Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Blood For the Broken Law.


Continued…

'The relation of justification and obedience has been fully discussed in Chapter Three. But the relation of justification to the Judgment demands consideration. Peter said: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you; whom the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things,” etc. Acts 3:19-21.

Act 3:19  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 
Act 3:20  And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 
Act 3:21  Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 

 It is evident that Peter did not think their sins would be blotted out when they were converted, but at some future time; and the Scriptures clearly show that that time is when the sanctuary is cleansed and the Atonement made. But in thus using this text it becomes necessary to vindicate the translation. Some affirm with much assurance that “when the times of refreshing shall come” is an incorrect rendering, and that it should be— “so that times of refreshing shall come.” Liddell & Scott give as one definition of the original: “Of the time of a thing’s happening, when, as soon as.” Pickering says: “When, as to time.” Barnes, while he admits that the objection has in its favor the more usual use of the word, says: “Others have rendered it, in accordance with our translation, when, meaning that they might find peace in the day when Christ should return to judgment, which return would be to them a day of rest, though of terror to the wicked. Thus Calvin, Beza, the Latin Vulgate, Schleusner, etc. The grammatical construction will admit of either.” Thus it is seen that the claim that the Authorized Version is wrong, is far from being established. We have no doubt that “when” should be retained in the text; that the expression, “the times of refreshing,” refers specially to the blessing of the Spirit which will be given to the saints when they are sealed with the seal of the living God (Rev. 7), which will enable them to stand when Jesus ceases his priestly work, and during the time of pouring out the seven last plagues.

Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 

And yet another question has been raised, on which some minds have been perplexed. If the blotting out of sins is done in the closing work of the priest, when the sanctuary is cleansed, that is to say, in the Judgment, then the sins of all the saints must stand on record till

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that time. Now it has been shown (Chapter Three) that justification by faith and salvation are not identical; the former is a fact of experience at the present time, while the latter is contingent on “patient continuance in well-doing” on the part of the justified one.

As was remarked, “justification by faith is not a final procedure; it does not take the place of the Judgment, nor render the Judgment unnecessary. It looks to something beyond itself to be accomplished in the future.” The same perplexity has arisen over the Apostle’s words in Acts 2:38,“Repent, and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” From this it has been inferred, but without sufficient reason, that sin is remitted in the act of baptism. Such an idea is not expressed in the text. Evidently the terms signify in order to the remission of sins; and it is too much to claim that in laboring to gain a certain object, that object is obtained in the very act of laboring. God told his people that they should have life—eternal life—if they kept his commandments, which, to the faithful, will be fulfilled “when Christ who is our life shall appear,” and not till then. The declaration above quoted, from Acts 2:38, points to the same fact as that in chapter 3:19.

Act 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

Act 3:19  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord

The remission of sin is the work of the Judgment; and the believer must stand justified by faith, looking to the priest for the accomplishment of his hope. But that the sin is not really blotted out, or atonement made at baptism, or at any other period in probation, is proved by the word of the Lord to Ezekiel, 18:26: “When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done he shall die.” Again, in chapter 32:13: “All his righteousness shall not be remembered.” That is, he shall be treated as though he had never been righteous. Now the righteousness of the righteous is by faith; therefore if he turn and commit iniquity he shall be treated as if he never had faith; his justification is annulled—he falls from grace. For a demonstration of the truthfulness of this view, we look to the cases of the faithful who lived before the time of Christ. Were it admitted that the Atonement was made at the death of Christ, it would still remain a fact in the cases of the patriarchs and prophets

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that their sins were not atoned for, not actually blotted out till the blood was shed by which they are blotted out. But they were justified by faith, and died in that justified state, looking forward to the work of Christ when the object of their faith should be realized; when his blood should take away the sins of which they had already repented or, in other words, when the Atonement should be made. This is decisive on the point. It proves beyond dispute that it is possible for a person to be justified by faith, accepted of God, and die in hope, without actually having his sins yet blotted out when he dies. And if the patriarchs and prophets could thus rest in hope, waiting for the blood of the coming Messiah to be shed to blot out their sins, so can the saints of a later age take hold of that blood by faith, waiting for Jesus our High Priest to blot out their sins when the times of refreshing shall come.

