The great salvation

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Introduction

i Every institution, whether secular or religious, has certain fundamental principles that determine its character, and out of which everything connected with it of a practical nature naturally and necessarily springs. In order to a clear and comprehensive view of the system, it is of the utmost importance to obtain a proper understanding of its great elementary fundamental principles. These truths find strong confirmation when applied to the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order to a clear understanding of its character, and an adequate conception of its practical applications and possible blessings, a knowledge of certain fundamental matters called “First Principles” is imperative. It is the purpose of this volume to give, not, perhaps, an exhaustive, but a somewhat comprehensive, view of The First Principles of the Gospel of Christ, beginning with a consideration of the recognized moral malady of sin, thence passing onward to a study of the divine remedy as revealed in the gospel, thus tracing the path in the progress of the soul from the state of depravity even unto the blessed consummation of a perfect character ; or, in other words, considering the steps in the journey of man from the “Paradise Lost” to the “Paradise Regained.”

2. This discussion, as has already been intimated, can not be exhaustive. Each elementary principle entering into this

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complex system is so comprehensive in its intention, so vast in its extension, so important in its practical bearing, so complicated in its relations, that a volume might well be devoted to it instead of a single chapter, and the embarrassment resulting from the necessary limitations imposed by the plan of this work can readily be understood.

3. We are well aware that such a discussion as the one proposed, and set forth in the following pages, is by no means a new thing. Many books have been written on “ First Principles,” but there are reasons why this work should be done again and again. Every generation must, to some extent, rewrite its own books, just as it must preach anew its own sermons, and discuss again the old questions of social and political life. Henry Ward Beecher, in the Introduction to his Life of Christ, says, in justification of such a work, confronted as he was with more than a hundred lives of Christ : “Our age has developed wants no deeper, perhaps, nor more important, than those of the apostolic age, but needs essentially different. We live for different ends, we have other aspirations. We are plagued with new infidelities of our own, we are proud in our own way, and vain after our own manner. To meet all these everchanging necessities of the human heart and of society, men are ordained to preach the gospel. If merely reading the text as it was originally delivered were enough, why should there be preachers ? It is the business of preachers to readapt truth from age to age to man’s everrenewing wants. And what is this but doing, by single passages, what a Life of Christ attempts to do systematically and in some dramatic form for the whole.” The principle

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involved in the view thus clearly and sensibly expressed seems to me to be a very general one. If it holds good with respect to single passages of God’s Word, and justifies a rewriting of the life of Christ again and again, does it not hold, with equal force, in favor of a restatement of the great plan of salvation as a whole, or as it finds its embodiment in certain component factors and elementary principles ? This attempt in no way reflects on previous statements or discussions of the subject, but it simply recognizes and proceeds upon the principle that truth needs to be repeatedly restated and set in its relations to everchanging conditions. Old truth thus becomes ever new. If I may succeed in even a measurable degree in such a restatement of this great question as shall meet the new conditions, my hope will be abundantly realized. I do not expect to present new truth (this, in the very nature of the case, would be impossible and undesirable), but to adapt the old truth to somewhat new and changed conditions, and possibly view it from some new angles of vision, and out of the midst of new experiences.

4. But the reasons that have prompted the preparation of this volume are not entirely set forth by this general statement. During the last seven years we have attempted to give the whole body of students in Hiram College general lines of Bible instruction, aiming to furnish a somewhat comprehensive knowledge of the Bible in its broader features — such a knowledge as, in our judgment, every person laying claim to a liberal education ought to possess. The divisions of the book, and the purpose of each; the writings as viewed in their literary aspects ; the three great dispensations, and their

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relations to each other ; the separate books, and the purpose of each, all this, and much more of a less general character, has been given to the whole body of students in the form of lectures and syllabi in a somewhat logical and systematic order. In the development of this purpose we were naturally led to consider “The Great Salvation,” which constitutes the marrow and fatness of the divine revelation, since Jesus Christ the Saviour is the central figure. This volume is simply the presentation of this great subject in a way, we hope, that is reasonably adapted to the wants of the general Bible student. It was intended, primarily, for the students of Hiram College, but we trust that it may be found helpful (i) to young Christians who are seeking to build themselves up in a knowledge of spiritual truth, that thus they may be more fully equipped for the high service to which they have been called ; (2) to Sunday-school and Bible class teachers, both as a means of personal preparation and as a class-room text-book ; (3) to young men and women who are preparing for active service in the ministerial calling, whether as preachers or as teachers of the Word of God. With the hope and prayer that these results may be, at least in some measure, secured, this book is sent forth upon its mission.

