The Sin against the Soldier and the Saviour

A SOLDIER said to a Christian the other day, “THEY TELL US IF WE DIE IN BATTLE WE SHALL BE SURE TO GO TO HEAVEN.” Thus advantage has been taken of the undoubted bravery and self-sacrifice of our soldiers to minimize the work of the Redeemer. The sacrifice of these human lives is set forth as being sufficient to merit heaven without the atoning work of Christ. What an awful departure from the truth of God is this! To show how this heresy is spreading, we hear of a preacher telling his audience that “in the presence of the dead soldier we are standing on holy ground,” that to die in such a war as this is “a passport to heaven,” that death in such a cause “is but a modern re-enacting of the sacrifice of Christ Himself.”