Responsibility
Table of Contents
Responsibility: Part 1, In Eden
If then, we would know what man's place is, as a creature before God, we must take a view of him where we first find him in Eden, and thus take note of the changes which have come over him, and the ground of responsibility upon which he now stands.
First, then, after the creation, we find the man in Eden, having "dominion" complete over the earth and all in and upon it. An innocent creature with neither holiness nor righteousness, but simply innocence. Gen. 1:6,29.
This gives us what the man was and what he had. He was an innocent creature, having dominion, but as yet we can only guess at his responsibility. But when we look on a little farther to the 2nd chap. 16th and 17th verses, we find the word which defines his responsibility. Such and such liberties were given him, in the full measure of which he could act in perfect harmony with the Divine will. But a prohibition was given, and this defines his responsibility. To take and use freely all that God has appointed, was his place, and that was simple obedience. And while he thus walked, he could not be said to have a will of his own. The child is never called responsible until his little will rises up in opposition to the will of the parent. The creature will was there, and all below were subject TO IT; but IT must abide in complete and perfect subjection to the will above.
Hence, the Divine will was the only will expressed. A prohibition was a simple test of obedience; innocent in itself; if it had not been forbidden by the Divine will.
Two wills were there; and it was simply a question of which should be supreme in the earth, whether the man should be the expression of the Divine will or of Satanic will.
For if the creature will is expressed, it must be in opposition to the Divine will; and Satan is the only creature opposed to the Divine will, and hence the creature will, being "beguiled" by the satanic will, becomes itself satanic. It was not a question of power, but of the use of power. Adam had the power, but the liberty to use that power contrary to the Divine will had never been given but rather restricted, not hindered, but simply forbidden. Hence morality consisted, not in choosing for himself; nor in freedom to choose for himself; but simply in obedience; for if he stopped to think whether he might choose for himself, sin was there, hence immorality.
Responsibility must always arise from relationship. Define the relationship and then you can define the responsibility. Adam's relationship was first given and then his responsibility defined, and morality consisted in walking in that relationship. Adam was free, in the sense of being unhindered, not restrained; his fall proved that. But he was not free in the sense of being at liberty to choose for himself, or have a will of his own.
He was not a machine, for that would have been a proscription upon his power.
Whereas the proscription was not upon his power but upon his liberty to use power in opposition to the Divine will. This, then, being the first man's position, relationship, and responsibility in Eden, we could not say in harmony with scripture teaching, that Adam was a free moral agent. For to be a free moral agent, he must be as yet indifferent to both good and evil; which was not the case; for he was created in good and had it not to choose; and evil he knew nothing about; hence could not choose that. But he did know the Divine will, and was warned not to infringe upon it, under the penalty of death. This was the test. And the test proved, not that the creature was bad; but that left to himself he could not stand. The Divine will was all-sufficient for him in every respect, while he was occupied with that, but the moment he lost that as an object, that moment he failed, like Peter walking on the water. God willing, our next paper will take up the first great change which came over him in the fall.
C. E. H.
Responsibility: Part 2, The First Great Change After the Fall
Our last paper closed with this expression: The Divine will was all-sufficient for him in every respect, while he was occupied therewith, but the moment he lost that as an object, that moment he failed. Like Peter walking on the water.
The Divine will had been expressed. (Matt. 14:28,29.) " Lord if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come." This illustrates the point. While Peter was occupied with the Divine Person, in obedience to the Divine will expressed in the word " Come," he could walk on the water. It was all-sufficient for him. So he could have ascended to Heaven by the power of the same word, if it had been expressed in that direction; as Enoch and Elijah did. Compare Psa. 33:6,9; 2 Peter 3:5,7. I am not speaking of the principle of faith which Enoch and Elijah had, but simply of the all-sufficiency of the word of the Divine will. For we hear nothing of faith until after sin came in.
The creature (man) was in the Divine presence, but did not partake of the Divine nature, and he had not a Divine life; for a Divine life can only spring from a Divine nature. 2 Peter 1:3,4. " According as His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Faith being the activity, so to speak, of the new or Divine nature, as we shall see hereafter, was not a condition of Adam's standing, but it was of Abel's after sin came in, (Heb. 11:4.) and thence forward. But the condition of Adam's standing was simply one of will, as we have seen: hence obedience. All things on the earth and in the sea were subject to the creature will, but the creature will itself must have no expression outside the Divine will.
