God's Plan with Men Part 3

"It is the obvious implication of these words (the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones) that the death on which such stress is laid was something to which the unrighteous were liable because of their sins, and that in their interest the Righteous One took it on Himself."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"This is his gospel, that a Righteous One has once for all faced and taken up and in death exhausted the responsibilities of the unrighteous, so that they no more stand between them and G.o.d."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"If Christ died the death in which sin had involved us, if in His death He took the responsibility of our sins upon Himself, no word is equal to this which falls short of what is meant by calling Him our subst.i.tute."_--Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"I do not know any word that conveys the truth of this if 'vicarious'

or 'subst.i.tutionary' does not; nor do I know any interpretation of Christ's death which enables us to regard it as a demonstration of love to sinners, if this vicarious or subst.i.tutionary character is denied. There is much preaching _about_ Christ's death which fails to be a preaching _of_ Christ's death, and therefore to be in the full sense of the term Gospel Preaching, because it ignores this. The simplest hearer feels that there is something irrational in saying that the death of Christ is a great proof of love to the sinful unless there is shown at the same time a rational connection between that death and the responsibilities which sin involves, and from which that death delivers. Perhaps one should beg pardon for using so simple an ill.u.s.tration, but the point is a vital one, and it is necessary to be clear. If I were sitting on the end of a pier on a summer day, enjoying the sunshine and the air, and some one came along and jumped into the water and got drowned to prove his love to me, I should find it quite unintelligible. I might be much in need of love, but an act in no relation to any of my necessities could not prove it. But if I had fallen over the pier and were drowning and some one sprang into the water and at the cost of making my peril, or what but for him would be my fate, his own, saved me from death, then I should say, 'Greater love hath no man than this.' I should say it intelligently, because there would be an intelligible relation between the sacrifice which love made and the necessity from which it redeemed."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"Christ died for sins once for all, and the man who believes in Christ and in His death has his relation to G.o.d _once for all determined not by sin but by the atonement_."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"One who knew no sin had, in obedience to the Father, to take on Him the responsibility, the doom, the curse, the death of the sinful.

And if any one says that this was morally impossible, may we not ask again, What is the alternative? Is it not that the sinful should be left alone with their responsibility, doom, curse, and death?"--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"Redemption, it may be said, springs from love, yet love is only a word of which we do not know the meaning till it is interpreted for us by redemption."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"Unless we can preach a finished work of Christ in relation to sin, a reconciliation or peace which has been achieved independently of us at infinite cost, and to which we are called in a word of ministry of reconciliation, we have no real gospel for sinful men at all."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"If the evangelist has not something to preach of which he can say, 'If any man makes it his business to subvert this, let him be anathema,' he has no gospel at all."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"_As there is only one G.o.d, so there can be only one Gospel. If G.o.d has really done something in Christ on which the salvation of the world depends, and if He has made it known, then it is a Christian duty to be intolerant of everything which ignores, denies, or explains it away. The man who perverts it is the worst enemy of G.o.d and men._"--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

"We should remember, also, that it is not always intellectual sensitiveness, nor care for the moral interests involved, which sets the mind to criticise statements of the Atonement. There _is_ such a thing as pride, the last form of which is unwillingness to become debtors even to Christ for forgiveness of sins."--_Denny, in "The Death of Christ."_

But the Saviour could not have been a _Redeemer_, if He had not been G.o.d manifest in the flesh, for two reasons:--

First, if He had not been Deity, G.o.d manifest in the flesh, His dying for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) would not have been _Redemption_, but a mere makeshift. "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins."--Heb. 10:4. Why not? Because in that case there would have been no real _redemption_, but only a makeshift.

Second, had the Saviour been anything other than G.o.d manifest in the flesh, He would have _won_ men _from_ G.o.d and alienated them from G.o.d.

