T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S If th e prisoner gains his discharge by serving out his sentence, where does grace come in? And if th e sinner’s sufferings can expiate his sin , th e most th a t can be said for th e death of Christ 's th a t it opened a sho rt and easy way to the same goal th a t could be reached by a tedious and painful journey. But fu rth er, unless th e sinner is to be made righteous and holy before he en ters hell— and in th a t case, why not le t him en ter heaven a t once?— he will con tinue unceasingly to sin; and as every fresh sin will involve a fresh penalty, his punishm ent can never end. F alse A rgument Every treatise in support of these heresies relies on th e argum ent th a t th e words in our English Version, which connote endless duration, represent words in th e original text which have no significance. B u t th is argum ent is ex ploded by th e fact th a t th e critic would be compelled to use these very words if he were set the task of tran slating our version into Greek. F o r th a t language has no other term inology to express th e thought. And yet it is by trad ing on ad captandum argum ents of this kind, and by th e prejudices which are n a tu r ally excited by partial or exaggerated statem ents of tru th , th a t these heresies win th eir way. A ttention is th u s di verted from th e insuperable difficulties which beset them , and from th e ir b ear ing on th e tru th of the atonement. But Christianity sweeps away all these errors. The God of Sinai has not repented of His thunders, bu t He has fully revealed H imself in Christ. And th e wonder of th e revelation is not pun ishm ent b u t pardon. The g reat mys te ry of th e Gospel is how God can be ju st and yet th e Justifier of sinful men. And th e Scriptures which reveal th a t mystery make it clear as ligh t th a t this is possible only th rough redemption: “not th a t we loved God, b u t th a t He loved us, and sent His Son to be th e propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:
1203 10). Redemption is only and altogether by the death of Christ. “F o r God so loved th e world, th a t He gave His only begotten Son, th a t whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, b u t have everlasting life” (John 3 :1 6 ). To bring in lim itations h ere is to lim it God. The Cross of Christ In the wisdom of God th e full reve lation of “ etern al judgm ent” and the doom of the lost, awaited the supreme m anifestation of divine grace and love in th e Gospel of Christ; and when these aw ful them es are separated from th e Gospel, tru th is presented in such a false perspective th a t it seems to savor of error. F o r not even th e divine law and th e penalties of disobedience will enable us to realize arig h t th e gravity and heinousness of sin. This we can learn only a t th e Cross of Christ. Our estim ate of sin will be proportionate to our appreciation of th e cost of our re demption. Not “ silver and gold”— human standards of value are useless here—b u t “ th e precious blood of Christ.” Seemingly more unbelievable th an th e w ildest superstitions of human cults is th e Gospel of our salvation. T h at He who was “Son of God” in all which th a t title signifies— God mani fest in th e flesh; for “all things were made by Him, and w ithout Him was not anything made th a t was made”— came down to earth , and having lived in re jection and contempt, died a death of shame, and th a t in v irtu e of His death He is th e propitiation for th e world. (1 John 2:2, R. V..) Here, and only here, can we know the tru e character and depths of human sin, and here alone can we know, so far as the finite m ind can ever know it, th e wonders of a divine love th a t passes knowledge. And th e benefit is to “whosoever be lieveth.” It was by unbelief th a t man first tu rn ed away from God; how fit ting, then, it is th a t our re tu rn to Him should be by faith. If th is Gospel is
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