Biblical Essays
GLAD TIDINGS
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
There are some passages in Holy Scripture that seem to contain an entire volume of precious truth in a line or two. The verse above is such a one. It is part of the memorable discourse of our Lord with Nicodemus, and in a condensed form it embodies a full statement of Gospel truth – a statement that may well be termed “Glad Tidings.”
It should always be kept in mind, both by preachers and those to whom they preach, that one grand object of the Gospel is to bring God and the sinner together in such a way as to secure the sinners eternal salvation. It reveals a Savior God to the lost. In other words, it presents God to the sinner in the very character that the sinner needs. A Savior is precisely what suits the lost, just as a lifeboat suits a drowning man, a physician a sick man, or bread a hungry man. They are fitted one for the other, and when God as a Savior and man as a lost sinner meet together the whole question is forever settled. The sinner is saved, because God is a Savior. The sinner is saved according to the perfection that belongs to God – in every character He wears, in every office He fills, in every relationship He sustains. To raise a question regarding the full and everlasting salvation of a truly believing soul is to deny that God is a Savior. So it is in reference to justification. God has revealed Himself as a Justifier, and hence the true believer is justified according to the perfection attached to God in that character. If a single flaw could be detected in the title of the weakest Christian, it would be a dishonor to God as a Justifier. If one grants that God is our Justifier, then we will argue in the face of every opposer and every accuser, that we are, and we must be, perfectly justified.
On the same principle, if one grants that God has revealed Himself as a Savior, then we will argue with unclouded confidence and holy boldness that we are, and we must be, perfectly saved. It does not rest on anything in us, but simply and entirely on God’s revelation of Himself. We know He is perfect in everything; and, therefore, perfect as our Savior. Hence, we are perfectly saved, because the glory of God is involved in our salvation. “There is no God else beside Me: a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me.” What then? “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else” (Is. 45:21-22). One believing and obedient look from a lost sinner to a just God and a Savior secures eternal salvation. “Look.” How simple. It is not “Work”; “Do”; “Pray”; “Feel” – no; it is simply “Look.” What then? Obedience to the commands of the Master, being born again, produces salvation – everlasting life. It must be so, because God is a Savior; and the precious little word “look” fully implies all this, because it expresses the fact that the salvation we need is found in the One to whom we look. It is all there, ready for us and one obedient look secures it forever. It is not a thing of today or tomorrow; it is an eternal reality. The bulwarks of salvation behind which the true believer retreats have been erected by God Himself – the Savior-God, on the sure foundation of Christ’s atoning work; and no power of earth or hell can ever shake them. “Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief Corner-stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded” (Is. 28:16; 1 Pet. 2:6).
Let us now turn to the profound and comprehensive passage that forms the special subject of this essay. In it we listen to the voice of a Savior-God – the voice of Him who came down from Heaven to reveal God in such a way as He had never been revealed before. It is a marvelously blessed fact that God has been fully revealed in this world – revealed, so that we may know Him in all the reality of what He is – each Christian knowing Him with certainty and having to do with Him in the blessed intimacy of personal communion.
Think of this amazing privilege. We may know God as Savior, Father, and God. We may have to do with Him; we may lean on Him, cling to Him, walk with Him, live and move and have our being in His presence, in the bright sunshine of His loving countenance, under His immediate eye.
This is life and peace. It is far more than mere theology or systematic divinity. These things may have some value, but, be we must always remember that one may be a profound theologian, an able divine, and yet live and die without God and perish eternally. What a solemn, awful, overwhelming thought. One with all the dogmas of theology at his fingertips may end up in the blackness and darkness of an eternal night. A person may sit in the professor’s chair, stand in the pulpit and at the desk; he may be looked up to as a great teacher and an eloquent preacher: hundreds may sit at his feet and learn, thousands may hang on his every word and be enraptured, and, after all, he himself may spend a dismal, miserable eternity in company with the most profane and immoral.
However, not so with one who knows God as He is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. Such a one has received life eternal. “This,” says Christ, “is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). It is not life eternal to know theology or divinity. A man may sit down to the study of these, as he would in studying law or medicine, astronomy or geology, and all the while know nothing of God, and therefore be without divine life, and in the end perishing.
The same is true regarding mere religiousness. A person may be the greatest devotee in the world. He may diligently discharge all the offices, and sedulously attend to all the ordinances of systematic religion; he may fast and pray; hear sermons and say prayers; be most devout and exemplary; and all the while know nothing of God in Christ. Such a one may live and die without God, and sink into destruction forever. Look at Nicodemus. Where could we find a better sample of religious human nature than in him? A man of the Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews, a master in Israel; one who seemed to discern clear proofs of His divine mission in the miracles of our Lord; and yet the word to him was, “Ye must be born again.” Surely, we have no need to go farther than this to prove that a person may not only be religious, but actually a guide and teacher of others, and yet not have divine life in his soul.
But it is not so with one who knows God in Christ. Such a one has life and an object. He has God for his priceless portion. This is divine. It lies at the foundation of personal Christianity and true religion. It is above and beyond everything. It is not mere theology, divinity, or religiousness; it is God Himself, known, trusted, obeyed and enjoyed. It is an unmistakable reality. It is the soul of theology, the groundwork of divinity, the life of true religion. There is nothing in this entire world like it. It is something that must be felt in order to be known. It is acquaintance with God, confidence in Him, and enjoyment of Him.
Someone may be disposed to ask, “How can I possess this priceless treasure? How can I know God for myself, in this living, saving, powerful manner? If it be true that without this personal knowledge of God I must perish eternally, then how am I to obtain it? What am I to do, what am I to be, in order to know God?” The answer is, God has revealed Himself. If He had not, we may say with decision that nothing we could do, nothing we could be, nothing in us or of us, could possibly make us acquainted with God. If God had not manifested Himself, we would have forever remained in ignorance of Him and perished in our ignorance. But, seeing that He has come forth from the thick darkness and showed Himself, we may know Him according to the truth of His own revelation, and in that knowledge find everlasting life, and a spring of blessedness at which our ransomed souls shall drink throughout the golden ages of eternity.