On this point let the reader consider well the following from Walker, in "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation":--"As G.o.d was the author of the law, and as He is the only Proper Object both of supreme love and obedience; and as man could not be happy in obeying the law without loving its Author, it follows that the thing now necessary, in order that man's affections might be fixed upon the proper object of love and obedience, was, that the Supreme G.o.d should, by self-denying kindness, manifest spiritual mercy to those who felt their spiritual wants, and thus draw to Himself the love and worship of mankind. _If any other being should supply the need, that being would receive the love_; it was therefore necessary that _G.o.d Himself_ should do it, in order that the affections of believers might centre upon the proper object." "Now, suppose Jesus Christ was not G.o.d, nor a true manifestation of the G.o.dhead in human nature, but a man, or angel, authorized by G.o.d to accomplish the redemption of the human race from sin and misery. In doing this, it appears, from the nature of the thing, and from the Scriptures, that He did what was adapted to, and what does, draw the heart of every true believer, as in the case of the apostles and the early Christians, to Himself as the supreme or governing object of affection. Their will is governed by the will of Christ; and love to Him moves their heart and hands. _Now, if it be true that Jesus Christ is not G.o.d, then He has devised and executed a plan by which the supreme affections of the human heart are drawn to Himself, and alienated from G.o.d_, the proper object of love and worship: and G.o.d, having authorized this plan, _He has devised means to make man love Christ, the creature, more than the creator_, who is G.o.d over all, blessed for evermore.

"But it is said that Christ having taught and suffered by the will and authority of G.o.d, we are under obligation to love G.o.d for what Christ has done for us. It is answered, that this is impossible. We cannot love one being for what another does or suffers on our behalf. We can love no being for labors and self-denials on our behalf, but that being who valiantly labors and denies himself. It is the kindness and mercy exhibited in the self-denial that move the affections; and the affections can move to no being but the one that makes the self-denial, because it is the self-denial that draws out the love of the heart.

"It is said, that Christ was sent by G.o.d to do His will and not His own; and therefore we ought to love G.o.d, as the being to whom grat.i.tude and love are due for what Christ said and suffered.

"Then it is answered: If G.o.d willed that Christ, as a creature of His, should come, and by His suffering and death redeem sinners, we ought not to love Christ for it, because He did it as a creature in obedience to the commands of G.o.d, and was not self-moved nor meritorious in the work; and we cannot love G.o.d for it, for the labor and self-denial were not borne by Him. And further: If one being, by an act of his authority, should cause another innocent being to suffer, in order that he might be loved who had imposed the suffering, but not borne it, it would render him unworthy of love. If G.o.d had caused Jesus Christ, being His creature, to suffer, that He might be loved Himself for Christ's sufferings, while He had no connection with them, instead of such an exhibition, on the part of G.o.d, producing love to Him, it would procure pity for Christ and aversion towards G.o.d. So that, neither G.o.d, nor Christ, nor any other being, can be loved for mercy extended by self-denials to the needy, unless those self-denials were produced by a voluntary act of mercy upon the part of the being who suffers them; and no being, but the one who made the sacrifice, could be meritorious in the case. It follows, therefore, incontrovertibly, that if Christ was a creature--no matter of how exalted worth--and not G.o.d; and if G.o.d approved of His work in saving sinners, _He approved of treason against His own government_; because, in that case, the work of Christ was adapted to draw, and did necessarily draw, the affections of the human soul to Himself, as its Spiritual Saviour and thus alienated them from G.o.d, their rightful object. And Jesus Christ Himself had the design of drawing men's affections to Himself in view, by His crucifixion; says He, 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.' This He said signifying what death He should die: thus distinctly stating that it was the self-denials and mercy exhibited in the crucifixion that would draw out the affections of the human soul, and that those affections would be drawn to Himself as the suffering Saviour. But that G.o.d would sanction a scheme which would involve treason against Himself, and that Christ should partic.i.p.ate in it, is absurd and impossible, and therefore cannot be true. But if the Divine Nature was united with the human in the teaching and work of Christ, if G.o.d was in Christ (drawing the affections of men, or) 'reconciling the world unto himself'--if, when Christ was lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, He drew, as He said He would, the affections of all believers unto Himself; and then, if He ascended, as the Second Person of the Trinity, into the bosom of the Eternal G.o.dhead--He thereby, after He had engaged, by His work on earth, the affections of the human soul, bore them up to the bosom of the Father, from whence they had fallen. Thus the ruins of the Fall were rebuilt, and the affections of the human soul again restored to G.o.d, the Creator, and proper Object of Supreme love."

