Monday, July 29, 2019

God's Work - Our Work.



We have remarked that justification by faith does not supersede the Judgment.

The Atonement- Continued…. (Excerpt)

And the Judgment is not on the basis of faith alone. In this is shown the imperative necessity of obedience. The following declarations of Scripture are conclusive on this point, and very impressive:— “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment.” Eccl. 12:13, 14. “As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” Rom. 2:12, 16.

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“For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his holy angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16:27. “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.

Others to the same intent might be quoted. And by these it is seen that not faith, but works. are the sole basis of determination and of reward in the Judgment.

Then the question may be asked, Of what benefit is faith, if it does not appear in the Judgment? We answer, It is an auxiliary to works; it enables us to work: it appropriates the strength of Christ by which alone we can work, for without him we can do nothing. John 15:5. But faith without works is dead, and of what benefit is dead faith? Is this inconsistent with grace? No; it is free grace that has opened the way for our escape from eternal ruin. Grace has made our salvation possible. Grace guides and assists us every step on the way. Grace opens the way and assists us, but grace does not insure our salvation without our availing ourselves of its provisions, any more than favor and good will would prevent a man starving if he refused to eat the food which was freely provided for him, and freely offered to him.

Grace does not destroy the power of choice, nor release us from the duty and necessity of choosing. Grace will assist us in the work of overcoming, but grace will not release us from the necessity of overcoming. Grace will clothe us with an invincible armor; but grace will not fight our battles for us if we sit still and do nothing. It is now as of old: “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.” Grace threw down the walls of Jericho; but they would not have fallen if the children of Israel had neglected to compass the city as they were commanded to do. Grace saved Noah from the flood but it would not if he had not built an ark. God has done and will do all that is necessary to make full provision for our salvation. He will fulfill all his promises, if we will fulfill their conditions. But he will never do

The Atonement - 84

for us that which he has commanded us to do. Grace encourages trust; it does not tolerate presumption. They who suppose that we teach justification by the law, because we enforce the obligation of the law, cannot have looked deeply into the word of God, nor have considered the principles of Government. If Jesus takes away the sinful disposition, renews us or gives us a new heart, and brings us in subjection to the law of God, all our obedience to that law is by virtue of that change of heart effected by him; therefore, while he grants to us all the virtue of his blood for the remission of past sins, he is entitled to all the glory of our obedience in the future. So it is all of grace, and we have nothing of which to boast in any respect, nor anything to claim on our own account, for all that we do is by strength imparted by him. Here we have a system which is all grace, and no license to sin; a gospel worthy of Heaven—imparting mercy freely, and maintaining law and justice strictly. Here we see that without him we can do nothing; though we shall work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, “it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleasure.” We are justified by faith, yet so that we must add to our faith virtue; patiently continue in well-doing; keep the commandments of God; fulfill the righteousness of the law, etc. So far from teaching justification by the law, we emphatically assert that a moral duty, whatever men may call it, whether law or gospel, cannot justify a sinner. That law which points out sin, which is therefore the rule of right, must of necessity condemn the sinner, but it will not and cannot justify. This is the teaching of Rom. 3:20, 21.

Rom 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

Rom 3:21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets

And it is singular, but true, that they who teach that the law is abolished, and declaim against it as being insufficient to justify, etc., and who say that the commandments of the original law which are now binding are incorporated into the gospel, really teach justification by law,—by the same precepts which convict of sin. And they are the only ones who do teach justification by law. We say that justification of a sinner by law is impossible; it is contrary to reason, and to the words of the apostle in Rom. 3:20. If the law were incorporated into another system, and called by another name, that would not change its nature; it would not cause it to justify the sins

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which it forbids, nor the sinner who had violated it.

The difference between the law and the gospel is as distinct now as it was in the days when the gospel was preached to the sinners in the wilderness. Heb. 4:1.

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

The law is a moral rule; sin is immorality; and the gospel is the remedy.

The gospel upholds the law, and enforces it upon the conscience, and incorporates it into the life of the believer.

But it does not abrogate law nor does it release the believer from obligation to obey the law; neither does it incorporate law into itself, for the two cannot be blended into one. The correctness of our position may be tested by the following plain statement: The blood of Christ, the blood of the covenant, is that whereby we have remission of sin. Heb. 9:22; Rom. 3:25.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 

Rom 3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God

The gospel is a system of remission; it is good news of salvation from sin unto eternal life. The blood of Christ is a free gift; the gift of God’s undeserved grace. Hence, baptism may be a gospel condition of justification, because it is not any part of original obligation, or of moral duty. If it were a moral duty it could not be a part of a system of remission of sin, because as such it would be required on its own account. The commandment which says, “Thou shalt not steal,” cannot become a part of the gospel; it cannot be incorporated into a system of remission, or a remedial system, because it is of a moral nature. It is obligatory without any regard to a sinful condition. It is reasonable that a remedial plan should say, “Repent, and be baptized for the remission of sin,” for baptism is not a moral duty; it is not of obligation on its own account. But it were highly absurd to say. Thou shalt not kill for the remission of sin; or, Honor thy father and thy mother for the remission of sin. And the absurdity is not removed if you change their position, and call them gospel; you cannot change their nature. And they who teach the abolition of the decalogue, and the incorporation of these precepts into the gospel, are responsible for this absurdity. It belongs to their theory.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
  (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER


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