We know of nothing that so clearly and forcibly proves man’s utter incompetence to do anything towards procuring life, as the fact that the possession of that life is based on the knowledge of God: and knowledge of God must rest on the revelation of God. In other words, to know God is life, ignorance of Him is death.
But where is He to be known? This is a grave question. Many have had to cry out with Job, “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him.” Where is God to be found? Are we to look for Him in creation? His hand is certainly visible there; but that will not do for a sinner. A Creator-God will not suit a lost sinner. The hand of power will not avail for guilty sinners like us. We want and need a heart of Love – a heart that can love us in all our guilt and misery. Where can we find this? Shall we look into the wide domain of providence – the widely extended sphere of God’s government? Has God revealed Himself there in such a way as to meet poor lost sinners? Will providence and government avail for one who knows himself to be a sinner, deserving of eternal destruction? Clearly not. If we look at these things, we see what perplexes and confounds us. We are short-sighted, ignorant, and wholly unable to explain the ins and outs, the bearings and issues, the why and the wherefore of a single event in our own life, or in the history of this world. Are we able to explain everything about the fall of the Roman Empire; Hitler’s thinking; the San Francisco fire; or 9/11? Can we account for the fact that a valuable life is suddenly cut short, and an apparently useless one prolonged? There is a husband and father of a large family; he seems indispensable to his domestic circle and yet, in a moment he is cut down, and they are left in sorrow and destitution; while, on the other hand, across town lies a bed-ridden creature, who has outlived all her relations and is dependent on benevolence. She has lain there for years, a burden to some, no use to any. Can we account for this? Are we competent to interpret the voice of Providence in this deeply mysterious dispensation? Certainly not. We have nothing in or of ourselves to thread our way through the labyrinth mazes of what is called providence. We cannot find a Savior-God there.
Well, then, shall we turn to the law – to the Mosaic economy – the Levitical ceremonial? Shall we find what we want and need there? Will a Lawgiver, on top of a fiery mount, wrapped in clouds and thick darkness, sending forth thunders and lightning, or hidden behind a veil – will such a One avail for us? We cannot meet Him – we cannot answer His demands nor fulfill the conditions. We are told to love Him with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength; but we do not know Him. We are blind and cannot see. We are alienated from the life of God, an enemy by wicked works. Sin has blinded our mind, blunted our conscience, and hardened our heart. The devil has completely perverted our moral being, leading us into a state of positive rebellion against God. We need to be renewed in the source of our being before we can do what the law demands. We can be renewed only by the knowledge of God. But God is not revealed in the law. No, He is hidden behind an impenetrable cloud, an unrent veil. Hence we cannot know Him there. We are compelled to retire from that fiery mount, unrent veil, and from the whole economy of which these were the characteristic features and prominent objects, still crying out, “Oh! That I knew where I might find Him.” In other words, God is not revealed as “a just God and a Saviour” in creation, providence, nor in the law. We see a God of power in creation: a God of wisdom in providence; a God of justice in the law; but we see a God of love only in the face of Jesus Christ. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19).
Each of us should give earnest attention to this stupendous fact; especially if we do not yet know the Lord. It is important that we are clear regarding this. Without it nothing can be right. To know God is the first step; and not merely knowing some things about God. In other words, it is not unrenewed nature turning religious, trying to do better, and endeavoring to keep the law. No; it is none of these things. It is God, known in the face of Jesus Christ. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” This is the deep secret of the whole matter. As far as our natural condition is concerned, we are in a state of darkness. Spiritually and morally, there is not as much as a single ray of light. All is dark and chaotic, for the “god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. 4:4-6).
Here are two things: the god of this world blinding the mind, seeking to hinder life-giving beams of the light of God’s glory; and, on the other hand, God shining in the heart, giving the light of knowledge in the face of Jesus Christ. Thus all hinges on the reality of the knowledge of God. Is there light? It is because God is known. Is there darkness? It is because God is not known. No doubt there are various measures in the experience and exhibition of this light: but there is light, because there is the knowledge of God. There may also be various forms of darkness; some more hideous than others; but there is darkness because God is not known. The knowledge of God is light and life. Ignorance of God is darkness and death. A man may enrich himself with all the treasures of science and literature; but if he does not know God, he is in the darkness of primeval night. On the other hand, a man may be profoundly ignorant of human learning; but if he knows God, he walks in broad day-light.
In the passage of Scripture engaging our attention (John 3:16), we have a remarkable illustration of the character of the entire Gospel of John, especially the opening chapters. It is impossible to meditate on it without seizing this interesting fact. In it we are introduced to God in that wondrous aspect of His character and nature – loving the world and giving His Son. In it, too, we find both the “world” and individual sinner under that title of “whosoever.” Thus God and the sinner are together – God, loving and giving; the sinner, believing and having. It is not God judging and exacting; but God loving and giving. The former was law; the latter, grace – the former was Judaism; the later, Christianity. In the one, we see God demanding obedience in order to have life; in the other, we see God giving life as the only basis of obedience. In the former, we see man struggling for life, but never obtaining it; in the latter, we see man receiving life as a free gift through trusting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Such is the contrast between the two systems – a contrast that cannot be too deeply pondered. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
But let us note the way this is unfolded in our text. “God so loved the world.” Here we have the wide aspect of God’s love. It is not confined to any particular nation, tribe, caste, or family. It embraces the whole world. God is love; and being so it is not a question of the fitness or worthiness of the object of His love. It is what He is. He is love and He cannot deny Himself. It is the energy and activity of His nature. The heart may have many questions, many exercises regarding its state and condition before God, and rightfully it should. The Spirit may produce such exercises and raise such questions; but one grand truth shines out in all its luster – “God is love.” Whatever we are, whatever the world is, that is what God is; and we know that the truth regarding God forms the deep and rich substratum that underlies the whole system of Christianity. Under the sense of its own wretchedness, the soul may pass through deep and sore conflict; there may be many doubts and fears; many dark and heavy clouds. In inward self-consciousness, long after mere intellect has yielded its assent to the principles and doctrines of evangelical truth one may spend weeks, months, or even years under law. But, we must be brought into direct personal contact with God and with what He is – with His nature and character, as He has revealed Himself in the Gospel. We have to acquaint ourselves with Him, and He is love.
