine grace to work out his salvation; Phil. 2:12; or, by diligence, to make his calling and election sure. 2 Pet. 1:10. Of course, all this has reference to the decisions of the Judgment,—
“Judgment to come.”
The difference between justification by faith and final salvation is fully shown by the texts quoted. One changes man’s relations during his probation; the other is by the determination of the Judgment, which closes his probation. Then the question will arise in many minds, What is the relation of a person justified by faith? Or, In what sense is remission granted before the Judgment? The Saviour sets this matter clear in his teachings. But before quoting his language we wish to present the following illustration:—
A. owes B. a sum which he is not able to pay, and C. engages to be responsible for the debt on certain conditions. In order to make it sure, C. deposits with B. much more than will cover the amount of the debt. Now it is stipulated that if A. fulfils the conditions prescribed, B. may cancel the debt from the deposit made by C. As long as A. continues faithful to the conditions, so long B. rests satisfied in regard to the debt, and of course he does not trouble A. for it, because he knows A. has not got it, while he himself has it in deposit. Thus A. is accounted just (or justified) in the sight of B., and yet not just in himself, because he fails to pay a just debt. He is justified through his surety. If he continues faithful “to the end,” till the term of conditions closes, then B. draws from the deposit and cancels the debt. Now he is free in fact, as he was before by faith; the debt no longer stands against him. But if, to the contrary, A. at any time refuses or neglects to fulfil the conditions, C.’s deposit does not avail for him; his debt is not canceled; he falls from the favor which he had enjoyed through his surety, and the debt stands against him as fully as if no deposit had been made. And more than that, he is considered more culpable than before, inasmuch as the means of removing his indebtedness was kindly placed within his reach, and he refused it.
Such is the condition of the believer in Christ. He has received conditional forgiveness, being yet a probationer for eternal life, which has been placed within his reach by Christ, his surety. For proof, consider the following:—
Our Saviour, in Matt. 18:23–35, presents the case of a servant who owed his lord ten thousand talents. But having nothing wherewith to pay, and manifesting honesty of purpose, “the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.” But this servant met his fellow-servant who owed him the trifling sum of two hundred pence, and who pleaded for mercy in the same terms in which he had so successfully pleaded before his lord. But this servant would not show mercy. He thrust his fellow-servant into prison till he should pay the debt. Hearing of this, his lord called him and said unto him, “O 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? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” This is our Saviour’s own view of forgiveness under the gospel, or justification by faith, while we are waiting for the decisions of the Judgment. And to place this beyond all possibility of doubt, the Saviour made the application, thus: “So likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
The teaching of the Saviour in this scripture is in perfect agreement with the word of the Lord in Eze. 33:13,—if the righteous man turn away from righteousness and commit iniquity, “all his righteousness shall not be remembered;” that is, he shall be treated as if he had never been righteous.*
That baptism is a means of bringing us near to God, and placing us where his grace in the gospel is extended to us, no one can deny. That it is the means—the only means, as some have taught—is not according to the teachings of the Scriptures. Many have had the experience of Cornelius and his household; if not in the same measure, yet by the witness of “the self-same Spirit,” imparting a blessed assurance that the Father has graciously accepted them for his dear Son’s sake, before their baptism. Their joy may be increased in obeying this rite, and so it may be by taking up any cross for Jesus’ sake.
We are aware of the objection which is here interposed, namely, that we have no just right to claim that we have received the favor of God, been justified, or received the Spirit of God as the Comforter, before our baptism; that it is baptism which secures the blessing, and through which we receive the Comforter; that we know we have the Spirit, not by our experience or consciousness, but because we have been baptized in his name.
This objection is not sustained by the Scriptures. This makes baptism the evidence, which it is not, and shuts out the witness of the Spirit altogether. It is the Spirit—not baptism—which bears witness that we are the children of God. Rom. 8:11–16. And this view is not only unscriptural in its statement, but, as could only be expected, disastrous in its results. It has filled churches with formalists, destitute of the true power of godliness, who are strongly entrenched in vain hopes, who trust to their baptism as the evidence of their adoption into the household of the Lord.
