P lain T a lk A b o u t a Bible D octrine T h a t Is K ep t in th e B ackground T o d a y
BY SIR ROBERT ANDERSON
Degrees of Rewards and Punishm ents Man is a sinner ¡in v irtue both of what he is and what he does. We do what we ought not, and leave undone what we ought to do. For sin may be due to ignorance or carelessness, as well as to evil passions which incite to acts th a t stifle conscience and outrage law. And we have seen also th a t every sin gives rise to two g reat questions which need to be distinguished, though they are in a sense inseparable. The one finds expression in th e formula, “ guilty or not guilty,” and in respect of th is no element of lim itation Or degree is pos sible. But after verdict, sentence; and when punishm ent is in question, degrees of gu ilt are infinite. It has been said th a t no two of the redeemed will have the same heaven; and th a t in th a t sense no two of th e lost will have the same hell. This is not a concession to popular heresies on this subject. F o r the figment of a hell of lim ited duration eith er traduces th e character of God, or practically denies the work of Christ. If the extinction of being were th e fate of th e impenitent, to keep them in suffering for an aeon or a century would savor of th e cruelty of a ty ran t who, having decreed a crim inal’s death, deferred th e execution of the sentence in order to to rtu re him. F ar worse indeed than this, for, ex hy- pothesi, the resurrection of th e un ju st could have no other purpose than to in crease th e ir capacity for suffering. Or, if we adopt the altern ative heresy— th a t hell is a punitive and pu rgatorial dis cipline through which th e sinner will pass to heaven—we disparage the atone ment and underm ine the tru th of grace.
HOUGH th e supreme Issue of th e destiny of men does not aw ait th a t awful inquest, “ judgm ent to come” is a real ity for all. For it is of the
people of God th a t th e Word declares “we shall all stand before the judg m ent seat of Christ,” and every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10, 12). And the judgm ent will bring rew ard to some and loss to others. Incalculable harm results from th a t sort of teaching which dins into the ears of the unconverted th a t they have the power to live a pure and decent life, and which deludes the Christian into thinking th a t a t death he will forfeit his personality by losing all knowledge of the past, and th a t heaven is a fool’s paradise where w aters of Lethe will wipe out our memories of earth. “We must all be made m anifest before the judgm ent-seat of Christ, th a t each one may receive th e things done in th e body, according to what he h ath done, .w hether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5 :1 0 ). But tliis judgm ent of “ th e bema of Christ” has only an -incidental bearing on the theme of th e present article, and >it must not be confounded with the judgm ent of th e “ g reat white th ron e.” From judgm ent in th a t sense th e believer has absolute immunity: “ he cometh not into judgm ent, bu t h ath passed out of death in to life” (John 5: 24), is th e Lord’s explicit declaration. He gives th e “ rig h t to become the children of God” “ to them th a t believe on His nam e” (John 1 :1 2 ); and it is not by recourse to a crim inal court th a t we deal w ith the lapses and misdeeds of our children.
Made with FlippingBook HTML5