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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S ality Who was born of a hum an mother, b u t was begotten of th e Holy Ghost; and' Who was, therefore, both human and divine, like th e Book itself. But how were th e divine and hum an ele ments blended in Him? Which of th e two n atu res predom inated? Did His hum an n atu re render Him subject to all hum an lim itations? Or, the rath e r, was not His humanity, while still mak ing Him our tru e kinsm an, by union w ith His divinity, sublimed to th e qual ity of divine perfection? F o r if He was lim ited in one realm of His being, must He not have been lim ited in all? If He was m entally lim ited to th e m easure of th e hum an mind, how can inh eren t phy sical imm ortality, or moral perfection be predicated of Him? We are th u s driven to th e enquiry: In w hat realm of life is Jesus Christ to be Lord? Unquestionably, He is to be Lord of our bodies. And who will dis pute His supremacy as a moral and religious teacher? But w hat about the realm of th e intellect? P au l’s Testimony L et us hear from one who was widely and deeply learned. No one will ques tion the Apostle P au l’s qualification for judging of intellectual m atters. And he tells us, “ I verily though t w ith my self th a t I ought to do m any things con tra ry to th e name of Jesus of N azareth." But afte r he had seen Jesus he gloried in being th e “ bond slave” of Christ. Now to w hat extent did P au l subm it himself to Christ? Did he continue to “ th ink w ith him self?” And were his thoughts, “ co n trary to th e nam e of Jesus of N azareth?” O tell us! thou m ighty leader of men, thou man of mas sive and far-seeing intellect, in th e wide realm of thy intellectual activities, hast thou made Jesus Christ thy Lord? And he answers: “Though we w alk in th e flesh, we do not war afte r the flesh; (for the weapons of our w arfare are no t carnal, bu t m ighty through God to th e pulling down
of strongholds) casting down imagina tions, and every high thing th a t exalt- eth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every though t to th e obedience of Christ.” And nothing less th a n th a t will do. Jesus Christ m ust be Lord in th e realm of th e intellect! Im aginations and rea sonings and every high th ing th a t exalt- eth itself against the knowledge of God, must, by th e power of God, be cast down. A tru e believer to whom Jesus Christ is th e Incarnate God, in th e na tu re of the case, has no “ liberty ” to en tertain though ts which are “ con trary ” to Christ. He is “ th e bond-slave” of Christ, intellectually as well as sp irit u ally ; and his “ every though t”—(his though t about th e Bible, and about everything else, in th is life, and in th a t which is to come, m ust be “brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Now when Christ is so regarded we have an infallible S tandard and A uthor ity to Whom all our intellectual prob lems can be brought. We must consult Him, therefore, about th e Bible; for He is th e highest A uthority in th e universe. Christ’s A uthority Of th e Old T estam ent in general, He says: “Think no t th a t I am come to destroy th e law or the prophets; I am no t come to destroy, b u t to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and ea rth pass, one jo t or one tittle shall in no wise pass from th e law, till all be fulfilled.” And to th is He adds in ano th er place, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, b u t my words shall no t pass away.” Thus th is infallible Christ de clares He has come to fulfil the law and the prophets, even to th e la st jo t and the la st tittle ; and having p u t the seal of His infallible au tho rity on th e law and th e prophets, He la ter solemnly avers th a t H is own words shall never pass away. Can language express a stronger claim to infallibility and final authority?
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