But, it is replied, Ananias said to Paul, “Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16. And we say also, that Peter, relating the case of Cornelius and his friends, says the Lord purified their hearts through faith; Acts 15:6–9; and through faith they received the witness of the Spirit before their baptism. To deny that God may work in this same manner now is to deny the experience of multitudes, in all ages of the Christian church, whose conversion to God and whose genuine piety were beyond all doubt.
On Acts 22:16, Alexander Campbell, in his debate with McCalla, made the following remark: “Paul’s sins were really pardoned when he believed; yet he had no solemn pledge of the fact, no formal acquittal, no formal purgation of his sins, until he washed them away in the water of baptism.” No fault can be found with this; no one can object to having, in the words of Mr. Rice, “the emblem connected with the grace.”
If it be insisted that we must confine ourselves to the order laid down in Acts 2:38, 39, we then reply that according to this scripture the position we call in question is still faulty. That position leaves the professed penitent to take for granted his reception of the Spirit, because it is promised on condition of baptism. But not a single instance can be found in the New Testament where such a view obtained. See Acts 8:15–17: “Who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was not fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.”
Here the reception of the Holy Spirit was a matter of consciousness or experience with them. Had they taken for granted that they had received it because they were baptized, making baptism their evidence, as many now do, they would have rested under a delusion. The same remarks apply to Acts 19.
This is sufficient to show that too much has been ascribed to baptism, by those who make it the sole means and the evidence of justification, or remission of sin. That it stands related to remission—that it is even an essential part of that system by which we receive remission—cannot be denied. It is a gospel duty, and all parts of the gospel are essential. All confess that the gospel itself is absolutely essential; and we cannot suppose that an essential whole is made up of non-essential parts. While we deprecate the abuse and perversion of the ordinance, we can find no excuse for slighting and disparaging it, or for neglecting it. “Every word of the Lord is pure.”
Another instance of the use of the Greek word eis deserves a notice. It is found in Matt. 3:11: “I indeed baptize you with [en, in] water unto [eis] repentance.” It can hardly be supposed that this text will bear the construction put upon Acts 2:38—baptize in order to repentance—so as to make the repentance altogether in the future. Indeed, we could not imagine that John would have baptized any if he knew that the work of repentance were not already then commenced. So in Acts 2:38, and in every case where baptism is truly and properly administered according to the gospel plan. Faith lays hold of the grace, already commenced in the heart, of which baptism is the significant emblem.
J. H. W.
Submission in Prayer
By William M. Taylor
PRAYERS should always be characterized by entire submission to the will of God. The undertone of every supplication should be, "Not my will, but thine be done." There is a warrant for stretching earnestness up to this point: "Father, if it is possible"; but that must always be combined with the "nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." This is a prayer that is always answered, and the answer to it can bring ultimately nothing but blessing to him who breathes it in sincerity, though in the immediate future there may be betrayal and crucifixion.—W. M. Taylor.
COMING AGAIN.
By E. A. Kitteredge
THE ascension of Christ is interwoven with an angelic promise that he will come again. No words could possibly be plainer than the message which angels brought to those grieving hearts of the little group on Olivet. "This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven." And this message is in perfect harmony with the repeated utterances of our Lord before his crucifixion. I have no theory upon the subject. I am satisfied with the simple word of God, and am willing to leave the theorizing to others—more than satisfied with the stupendous, glorious fact that he is coming to crush Satan and death under his feet; coming to claim his own, who will be caught up to meet him in the air; coming to reign on earth as in Heaven; coming to make earth a heaven below. Do you ask when he is coming? He has expressly told us that we are not to know this, but we are to expect him, and this is to be the inspiration of earnest toil and patient waiting. Do you ask, How is he coming? I only know so far as the angels have told us, "in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven." The cloud of glory will form his stairway earthward, as it once was his stairway heavenward.—E. A. Kitteredge.
BLESSING THROUGH TRIAL.
By Dr. Armitage
Fretting is like a tearing saw, cutting the heart. Paul speaks of “dying, and behold we live,” full of sorrows, and very poor, yet making others rich. When cast down we have a chance to learn that we are made of different stuff than to be hung or drowned under the suicide of depression; by enduring trial we find that every trouble is a new power at work to develop in us a giant manhood, the weak hands and weak knees are converted into strength, and the weak heart learns courage. Whatever comes, faith should never fail; a bill may be presented when we have no money with which to pay, but there should never come a trial that shall find us without faith.
