June 1924
T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
338
Complete Redemption An Address Delivered before th e Shadyside Men’s Bible Class By Rev. David R. Breed, D. D.
(P ittsbu rg )
what has seemed to us th e most' im portant p art of th e work th a t He ever did or shall do, ending with His death and resurrection. Then He retu rn ed to the F ather, but, as He distinctly informed His disciples, to continue His re demptive w o rk -^no t to abandon either it or them. If it were not
In this article, Dr. Breed (for many years a professor in Western Theological Semin ary, Pittsburg) defines and delineates the term “ redemption” as contrasted with “ sal vation,” proving that the Son of God was chosen to be the Redeemer of men, and pic turing what is included in the term “ re demption.”
Let us define th e term to be gin with. Let us distinguish between Redemption and Salva tion: Salvation relates specific ally to man; redemption relates specifically to God-—to God in Christ Jesus. Salvation, is accom plished at once; Redemption is a long continued process. There
so we should be, as the Apostle says, “ of all men most mis erable,” ' or, as Jesus Himself, expresses it, “ orphans” .. saved perhaps from sin, but saved unto nothing— born again bu t w ithout patrimony. We, then, are waiting, too—w aiting and expecting. W hat? Certainly this, the completion of th a t redemptive work; and no question th a t can engage the atten tion of those who are already saved should seem more im portant and be more interesting than th a t which concerns this ex pectation. Redemption All Inclusive The Scriptures very plainly teach th a t th is redemptive work will be all inclusive. Everything th a t was lost will be regained. Not th a t all men will be saved; .but th e race, as such, will be saved, and the saved will far outnumber th e lost. I t certainly has tried the faith of ¡nany th a t any can be finally lost. But, in view of the goodness of God and in view of His infinite grace, it is ju st as hard to believe th a t one single sinner may be forever lost as ten thousand or ten thousand times ten thousand. It seems to me, indeed, th a t the election of a p art to eternal life was a logical necessity, as it seems to me the clear teaching of the Word of God. And— I say it w ith hesitation— it may be th a t the loss of some was in order to the display of the divine grace, ju st as th e permission of sin seems to have been. But a countless m ultitude will be saved. Man will be restored to his original manhood-— yes, and far better. But it is not m an’s soul alone th a t will be saved, as we sometimes say, in our m istaken phraseology. Man will be saved, and man is soul and body. In a sense, different from th a t which pertains to the soul, m an’s body is immortal. The body is to be redeemed as well as the soul, and restored to its original perfection. Yes, and far better. The E a rth—Lost and Restored But th a t is n e t all-—because it is ’not all th a t was lost. The earth upon which man dwells was lost also. The curse fell upon it as well as upon its occupants And the earth is to be restored to its original beauty. Yes, and far b etter., This is the comprehensive scheme of re d e m p tio n - man’s soul, man’s body and man’s dwelling place. They are indissolubly joined in Scripture and they are never to be disassociated. The New Jerusalem is not located in some distant p art of creation. It is not to be in heaven. It is to come down from God, out of heaven. I t is not so much th a t th e abode of men is to be w ith God as th a t the tabernacle of God is to be w ith men. He will dwell w ith them—-here, in the rehab ilitated earth For my own p art, I believe th a t when Jesus said to His disciples, “ I go to prepare a place for you,” He referred to this very redemptive work, upon th e earth itself. I can-
fore when one is saved he is completely saved. The salva tion of righteous Abel was as complete as th a t of the Apos tle Paul, or as th a t of any saved sinner who shall live as long afte r Christ as Abel lived before Him. If, then, we use the two words, Redemption and Salva tion, in the same sense, th ere is ho difference in the mea sure or the tim e of th eir completeness. But they ought not to be used in the same sense, and I do not so employ them. Salyation is the tran slation of the sinner into fellow ship w ith God, through faith in his divine Redeemer. Re demption is the continuous work of th a t Redeemer from its inception to its close. It has proceeded in certain steps or stages, it has been manifested by certain exercises and acts, each an advance upon the preceding and moving on to a culm ination or climax. It will not be complete until th a t culm ination is reached. Redemption began in th e-p ast eternity.' It will be pro jected into the coming eternity. We cannot determ ine its beginning or its end. In the eternal past th e E tern al Son of God was designated as the Redeemer of God’s elect. Then was enacted th a t solemn and inclusive covenant in which the F ath e r gave the Son, as His own portion, those whom He would undertake, a t unspeakable sacrifice, to save Mysteries of th e Divine Counsel We cannot solve those mysteries of the divine counsel. No doubt it was all for the m anifestation of th a t most God like of all the divine attribu tes, namely, grace, th a t it was so determ ined. We cannot see how the A lmighty God could manifest His grace— th a t is, His unm erited favor to those who deserved only His w rath— w ithout perm itting sin in some, a t least, of His reasonable creatures. At all events He did perm it it, in th is little insignificant world; and He did determ ine to save many of these sinners; and, in order to do this work of grace, He entered into a covenant of redemption w ith His only begotten Son. Then the work of redemption began, before there was any work of Salvation; before th ere were any sinners to be saved. Our imagination is staggered as we th ink of those count less ages as they passed and passed and passed, w ith the Redeemer in waiting for w hat we m ight call th e beginning of his active redemptive work, as He is still waiting— a “ long little while,”, as one has said, for its close. I need not dwell upon the successive stages of th a t work. Pass them in review in your own mind. The creation and fall of man and the first g reat promise. The antedeluvian days and th e ir cataclysmic ending. Abraham and the or ganization of the C hu rch ,o f God. Moses and th e Law-rj- moraL,and ceremonial. During all the Redeemer was active—his g reat work was in progress— redemption was proceeding. At last He appeared in the flesh and performed
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