Finally, let the reader give most earnest thought to the inevitable conclusion drawn by the same author:

"How, then, could G.o.d manifest that mercy to sinners by which love to Himself and to His law would be produced, while His infinite holiness and justice would be maintained? We answer, in no way possible, but by some expedient by which His justice and mercy would both be exalted.

If, in the wisdom of the G.o.dhead, such a way could be devised by which G.o.d Himself could save the soul from the consequences of its guilt,--by which He Himself could, in some way, suffer and make self-denials for its good; and by His own interposition open a way for the soul to recover from its lost and condemned condition, then the result would follow inevitably, that every one of the human family who had been led to see and feel his guilty condition before G.o.d, and who believed in G.o.d thus manifesting Himself to rescue his soul from spiritual death, every one thus believing would, from the necessities of his nature, be led to love G.o.d his Saviour; and mark, the greater the self-denial and the suffering on the part of the Saviour in ransoming the soul, the stronger would be the affection felt for Him."--_Walker, in "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."_

IV

THE NEW RELATION--THE NEW MOTIVE

"What things soever the law saith, it saith _to them who are under the law_; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before G.o.d."--Rom. 3:19.

"Ye are not under the law."--Rom. 6:14.

"The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith, but _after that faith is come we are no longer under a schoolmaster_. For ye are all the children of G.o.d by faith in Jesus Christ."--Gal. 3:24-26.

"When the fulness of time was come, G.o.d sent forth his Son born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, _that we might receive the adoption of sons_. And because ye are sons, G.o.d hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of G.o.d through Christ."--Gal.

4:4-7.

"Having in love predestinated us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself."--Eph. 1:5.

"The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died; and he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again."--2 Cor. 5:14, 15.

"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore which of them will love him most?"--Luke 7:41, 42.

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding bra.s.s, or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing."--1 Cor.

13:1-3.

_In G.o.d's plan with men_, His purpose in giving the law has been sadly misunderstood. To the Jews the law was given on tablets of stone and copied in their sacred writings; to the Gentiles the law was written in their hearts. The one cla.s.s had more light than the other, and therefore will be judged differently.

"As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law."--Rom. 2:12. "For when the Gentiles, who have no law, do by nature the things of the law, these, having no law, are a law unto themselves; who show the works of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their reasonings mutually accusing or even excusing them."--Rom. 2:14. Whether Jew or Gentile, G.o.d had one purpose in giving the law, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to those who are under the law, that _every_ mouth may be stopped and _all the world_ be under judgement to G.o.d." G.o.d's plan with the law includes "every mouth," "all the world,"

whether the law was written in their hearts or in sacred writings; and His purpose is, not that they should be saved by keeping the law, for then no one would be saved, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of G.o.d,"--Rom. 3:23; but that they might be brought under judgment to G.o.d, every mouth stopped, guilty, and thus be brought to realize their need of a Redeemer. On this point G.o.d's word makes His purpose very plain: "The Scripture hath shut up all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith, we were confined under law, shut up unto the faith about to be revealed. Wherefore the law was our tutor [or schoolmaster] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come we are no longer under a tutor [or schoolmaster]."--Gal. 3:23-25.

G.o.d's word is plain, that G.o.d put men under the law, not that they should be saved by keeping it, but that they might be led to see their need of a Saviour, one to redeem them from the curse of the law: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,"--Gal 3:13; and then, having redeemed them from the curse of the law, and from all iniquity (t.i.tus 2:14), to adopt them as His own children, "heirs of G.o.d and joint heirs with Christ."--Rom. 8:17. So wonderful is the plan that it is hard for a human being to grasp it.