It is a great blessing to be hopeful. A physician prescribes medicine, but the patient shakes his head, refuses to take it, and by the absence of faith and hope seals his death. So our heavenly Physician wishes to bless us through some trial,—we refuse, and by unbelief thrust aside the means of blessing. In a fishing hamlet on the coast of Wales, there dwelt a poor woman whose husband was lost on the dangerous rocks. Upon the spot where he was lost she piled up stones and built a beacon to warn the sailors. The widow's beacon was the first light-house on the Welsh coast. Behind that rock she had buried her husband, but she roused from her despair to save others. Each of us should try to lift up the weak hands and heart of another, saying, “Be strong;” in so doing God will come and save us, as we try to save.—Dr. Armitage.
LIGHT IN THE WORLD.
WHEN a man carries a light in the darkness, we see the light but do not see the man; or if we see the man it is because the light is dim, or because he stands before it and hides it. The people of God are to be light-bearers in the world. It is their special work to hold forth the word of life and to let their light shine. Their work is not to reveal themselves but to reveal the light; not to show who they are, or what they are, but to hold the light up that others may see the path in which they should go. He who exhibits himself as well as the light, who makes the light a means of showing what he is or what he has done, has entirely mistaken his calling as a bearer of celestial light in a dark and dreary world. On the other hand, he who holds forth the word of life, and standing behind the light so bears it up that men may see it, wins the Master's approval, and blesses and benefits the world. In this crooked and perverse nation Christians are to shine as lights. Their lamps are to be trimmed and burning as they go to meet the Bridegroom when he comes; and they are to "walk as children of the light" so that their light shall not mislead those who may chance to follow it. He who follows Christ shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life; and that light reflected by him and flowing through him, shall bless the world and bring men to see the brightness of the Saviour's face.—Christian.
Providence and the Bible
By Rev. A. J. Gordon, D. D.
PROVIDENCE AND THE BIBLE.—I believe that one of the greatest dangers to which even Christians are exposed is that of becoming disaffected with God through want of knowledge of his ways. The triumphs of wrong which we witness all about us, the outrages upon innocence, the defeats of truth and righteousness, are a handwriting of providence which does not spell divine goodness on the face of it, at least. The man who lives in luxury, and keeps away from suffering, and colors life with his own good fortune, may see God in everything and descant of his goodness in the most complacent terms. But truer men, men who deem it a solemn duty to become acquainted with sin and misery, will be likely to see the devil in some things, and to have agonizing doubts as to whether God can be in all things. And woe be to the man who reads the book of providence without also reading the commentary of Scripture; he will be almost certain to be driven to despair, if he thinks at all. "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace."—Rev. A. J. Gordon, D. D.
Sacrifices for Christ
By Edward Bickersteth
The sweetest life is to be ever making sacrifices for Christ; the hardest life a man can lead on earth, the most full of misery, is to be always doing his own will and seeking to please himself. —Edward Bickersteth.
Doing Little and Great Things
By Pascal
Do little things as if they were great, because of the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, who dwells in thee; and do great things as if they were little and easy, because of His omnipotence.
The Sabbath School.
“THE LAME TAKE THE PREY.”
The following is from a sermon delivered by Dr. Talmage, February 1, 1880. Let all those who have heretofore excused themselves from engaging in the work of the Lord because of inability take courage, consecrate themselves to God, and enter heartily into his service.
“There are those who would like to do good. They say, ‘Oh, if I only had wealth, or if I had eloquence, or if I had high social position, how much I would accomplish for God and the church.’ I stand here to-day to tell you that you have great opportunities for usefulness.
“Who built the Pyramids? The king who ordered them built? No; the plain workmen who added stone after stone, and stone after stone. Who built the dykes of Holland? The government that ordered the enterprise? No; the plain workmen who carried the stuff and rung their trowels on the wall. Who are those who have built these vast cities? The Capitalists? No; the carpenters, the masons, the plumbers, the plasterers, the tinners, the roofers, dependent on a day’s wages for a livelihood.
“And so in the great work of assuaging human suffering and enlightening human ignorance, and halting human iniquity. In that great work the chief part is to be done by ordinary men with ordinary speech, in an ordinary manner, and by ordinary means.
