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February 1930
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(u e t o ÌLTH The Salvation of Scripture—The Source B y B. B. S utcliffe Portland, CTregon
cannot evolve into something different. The Scriptures declare this again and again. “ Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots?” ( Jer. 13:23). “ Who can bring a clean thing out o f an unclean? Not one” (Job 14:4). “ That which is born o f the flesh is flesh” (Jno. 3 :6 ). The Ethiopian may be educated but the color re mains ; the leopard may be tamed but the spots remain ; the flesh may be improved and cultured but the nature remains. All the efforts of the natural man to regain what was lost in the Fall, and his struggles against what was gained in the Fall—the old nature— result only in disappoint ment and despair. Hence salvation does not come by any degree, however great, of goodness or morality to which the natural man may attain. We are plainly told that it is “ not by works o f righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing o f regeneration and renezving o f the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3 :5 ). Third, it does not come by organized society. It is “ not by the will o f man.” Man cannot by organized effort regenerate or make anew the heart, and it is in the heart of man that the difficulty lies. “ God saw that the wicked ness o f man was great in the earth, and that every imagi nation o f thè thoughts o f his heart was only evil con tinually” (Gen. 6 :5 ). This passage teaches that man’s conduct is evil, he does wicked deeds ; man’s condition is evil, the wicked deeds rise from wicked desires ; and man’s character is evil, the wicked desires rise from the wicked heart. We are not surprised, then, to read what the prophet says '.-A‘ The heart o f man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). And the Prophet of prophets teaches the same thing when he says, “ For from within, out o f the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, . . . . pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from with in,” out of the heart (Mark 7 :21-23).' It is not surprising therefore that God desires to give man a new heart. It is useless for man to hope for salvation by obeying the laws of eugenics, or from a change in environment, or better legislation, or higher education, or from any of the schemes to which man turns in preference to God’s way. These expedients are all good in their place, but at the best they touch only the outer man and not the inner being that is really man. They are all good for their pur pose but their purpose is not for salvation. It is still true that “ none . . . can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” (Psa. 49:7). Hence, in the light of what has been written, salvation does not come by earthly but by heavenly parentage; not by natural but by supernatural generation; not by human volition but by divine grace and power. B ut of G od By this threefold exclusion of any human effort im mense force is given to the words— “ but o f God.” The fall has plunged man into total ignorance of God and His grace. “ The world hath not known thee” (the Father) (Jno. 17:25). “None o f the princes o f this world knew” (the Son) ( 1 Cor. 2 :8 ). “ The Spirit o f truth
“He came unto his own and his own received him not . But as many as received him , to them gave he power to become the sons o f God , even to them that believe on his name : which were iborn , not of . blood , nor of the will of the flesh , nor of the will o f man , but o f God ."—John 1 :11-13. HE birth spoken of in the above passage is the new birth, regeneration, or salvation. It is a change so great that no other figure than that of birth can adequately express it. It is the beginning of something never before known or seen upon earth. This is the first time in the Scriptures that the new birth is mentioned by name, and the Holy Spirit appar ently has taken pains to guard it from errors. He plainly declares what it does not come from and as plainly tells what it does come from. N ot of M an There are three popular errors which have sprung up in the thinking of Christendom that are absolutely contra dicted in this passage by the Holy Spirit. First, it does not come from human ancestry. It is “ not o f blood." It does not come by natural descent from Abraham, nor from any godly parentage. The child of godly parents is in every way to be envied, but grace does not descend from father to son by natural generation. It is only the “ old nature” which is received from earthly parentage, The whole race was in Adam when he fell and hence it is the fallen nature alone which is received by natural generation. Salvation comes, not by earthly but by heavenly par entage; not by natural but by supernatural generation. If it be by earthly parentage then certainly there were some members of the human race irremediably shut out from participation in salvation. Jesus said to some of His day, “ I f ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works o f Abraham. But . . . ye do the works o f ycmr father. . . . Ye are o f your father the devil, and the lusts o f your father ye will do’’ (John 8:39-44). They were Abraham’s children by natural generation, but spiritually they were children of the devil. Hence grace does not and cannot be passed on from father to son by natural gen eration. By these words of Jesus Christ the modern idea of the universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man receives its death blow, at least for all who are amenable to the teachings of our Lord. There are many who express the wish to get back to “ the plain, simple, teachings of Christ,” but they determinedly pass over much o f His teaching and adopt only as much as agrees with their theories. All men.are creatures of God by creation, but some are children of God by birth. By nature all men are on the same level, whether Christian or pagan, Gentile or Jew. Indeed, the standing of some among the more en lightened ones is worse than as though they were utterly pagan. It is written that “ it had been better for them not to have known the way o f righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment de livered unto them’’ (2 Pet. 2:21). Second, it does not come from self-effort. It is “ not by the will o f the flesh.’’ Nature cannot change itself, it
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