Let me repeat: Two wills were there, and the test of the forbidden tree was evidently the key to Adam's position, as raising the question, which will was to be supreme, God's or man's.
In man then in Eden, we have an innocent creature without holiness, without righteousness, without Divine life because without a Divine nature, and without faith, but simply innocent; and yet set in blessing and endowed with power, even the dominion of all under Heaven, but he himself, and through him, all under Heaven is held in dominion under God, by simple obedience to the Divine will expressed in Gen. 2:17. " But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." And the next thing said is, "It is not good that the man should be alone," and a "helpmeet" is given to share his joys and responsibilities. In the inscrutable wisdom of God, this " helpmeet " proved his ruin, but in becoming so, did but give room for the accomplishment of the deeper counsels of God in redemption, and transfer the platform of the dealings of God with man from that of creature responsibility to sovereign purpose in grace; and through this one by whom the fall came, " hope " was to dawn of future blessings, when kin had brought in ruin, and a bondage of corruption.
There was evidently weakness in Adam's position; he stood in his own strength, needed a " helpmeet;" but the side of his peculiar weakness was evidently that through which deeper and fuller blessings than he then possessed, was to come in, viz: his "helpmeet;" and thus was Eve at once the channel for ruin and also of redemption; for cursing and also for blessing; to the fires of Hell, and also to the glories of Heaven; at once the channel for all earthly bliss and onward to eternal glory; or of all earthly sorrow and woe, and onward to eternal despair. How wonderful is this!
This then is Adam's weakest point, and here is where the attack is made. Satan is wiser than Adam; the dominion of God on the earth he will subvert, and Adam's blessing he will spoil, and he does it through the channel of Adam's bliss and joy. Alas! how often is this the case even now! that earthly blessing is the key to our ruin. But God is wiser than Satan, and has laid plans ahead. Glory be to His blessed name! Accordingly with the setting sun of the first man's paradise arises the second Man's glory. Blessed be God! We do not rejoice in the ruin, but in Him who is infinitely above the ruin.
But let us turn again to the man in Eden. We have seen his weakness and the channel through which his ruin came; now let us see if we can find the turning point of that ruin, or rather the point when his innocence ended and his sin began. Gen. 3:1. " The serpent said unto the woman, yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? " Here is the bold insinuation that love and goodness is not perfect which had forbidden anything, and that happiness was not complete while creature appetites and gratifications were in any manner subjected. The woman is beguiled by this sophistry, and though her answer seemingly regards the Divine will; yet it betrays a trifling estimation of it, for she adds to it a thought of her own, for the expression, " neither shall ye touch it," was not in the expression of the Divine will; and if she may add, she may also reject, so that now she is prepared for the second step. " And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." And now the barrier is broken down, the Divine will is set at naught in her heart, and then comes in the full power of her creature appetite. " And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
Here surely is the turning paint. If the Divine will is cast off, the creature will will be then supreme in the earth; and this was to become like Gods sure enough: for if the Divine will is rejected, the creature will is established, and the man was not wise enough to see that the rejection of God's will was the establishment of Satanic will; and that in choosing for himself in opposition to the Divine will, he would become the bond slave of Satan. But so it was. And thus the "image of God" in min, was lost in the fall, and the " likeness " ( in dominion as the head) becomes the expression of self or Satanic will. Hence " the will of the flesh," or " carnal mind, is enmity against God: is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. " And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image." Gen. 5:3. And thus the Divine will is supplanted, and the creature will led on by Satan is brought in, and now the creature has become by his own choice, as to his will, a child of the Devil, and begets his offspring in Ms own likeness and image.
To recapitulate for a little, we have seen that the man's responsibility flowed out from his relationship; that his relationship was that of innocence and blessing in the Divine presence, and the measure of his responsibility was to walk in that relationship in perfect obedience, and this was morality.
To choose for himself outside the Divine will, was to sin, and bring in ruin upon himself and all his dominion, and all his future posterity. To test his loyalty, the forbidden tree is given, which proved that Adam was but a " creature," and could not stand alone. With his fall the deeper counsels of God in redemption come into play, and the ground is cleared for the second Man, " the Lord from Heaven."