Notice that it does not merely say that God isloving, but that He is love. It is not only that love is an attribute of His character, but it is the very activity of His nature. We do not read that God is justice, or holiness; He is just and He is holy. But it would not express the full and blessed truth to say that God is loving; He is much more, He is love itself. Hence, when the sinner – “whosoever” he be, it matters not – is brought to see his own total and absolute ruin, hopeless wretchedness, guilt and misery, the utter vanity and worthlessness of all within and around him (and there is nothing in the whole world that can satisfy his heart or conscience, and nothing in his heart that can satisfy God), then he is met by the grand substantial truth that “God is love,” and that He so loved the world so much that He give His only-begotten Son.
Here is life and rest for the soul. Here is, full, free, and everlasting salvation for the needy, guilty, lost one; salvation not resting on anything in or of man, nothing that he is or can be, nothing that he has done or can do, but simply on what God is and has done. God loves and gives; the sinner believes and has. This is far beyond creation, government, or law. In creation, God spoke and it was done. He called worlds into existence by the Word of His mouth. But throughout the entire record of creation we hear nothing of God loving and giving.
Regarding government, we see God ruling in unsearchable wisdom, amid the armies of Heaven, and among the children of men: but we cannot comprehend Him. Regarding this subject, we can only say:
God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.
Finally, from beginning to end, the law was a perfect system of command and prohibition – perfect in testing man; manifesting his alienation from God. “The law worketh wrath.” And again, “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” But what could such a system do in a world of sinners? Could it give life? No. Why? – Because man could not fulfill its holy requirements. “If there had been a law given which could have given life, then verily, righteousness should have been by the law.” The law was a ministration of death and condemnation (see 2 Cor. 3). To anyone under it, the only effect of law is the pressure of death, guilt and condemnation on the conscience. Under the law, it cannot be otherwise with an honest soul.
What we need is the knowledge of the love of God; knowledge of the precious gift that love has bestowed – love and the gift of love; the eternal groundwork. Let us always observe and remember that God’s love could never have reached us except through the medium of that gift. God is holy, and we are sinful. How could we come near Him? How could we dwell in His holy presence? How could sin and holiness ever abide in company? No way. Justice demands the condemnation of sin; and for love to save the sinner it must do so at no less a cost than the gift of the only-begotten Son. Darius loved Daniel, and labored hard to save him from the lions’ den; but his love was powerless because of the unbending law of the Medes and Persians. He spent the night in sorrow and fasting. He could weep at the mouth of the den; but he could not save his friend. His love was not mighty to save. It would have been morally glorious if he had offered himself to the lions instead of his friend; but he did not. His love showed itself in unavailing tears and lamentations. The law of the Persian kingdom was more powerful than the love of the Persian king. In its stern majesty, the law triumphed over an impotent love that had nothing but fruitless tears to bestow on its object.
But, praise His name, the love of God is not like this. His love is mighty to save. It reigns through righteousness. How is this? – Because “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” In words of awful solemnity, the law declared: “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” Was this law less stern, less majestic, less stringent than the law of the Medes and Persians? No. How then, was it to be disposed of? It was to be magnified and made honorable, vindicated and established. Not one jot or tittle of the law could ever be set aside. How, then, was the difficulty to be solved? Three things had to be done: the law had to be magnified; sin condemned; the sinner saved. How could all these grand results be reached? – Only through the cross of Jesus Christ. Such was the amazing love of God that He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us. God’s love cost Him nothing less than the Son of His bosom. When it was a question of creating worlds, it cost Him the word of His mouth: but when it was a question of loving a world of sinners, it cost His only-begotten Son. The love of God is a holy and righteous love; a love acting in harmony with all the attributes of His nature, and the claims of His throne. “Grace reigns, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Christ Jesus our Lord.” The soul can never be set at liberty till this truth is fully laid hold of. There may be certain vague hopes in the mercy of God and a measure of confidence in the atoning work of Jesus, all true and real as far as it goes; but true liberty of heart cannot be enjoyed until we see and understand that God has glorified Himself in the manner of His love toward us. Conscience could never be tranquillized or Satan silenced, if sin had not been perfectly judged and put away. But “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” What depth and power in the little word “so.”
Perhaps we should briefly address a difficulty that often occurs to anxious souls regarding the question of appropriation. At some stage of their spiritual history, many have been harassed and perplexed by this question. It is not improbable that some who read this essay may desire a few words on the subject, perhaps feeling disposed to ask, “How am I to know that this love, and the gift of love, are intended for me? What warrant have I for believing that ‘everlasting life’ is for me? I know the plan of salvation; I believe in the all-sufficiency of the atonement of Christ for the forgiveness and justification of all who truly believe. I am convinced of the truth declared by the Bible. I believe we are all sinners, and that we can do nothing to save ourselves – that we need to be washed in the blood of Jesus and be taught and led by the Holy Spirit before we can please God here, and dwell with Him hereafter. All this I fully believe, and yet I have no assurance that I am saved, and I want to know on what authority I am to believe that my sins are forgiven and that I have everlasting life.”