“The trouble is that in the army of Christ we all want to be captains, and colonels, and brigadier-generals. We are not willing to march with the rank and file and do duty with the private soldier. We want to belong to the reserve corps, and read about the battle while warming ourselves at the camp fire, or on furlough at home, our feet upon an ottoman, we sagging back into an arm-chair.
“As you go down the street you see an excavation, and four or five men are working, and he perhaps twenty or thirty leaning on the rail looking over at them. That is the way it is in the church of God to-day; where you find one Christian hard at work, there are fifty men watching the job!
“Oh, my friends, why do you not go to work and preach this gospel? You say, ‘I have no pulpit.’ You have. It may be the carpenter’s bench, the mason’s wall. The robe in which you are to proclaim this gospel may be a shoemaker’s apron. But woe unto you if you preach not this gospel somewhere, somehow. If this world is ever brought to Christ it will be through the unanimous and long-continued efforts of men who, waiting for no special endowment, consecrate to God what they have.
“Among the most useless people in the world are men with ten talents, while many a one with only two talents, or no talent at all, is doing a great work, and so ‘the lame take the prey.’ There are thousands of ministers, of whom you have never heard, in log cabins at the West, in mission chapels at the East, who are warring against the legions of darkness, successfully warring. Tract distributors, month by month undermining the citadels of sin.
“Who are the workers in our Sabbath-schools throughout this land to-day? Men celebrated, men brilliant, men of vast estate? For the most part not that at all. I have noticed that the chief characteristic of the most
THOSE WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL
in the work is that they know their Bibles, are earnest in prayer, are anxious for the salvation of the young, and Sabbath by Sabbath are willing to sit down unobserved and tell of Christ and the resurrection.
“These are the humble workers who are recruiting the great army of Christian youth—not by might, not by power, not by profound argument, not by brilliant antithesis, but by the blessing of God on plain talk and humble story, and silent tear, and anxious look. ‘The lame take the prey.’”
USEFULNESS.
THAT the children may better understand what we mean by usefulness, we give them the following story just as it occurred:—
A gentleman was asked to address some children, and, taking out his watch, he asked them what it was for.
"To keep time," answered the children.
"Well, suppose it won't keep time, and can't be made to keep time, what is it good for?"
"It is good for nothing," they replied.
He then took out a lead pencil, and asked what it was for.
"It is to mark with," was the answer.
"But suppose the lead is out, and it won't mark, what is it good for?"
"It is good for nothing."
He then took out a pocket-knife, and asked what was its use.
"To whittle with," said some. "To cut with," said others.
"Suppose that it has no blade, then what is it good for?"
"Good for nothing," they all cried.
"Then a watch, a pencil, or a knife is good for nothing unless it can do the thing for which it was made?"
"Yes, sir," the children all answered.
"Well, children, what is a boy or girl made for?"
They hesitated; didn't know exactly what to say. Then he put the question:—
"What is the chief end of man?"
This they answered at once, "To glorify God, and to enjoy him forever."
"Well done," said the gentleman; "that is right. Now, then, if a boy or girl does not do what he or she was made for, and glorify God, what is he good for?"
And the children all answered at the top of their voices without seeming to think how it would sound,
"Good for nothing!"
That was it exactly. But if this be so, there must be a great many boys and girls, and grown up people, too, who are just good for nothing. We trust that none of our boys or girls will ever be of that number. Let them take Christ as their king and obey him; then they will be good for something.—Presbyterian Journal.
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Bible Manners and Customs. Containing Descriptions of the Ancient Manners and Customs mentioned in the Bible, and explaining over three thousand Scripture Texts. By James M. Freeman, D. D. Illustrated by 168 Engravings, and accompanied by an Analytical Index, a Textual Index, and a Topical Index. 515 pp. $2.50
Cruden's Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures, with a Concordance of the books called Apocrypha, and a Life of the Author, also an Alphabetical Table of Proper Names with the signification of the words in their original languages. 856 pp. $1.75
Cruden's Concordance condensed, a Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures, on the basis of Cruden, edited by John Eadie, D. D. Pub. by Am. Tract Society. 561 pp. $1.00
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THE TIME OF THE END.
By James White
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4.