And, the fact that the turning point of the first man was in the ascendency of the creature will above the appointed lot, is seen more clearly when we take just a glance at the opposite, as expressed in the second Man. " I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me," and " Lo I come to do Thy will, O God."
Nothing is plainer in the Gospel than this one point, viz: The perfect obedience of the " second Man." He had no will of His own, no choosing for Himself, everything was given from above. Compare John 5:19,20,30, also 8:26, 29, also 12:50, and 14:10. The very place morally, where the first man failed, was the very place where then second. Man triumphed.
And another evidence of the same fact is brought out in the temptation of the wilderness. Satan met Him on the same ground, morally. First, " He was an hungered. ' Something to eat. The very place where Adam went down. But the "second Man" lives by every word of God. No trifling here. No light estimate of the Divine will expressed. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Matt. 4:4. " And He that sent Me is with Me; the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." John 8:29. " Very good," was all that could be said of the first man, even in his best state, and before he had met Satan at all; and this was God's estimate of him. But God's estimate of the second Man can only be expressed when the Father's heart cries out from the opened Heavens, " This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Thus far, and we have seen: First, that responsibility always arises from relationship; that Adam's relationship was that of innocence in the Divine presence; that his responsibility was to walk in the relationship in simple obedience to the Divine will expressed, and this was morality. And to choose for himself, or to have a will of his own, in opposition to the Divine will was to sin, and bring in ruin upon himself and all below him, and that the forbidden tree was the test of obedience; hence the key to his standing was simply a question of will.
Second, that there was weakness in Adam's position, being a creature standing in his own strength; that the peculiar side of his weakness was his "helpmeet," who in the wisdom of God was allowed to become at once the channel of his ruin, and also of his redemption; and that the very point, morally, where he failed, is the very point where the "hope " of future and deeper blessing dawned through the " seed of the woman " that should bruise the serpent's head.
Third, that the creature will, being beguiled by Satan, becomes itself Satanic; and man morally as to his will, becomes a child of the Devil, while he establishes his freedom from God, (a free moral agency, but alway evil,) under the sentence of death.
God willing, our next paper will take up the question of his responsibility in the new state of things.
C. E. H.
Responsibility: Part 3, In the State of New Things
Our first parents, as we have seen, stood in Eden (the garden of God's delight); and were both of them naked and were not ashamed; now Satan enters, and "by one disobedience" the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked; and ashamed they retire among the trees of the garden (for they are no longer fit for God's delight) and immediately undertake to remedy the evil by sewing fig-leaves to cover their shame.
The new state of things is simply this, Adam has willed himself out of Eden, by willing himself into unfitness to remain in Eden, and can never will himself back again.
He has " become wise" to know good and evil. He knew good before. And now he knows evil also, and this has made him wise. He has attained knowledge, and knowledge puffeth up." He has gained a wisdom and knowledge which he can never lose. He has put himself into a state from which he can never recover himself. He cannot take back his lost innocence; he cannot put away his newly acquired knowledge, he cannot put away his sin, he is no longer fit for God's delight. " So He drove out the man." God had fitted him for blessing in His own presence; he has fitted himself for sorrow, misery and wrath, from which he can never recover himself, and what is more and still worse, it appears that he had no heart to recover himself, for when he found that his eyes had been opened by his act of disobedience, instead of turning to God, his only sure resource for help, he uses his newly acquired wisdom and knowledge to provide for himself in his new state.
This, then, is the new ground of his responsibility, not to recover what he had lost, for he had not power to do that,-and more, God had by "a flaming sword " made it forever impossible,-but to acknowledge God and take his place as a sinner, and thus abide his ruin until God should provide a better thing. Two things, then are here presented. For the man is a sinner, and his true resource is God; in the mercy of God; but since he has become wise he finds a resource in himself.
If God can have mercy, it is with respect to sin, and for a sinner He can provide a better thing, not restoration in Eden, for God never repairs a ruin which man has made, but always provides for Himself a better thing. And this he offers to the man as His own blessed remedy. Meanwhile God provides for the man in his new state, that which is a pledge and a type. of the future blessing. "Unto Adam also and to his wile did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them." Verse 21. It is very blessed to see, and to keep distinctly in mind this fundamental truth, that God alone was the man's resource in innocence, and is none the less so, but all the more, now that man is a sinner.