In the first place, let us give attention to two words that occur in our precious text (John 3:16) – “world” and “whosoever.” It seems impossible for anyone to refuse the application of these two words. What is the meaning of the term “world”? What does it embrace? Or rather, what does it not embrace? When our Lord declares that “God so loved the world,” on what ground can we exclude ourselves from the range, scope, and application of this divine love? – On no other ground, unless we do not belong to this world. Can any of us avoid the application of the declaration that “the world” is hopelessly condemned? Could we exclude ourselves from it? No. How then can we – why should we – exclude ourselves when it is a question of God’s free love, and salvation by Christ Jesus?
We also ask, “Regarding the word, ‘whosoever;’ what is its meaning and force?” Surely it means “anybody”, and if anybody, why not us? It is infinitely better, surer, and more satisfactory to find the word “whosoever” in the Gospel than to find our name there, because there may be a thousand people in the world with the same name; but “whosoever” applies to each of us as distinctly as though we were the only sinner on the face of the earth.
Thus, the words of the Gospel message, the terms used to set forth the glad tidings, leave no ground for difficulty regarding their application. If we listen to our Lord in the days of His flesh, we hear such words as these: “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life.” Again, if we listen to Him after His resurrection, we hear these words, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16). And lastly, if we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit sent from a risen, ascended, and glorified Lord, we hear such words as these: “The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12-13).
In all the above passages we have two terms used – one general; one particular, and both together presenting the message of salvation in such a way as to leave no room whatsoever for anyone to refuse its application. If “all the world” is the scope, and “every creature” is the object of the precious Gospel of Christ, then, on what ground can anyone be excluded? Where is there authority for any sinner to say that the glad tidings of salvation are not for him? There is none. Salvation is as free as the air we breathe – free as the dewdrops that refresh the earth; free as the sunbeams that shine on our pathway. If any attempt to limit its application, they are neither in harmony with the mind of Christ, nor in sympathy with the heart of God.
To the question, “What about election?” we simply reply, “By leaving it where God has placed it – as a landmark in the inheritance of the spiritual Israel, and not as a stumbling-block in the pathway of the anxious inquirer.” This we believe to be the true way of dealing with the deeply important doctrine of election. The more we ponder the subject, the more we are convinced that it is a mistake on the part of the evangelist or preacher of the Gospel to qualify his message, hamper his subject, or perplex his hearers, by the doctrine of election or predestination. In the discharge of his ministry he must stay focused on lost sinners. He meets sinners where they are, on the broad ground of common ruin, common guilt, and common condemnation. He meets them with a message of full, free, present, personal, and eternal salvation – a message that comes fresh, fervent, and glowing from the bosom of God. As the Holy Spirit declares in 2 Corinthians 5, his ministry is “a ministry of reconciliation,” the glorious characteristics of which are these: “God in Christ” . . . “reconciling the world unto Himself” . . . “not imputing their trespasses.” The marvelous foundation of all this is that God has made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
As a fundamental truth of Holy Scripture, we should leave election exactly where God has placed it; not as a preliminary question to be settled before the sinner comes to Jesus, but as a consolation and encouragement when he has come. This makes all the difference. If the sinner is called on to settle the question of his election beforehand, how is he to go about it? Where is he to turn for a solution? Where shall he find a divine ruling for believing that he is one of the elect? Can he find a single line of Scripture on which to base his faith pertaining to his election? He cannot. He can find scores of passages declaring him to be lost, guilty and undone – scores of passages to assure him of his total inability to do anything in the matter of his own salvation – hundreds of passages unfolding the free love of God, the value and efficacy of the atonement of Christ; assuring him of a hearty welcome to come just as he is, making God’s blessed salvation his own. But if it he must settle the prior question of predestination and election, then his case is hopeless, and he will be plunged into despair.
Such is no doubt the case with many who have misapplied the doctrine of election. We believe it to be important for the anxious inquirer to know that the standpoint from which he is called to view the cross of Christ is not the standpoint of election, but conscious ruin. The grace of God meets him as a lost, dead, guilty sinner; not as an elect one. This is an unspeakable mercy, because he knows he is the former, but cannot know that he is the latter until the Gospel has come to him in power. “Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” How did he know it? “Because our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (1 Thess. 1:4-5). Paul preached to the Thessalonians as lost sinners; and when the Gospel had laid hold of them as lost, he could write to them as elect.
This puts election in its right place. If we turn to Acts 17, we see how Paul discharged his business as an evangelist among the Thessalonians: “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.”
So, also, in that passage at the opening of 1 Corinthians 15: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures” (vs. 1-4).
From this passage, and many others which might be quoted, we learn that the apostle preached not merely a doctrine, but a person. He did not preach election. He taught it to saints, but never preached it to sinners. This should be the evangelist’s model at all times. We never once find the apostles preaching election. They preached Christ; they unfolded the goodness of God; His loving-kindness; His tender mercy; His pardoning love; His gracious readiness to receive all who come in their true character and condition as lost sinners. Such was their mode of preaching, or, rather, such was the mode of the Holy Spirit in them; and such, too, was the mode of the blessed Master Himself. “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.” “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (Matt. 11; John 6-7).