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Chapter I. Sin And Its Cure

Introduction: i. The doctrine of trinity seems to be one of very wide application. Illustrations are found on every hand, both in nature and revelation.

(1) There is a trinity in the Deity : In creation there is God, Word, and Spirit; in redemption, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is in harmony with the declaration of John, that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

(2) There is a trinity in our material world : The sea, earth, and sky constitute the sources from which man draws the threefold supply necessary to sustain life, viz.: water, food, and air.

(3) There is a trinity in man’s nature or being : He is composed of body, soul, and spirit ; or of physical, intellectual, and spiritual factors.

(4) There is also a trinity in human history: The history of -the race, as revealed in the Bible, is made up of a period of innocence, a period of sinfulness or depravity, and a period of virtue ; at least this is true of a portion of the race that passes the age of accountability The same is true of individual history : There is a period of innocence, a period of sin, and potentially a period of virtue for each individual man.

Holiness, as a term, may be applied to either innocence or virtue, or both. There is holy innocence and holy virtue, but the two are by no means identical. In speaking of holiness,

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the distinction between innocence and virtue should always be observed.

2. Each state entering into this triune history is reached by three successive and logically related steps :

(1) Holy innocence results when God alone speaks and man hears, believes, and obeys ; or, in other words, when man moves in harmony with God’s will, not as the result of choice, but because there is no conflicting voice. This was the condition of man before he fell. There was but one voice of authority, and that was the voice of God, and he obeyed it.

However, this view of the case is not entirely exhaustive. Holy innocence may be a purely negative excellence. It may simply be freedom from harm or guilt, because the individual knows no distinction between right and wrong. He has never chosen the one or the other simply because he can not discriminate between them. Even should he do a thing wrong in itself, to him it would not be wrong, because he is incapable of making moral distinctions. Such persons are not accountable. They are without sin, and hence they are not under condemnation. All infants, before they reach the age at which they can discriminate between right and wrong, belong to this class, and are, consequently, without sin. As soon as they pass this point, innocence is no longer possible. Two conflicting voices speak to them, and they must obey the one or the other from choice. In either case, innocence is no longer possible.

(2) Depravity results when both God and Satan speak, and man hears, believes and obeys Satan ; or, in other words, whenright and wrong are presented, and man chooses the wrong instead of the right. This is true even though the choice of the heart may not find expression in word or act. The outward expression is, in fact, but the sign of the inward condition.

(3) Holy virtue results when both God and Satan speak, and. man hears, believes, and obeys God ; or, when right and wrong

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are presented, and man chooses the right in preference to the wrong. This is, therefore, a condition very superior to that of innocence. It is the result of choice. It is positive. It results from effort, from struggle, from the overcoming of evil propensities and desires. To achieve it involves a warfare, often severe and long continued.

3. In studying man’s possible moral states, it is necessary to consider three wills — God’s will, man’s will, and Satan’s will.

(1) When the former two coincide without opportunity for choice on man’s part, or because the individual knows no distinction between right and wrong, innocence is the result

(2) When the latter two coincide from choice on man’s part, depravity is the result. The individual is guilty, and is therefore under condemnation. Having reached the period of accountability, he is held responsible for his choice.

(3) When the former two coincide from choice on man’s part, virtue is the result. Condemnation is removed, because, as an accountable being, the individual chooses the right and does it.

In this view of the case the will of God is the fountain of order, harmony and blessedness. Man is saved so long as he is in harmony with that will. Involuntary harmony is the salvation of innocence ; voluntary harmony is the salvation of virtue.

In the study of the Divine revelation we discover, —

I. That the great purpose of God is the salvation of man.

1. This salvation involves the bringing of man’s will into* harmony with the will of God, the fountain of true blessedness.

(1) In the universe of matter, order and harmony reign,, because God’s will, the fountain of order and harmony, is supreme. Matter, having no will of its own, moves in harmony with God’s will as impressed upon the whole physical creation. The laws of nature are nothing more than the impressed will of God. Matter exercises no choice. One will alone operates, and that is God’s will.