God was enough, enough, blessedly and forever more, for man in innocence; and is ENOUGH blessedly and forever more for man in sin and ruin. This is a truth everywhere acknowledged in theory, but alas! how sadly ignored in practice.
Man's responsibility in innocence, was, to maintain his place, in proper submission to the Divine will, and thus in absolute acknowledgment of his own dependence on God; and after he has lost that place of innocence, and has brought in an. entirely new state of sin, still God is his only' and absolute resource for blessing; and his responsibility now is, not to recover innocence, nor to recover Eden; but to take his place as a sinner in absolute dependence on God.
It was not a question of what man could do for himself as a sinner:•nor what he could do for God, not in the least; but it' was a question of acknowledging God who could have mercy with' -respect to sin, and do something for a sinner.' In a Word-, man's responsibility as a sinner was not to do for himself, neither' for God, for God had no need of anything from the hands of a sinner; but the sinner-had need of God to do 'something for him, and this is his responsibility, to wait on -God for it, in acknowledgment of his own place as a sinner, and God as the Giver,.
And: this is clear from the fact that no law was given to Adam out of Eden nor to man until twenty-five hundred years after, by Moses to Israel. But this- point will come up again, so we pass it now. Man's responsibility was to take and keep his place as a sinner before God and wait patiently on God for His word and His own appointed deliverance, and this was faith.
And this is very clearly set forth in the next chap., the 4th, in Cain and Abel. The first man "born of the flesh " was also born of " sinful flesh," and yet he does not take his place as such, nor acknowledge it at all.
He desires to acknowledge God; he brings an offering. But the sin-offering was not in it, and God could not ac. knowledge Cain. " Unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect." To reject the offering was to reject the one who offered it. By bringing an offering of the first fruit of the ground, he is willing to acknowledge God in His place, but refuses to identify himself in his own place, and this is clearly the ground on which he was rejected. Verse 7-"if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door," (a sin-offering croucheth at the door) i. e. a sin-offering such as Abel has brought is near at hand, and the way of acceptance is open to you also.
Here, surely, was mercy and forbearance on the part of God towards Cain, but he had no heart for it. There was forgiveness with God; and with Him plenteous redemption; but Cain wanted neither, he was willing to acknowledge God, but he did not want God. Cain may be very devotional, very pleasant in his address, very bland in the presentation of his offering; but it was all of the flesh, which cannot please God; and it was worse than' nothing for sin was there, which he refuses to acknowledge, and thus he insults God's holiness, by presenting the result of his own labor and the fruit of the ground which had been cursed. Thus, in a word, he in self-will presumes to please God with that which had first pleased himself. And this is the spirit of the world. Here is where the world began. 1st John 2:15-17. A willingness to acknowledge God, but an unwillingness to identify itself in its true place and character before God. But the opposite of this we get in Abel, the first man of faith mentioned in the Bible. (Heb. 11:4, Gen. 4:4.) Abel does not bring an offering with a view to please himself, but with a view to please God.
How full of preciousness, to turn away from that which pleases man, to that which pleases God. Hence he comes with the firstling of his flock; and in this we have, first the acknowledgment of God in His place,,(an offering)) second, the firstling of his flock (a sin offering), in this he takes his own place before God; and third, how shall he present it? By the shedding of blood; for " without shedding of blood there is no remission." "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect."
Dear reader, do you see the difference between Cain's presumption and Abel's faith? Cain's position was one of self-will, self-righteousness, and lawlessness. Abel's. position is exactly the opposite; no confidence in himself or the flesh, no setting up of his own will or preference, no thought of pleasing himself, but as a simmer under judgment he takes his place; he bows before God in complete acknowledgment of what was due to God's holiness, while he takes that which belongs to himself as a sinner; and this is the place of blessing. Here is where he finds God's heart, and how soon is he ushered into the presence of the One whose heart had found so supreme a satisfaction in the faith which had so fully honored Himself. Abel's offering proved Abel's faith. Cain's offering proved his unbelief, and his murder brought out his lawlessness: From this point we see the two things very clearly set forth in the word of God. First, lawlessness, as exemplified in Cain, which is' the spirit of "this present evil -world" and of Satan as the god of this world, for twenty-five hundred years, until the law. Second, faith as exemplified in Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and others.