Here are no stumbling-blocks in the way of anxious inquirers; no preliminary questions to be settled; no conditions to be fulfilled; no theological difficulties to be solved. No, the sinner is met on his own ground; met as he is; met just now. There is rest for the weary, drink for the thirsty, life for the dead, pardon for the guilty, salvation for the lost. Do these free invitations touch the doctrine of election? No; assuredly not. And what is more, the doctrine of election does not touch them. In other words, a full and free Gospel leaves election untouched; and in its proper place, election leaves the Gospel of the grace of God on its own broad and blessed base – in all its divine length, breadth, and fullness. The Gospel meets us as lost, and saves us. Then, when we know ourselves as saved, the precious doctrine of election comes in to establish us in the fact that as long as we serve our Master, we can never be lost. It never was the purpose of God that anxious souls should be harassed with theological questions or points of doctrine. No; it is His gracious desire that the healing balm of His pardoning love, and the cleansing efficacy of the atoning blood of Jesus, should be applied to the spiritual wounds of every sin-sick soul. And regarding the doctrines of predestination and election, He has unfolded them in His Word to comfort His saints, not to perplex lost sinners. They shine like precious gems on the page of Inspiration, but they were never intended to lie as stumbling-blocks in the way of earnest seekers after life and peace. They are deposited in the teacher’s hand to be unfolded in the bosom of the family of God. They are not intended for the evangelist, whose mission is to the highways and hedges of a lost world. They are designed to feed and comfort children of God, not to scare and stumble lost sinners. We earnestly say to all evangelists, “Do not hamper your preaching with theological questions. Preach Christ. Unfold the deep and everlasting love of a Savior-God. Seek to bring the guilty, conscience-smitten sinner into the very presence of a pardoning God. Thunder, if so led, at the conscience; thunder loud at sin; thunder out the dread realities of the great white throne, the lake of fire, and everlasting torment; but see that you aim at bringing the guilt-stricken conscience to rest in the atoning virtues of the blood of Christ.” Only then can an evangelist hand over the fruits of his ministry to the divinely qualified, to be instructed in the deeper mysteries of the faith of Christ. The true evangelist may rest assured that the faithful discharge of his duty will never lead him to trespass on the domain of sound theology.
To the anxious inquirer we say with equal earnestness, “Let nothing stand in your way in coming to Jesus. Let theology speak as it may, you must listen to the voice of Jesus, who says, ‘Come unto Me’ – be assured, there is no hindrance, no difficulty, no hitch, no question, and no condition. You are a lost sinner, and Jesus is a full Savior. Put your trust in Him, obey Him, walk close to Him, and you are forever saved. Believe in Him, and you will know your place among the ‘elect of God’ who are ‘predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.’ Bring your sins to Jesus and He will pardon them, cancel them by His blood, and clothe you in a spotless robe of divine righteousness. May God’s Spirit lead you to cast yourself simply and entirely on that precious, all-sufficient Savior – Jesus Christ.”
We will now briefly notice three distinct evils resulting from a wrong application of the doctrine of election:
Discouragement of earnest souls
If such are repulsed by the question of election, the result will be disastrous in the extreme. If they are told that the glad tidings of salvation are only for the elect; that Christ died only for such, and hence only such can be saved; that unless they are elect they have no right to apply to themselves the benefits of the death of Christ. In short, if they are turned from Jesus to theology; from the heart of a loving, pardoning God to the cold and withering dogmas of systematic divinity, it is impossible to say where they may end. They may take refuge in either superstition or infidelity. They may end up in high church, broad church, or no church. What they really want is Christ, the living, loving, precious, all-sufficient Christ of God. He is the true food for anxious souls.
Careless souls are rendered more careless
When pressed regarding their state and prospects, such will fold their arms and say, “You know I cannot believe unless God give me the power. If I am one of the elect, I must be saved; if not, I cannot. I can do nothing, but must wait God’s time.” This false and flimsy reasoning should be exposed and demolished. It will not stand in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ. Each one will learn there that election furnished no excuse whatsoever, because it was never set up by God as a barrier to the sinner’s salvation. The word is “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” The same form of speech and style of language removing the stumbling-block from the feet of the anxious inquirer snatches the plea from the lips of the careless rejecter. No one is shut out. All are invited. There is neither barrier nor a plea. All are made welcome; and all are responsible. Hence, if any one presumes to excuse himself for refusing God’s clear as a sunbeam salvation by urging God’s decrees which are entirely hidden he will find himself fatally mistaken.
Loving, tender-hearted evangelist are often crippled
This should be carefully avoided. We hold that it is not the business of the evangelist to preach election. If he is rightly instructed, he will hold it – if he is rightly directed, he will not preach it.
In other words, the doctrine of election is not to be a stumbling-block to the anxious – a plea for the careless – a damper to the fervent evangelist. May God’s Spirit help us feel the adjusting power of truth.
Having thus briefly endeavored to clear away difficulty arising from the misuse of the doctrine of election, showing that, “whosoever” he be; there is no hindrance whatsoever to full and hearty acceptance of God’s free gift, even the gift of His only-begotten Son, it now only remains for us to consider the result of this acceptance in every case as set forth in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Here we have the result of every one who truly believes in Jesus. He shall never perish, but possesses everlasting life. But who can attempt to unfold all that is included in this word “perish”? What mortal tongue can set forth the horrors of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”? We believe that only the One who used the word in speaking to Nicodemus can fully expound it to anyone. We feel called on to bear our decided and unequivocal testimony regarding what He has taught on the solemn truth of eternal punishment. Occasionally, we have referred to this subject, but we believe it demands a formal notice; and because the word “perish” occurs in the passage occupying our thoughts, we cannot do better than call attention to it.
It is a serious and melancholy fact that the enemy of souls and God’s truth is leading many thousands to call in question the momentous fact of everlasting punishment. This he does on various grounds, and by various arguments, adapted to the habits of thought, moral condition and intellectual standpoint of individuals. Some he seeks to persuade that God is too kind to send anyone to a place of torment; that it is contrary to His benevolent mind and His beneficent nature to inflict pain on any of His creatures.
To those seeking to stand on this ground of argument, we suggest the important inquiry, “What is to be done with the sins of those who die impenitent and unbelieving?” Whatever may be in the thought or idea that God is too kind to send anyone to hell, it is certain that He is too holy to let sin into Heaven. He is “of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on iniquity” (Hab. 1:13). God and evil cannot dwell together. This is plain. So, how is the case to be met? If God cannot let sin into Heaven, what is to be done with the sinner who dies in his sins? He must perish. But what does this mean? Does it mean annihilation – the utter extinction or blotting out of the existence of body and soul? No, this cannot be. No doubt, many would like this. “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,” would suit many sons and daughters of pleasure who think only of the present moment, and who roll sin under their tongue as a sweet morsel. There are millions who are bartering their eternal happiness for a few hours of guilty pleasure, and the crafty foe of mankind seeks to persuade such that there is no place called hell, no such thing as a lake that burns with fire and brimstone. In order to obtain a basis for this fatal suggestion, the plausible and imposing notion of the kindness of God is put forward.