(2) Not so, however, in the universe of mind. Salvation can not be accomplished by the direct, immediate and sovereign act of God. Man must be brought to move and act in harmony with God’s will, in the free exercise of his own will. He must do so from choice, and not from necessity. Salvation, therefore, in the highest and fullest sense, results in virtue. Innocence, in a certain sense, is salvation, but not in the highest sense. The ultimate goal of the great salvation is virtue, in so far as it pertains to the subjective condition of the individual.

2. This is reached in harmony with man’s physical, intellectual and moral nature.

(1) It recognizes the dignity and importance of the body, and, consequently, it involves the principles of physical wellbeing. It provides for the proper and lawful gratification of the normal physical appetites, propensities, and desires. It subordinates the lower physical nature to the higher intellectual and spiritual nature. If there is a schism between the body and spirit, the body must yield. Hence says Paul, “I keep my body under. ”

(2) It recognizes the constitutional elements of the soul ; it provides food for the intellectual nature ; it addresses man’s intelligence; it furnishes stimulants and excitants for man’s emotional nature ; it lays a firm hold upon the heart ; it influences the will by means of argument, admonition, warning and motive.

By this means man’s will is brought into harmony with God’s will, and salvation is the result. God’s will is supreme. Man is subordinate, but it is a willing subordination. He is obedient, but it is the obedience resulting from deliberate choice.

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3. This salvation recognizes three actual or possible human states or conditions.

(1) It views man as naturally holy through innocence. It regards this as man’s condition by virtue of his creation, and it is the only kind of holiness that can result from mere creation. Man obeyed God’s voice because he had no choice. There was no alternative presented. No other voice spoke to him. As long as this holiness continued, man was happy. Holiness and happiness stand in the relation of cause and effect. Happiness is always an effect produced by adequate cause, and this cause is always and everywhere holiness. This view of the case reveals the folly of seeking for happiness in things external to the individual.

“If happiness have not her seat and center in the' breast,

We may be wise, or rich, or great, but never can be blessed.”

(2) It is based on the fact that man is actually depraved. Two conflicting voices spoke to man, thus presenting to him the opportunity of choice. One was the voice of God, the other was the voice of Satan. Man, in the exercise of his freedom, chose to hear, believe, and obey Satan. Herein is sin. Man refuses to be obedient to the will of God, the fountain of order. Disorder and confusion are introduced into the moral universe. It follows, therefore, that the consequences of sin are very far reaching and terrible. Who can understand them ? Evidently God alone, and he alone, can provide the remedy. Whatever pertains to the changing of man’s depraved nature, and the consequent relations to God growing out of such change, God must specify. The disease is entirely too deep-seated for human prescription to reach. As holiness produces happiness, it follows that the loss of holiness involves the loss of happiness ; hence sin is the cause of wretchedness and misery. The solution of the problem how to make man holy, is a solution of the problem how to make man happy.

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Here is a fact that all reformers and philanthropists should recognize.

(3) It proceeds on the assumption that man can be made holy through virtue. When man, in the exercise of his freedom, with the alternatives of right and wrong placed before him, chooses to hear, believe, and obey God, the holiness of virtue is the result. Then man comes into possession, not of the innocence lost by disobedience, but of virtue gained by the triumph of right over wrong, or by the triumph of the principle of obedience to God over the principle of disobedience. Man again moves in harmony with the Divine will from choice, and consequently he is saved.

The Bible presents two beautiful pictures of man : one is the picture of innocence, when man, in his Eden home, walked with God, before the voice of the tempter came to him ; the other is a picture of virtue, when man, in the Paradise regained, again stands in the presence of God. How thrilling are the prophetic words :

Who are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they ? . . . These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed

their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

4. This salvation contemplates a threefold blessing :

(1) Salvation from the guilt of sin. Man, having chosen to disobey God, is guilty. All sin is sin against God. When we sin against our fellow man, or even against ourselves, it is none the less sin against God. God holds proprietorship in all things, and he is the only proprietor in the universe. Guilt attaches to the soul until God forgives. Pardon is, therefore, a great necessity, and this is one of the great blessings of salvation.

(2) Salvation from the practice of sin. Salvation contemplates a life of goodness or obedience. This does not mean that man can live an absolutely perfect or sinless life. It

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simply means that man’s will is brought in harmony with God’s will. If he sin, it is not the result of deliberate purpose, but of sudden impulse under the strain of great temptation. It is not the outgrowth of the governing principle of life, but contrary to it. The will and desire harmonize with the will and desire of God. Sin causes intense contrition and a crying unto God for pardon and deliverance. By this means sinful habits are overcome, and a life of holiness developed. A character such as God approves is the result.