C. E. H.
Responsibility: Part 4, With Respect to the Law
To see man's responsibility with respect to law, is another very important point, before we can see clearly, and understand intelligently, his relationship and responsibility with respect to the gospel. And here much injury is done to souls from confounding the two things, viz: (the law as given by Moses, and the gospel.)
The two things being so distinctly separate, and we might say opposite, the one to the other; we have only to take heed to the testimony of the word in order to see the difference, and be convinced of the impossibility of knowing both,-the law and the gospel, by mixing them together, as is often done; by claiming justification from the condemnation of the law, through the gospel, and at the same time claiming the law as the rule of life for the daily walk of the justified man.
No man can serve two masters; for he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Matt. 6:24.
The law as given by Moses, is not the same as Jesus Christ; though it was the same God who gave both; and if the law is my master, (and in order to be the rule for my life it must be my master) than Christ cannot be my master.
Or, if Christ be my master, then the law cannot be, for I cannot have two, and hence it cannot be the rule for my life, since Christ who is my master, is also the law and rule for my life. So again, if I am justified by the law, then it is the law which gives the ground of my justification, the ground of my relationship, and the ground of my responsibility; hence the rule for my life. But if, on the other hand, I am "justified by Christ;" then He is the ground of my relationship, and responsibility, hence the rule and law for my life. But again, if I claim justification by the deeds of the law, it must be on the ground that I have perfectly kept it; and in order to have perfectly kept it, I must have begun without sin in the start, for it would be absurd, to claim that I have kept the law while I was all the time a sinner; and if 1 have not kept it, then I am cursed by it, and if cursed, then I am not justified at all. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the BOOK of the law to do them." Gal. 3:10. The Book of the law, is clearly the book of Leviticus, and the word does not make any exception, for it is the book of the law, not "the moral law," as many would have us believe; for the Scripture says nothing of a moral law, but it does speak of "a fiery law," and of the law given by Moses. But we will suspend this line of thought for a little, and turn our attention in another direction.
And it is well to remark, first of all, that there are many wrong views entertained upon this subject; of which we have need to disabuse ourselves, before we can look in the right direction. For the color of the medium through which we look, will tinge every object at which we look. For instance; that which has been erroneously misnamed, the moral law, with many, occupies the first place, or is of the chiefest authority; and hence everything in the Bible must be interpreted so as to harmonize with that view.
Now while we would not in the least lower the standard of morality in the mind of any, much less, in the mind of any dear child of God; neither would we detract in the least from the importance, authority and jurisdiction of the law of Moses; yet, we would seek to have the mind of every one, so well informed on the subject as to give it just the place which it occupies in the mind of God, as regards this present dispensation.
For this only, can truly honor God, and that which does most truly honor God, will result in greatest blessing to souls. Now when we speak of law, we would be understood as referring to the law of Sinai as given by Moses, and never to moral law. For we know but little about moral law. All of our ideas, are relative. And God has dealt with us relatively. We know but' little of things in the absolute, when speaking of God and His works. So that, if God should give us what He would be pleased to call a moral law, we have but very little conception of what it would be. We judge relatively as to what is morality, and what immorality, from what God has revealed.
But when God said to Moses, " Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live." Ex. 33;20. It is plain that the absolute is intended; while again it is said in the ninth verse, "And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." And Jesus said, " No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him," gives us the only thing possible for us, the relative.
Now then we will note a few points upon which the word is very Clear and plain. And first, The law was not given until Moses, and had no jurisdiction or authority over man, until twenty-five hundred years after Adam went out of Eden. Now the law says, Lev. 24:17, "And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death." But Cain slew his brother, and instead of this law being executed upon him, God said, "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any one finding him should kill him." Gen. 4:15. Also, Rom. 5:13, " For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no. law." Here the truth is acknowledged which was implied in the case of Cain. "The law was given by Moses." John 1:17. "Did not Moses give you the law." John 7:19.
Second. The law was given to Israel exclusively, and never to the Gentiles, and its jurisdiction and authority applied to Israel only, and never to the nations. Ex. 20:2, "I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." And then follows, what is called the ten commandments, with other statutes and ordinances. The book of Leviticus opens with, "Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them,"-and closes with, " These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai."
And in the 26 chap. 45th verse, " But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord." These are the statutes, and judgments, and laws, which the Lord made between him, and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. And there are scores of just such passages in the Old Testament. These passages, with many like them, show conclusively, when, and to whom, the law was given.