_G.o.d's plan with men_ is not simply to save them, but to put them above all other created beings. "Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son?"--Heb. 1:5. Yet, "having in love predestinated us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself,"--Eph. 1:5 (1911 Bible), "heirs of G.o.d and joint heirs with Christ,"--Rom. 8:17, He puts us far above angels; "for ye are all sons of G.o.d through faith in Christ Jesus."--Gal. 3:26. But men can only come into this higher relation to G.o.d as sons by being redeemed from under the lower relation, under the law. Hear G.o.d's word: "When the fulness of the time was come, G.o.d sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, _that we might receive the adoption of sons_."--Gal. 4:4, 5. This higher relation as sons of G.o.d can be attained only by men coming out from under the law; and men can come out from under the law only by being redeemed from under the law.

G.o.d's word teaches clearly, then, that when one is redeemed, he is no longer under the law. "Ye are not under the law,"--Rom. 6:14; "What things soever the law saith, it saith to _those who are under the law_."--Rom. 3:19. Then some are under the law and some are not under the law; "Wherefore the law was our tutor unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after the faith is come, _we are no longer under a tutor_."--Gal. 3:24, 25. Pause, reader, and try to grasp the meaning of this. If the believer is redeemed from all iniquity (t.i.tus 2:14), and is not under the law, (Rom. 6:14), then he is sure of Heaven; for "sin is not reckoned when there is no law."--Rom. 5:13. It is not reckoned or imputed because it has all been reckoned or imputed to Christ (Is. 53:6, t.i.tus 2:14). Why, then, serve G.o.d? Not from fear of the law; not from fear of h.e.l.l; but from love to Him who redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been made a curse for us (Gal.

3:13).

Just as clearly G.o.d's word teaches that those who are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), from all iniquity (t.i.tus 2:14), become the sons of G.o.d; for that purpose "G.o.d sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, G.o.d hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father."--Gal. 4:4-6. "For ye are all the sons of G.o.d through faith in Christ Jesus."--Gal. 3:26.

But there is, in _G.o.d's plan with men_, beyond this a still more blessed, wonderful teaching: "Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son."--Gal. 4:7. The one who is redeemed from under the law (Gal. 3:13) never gets back under the law again,--"Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son." That means, then, certainty of going to Heaven, certainty of being a son of G.o.d forever. And this new relation, and this certainty of Heaven are settled for men, not when they die, nor when they have united with some church, or have been baptised, but the moment men repent from their sins and accept the Saviour as their Redeemer from all iniquity; for G.o.d's word says, "He that believeth on the son _hath_ everlasting life."--John 3:36; and "Ye _are_ all the sons of G.o.d through faith in Christ Jesus."--Gal.

3:26.

This new relation with G.o.d gives men a new motive. Under the law, guilty, condemned by it, the motive was fear. But when men have been redeemed from under the law and adopted as sons of G.o.d, the motive of fear is no more the motive of life. "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

The motive of the son towards the father is not fear, but love. And this love is produced by the fact that G.o.d, in love, provided this great, wonderful plan for men, "having in love predestinated us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself,"--Eph. 1:5, and the fact that the Saviour loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20).

Hence, Paul tells us, "The love of Christ [not the fear of the law, nor the fear of h.e.l.l] constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died; and he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again." Our Saviour, the night before His crucifixion, made clear that this was to be the motive in the life of G.o.d's children. In inst.i.tuting the Lord's supper He said, "This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins."--Matt. 26:28; then, following this, before leaving the supper room, He said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments,"--John 14:15, not, "if ye are afraid of the law, keep my commandments"; not, "if ye are afraid of going to h.e.l.l, keep my commandments"; not, "if ye wish to make sure of going to Heaven, keep my commandments"; but, "if ye love me." But why love Him? Because "this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins." That this love, and that _this kind of love_ is clearly the motive power of the real Christian life, notice the teaching of the Saviour in Luke 7:41, 43, "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou has rightly judged." This is no mere theory, that love _ought_ to be the controlling motive, but it _is_ the controlling motive. And it is not a mere theory that love _ought_ to constrain the real Christian, the real believer, but the love of Christ _does_ constrain us (2 Cor. 5:14).