(3) Salvation from the consequences oi sin. How much is involved in this, who can tell? To follow the line of Mr. Drummond's reasoning, life is correspondence to environment. When thi* correspondence is lacking, death results. When the physical organs correspond or respond to their environment, life is the result. When the ear responds to sound, the eye to light, the lungs to air, etc., the organism is alive. When this correspondence is broken off, death ensues.

God is the true and proper environment of the soul. Sin separates between man and God. The soul no longer corresponds to its proper environment, and spiritual death results. The sinner is, therefore, said to be dead in trespasses and sin. Of the saved it is said their lives are “hid with Christ in God.” To save man, therefore, means to deliver him from death, both here and hereafter ; or, in other words, it means to bestow on man the gift of eternal life. Hence the language of the apostle : “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In this threefold blessing man’s highest good is obtained. The best human conditions are realized, the noblest character is developed, and the happiest destiny is secured. In short, man’s highest possibilities are attained.

5. This salvation involves a threefold Divine work:

(1) Instruction : Paul declares that the Gentiles are “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in s

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them.” He also said to the Athenians that, “The times of this ignorance God overlooked, but now commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent.” The history of the introduction of sin into the world bears testimony to the same fact. Man, ignorant, untried, without experience, knowing neither the nature nor consequences of sin, believed Satan and fell. Our own experience corroborates this statement. We are cursed by our ignorance. We sin largely by reason of ignorance. Here is our first great weakness. The first thing, therefore, that God proposes is instruction. He reveals to us the nature and consequences of sin, our condition, our relations to each other and to him, and his great purposes concerning us. In all this the need of a prophet (teacher) is seen. Some one must bring the divine message to us.

(2) Pardon : Here is man’s next great need. This involves a sovereign act of God, but there must be some grounds on which it can righteously be bestowed. Furthermore, our connection with God is broken by sin ; some one must appear in the presence of God for us as our mediator. He must present such offering as will justify God in justifying the believer. Here is seen man’s need of a priest.

(3) Rule and guidance : The inferior must ever be subordinate to the superior, hence the mineral is subordinate to the vegetable, the vegetable to the animal, the irrational animal to man, and man should be subject to God. In this fact lies the principle that makes rule or kingship necessary. In man, the inferior or lower nature should be subject to the superior or higher nature ; hence every man is a kingdom within himself, and since there is a higher power than man, each should be a subject of the highest or heavenly rule. We therefore need a king.

This idea of kingship not only implies subordination of the lower to the higher, or the rule of the kingly power, but it also implies protection. If it is the duty of the subject to

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obey, it is the duty of the king to protect the subject against all enemies too strong for him. Satan, man’s great enemy, has been too strong for him. He has locked the mightiest in his prison-house of death. We need, as a king, some one strong enough to vanquish Satan, and to break open the prison-house of death and set the captives free. God has, consequently, ever sought to provide for man prophet, priest, and king, thus meeting man at his three great points of weakness, and, therefore, of deepest need.

H. That this purpose of God moves to its final realization through three great Divine dispensations.

Each dispensation constitutes a majestic step in a movement that culminates in human redemption.

i. The first step in this sublime and. progressive unfolding of the Divine purpose is called the Patriarchal Dispensation. It is merely initiatory. God gives light, but it is comparatively dim, and the light is confined to a small circle. It was given to a few families that constituted a line of descent from Adam to Moses. God did not give the full light, because the world was not ready for a complete revelation. The fullness of time had not come. The full light consists in a complete revelation of God, but for this the world was not yet prepared. Conditions had to be matured through centuries and millenniums before the coming one could appear who would “ manifest God in the flesh,” which is the only revelation perfectly adapted to man. In the meantime, revelation must keep pace with the developments in human nature and human condition. The time had not yet come for the Sun of Righteousness to arise, but the gross darkness could, in some measure, be dispelled by the glimmering starlight and the fuller moonlight of preparatory dispensations. During these ages of unfolding plan and purpose, the salvation enjoyed by the elect few came through the three offices of prophet, priest, and king, as, in

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fact, it must necessarily come under all dispensations. When man’s threefold want is met, salvation is the result, and this is accomplished through prophet, or instructor ; priest, or mediator ; and king, or ruler.