And now as to the nations, we have one passage in the 14th of Acts, which is very clear, Paul says to the men of Lystra, 16th verse, " Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways." But again, we find when Jonah was sent to Ninevah, it was not a question of, law-breaking; and in the prophecies, where Babylon, Egypt, Tire, Sidon, and even Edom, (who was the brother of Israel, and seed of Abraham,) or others,-we find it was never a question of law; God never threatens judgment on them because they have not walked in His commandments, statutes and ordinances; nor does He say, ye have forsaken me, mine ordinances, my law,-but these are common expressions in the word of the Lord to Israel.
Another fact worthy of note, we get in the New Testament, is, that when Jews or Israelites to whom the law was given, came to Jesus with questionings, in many cases He put them upon the law. But when the Roman centurion,-the woman of Samaria,-and of Syrophonecia,- any of the outcasts who could not, or did not, set up a claim on the ground of law,-came to Jesus, He met them in grace, and did not refer them to the law.
How very blessed it is for us Gentiles to see that we can be, and are, received on the ground of grace, pure grace. The law required man to do something for God;, but grace reveals God as doing something for man, while as yet he had no strength and no heart to do anything for God. And this is clearly set forth in the case of the Prodigal. His brother could say, " neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment." But he could not claim anything, and yet he could receive everything. Blessed be God. This is what we need. His brother knew grace only to despise it, while he stood on the ground of having kept his father's commandment. But the Prodigal knew law only in the bitter cup of its judgments which he had tasted in the far country where sin abounded, and he knew grace, now, much more abounding, in the father's kiss, the father's arms, the father's honor and trust; and that grace had given him now a better heart in himself, and a better rule by which to walk. A deeper sense of his father's love, and a lower place of humiliation, from which to receive a correspondingly higher exaltation in his father's presence.
Dear reader, do you know anything of this? On which side of the father do you stand? Are you occupied with what you are doing for God? Or are you occupied with what God has done for you? Are you trying to find in yourself some good doing, good feeling or good experience by which to make a fair estimate of yourself? Or, are you self-emptied, like the Prodigal, adoring the grace that could do such wonderful things for a lost sinner. It may be very comforting to the flesh to say, "all these things have I kept from my youth up." But that thing, " the flesh," God can never save at all, nor any of its works.
C. E. H.
Responsibility: Part 5, Concluded
Third. Another point which should be noticed in this connection is, that when the Holy Ghost set up the church on the day of Pentecost, and thence forward, the law was not brought in as the order by which the church was to be governed; but on the other band, while Jewish disciples and Judaizing teachers from time to time are dragging in the law, the Holy Ghost is, at the same time working to put it out: and we need only refer to one chapter in the Acts, the 15th, (though there are many other portions,) to settle the point to the satisfaction of every candid inquirer after truth. The first verse, " And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small discussion and disputation with them they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question..... And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together for to consider this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto -them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a great while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe..... And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"
Note particularly this last verse, " Why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear." And James adds his sentence, "That we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: For Moses of old time
Mark this declaration of the word of God dear reader, -a For it SEEMED GOOD TO THE HOLY GHOST, and to us," day the apostles and elders and church, at Jerusalem, " to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." What necessary things!? That though, undo' grace, they were under the law as well? No I For the law was the very yoke, which those to whom it was given, were not able to bear. The conclusion is inevitable, that they as Gentiles Were not to be in bondage to a system, which, those to whom it was given, as Jews, were not _able to bear, And be it remembered, they did not divide the system, by saying, the ceremonial and the civil law are not binding, but the moral law is. And for the simple reason, that the Holy Ghost had never recognized such a distinction.
And still another thought deserves our notice for a moment; as it is often supposed the word " commandment " in the New Testament, is a reference to the law of Moses.
Now this word " commandment" is often used in scripture when it does not refer to the law at all; but simply the word of God, as doctrine, and so of the word " law."
" Thy law is my delight," 119th Psalm. Here °the word translated law, is used 25 times, and in the 19th Psalm 7th verse, (see margin,) so also in the prophets. And in the gospels, John 10;18, " This commandment have I received of my Father." Also, John 12:49-50, " but the Father which hath sent me, He gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should preach. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting." These passages and many more like them, show, of themselves, that it is not a reference to the law of Moses at all. Com. John 14,15,21,23 and 24.