We must never believe the arch-deceiver – we must never forget, God is holy. He cannot let sin into His presence. If we die in our sins we must perish, and according to the clear testimony of Holy Scripture this word “perish” involves eternal misery and torment in hell. Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says, in His solemn description of the judgment of the nations: “Then shall the King say also to them on His left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). While harkening to these awfully solemn accents, let us keep in mind that the word translated “everlasting” occurs seventy times in the New Testament, and is applied as follows: “everlasting fire” “eternal life” “everlasting punishment” “eternal damnation” “everlasting habitations” “the everlasting God” “eternal weight of glory” “everlasting destruction” “everlasting consolation” “eternal glory” “eternal salvation” “eternal judgment” “eternal redemption” “the eternal Spirit” “eternal inheritance” “everlasting kingdom” “eternal fire”.
To the candid and thoughtful we ask, “Upon what principle can a word mean eternal when applied to the Holy Spirit or God, and only temporary when applied to hell-fire or the punishment of the wicked?” – If it means eternal in one case, why not in the other? Would it be right to mark off some half-dozen Greek concordance passages in which the word “everlasting” occurs, and write opposite to each of them: “Everlasting here only means for a time”? Such a thought is monstrous. It would be a daring and blasphemous insult offered to Holy Scripture. No, we cannot touch the word “everlasting” in one case without touching all seventy cases in which it occurs. It is truly dangerous to tamper with the Word of the living God. It is infinitely better to bow down under its holy authority. Seeking to avoid the plain meaning and solemn force of that word “perish,” as applied to the immortal soul of man, is worse than useless. It involves the ineffably awful reality of burning forever in the flames of hell. This is what Scripture means by “perishing.” The votary of pleasure or lover of money may seek to forget this. They may seek to drown thought of it in the glass or busy mall. The sentimentalist may rave about divine benevolence; the skeptic may reason about the possibility of eternal fire; but we are intensely anxious that all come to a firm and deeply understood conclusion and hearty belief that the punishment of all who die in their sins will live eternal in hell as surely as the blessedness of all who die in the faith of Christ will live eternal in the heavens. Were it not so, the Holy Spirit would certainly have used a different word when speaking of the former, from that which He applies to the latter.
But there is another objection against the doctrine of eternal punishment. It is frequently said, “How can we suppose that God would inflict eternal punishment as a penalty for a few short years of sin?” We reply, “To argue in this way is to begin at the wrong end.” It is not a question of time as viewed from man's standpoint, but of the gravity of sin as looked at from God’s standpoint. This question can only be solved by looking at the Cross. If we want to know what sin is in God’s sight, we must look at what it cost Him to put it away. Only by the standard of Christ’s infinite sacrifice can we rightly measure sin. Men may compare their few years with God’s eternity; they may compare their short span of life with that boundless eternity that stretches beyond; they may seek to put a few years of sin into one scale, and an eternity of woe and torment into the other, and thus attempt to reach a just conclusion: but such an argument will never do. Here is the question: did it require an infinite atonement to put away sin? If so, the punishment of sin must be eternal. If nothing short of an infinite sacrifice could deliver from the consequences of sin, those consequences must be eternal.
In other words, man must look at sin from God’s point of view, and measure it by His standard, or else we shall never have a just sense of what it is or what it deserves. Attempting to lay down a rule regarding the amount or duration of punishment due to sin is the height of folly. Only God can settle this. After all, what produced all the misery, wretchedness, sickness, sorrow, death and desolation? – Just one act of disobedience; the eating of a forbidden fruit. Can man explain this? Can human reason explain how one act produced such an overwhelming amount of misery? It cannot. So, if human reason cannot do this, how can it be trusted to decide the question regarding what is due sin? Woe to all who commit themselves to its guidance on this most momentous point.
We must see that God alone can estimate sin and its just deserts, and He alone can tell us all about it. And has He not done so? Yes, He has measured sin in the cross of His Son; and there in the most impressive manner He has set forth what it deserves. What caused the bitter cry, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” If God forsook His only-begotten Son when He was made sin, must God not also forsake all of us who are found in sin? But how can we ever be rid of sin? We believe the conclusion is unavoidable. We consider that the infinite nature of the atonement unanswerably proves the doctrine of eternal punishment. That peerless and precious sacrifice is the foundation of our eternal life and deliverance from eternal death, delivering from eternal wrath and introducing to eternal glory. It saves us from the endless misery of hell and procures the endless bliss of Heaven. Thus, whatever side of the Cross we look at or from whatever side we view it, we see eternity stamped upon it. If we view it from the gloomy depths of hell or from the sunny heights of Heaven, we see it to be the same infinite, eternal, divine reality. It is by the Cross we must measure both the blessedness of Heaven and the misery of hell. Those who put their trust in that blessed One who died on the cross obtain everlasting life and felicity. Those who reject Him must sink into endless perdition.
We do not pretend to handle this question theologically or to adduce all the arguments that might be advanced in defense of the doctrine of eternal punishment. However, in hope of leading to a sound conclusion there is one further consideration we must suggest – the immortality of the soul. “God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” The fall of man in nowise touched the question of immortality. Therefore, if the soul is immortal, annihilation is impossible. The soul must live forever – Forever! Forever! Forever! Overwhelming thought. The whole moral being sinks under the awful magnitude of this thought. It surpasses all conception and baffles all mental calculation. Human arithmetic can only deal with the finite. It has no figures by which to represent a never-ending eternity. But we must live throughout eternity either in that bright and blessed world above or in that terrible place where hope can never come.
