THE distinguishing mark of all true believers in Christ is the grand and glorious fact that, whether young or old, they have passed "from death unto life;" and our warrant for knowing this is to be found in the words of the Son of God Himself: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life." The character of this life may be but little known, but it could not be possessed apart from the knowledge of God, for again Jesus speaks, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.", Now as believers, "we know the Son of God is corn; and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." "And this is the record, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." "He that hath, the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
We also learn that in the family of God there are, however, three grades, or classes, i.e., babes, young men, and fathers; yet all alike possess this new life, which is a life entirely distinct from the old natural life which we all, without exception, inherit as children of Adam. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that ' which is born of the Spirit is spirit," are the words of Him who cannot lie. Hence, none but those who are born again by God's word and Spirit are possessors of this eternal life, which is to be found alone in Christ. The cross where Jesus died for sinners is the moral end of man in the flesh. There, all that belonged to us, as guilty children of Adam, was righteously judged, completely condemned, and eternally set aside. In virtue of Christ's finished work, God no longer looks at the believer as in his sins, seeing Christ has died and risen again; and "as he [the glorified Man in heaven] is, so are we [who believe] in this world." Sin, which is inherent in our old Adam nature, involved death; and after death the judgment. Christ however, in grace, put Himself in the sinner's place, and suffered in his stead; hence He has borne the sins of every believer, gone down into death for every believer, and has exhausted the whole judgment of God against sin for every believer.
"Guilt's bitter cup He drains,
Nothing for us remains,
Nothing but Love.”
Such was the cross; and who shall measure, all its wondrous results? God is satisfied with Jesus; and the throne where Christ now sits crowned and glorified is the everlasting proof of it. The risen Christ is now the believer's life, and three things characterize that life: —
1. It is beyond the reach of sin.
2. It is beyond the reach of death.
3. It is beyond the reach of judgment.
Now this is true of every believer; and though all believers may not, from various causes, be in the full enjoyment of it, yet the truth remains the same that this life is theirs, and that once in possession of it they can never be lost. Scripture emphatically declares' that Christ is our life, and that not only are we, as believers, dead and risen with Him, but that the Holy Spirit, who indwells us, bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
Let us then, in closing, briefly quote what scripture says as to the distinguishing features of the three grades into which the family of God is divided.
1. Fathers: —"Ye have known him that is from the beginning."
2. Young Men: —"Ye are strong." "The word of God abideth in you."
"Ye have overcome the wicked one."
3. Babes:—"Ye have known the Father." Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things."
When speaking generally of the whole family of God as "children" (a term common to them all), the apostle thus speaks of them: — “Your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." “If any one sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" "Abide in Him" (Christ).
May we all so abide, till He come, for His name's sake!
S. T.