The law is not abrogated, nor set aside. It has its place, and its power; and if I claim to walk by it, its place and power, is to curse me now, just as much as anciently to curse the Jew or Israelite, and instead of honoring the law I am breaking it, and thus dishonoring God.-Rom. 2:25, " Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?" There is, then, but one way to honor the law, and that is, to take the sentence of death which it gives, as Paul says, Gal. 2:19, "1 through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God." What claim has the law upon a dead man?
To recapitulate.. We have seen that the law was not given until Moses,-twenty-five hundred years after Adam went out of Eden; and then, only to Israel, and not to the nations or Gentiles; and that it was never acknowledged by the Holy Ghost and the apostles, as the standard for the church.
We come now to consider three other points, viz., For what was the law. given? Why is not the Christian under it, as a rule of life; and what is the rule of life for the child of God? To the first question this answer comes up first of all: That man having ruined himself, has ruined everything which God has committed to him, i. e., he has failed utterly to meet his responsibilities. Adam first failed, Noah failed, Abraham failed, Moses failed, Israel under the law failed-, the church also has grievously failed.
Not as regards the councils of God,-that-He should present it to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing-for that is the rock against which the gates of hell shall not prevail,-hut as regards its responsibility in the world, it has utterly failed, and, we ourselves have utterly failed, and nothing but ruin surrounds us in this scene here below.
The two grand elements of sin and ruin, lust and self-will," sin in the flesh" are the ruling elements in everything around us. These were born in Eden the first-begotten of Satan, in the first Adam, and are never remedied, but cast out only by the power of the Second Man, the Only-begotten 'of God. Man having thus failed, the law comes in by the way to bring out transgression and make it more apparent, and was thus the last great test of man in responsibility. So that when Christ comes, it is no longer a question of human responsibility, but of the grace of God, for man has been tried every way, and found wanting, no good, no righteousness in him, according to Rom. 3:9-20.
Mark well this passage, dear reader. It is not a question here, of relative good, one man toward another, but of absolute good; that which can stand before God. For man, in order to stand before God must have righteousness; not human righteousness, but divine righteousness. And that is not a thing inherent in sinful flesh at all, and never can be, for it was not in Adam before he sinned, much less after he had sinned. Hence the answer to our first question comes out again, in Rom. 5:20, "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound." The life of sin was there, and it only needed the law to bring out its fruit to perfection. Hence Rom. 7, " I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupicence; for without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." 1 Tim. 1:9, " Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers -of mothers, for man-slayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for man stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." These scriptures are very 'clear, very definite, they need no comment. They show for what and for whom the law was given.
Secondly. 'Why is not the christian under it as a rule of life? And first, because lie is a christian. To be a christian, is to be in a new state altogether. Not in the old first Adam condition, but in the condition of the Second Man, the Lord from heaven. Hence God's reckoning for the child of God, is, " after the image of Him that created him." To be born of God is to be a son of God, which Adam never was. Rom. 8:9, " But ye are not in the flesh, (the first Adam state,)• but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. And if Christ be in you the body (the first Adam state and condition,) is dead, (not going to die, nor yet dying, but dead, Is DEAD) because of sin." When and where did it die? Rom. 6, " Knowing this that our old man, (the first Adam state before God,) is crucified with Him, that the body of sin, (the old state of self-will and lust.) might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we, (as to our old state,) be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died He died unto sin once, but in that He liveth He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves, (as to your old state,) to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
This is all in the reckoning of faith; while as a matter of fact you are still in the body, and the same body of sin, not a whit changed, the old state of self-will and lust are there, but held in subjection by the power of the Second Man, brought in by faith, to wait for His coming to quicken these mortal, or corruptible bodies, as the case may be, "into the likeness of His glorious body." Hence the exhortation which follows, " Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead." So that, here in the sixth of Romans it is a crucified, dead, and buried Christ; which gives to faith the ground of death, to the old state, and a risen, living, and ascended Christ which gives to faith a new life, a new path, and a new rule by which to walk. And in the seventh chapter it is the same principle of death and life which gives to faith the ground of deliverance from the law. For the law applied to the old state; it was given to the man in the flesh; it was for the old man not for the the new, as we have seen.