May God’s Spirit impress our hearts more and more with the solemnity of eternity, and of immortal souls going down into hell. Oh, how deplorably deficient we are in feeling these weighty realities. Daily we are thrown into contact with people, we buy and sell and carry on business in various ways with those who must live forever, and yet how rarely do we seek occasion to press on them the awfulness of eternity and the appalling condition of all who die without a personal interest in the blood of Christ.
We pray that God will make us more earnest, solemn, faithful, and more zealous in pleading with souls; warning others to flee from the wrath to come. If we live more in the light of eternity, we shall then be better able to deal with others.
It only remains for us to ponder the last clause of the fruitful passage of Scripture we have been considering (John 3:16). It sets forth the positive result of simple faith in the Son of God. In the simplest and clearest way, it declares the fact that everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a possessor of everlasting life. It is not merely that his sins are blotted out, nor that he is saved from the consequences of his guilt. This is certainly true, but there is more. The true believer in Jesus has a new life – in the Son of God. He is placed on a new footing; no longer looked at in the old Adam condition, but in a risen Christ.
This is an immensely deep truth. We earnestly pray for calm and prayerful attention while seeking in some feeble way to present what we believe to be wrapped up in the last clause of John 3:16.
In the minds of many, there is an imperfect sense of what we get by faith in Christ. Some view the atoning work of Christ as merely a remedial measure for the sins of our old nature – the payment of debts contracted in our old condition. But it is much more. It is not merely that sins are atoned for, but the nature which committed them is condemned and set aside by the cross of Christ, and is to be “reckoned” dead by the true believer. It is not merely that the debts contracted in the old condition are cancelled, but the old condition itself is completely ignored by God.
This great truth is doctrinally unfolded in 2 Corinthians 5, where we read, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (v. 17). The apostle does not say, “If any man be in Christ he is pardoned; his sins are forgiven; his debts paid.” All this is certainly true; but the statement just quoted goes much farther. It declares that a man in Christ is totally a new creation. It is not the old nature pardoned, but completely set aside with all its belongings. A new creation introduced in which there is not a single shred of the old. “All things are become new; and all things are of God.”
This gives immense relief to the heart. Indeed, we question if any soul can enter into the full liberty of the Gospel of Christ until, in some measure, the truth of the “new creation” is accepted and understood. There may be a looking to Christ for pardon, a vague hope of getting to Heaven, a measure of reliance on the goodness and mercy of God. All this may be true and yet there exist no just sense of the meaning of “everlasting life,” no happy consciousness of being “a new creation” – no understanding of the grand fact that the old Adam nature is completely set aside, the old condition in which we stood done away in God’s sight.
But, some may be at a loss to know what is meant by such terms as “the old Adam nature”; “the old condition”; “the flesh”; “the old man”, etc. As God is our witness, while preparing material for StudyJesus.com there is one earnest desire and one object always before our minds – instruction and edification. Therefore, we would rather run the risk of being tedious than make use of phrases that do not convey clear or intelligible Biblical ideas to the mind. Such terms as “the old man”; “the flesh”, and the like, are used in Scripture in manifold places: for example, in Romans 6 we read, “Our old man is crucified with Him [Christ], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin” (v. 6; emphasis added).
What does the apostle mean by the “old man”? We believe he means man in that Adam nature inherited from our first parents. And what does he mean by “the body of sin”? We believe he means the whole system or condition in which we stood in our unregenerate, unrenewed, unconverted state. The old Adam, then, is declared to be crucified by the death of Christ – the old condition of sin is said to be destroyed (annulled). Hence, the soul that truly believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is privileged to know that his sinful, guilty self is looked on by God as dead and completely set aside. He has no more existence as such before God. He is dead and buried.
Observe, it is not merely that our sins are forgiven, our debts paid, our guilt atoned for; but the man in the nature that committed the sins, contracted the debts, and incurred the guilt, is forever put out of God’s sight. It is not God’s way to forgive sins and yet leave us in the same relations in which we committed them. No; in His marvelous grace and vast plan, He has forever condemned and abolished the old Adam relationship with all its belongings – it is no longer recognized by Him. By the voice of Holy Scripture, we are declared to be “crucified”; “dead”; “buried”; “risen” with Christ. God tells us we are so, and we are to “reckon” ourselves to be so. It is a matter of faith, not feeling. If we look at ourselves from our standpoint, or judge by our feelings, we shall never, can never understand this truth. Why? – Because we feel ourselves to simply be the same sinful creature as before. We feel that there is sin in us; that in our flesh there dwells no good thing; that our old nature is in nowise changed or improved; that it has the same evil tendencies as before, and, if not mortified and kept down by the energy of the Holy Spirit, it will break out in its true character.
Many sincere souls are perplexed and troubled about this. They look at themselves, and reason based on what they see and feel, instead of on the truth of God, and reckoning themselves to be what God tells them they are. They find it difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile what they feel in themselves with what they read in the Word of God – to make their inward self-consciousness harmonize with God’s revelation. But we must remember that true faith takes God at His Word. It always thinks with Him on all points. It believes what He says because He says it. Hence, if God tells us that our old man is crucified, that He no longer sees us in the old Adam state, but in a risen Christ, we are to believe what He tells us like a little child and walk in the faith of it from day to day. If we look inward, at ourselves, for evidences of the truth of what God says, it is not faith at all. Abraham “Considered not his own body, now dead, when he was about an hundred years old; neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God” (Rom. 4:19-20).
This is the great principle underlying the whole Christian system – “Abraham believed God,” not something about God, but God Himself. This is true faith. It is taking God’s thoughts in place of our own. In short, it is allowing God to think for us.
