Substitutes for Substitution
TV/IOREOVER, brethren, I declare unto ■*■ ■'■ you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received; and wherein ye stand. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have, believed in vain. For I delivered unto you FIRST OF ALL, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose the third day according to It is either the most wonderful truth ever revealed—or the biggest lie ever propagated. Suppose it is a lie from start to finish. What should be done with the fact that this gospel has had greater power to influ ence men for righteousness, than all the other truths ever ^uttered ? The biggest lie ever uttered????? What an extraordinary effect! Critics have sought to cut out the heart o f the gospel, and with what result? Worldliness, lust and devilishness follow in the wake o f any preaching that- deflies the gospel as proclaimed in the Scriptures. There is a lot o f preaching the devil likes to hear, because the heart o f the gospel is not in it, and it will therefore not be “the power of God unto salvation.” There is no substitute for the substitutionary death o f Jesus the Christ. Some men tell us-that Jesus was a MAN who did something or other which some how or other was in some way or other connected with man’s salvation. They say he was a simple historical figure and should be stripped o f the false ideas the apostles had about him. He was not “God mani the Scriptures.”— I Cor. 15:1-4. IS THIS GOSPEL TRUE?
fest in the flesh”Bhe was merely a beauti ful idyllic figure. This is their substitute for substitution. ' But why is it that ever since Jesus came into the world—thqusands upon thousands have insisted upon worshipping Him as God ? Why does .the feeling persist that between Him and all other men is an unbridgable chasm? Why have millions based their hopes o f 'salvation upon his substitutionary death and by what power have they been made "new creatures” through that belief?. There is no escaping the fact— there is an absolute uniqueness in Jesus of Naza reth, the Christ, the Lamb o f God. No critic’s 1 pruning knife can take- it away. Otherwise these nineteen centuries of Christian experience are naught but a record o f delusion and madness. ^ Jesus certainly was “the Only Begotten Son o f God” who “came to give his life a fansorn for many.” He did not còme to live an idyllic life.’ He was the one man who came to DIE and not to LIVE. Practically two-thirds o f the Gospels are devoted to the accounts o f His death and the incidents leading up to it. His teachings were satu rated with the story o f His approaching sacrifice on the Cross and its purpose. Calvary’s Cross was the main point in His coming to earths it is the one theme o f the Bible. Reader, do away with your substitutes for substitution. “He died, ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.” “ He bore your sins in his body on the tree.” “ He - was wounded for your transgression and bruised, for 'your iniquities.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
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