July 1924
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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to wrest or misapply apostolic injunctions of a confessedly temporary character, nor to build a weighty doctrine upon the doubtful interpretation of a single text. Nor does the at tachment of the highest authority to the Bible as the Word of God place any bar in the way of the reverent study of textual or historical criticism, but rather supplies it with added stimulus. But, rightly used to determine doctrine, the authority of the Bible is the very raison d’etre of the Evangelical school of thought, which arose and gained its name from its habit of deriving all Christian doctrine from the written revela tion of God, and not from Church tradition nor from un aided human reason. And here it was the true successor of the Reformation, not only in its principle of the divine authority and sufficiency of Scripture, but also in the doc trines which it derived therefrom. Whence come such characteristically evangelical doc trines as the fallen condition of man, the depravity of the human will, and justification by faith alone through the propitiation set forth in Christ Jesus? Whence do we learn that these doctrines never will be popular to the natural man, but can only be accepted by the operation of the Spirit upon the heart? We believe these things because we accept the Gospel message and the Bible as God’s written Word. When we see the vicarious nature of the Atonement written broadly over the pages of the New Testament, and proclaimed and predicted and illustrated by an enormous wealth of Old Testament teaching in covenant and type and prophecy^ then the Evangelical is bound to accept it because of the authority inherent in the written Word of God. He cannot and dare not write it down as Judaism or Paulinism, nor need he wait to know what the modern world thinks about it; Since, therefore, Evangelical doctrine is simply Bible doc trine, since we differ crucially from the Modernist in believ ing that the views of God and the world taught there are not the outworn intellectual garments of a by-gone age, but are the revelation of God to His Church for all time, until the return of Christ shall usher in a new age, Evangel icalism stands or falls with the authority of that Bible upon which its creed is based and from which its spirit is derived. In conduct as well as in faith this is true. The Bible is our missionary handbook and our code of philanthropy. If the Bible loses its authority the warnings of God lose their terrors and the promises of God lose their comfort. If the Bible loses its authority assurance of salvation will have to be placed elsewhere, in human works or human feelings. Finally, the authority of the Bible b^ing derived from the Divine Spirit of God, Who speaks in all its pages, let us in all consideration of its authority, as well as in its daily study, seek His illumination that we may see it as He made it, and use it as He intended. If you want to get ahead — usetheoneyouhave! We’ll show you how to use it if you want to be a real ----------- CHR IST IAN W O R K E R ------------ J S i p A K E up one 0f our gjfjig Correspondence Courses at once and mm you will be provided with a systematic, practical, inspirational, HlIllH fascinating method of Bible study that is bound to make you ............. . an efficient worker for Christ. Our courses are not a substitute for your own brains—they are designed to make you use your own. They drive you to God’s Word. They make the Bible its own com mentary and it becomes a new book to you. We want you to know about our eight courses—$2 to $5 JU ST F ILL TH IS O U T A N D M A IL T O U S Send bulletin o f your Correspondence Courses Name ......... ..... Address ................................. ...... ................... L.......... O ON’T put it off any longer. The devil is never too busy to rock the cradle of a drowsy Christian. God needswide-awake workers in His Church everywhere. Use your spare moments to make yourself a more effi It is true that such a doctrine makes a wonderful appeal to reason, when that reason is illuminated and humbled and guided by the Holy Spirit; but the highest reason consists in the acceptance of God’s truth, as the most sensible scholar accepts his teacher’s judgment rather than his own. More particularly in the doctrine o f future things, whether in this world or the next, we hold and must hold, that the Bible, as the Word of God, alone can give us sure and certain knowledge. The Evangelical views of the sec- ond'coming of Christ, of future judgment, and of Heaven and Hell, the preaching of which are so greatly needed in this generation, rest upon the Bible as their only and suf ficient authority.
cient servant of His. Bible Institute of LosAngeles 536-558 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, Cal.
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