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that man will never die, but in Christ hé has victory over death. Thus also we are to overcome poverty, igno rance, and weakness so prevalent in the world. We are to triumph over temptation, sin, and even the gates of hell itself. The principle d e c l a r e d by John, which gives us victory over the world, is our faith. The beginning of this f a i t h is the actual conviction that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I do not mean by that that Jesus was a superman, but that Jesus actually was the Son of God as thé Bible declares Him to be, born of a virgin, living a sinless life, performing' miracles, dy ing on the cross as a substitute for men and man’s sin, rising again, and now exercising the powers of deity.
Christ in us who affords divine ac tivity on our behalf, which gives us the victory. Thus Paul could say, and we can say with him, “I can do all, things through Christ w h i c h strengtheneth me.” If God withheld not His own Son but freely delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him f r e e l y give us all things? In Christ, we are on the road to victory. A third factor enters, however, into the means of our victory, and that is our willingness to wage warfare with the spiritual rather than the carnal weapons. •These spiritual weapons in clude prayer. One may be sure that day and night Paul was interceding for this Corinthian Church* and that through his intercession the Spirit of the living God was mightily persuad ing the Corinthian Christians to obey the Apostle’s exhortations and com mandments. Yet a n o t h e r spiritual weapon is the Word of God which is sharp and powerful and is able to di vide between the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Expert use in the Word of God is a weapon of spir itual victory. Likewise, the blood of the cross may be used as a weapon of victory. It was the shedding of this blood, namely, the giving of the life of the Son of God'in sacrifice, which won the great victory and which re- ■ peats victories in individual lives to day. Finally, we would but men tion the Spirit of the Lord as a weap on of warfare, for he who possesses the Spirit of Christ knows the mind of the Lord, is able to do his work in the power of the Spirit, is most equipped for Christian warfare. Victory Won by Faith The Apostle John declared, “What soever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that* overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” One has defined the world as all that antagonizes God, God’s kingdom, His cause, His people, and His law. Whatever dims the sense of the divine or devitalises faith is, properly speaking, the world. “Who soever is overcome by the world is one who lets the present outweigh the future, who allows self to crowd out God, and the perishable to overshadow the eternal.” If we, in turn, overcome this world, we must have victory over piain, over anxiety, and over death it self, with all that is included in these three great words. We do not say that a man will never be concerned, but we do believe that in God he will have the vietory over his concern. We do not say that a man shall never have pain, but we believe that in God he shall have victory over his pain. We do not say
To all those who thus believe on Christ and commit themselves to Christ, God gives the promise that they are born again, and whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. That is the promise made to those who are re generated, that- is, to those who have received the divine life by faith in Christ and who have bqcome kindred with God. Is it not wonderful how. the Bible begins so much of its teach ing with this essential step of being born again? It is so here, and it' is so with all the matters of the king dom. • Thus this promised victory is a faith victory. It is by faith that' we are united to the great Victor, Christ, and it is this Christ who alwaya causes us to triumph.
.Dr. Talbot's Question Box Questions for answer in this department' should be sent to the E d i t o r i a l Department, THE KING’S BUSINESS, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 13, Calif.
angel Gabriel, announced Christ’s coming birth to ’ Mary he said, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over shadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called ,the Son of God” (Lk. 1:35). At the time of our Lord’s bap tism, God’s voice was heard saying of Christ, “This is my belovec Son,, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Other références to this event are found in Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22. Also, we find Christ’s claim of Himself as the §on in these words from- John 10:30: “I and my Father are one.” Many Scripture references to this claim may be found, three of which are the following: Matthew 10:32, 33; John 14:9; 20:17. QUE.: Can a murderer be saved ? Yes; the repentant thief on the cross was a murderef and a robber, and yet Christ said to him, “Today shalt thou be with me iq paradise” (Lk. 23:43). David was a murderer, but.he was for given. Murder is a terribie sin. But we must be careful not to limit the power and the grace of God. And we must be careful not to put a difference between the self-righteous, moral man and the sinner who acknowledges his great wrong. In the sight of God, sin is sin, and “ all have sinned, ahd come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Only the blood of Christ can save the self-respecting man, and only the blood of Christ can save the acknowl edged thief and murderer.
QUE.: Did Christ die as God or did He die as man? In response to your, question as to whether Christ died on the cross as God or man, we would say that when the words, “ I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” came from the lips of Christ in the garden (John 17:4), and “ It is finished” (John 19:30), from those same lips while He was hanging on the cross, we recognize the voice of both God and man. Our Lord came to earth in the form of flesh, according to God’s plan. When He took upon Him our human nature, He did not cease to be God. We cannot single out any particular incident in the life of Christ and say that in it He was found either entirely as man, or entirely as God. As God manifested in the flesh He lived on the earth and died on the cross. From the standpoint of pain, human feeling, reality of physical death, He died as man. However, it was not primarily the death of man, for the sacrifice of ; a human being only could not bring about ,the atone ment for sin and God’s forgiveness of it. It was the death of the second Person of the Trinity which took place on Calvary. QUE.: Why is Christ called “ God’ s Son” ? Regarding your inquiry as to why Christ is called God’s Son, we would answer that He is called the Son of God because God claimed Him as such. When God’s messenger, the
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