Hence, to faith, the old state-and condition of "sin in the flesh" being dead, as " crucified with Him," the law is honored, yea, " magnified and made honorable," for it has had its claim settled, and its prisoner is discharged through death. Rom. 7:6, " But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were held, (our old state to which the law applied,) that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."
It is not that the law is dead, but that the old state to which the law applied, is dead to faith, and you, (if a believer " in the heart unto righteousness,") are in a new state before God.
It is not that you are discharged from responsibility, but that your responsibility is increased immeasurably, inasmuch as, " He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as he He walked." 1 John 2:6.
Hence the exhortation of the 12th and last five chapters of Romans; the cutting rebukes, and the pungent teaching of first and second Corinthians. The blessed doctrine of acceptance in the Beloved; our standing in Him, yea, raised up together and made sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and, flowing out there from, the practical instruction of last three chaps of Ephs.
In the book of Galatians, we get another effort of the Holy Ghost through the apostles to bring back the church from the spirit of legalism and law, into which they had been beguiled, by Judaizing teachers; and is of itself a complete answer to our second question, Why is not the christian under the law? " Having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh "? Gal. 3. To go back to law, was to let the old man loose, which by faith, had been bound in death, in the sixth of Romans, For wherever it is a question of law, it must of necessity be with the old man alive, the old state of the flesh, and sin in the flesh to which the law applied. For I cannot apply the law to " the new man," for he has a far better, higher and more perfect rule, of which the fourth of Ephesians and the third of Colosians form a part only.
But the new man, what has the law to do with him? What had the law to do with Jesus? It was not a rule of life for Him, surely. He kept it perfectly, no doubt, and was the only man who ever did. But He did much more than that, for the law said, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But Jesus said, " resist not evil," and He lived it.
The law said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy." But Jesus said, " love your enemies, bless them that curse you, bless and curse not," and He lived this also.
He loved His enemies and gave Himself to reproach, His face to spitting, and His back to smiting, and His life in death, for the very hands that shed His blood. The law did not require anything like this, and in this also we are to follow His steps, if the will of God be so. And this brings out the answer to our third question, What is the rule of life for the child of God? " He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked. C. E. H.
(Concluded from page 54.)
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Q.-What is the meaning of the passage in Matt. 12:43-45?
A.-To be understood this passage must be taken in connection with that which preceeds it. The Lord had just cast a devil out of a blind and dumb man. Jealous of the Lord, and hostile to the testimony of God, the Pharisees, while admitting that real devils were cast out by Him, deliberately attributed the power by which He did this, to Satan. This was not only the rejection of Himself, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, i.e.. to allow the activity of a power which could only be of God, and then attribute it to Satan. Not only could this sin not be pardoned, but it proved they were "a generation of vipers." To seek further signs of His power, while rejecting the clearest evidence of divine power then in their midst, in the casting out of devils, was the request of "an evil and adulterous generation," that the Lord would not gratify, for it was unbelief and rebellion that prompted the request.
As a nation they despised the Gentiles-a people under the power of Satan, worshipping idols, but Gentiles were better than they were, for the Ninevites had repented at the preaching of Jonah; and a greater than Jonah was there. Dark and ignorant as the Gentiles were, the Queen of the South had come a long distance to see Solomon, attracted by the report of his wisdom, but a greater than Solomon was there, and they would not listen to Him. True they were not idolaters worshipping stocks and stones under Satan's power; outwardly they had been delivered from his power, but at heart they were worse than even Gentiles, they were "an evil and adulterous generation" against whom the Gentiles, they so despised, should testify, but more than that, they should be judged for this rejection of Himself, by being delivered over again to the power of the unclean spirit of idolatry from which they boasted they had been delivered.
The passage we are considering is the pronouncing of this doom on the nation of Israel by the Lord, which He concludes by saying, "even so shall it be also with this generation." The state of Israel in the last days should be worse than that which it was before they had been separated from the nations by the knowledge of the one true God. At the moment when Christ was speaking they were like a house "swept and garnished." They were moral and religious, but that was no security against the unclean spirit re-possessing himself of his old house.
indeed he would come back with sevenfold power, and lead them to their own destruction by inciting them to madness against God, and those who worship Him. This passage, therefore, has no reference to the present ways of God with christians, nor is its application individual.