One may be moral, of deep piety, and yet if the motive power of his life is not this love, he is lost, not a real Christian. G.o.d's word makes this plain, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding bra.s.s, or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing."--1 Cor. 13:1-3. Two of the mightiest preachers of all times, men whose tongues were those nearest to angels in preaching, Chalmers and Wesley, after years of most powerful preaching, came out and stated that during all those years they were lost, not Christians.

Why? They had not been really redeemed from all iniquity (t.i.tus 2:14); they had not been forgiven most; the motive had not been the motive of him who is forgiven most,--"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding bra.s.s, or a clanging cymbal." Why? Because eloquent, powerful preaching cannot redeem from iniquity, and G.o.d has said plainly, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."--Heb. 9:22. Men may write great books explaining the mysteries of G.o.d's word, commentaries, Sunday-school lesson helps, instructions to Christians; yet if the motive power of their lives is not love based on the fact that they are forgiven most (Luke 7:43), redeemed from all iniquity (t.i.tus 2:14), they are lost, not real Christians,--"though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing." Why? Because there is nothing in understanding all mysteries, and all knowledge, in writing commentaries and other helpful books, to redeem from all iniquity. And G.o.d has said plainly, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission." The great capitalist, the multi-millionaire, may turn philanthropist, and spend all his wealth in building schools, or libraries, or houses for the poor, or in feeding hundreds of thousands in times of widespread drouth; the Catholic nun or Protestant or Baptist nurse may give her life in the epidemic in nursing the sick; and the heroic fireman give his life in rescuing others from the flames; yet they are all lost, unless the motive power of life is love, produced by the fact that they are forgiven most, redeemed from all iniquity,--"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." Why? Because there is nothing in giving away money to care for the poor, nor in giving up life for others, to redeem from iniquity. And G.o.d has said plainly, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."--Heb. 9:22.

When G.o.d, "That he might be just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus,"--Rom. 3:26, "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, men must not, they _must not_, from intellectual pride, religious prejudice, family or race ties, nor from any other motive, trifle with G.o.d and presume to dictate terms to the Most High. Were it one poor, obscure man who presumed to do this, men would say that he deserved to be left to answer for his own sins before G.o.d at last. But vast numbers, whole religious denominations and university t.i.tles cannot change the Most High. G.o.d does not go by majorities. Earth's respectability does not pa.s.s current in Heaven.

"The wisdom of this world is foolishness with G.o.d."--1 Cor. 3:19.

Who is this being to whom puny men in their pride and prejudice presume to dictate terms as to how they may escape the just penalty for their sins, as to how their sins should be taken away? "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel? And who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, he taketh up the hills as a little thing." "All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted by him less than nothing, and vanity." "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as gra.s.shoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; that bringeth the princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity."--Is. 40:12-15, 17, 22, 23.

A professor in a great university has recently said that to the "modern mind," untrained, as the Jews, to daily sacrifices, unused, as those of ancient times, to blood-atonement,--remission of sins by blood,--subst.i.tution does not commend itself. If he and those who think like him do not care enough as to their eternal destiny to strive to become acquainted with blood-atonement, to realize their need of it, and to see that G.o.d, in love, has provided it, complete and eternal, then there is nothing left but for them to go out into eternity to meet the just penalty of their sins; for even then G.o.d will be just to them. No one, barbarian or civilized, will ever be treated unjustly by the Most High.

But it is objected that, if men are taught and believe that they have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), that they are not after that under the law (Rom. 6:14), that they have been adopted as G.o.d's sons (Gal. 4:4, 5), and that they are no more servants, but sons (Gal. 4:7), they will not serve G.o.d from love of Christ for dying for them (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), but that they will become careless and not try to live Christian lives. That is true with hypocrites; they will profess to believe that they are thus redeemed, saved, and will live careless, worldly lives. But really redeemed men _will_ love most (Luke 7:43), and live better lives from love. The Saviour said, "If a man love me he _will_ keep my words,"--John 14:23; "If G.o.d were your father ye _would_ love me."--John 8:42. And John, writing to believers only (1 John 5:13), says: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of G.o.d; and such we are. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.