THE field of Daniel's prophecy embraces five universal kingdoms. These are Babylon, Media and Persia, Grecia, Rome, and the eternal kingdom of God. The ground of the four perishable kingdoms, reaching to, and introducing the immortal kingdom, is covered by four distinct lines of prophecy. These are given in chapters two, seven, eight and eleven. The eleventh chapter of Daniel closes with the close of the fourth monarchy, with these words:—
"And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; [mountain of delight of holiness, Heb. Marg.;] yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." The twelfth chapter continues:—
"And at that time shall Michael [Christ] stand up [reign], the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
The student of prophecy is thus borne down the stream of time from Babylon in the hight of the glory of that kingdom, past Media and Persia, the kingdom of Grecia, and the Roman Empire which comes to its end at the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, out into the ocean of eternity, when the truly wise "shine as the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
Prophecy is history in advance. The prophetic pencil sketches the future history of nations. The car of Providence rolls down the track of prophecy, bearing the secular historian, who writes a second history of the rise and fall of empires. The student of prophecy compares the two histories, and learns his position on the highway of time.
Prophecy, reaching into the sealed future, could not be understood by the prophets themselves. Time, in its rapid flight, marking the fulfillment of each specification, unseals prophecy. Hence the words of the angel to the prophet: "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end."
The time of the end is not the end itself. It is evidently a period of time just prior to the end. In this time many run to and fro, and knowledge upon the subject before the mind of the prophet increases. The prophecy of the book of Daniel, sealed in the day of the prophet from the nature of the case, as it related to the future history of kingdoms, is not to be sealed to the end, but to the time of the end. In the time of the end it is to be unsealed, and in the light of this open book many are to be engaged in proclaiming the increasing knowledge contained in the book, relative to the end.
Many shall run to and fro. Whether this be fulfilled in turning and searching to and fro in the Scriptures for light upon the subject of the fulfillment of prophecy, or by men called of God to the work, traveling to and fro with the message from God to the people upon this subject, the fulfillment is evident. Both have been done within the last half century as never before.
Duffield on Prophecy, p. 373, says: "The word translated, run to and fro, is metaphorically used to denote investigation, close, diligent, accurate observation—just as the eyes of the Lord are said to run to and fro. The reference is not to missionary exertions in particular, but to the study of the Scriptures, especially the sealed book of prophecy."
Clarke says: "Many shall run to and fro. Many shall endeavor to search out the sense; and knowledge shall be increased by these means. This seems to be the meaning of this verse, though another has been put upon it, viz.: 'Many shall run to and fro preaching the gospel of Christ, and therefore religious knowledge and true wisdom shall be increased.' This is true in itself; but it is not the meaning of the prophet's words."
Matthew Henry says: "They shall read it over and over, shall meditate upon it; they shall discourse of it, talk it over, sift out the meaning of it, and thus knowledge shall be increased."
Gill says: "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased; that is, toward the end of the time appointed, many shall be stirred up to inquire into these things delivered in this book, and will spare no pains nor cost to get a knowledge of them; will read and study the Scriptures, and meditate on them; compare one passage with another, spiritual things with spiritual, in order to obtain the mind of Christ; will carefully peruse the writings of such, who have lived before them, who have attempted anything of this kind; and will go far and near to converse with persons that have any understanding of such things; and by such means, with the blessing of God upon them, the knowledge of this book of prophecy will be increased, and things will appear plainer and clearer, the nearer the accomplishment of them is; and especially when prophecy and facts can be compared."
If the book of Daniel, relating to the future history of kingdoms, was sealed in the day of the prophet, why is Daniel ordered to shut up the words and seal the book? Verses 9 and 10 express the true import of verse 4, as they refer to the same subject, and are a further explanation of it. "And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."
The burden of this portion of the prophecy of Daniel, contained in chapter 12, is the time of the end and the events to occur during this period. Verse 4 declares that "many shall run to and fro," in the time of the end, "and knowledge shall be increased." Verse 10 speaks of the same time and the same work, showing that the increase of knowledge does not refer to the progress in scientific discoveries, but to the subject of the end. "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." The truly wise, the children of God, understand the subject upon which knowledge increases in the time of the end, while the wicked, however scientific, do not understand. The facts in the case are decidedly against the position that the prophetic statement relative to the increase of knowledge in the time of the end, has reference to the discoveries of the scientists.