When applied to the subject before us, it becomes simple – believing in the Son of God brings everlasting life. Believing somethingabout the Son of God? No; believing in Him. It is a question of simple faith in the person of Christ; and everyone that has and maintains this faith is the possessor of everlasting life. This is the direct and positive statement of our Lord in the Gospels. It is repeated over and over again. This is not all. Not only does the true believer possess eternal life, but by the further light throw upon this grand question by the Epistles, we may see that our old self – that which we were in nature – that which the apostle designates “the old man” – is accounted dead and buried by God. This may be difficult to understand; but we must remember that our belief is not because we understand, but because it is written in God’s Word. It is not said, “Abraham understood God.” No; but he “believed God.” Light does not pour in when the heart believes through understanding. If we wait till we understand in order to believe, we are leaning on our own understanding, instead of committing ourselves in childlike faith to God’s Word.
We cannot understand how our sinful self can be looked on as dead and gone while feeling its workings, heavings, tossings, and tendencies, continually within us. We reply, or rather God’s eternal Word declares, that if the heart believes in Jesus, then all this is true: we have eternal life; we are justified from all things; we are a new creation; old things are passed away; all things are become new; and all things are of God. In other words, we are “in Christ,” and “as He is, so are you in this world” (1 John 4:17).
Is this not a great deal more than the mere pardoning of our sins, the canceling of our debts, or the salvation of our soul from hell? Assuredly it is. On what authority do we believe in the forgiveness of our sins? Is it because we feel, realize, or understand? No; but because it is written, “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). So, on precisely the same authority we are to believe that our old man has been crucified, that we are not in the flesh, not in the old creation, not in the old Adam relation. But, on the contrary, we are viewed by God in a risen and glorified Christ – He looks on Christians as He looks on Christ.
It is true, regarding our present condition, the flesh is in us and we are still here in this old world, which is under judgment. But, hear what our Lord says, when speaking about us to His Father: “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” And again, “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”
Therefore, if we will bow to God’s Word, if we will reason not about what we see in self, feel in self, and think of self, but simply believe what God says, we will enter into the blessed peace and holy liberty flowing from the fact that we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit; not in the old creation but in the new; not under law but under grace; not of the world but of God. The faithful Christian has passed completely off the old platform occupied as a child of nature and a member of the first Adam, and we have taken our place on a new platform as a child of God and member of Christ.
All this is vividly prefigured in the days of Noah by the deluge and the ark. (See Gen. 6-8). “And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
In type, this was the end of the old creation. All was to pass under the waters of judgment. What then? “Make thee an ark of gopher wood.” Here is set forth a figure of the new thing. That ark, floating peacefully over the dark abyss of waters, was a type of Christ and the true believer in Him. The old world, together with man, was buried beneath the waves of judgment, and the only object that remained was the ark – the vessel of mercy and salvation, riding in safety and triumph over the billows. So it is now, in truth and reality. There is nothing before the eye of God but a risen, victorious, and glorified Christ, and His people linked with Him. The end of all flesh has come before God. It is not a question of some gross forms of “flesh” or nature, of that which is merely “vile and refuse.” No; it is “the end of all.” Such is the solemn, sweeping verdict; and then what? – A risen Christ; nothing else. All in Him are seen by God as He is seen. All out of Him are under judgment. It all hinges on this one question. “Are we in or out of Christ?” What a question.
Are we in Christ? Do we truly believe in His name? Have we given Him the confidence of our heart? Have we obeyed His commands? If so, we have “eternal life” – we are “a new creature” – “old things are passed away.” God does not see a single shred of the old in us. “All things are become new, and all things are of God.” We often hear children of God say, “I do not feel that old things are all passed away.” To which we reply, “God says you are, and it is your happy privilege to believe what He says, and ‘reckon’ yourself to be what He declares you are.” God speaks according to that which is true of us in Christ. He does not see us in the flesh, but in Christ. There is absolutely nothing before the eye of God but Christ: and the weakest believer is viewed as part of Christ, just as our hand is a part of the body. We have no existence before God apart from Christ – no life, no righteousness, no holiness, no wisdom, and no power. Apart from Him, we have nothing, and can be nothing. In Him we have all and are all, He says that we are thoroughly identified with Christ. What a marvelous fact, profound mystery, and glorious truth. It is not a question of attainment or progress. It is the settled and absolute standing of the feeblest member of the Church of our Lord. True, there are various measures of intelligence, experience, and devotedness; but before God there is only one life, one standing, and one position – Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as a higher or lower Christian life. Christ is the true believer’s life, and we cannot speak of a higher or a lower Christ. We can understand the higher stages of Christian life; but there is no spiritual intelligence in speaking of a higher Christian life.
This is a grand truth, and we earnestly pray that God the Spirit may open it fully to our minds. We are assured that a clearer understanding would chase away a thousand mists, answer a thousand questions, and solve a thousand difficulties. It would not only have the effect of giving settled peace to the soul, but also of determining the Christian’s position in the most distinct way. If Christ is our life – if we are in Him and identified with Him, then not only do we share in His acceptance with God, but also in His rejection by this present world. The two things go together. They form the two sides of the one grand question. If we are in Christ and as Christ before God, then we are in Christ and as Christ before the world: and it will never do to accept the result of this union before God and refuse the result of it regarding the world. If we have one, we must have the other.
This is unfolded in John 17. There, on one hand, we read: “The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me” (vs. 22-23).
On the other hand, we read, “I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of this world, even as I am not of the world” (v. 14). This is as plain and positive as anything can be. And let us not forget that in this wondrous Scripture our Lord is not speaking merely of the apostles, but, as He says, of “them also who shall believe on Me through their word,” that is, of all true believers. Hence it follows that all who truly believe in Jesus are one with Him as accepted above, and one with Him as rejected below. The two things are inseparable. The Head and the members share in one common acceptance in Heaven, and in one common rejection on earth. Oh that all the Lord’s people entered more into the truth and reality of this. Would that we all knew a little more regarding the meaning of fellowship with a Heaven-accepted, earth-rejected Christ!
