Hebrews 6 promises “full assurance of hope unto the end” ( v .l l ) ; becáuse “it was impossible for God to lie, we . . . have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (v.18); “ an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast” (v.19); “ even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (v.20), an eternal order culminating in Christ, the “ once for all” offering. Shall we deny that God cannot lie, by doubt ing that the anchor is both sure and stedfast? What sort of a refuge, if sin can reach us through Christ to damn us again? Further definite declaration that the born-again condition is an undying one is found in First Peter 1:23: “ Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” “ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:16). Note “ that we are”—not every minute, or month or year, but a continuous and continuing experience. John 1:13 says, “born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” If born of God, then kept by God! “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform [or maintain] it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). Further unqualified assurance is found in First Peter 1: 3-5: “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrec tion of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and unde filed . . . reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” Paul expresses similar assurance: “ The testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God . . . we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are our’s in the day of the Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 1:12,14). If these Christians could be lost again, how could Paul write under inspiration with such confidence? He does not say to the elect at Colosse, “ if ye seek the things which are above, ye are risen with Christ,” but because ye are risen with Christ it is natural “ to set your affection on things above” (3:2), “ put off the old man” (v.9), and “ on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (v.10). If our lives are hid with Christ in God, we set at nought everything Christ did if we believe that sin to the loss of salvation can reach us in spite of His shed blood. Well might Paul say, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34), pleading His shed blood, and our faith in Him. Will God refuse to hear His plead ing? (CONTINUED NEXT MONTH)
the devil’s family into God’s, and back again, ad infinitum. We have natural birth into Satan’s family, but a spiritual birth into God’s. The Greek translation “ doth not commit sin,” actually means “ doth not practice.” First John 1 clarifies the thought. “ If we say that we have not sinned [past tense] we make him a liar” (v.10). “ If
God's Word does move some to a moral housecleaning, sometimes mistaken for conversion, even to the extent of preach ing the gospel, as some have testified after their ultimate real conversion ex perience. Jesus Himself spoke of these: “The last state of that man is worse than the first” (Matt. 12:43-54). The parable of the sower (Matt. 13:3-9) is helpful in this respect, and it is further emphasized by Heb. 6:4-6: “ For it is im possible for those who were once en lightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, And the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Nowhere in this or any other passage does the Apostle admit that a truly redeemed person can be lost. He simply states that if such an one could fall away, he could not be re saved. This is why keeping, as well as saving, depends on the unfailing mercy and grace of God. While such persons would “ crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,” it would be of no avail, seeing that He Himself “ needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his Mr. Douglas C. Hartley we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (v.8). Jamieson, Faussett and Brown comment respecting this verse: “Have, not have had, must refer not to the past sinful life whilst unconverted, but to the present state wherein believers have sin even still”. Again we emphasize, salva tion cannot be lost—but its joy can be. This was David’s experience following his sin over Bathsheba. “ Restore unto me,” he prayed in Psalm 51:12, “the joy of thy salvation.” There is one respect in which believers sin equally with unbelievers, so that in thinking continuously about our own restoration instead of putting all our being into love for God and our neigh bor, we would be out of grace again al most as soon as forgiven. Has anyone ever proved the possibility of loving God “with all [his] heart, and with all [his] soul, and with all [his] mind . . . and [his] neighbour as [himself]” on which Jesus said in Matt. 22:40 “hang all the law and the prophets” ? What then is sin as here referred to? The argument is for habitual sin—prac ticed lawlessness and anarchy against God. “ Doth” implies wilful accomplish ment; “commit” to pledge or bind one self to a definite course. Literally, there fore, “ Whosoever is born of God doth not wilfully determine to bind himself to habitual lawlessness and anarchy against God;” and if he does sin in single acts, wittingly or otherwise, the blood of Christ and His imputed righteousness covers every sin of the penitent—past, present and future. T H E K I N G 1S B U S I N E S S Page Ten
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