02.10. ESSAY NO. 10

ESSAY NO. 10

Thus far in the doctrinal portion of Galatians the following’ points stand out prominently: first, "The Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us" is the distinctive and unique possession of all Christians; second, since God’s absolute promise to Abraham was that all na­tions should be blessed through him, the law, which was given to Jews only, chiefly to demonstrate that they were inveterate transgressors of the law, can­not be the fulfillment of the ancient promise of world­wide blessing; third, inasmuch as every man fails to live up to law. he is under God’s curse of death, "kept in ward under the law shut unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed"; fourth, the Jewish Scrip­tures themselves declare that, "The righteous shall live by his faith," not by his self-righteousness.

All Jews were inexorably condemned by the moral laws of Moses, but, lest they lose heart and in utter despair give up the law altogether, their hope was fostered by the pictorial gospel in its types and sym­bols. Despair is good, when it becomes creative, as God intends it should, and leads sinners, under the conviction that law has no help for victims of law­lessness, to Christ. The Law As Tutor

"The law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Simul­taneously, the law was both jailor and tutor. It of­fered tutorial instruction and guardianship to the im­prisoned Jews; but incarceration and tutorage were to continue only until Christ, who would set them free and lift them out of bondage and pupilage into son-ship and inheritance. In the very nature of things, a tutor is for the immature, whose maturity will render the tutor, because his work is done, unnecessary. "But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor. For ye are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus ... ye are Abraham’s seed, heirs accord­ing to promise" (Galatians 3:25-29).

Man’s passing from law (the Mosaic covenant) to faith (the Christian covenant) shifts the emphasis from human to divine activity. Under law, men try to do something to win divine favor, and thus earn justification by their own doing. Under faith, God does something to win the favor of men, that they may trust him and accept a justification that is based on his doing. This forever separates the two cove­nants. Under faith, instead of men’s being justified by what they do for themselves, or do for Christ, they are justified by what Christ does for them. Under law, each man is for himself. He is safe only, if he does "all things that are written in the book of the law." If he sins, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Under law, no provision is made for a justification that is procured by another. Since man was bruised and put under a curse in Eden, Christianity is the only religion he has known that properly proportions di­vine and human activity. In this all-important mat­ter, all other religions, being falsely pivoted, are fun­damentally wrong and fatally perverted. To lead men to think they can weave these two con­tradictory systems together is probably the devil’s masterpiece of ingenuity, malice, and success. Paul advised a certain course for the church at Corinth, "that no advantage be gained over us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11). But are not some Christians today ignorant of his devices? It seems men can never learn that, "If the inheritance is of law, it is no more of promise"; that justification is not something earned by keeping law, but that it is a free gift of God’s grace. This attempt to com­bine the two covenants was the trouble in Galatia long ago. Is it not a prevalent trouble in the church to­day? Fallen man has naturally a Judaizing bias. Why do we, as if we mistrusted God’s promise to Abraham, made good to us in Christ, persist in trying to add the principle of law to the principle of faith? We must never forgot that the road to heaven not only begins in faith, but also continues all the way "from faith unto faith," never once shifting into the works of the flesh. Who can know how much Christ has been in the past, or is now, being straitened in the house of his friends by this insidious, satanic device?

"Baptized into Christ"

"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put oh Christ" (Galatians 3:27). This verse tells how men become "sons of God, through faith." A few years after Gentile Cornelius and his house became Chris­tians, Peter said that God "made no distinction be­tween us (Jews) and them, cleansing their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). Now turn to Acts 10:1-48, Acts 11:1-30 to see what occurred when their hearts were so cleansed. An angel said to Cornelius: "Fetch . . . Peter; who shall speak unto thee words whereby thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy house" (Acts 11:13-14). After Peter came, and while he was speaking the "words" that would save, the falling of the Holy Spirit upon his listeners suddenly interrupted him. But after the interruption, he finished his saving "words." Their faith in Christ led the Gentiles to repent and to be baptized in obedience to Peter’s command. The fact that Peter said not one word about the Holy Spirit proves that the Spirit’s coming was no part of Pet­er’s "words." God sent the Spirit, not to save Cor­nelius, but to convince Christian Jews that Christ was for Gentiles as well as for Jews. Thus, was Cornelius justified and cleansed by his faith as it obeyed. This way of cleansing hearts has never been, nor is it ever to be, changed, for Christ’s last charge to his apostles was: "Go ye therefore, and make disci­ples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I com­manded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:19-20). In this man­ner, fulfilling God’s ancient promise made to Abraham before there were any Jews, are Jews, Romans, Galatians, and all humanity to be saved. An actor, taking the part of Hamlet, tries to im­personate and reproduce him. Similarly, to "put on Christ" is, first, to put him on in baptism, then "fol­low his steps" and always be like him. According to the Bible and human experience too, the way for us really to get Christ on and be clothed in him is to let him, through the Holy Spirit, dwell in us, and take over our lives. Other ways get very imperfect like­ness, and easily lead into pride, pretense, and hypoc­risy. Said Christ: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy" (Luke 12:1).