We are cursed by our ignorance, alienated or separated from God by sin, and impotent to deliver ourselves from the bondage of our great enemy, Satan. His power must be broken by a ruler mightier than he. This deliverance culminates in a triumph over death. When this victory is achieved, the climax of salvation is reached ; hence, when man’s three great wants are met, salvation is complete.

Owing to the limited revelation possible during this early period, and also on account of the simple nature of the worship and the limited number embraced in the scope of the divine plan, these offices were centered in one man during the patriarchal dispensation. He was the head of the family, which consisted of the patriarch and his children, and their families, together with domestics and servants of various kinds. The patriarch, therefore, exercised the functions of the prophet, priest, and king. This order of things continued until the conditions had matured, when God could take the second step in his majestic progress toward the accomplishment of his great purpose.

2. We are thus led to consider next the Mosaic dispensation. During this period God moved forward toward the realization of his final purpose through a single nation. Instead of one family line, there are now many tribes and families elected for the carrying forward of God’s great design, all, however, belonging to a common stock, and descended from a common ancestor, Abraham. He was called out by God from his own kindred and people, and made the recipient of two great promises — one of a temporal nature, looking to the establishment of a great nation through which God designed to work out and complete his great scheme of redemption, and one of a

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spiritual nature, looking to the establishment of a great spiritual kingdom, whose blessings were intended for all men, and to which the temporal kingdom that embraced the seed of Abraham stood in the relation of a means to an end. During this dispensation, salvation, although prospective rather than actual (which was also the case in the previous dispensation), came through the same three offices of prophet, priest, and king; but owing to the changed conditions, as well as for other reasons, the offices were clearly differentiated, and the duties of each vested in a distinct class. The changed conditions demanding the separating out of these offices were, —

(1) The fuller revelation which was now needed, and which it was possible to give.

(2) The more elaborate religious system made necessary, in part at least, by the demands of God’s unfolding plans for type and symbol; and,

(3) The far more burdensome duties pertaining to the office of ruler, owing to the fact that his authority now extended over a great nation instead of over a family. During this dispensation, the great key- word is prophecy — prophecy both in its broad sense as teaching, and in its narrower or predictive sense, including verbal utterance and type.

This predictive prophecy constitutes much of the literature and more of the outward worship of the elect nation. During the greater part of this dispensation, God erected a line of finger-boards pointing forward to that for which all that went before in the Divine arrangements existed, and for which it was ordained and created. By this means a universal expectancy was created. A Messiah was the desire of the nations.

3. We are thus led to the third, or Christian, dispensation, which is the final step in the accomplishment of God’s great plan of salvation.

In this the Divine purpose of salvation is realized. Here we reach the climax of Divine wisdom, mercy, and love. No

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longer are the blessings of salvation prospective and circumscribed to a few families or a single nation ; hence says the apostle, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Here the blessing contemplated comes as before, through the three offices of prophet, priest, and king, but they are again centered in one person. Instead of several families, or a nation composed of many families, there is to be but one family, and Jesus is the head. This family potentially embraces the whole race, thus recognizing the universal brotherhood of man. Nor is this family relationship to be disturbed by the incident of death, and therefore the whole family in heaven and earth is named for Christ, who is the head.

This climax of blessing secured through the three great offices of prophet, priest, and king, which are centered in Christ, contemplates the purifying of the human heart, the pardon of human guilt, the regulating of the outward life, the uniting of the broken connection between man and God, thus bringing about a new relationship, the marrying of the human and divine through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a redemption from the grave, and finally a home in the paradise of God. It is no wonder, therefore, that the inspired writer calls it a “great salvation.”

Chapter II. The Superior Excellence Of The Christian Dispensation

HOW SHOWN AND HOW DESTROYED.

Introduction: I. The dispensation of Christ is preeminently spiritual. Christ is a spiritual King, and citizenship in his kingdom is secured through spiritual birth, and maintained through spiritual union with the spiritual head. The Christian has the promise of the Holy Spirit as an abiding guest and comforter, which constitutes the crowning blessing of the new institution.

2. In referring to this subject, the apostle has frequent use for the term “ glorious.” He calls the dispensation glorious ; the church, glorious ; its liberty, glorious ; its gospel, glorious, and its destiny is called glory.