We think that our position is fully proved by the Scriptures, that, however closely justification and reconciliation are allied, the Atonement is subsequent to both. And this because it is the Judgment. If we are justified or reconciled, and so continue to the end, we may hope that our sins will be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. This work is effected in the most holy place, where the ark of the testament is; this place is opened in Heaven under the sounding of the seventh trumpet; and this trumpet ushers in the judgment of the dead, the coming of Christ without sin unto salvation to them that look for him; the giving reward to all his servants, and the destruction of them that corrupt the earth. These events pass beyond the bounds of human probation, and close up the dispensation of the gospel. Having traced this subject thus far; having found what the Atonementis; by whom and where it is made; and also for whom; we may turn back to “first principles” and again consider the law of God, and the position it occupies under the gospel.

In the type, the testimony—the law —was put into the ark, in the most holy place; and it was over the law that the blood of the covenant was sprinkled by the high priest on the day of atonement. The glory of God was above the cherubim; these were upon the mercy-seat, and this was upon the ark in which was the law. As God looked down upon his 

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law, the very basis of his Government, his justice was aroused, for his law was violated. But mercy interposed; the high priest entered with the blood that brings remission, that had been offered to vindicate the majesty of the law. The blood was sprinkled “upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat.” Again the Lord looks down upon his law, but between him and the law is the mercy-seat sprinkled with the blood of the victim; the law is honored; its penalty has been enforced; a substitute has been accepted; and the penitent sinner is pardoned.

We notice that here was a real law, taking hold of the moral relations of God’s creatures; that here was actual transgression; on the part of the creatures a disregard of moral obligations. But under the Aaronic priesthood there was no actual taking away of that sin; it remained to be taken away by the blood of Christ Therefore Christ officiates in behalf of that same law, as Paul shows in Heb. 9:15; and therefore the ark of his testament in Heaven contains that same law, where Jesus offers his own blood.

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 

Our High Priest has declared that he delighted to do the will of God, yea, the law was in his heart; he magnified the law and made it honorable; he upheld it in his life; he honored it in his death by suffering its penalty to vindicate its justice; he pleads his blood in Heaven in behalf of those who have broken it.

You who claim that God’s law is abolished: look to his heavenly temple where Jesus our great High Priest is, and behold it there safely lodged in the ark. You who say that the law is changed—behold the original in Heaven, of which a copy only was given to Israel.

Did not God speak it with his own voice? Did he not write it with his own finger? Did he not give it as a rule of holiness of life? Was it not perfect? Did it not contain the whole duty of man? Yes; and by it God will bring every work into judgment. Here is that justice and judgment which are the habitation of his throne. Ps. 89:14.

Psa 89:14  Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 

What evidence have you that the heavenly record of God’s immutable will has been changed? Men may mutilate the copy he has given them; they may strike out the name of the Holy One, and insert a term of reproach in its stead, but with him is neither variableness nor shadow of turning.

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Peter says that Government is “for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well.” All rights and privileges are protected by Government—by law. To subvert the law is to destroy the security of our rights. The law-making power has the sole right to change or abolish laws. Yet in the case of the fourth precept of the law of Jehovah men have not only changed its terms, but they now claim that it is their right to determine whether they shall keep it as the “one lawgiver” proclaimed it, or make changes in it, and observe it according to their own amendments!

God  said, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and gave the reason, that he rested the seventh day when he created the heavens and the earth. But men say, “The seventh day is the old Jewish Sabbath,” and substitute in its place another day which was not the rest-day of God, upon which he never bestowed his blessing, which he never sanctified, and which he never commandedmen to keep. They have so long pursued this course that they think it a small matter to make such a change. But how must it look in the sight of Heaven? How must God regard the slight put upon his authority?

(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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