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Bu s I N E s s
May 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
PASSAGES THAT PERPLEX
Concerning Sanctification To M. J. St; “ Is sanctification a second work o f grace and does it remove the carnal nature?”
man of sin. This condition would be cut short by the appearance o f Christ
with all His saints. "L et no man deceive you” (v. 3 ). Thebe is no subject upon which misleading teaching is so likely to That day [the final tribulation] sha llnot come except there come THE falling away first,”;, Everything depends upon identification of THE apostasy. The word implies “ revolt,” a world-wide, open challenge o f the truth of God on the part of the Church itself. There is a final apostasy into which ail others will converge. It will cul minate in a dethroning of God, the deification o f man and the appearance o f Anti-Christ. It was certain that the Thessalonian believers had not come upon these conditions, for the Holy Spirit was certainly with them. Verses 8-9 make it clear that not until “ he who now letteth [hindereth] be taken out o f the way,” will that Wicked One be revealed openly. The Holy Spirit’s dis- pensational work is to complete the Body of Christ. When Christ takes His Body, the true church, out o f the world, Paul indicates that the Holy Spirit will, for a period; cease His restraining work, giving almost free reign /to evil under Anti-Christ. Complete corruption is impossible while thé church, “ the salt o f the earth” and the Holy Spirit, arç here. To the writer, therefore, it does not seem reasonable that that small portion-of-the Body of Christ remaining upon earth at the end of the age, should be subjected to the reign o f Anti-Christ, in that terrible “ day o f wrath.” When Christ comes to reign, He comes “ glorified in His saints” (1 Thess'. 1:10) and “‘ taking vengeance on them that-know not God” (v. 8 ). The command to watch for our Lord’s;coming for His Church, as possible any day (Mk. 13:36-37), would be rendered null if He does not come for His .saints until after the manifestation o f the Anti-Christ. arise. “ What is: the meaning of Rom. 11:26, ‘And so all Israel shall be saved : as it is written, There shall come out o f Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob’ ?” ; Verse 25 indicates that during this present dispensa tion, when Israel, in part, is blinded to the gospel, the ful ness of the Gentiles (fu ll destined number to be saved, Acts 15:14) is being brought in. The first part of the chapter shows that many of the Jews will be united to the Body of Christ. Observe carefully that their blinding is only “ in pdrt,” never in total. There are probably as many Jews saved in proportion to their numbers, as there are Gentiles. Israel’s hope as a people, however, must await the com ing of Christ as World-Deliverer. The writer believes that Israel’s promises connected with the Millennial reign'are not transferred but deferred, and1 their preservation throughout the centuries, scattered as they have been in all nations, gives strong reason for believing that they will be regathered as a people. Verse 26 certainly says that “ all Israel” will be saved when the Deliverer comes. This All Israel Shall be Saved T o J. R. S.
The New Testament word (hagios) means “ separate, or set apart.” T o be set apart for God implies holiness, and the word is sometimes rendered “ holy.” (Holy city, Mt. 4 :5—not that Jerusalem was a sinless city—but a city set apart.) Heb. 10 :10, 14 declares that those saved by the blood of Jesus Christ are sanctified once for all. Col. 2 :10 tells us that true believers are absolutely complete in Christ. Salvation is said to be through sanctification (2 Thess. 2 : 13; 1 Pet. 1 :2 ), and 1 Cor. 6:11 would indicate that sanc tification is prior .to justification. Believers are “ in Christ,” who is “ made unto us . . . . sanctification” as well as “ redemption” (1 Cor. 1 :30J. This, however, is the posi tional aspect of sanctification. There is an. experimental sanctification, a progressive stage. A saved person may have for a time, habits which are not saintly. Paul addressed the Corinthians as “ sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1 :2 ), but proceeded to tell them that they 'were, “ yet carnal,” or “ babes in Christ:” (3 :1 ) . They are called upon iri 2 Cor. 7 :1 to “ cleanse themselves from all filthiness o f the flesh and spirit and perfect holi ness [sanctification] in the fear o f the Lord.” Thus all believers are to be changed more and more into His image (2 Cor. 3 :18), not only in the Holy Spirit, but through the study o f the Word (Jn. 17 :17). The believer does not come to a state o f perfection, or entire sanctification until he meets Christ face to face and is made “ like unto Him” in “ spirit, soul and body” (1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Jn. 3 :2 -3 ). Let it be impressed upon our minds, however, that we cannot be “ vessels unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work’?ff,(2 Tim. 2 :21 ), unless we permit the Spirit of God to have right-of-way in our hearts^.!. If we hinder His sanctifying influences in us, we will be “ chas tened fo r our profit tltat we might be partakers o f His holiness” (Heb. 12:10). W e cannot afford to trifle with the matter o f sanctification (1 Cor. 11:32), A '¿§> Anti-Christ and Christ’s Coming T o M rs . W . F. W . “ Will Christ come for His Church before or after the rising of the Anti-Christ?” Chapter 2 of the second Thessalonian Epistle furnishes the best answer to this. The occasion of writing was the fear which some of these persecuted believers had ex pressed that “ the day o f the Lord,” or final tribulation, was already upon them. (Verse 2 should read, “ now present” instead of “ at hand” ) There are four prominent figures in Paul’s picture here: Christ, Satan, Anti-Christ, the Restrainer (Holy Spirit). Taken at its face value, Paul informs them that the mystery o f lawlessness was at work (and still is) ; that this was checked from full development by the Restrainer; that some day this check would be removed and then ungodliness should break out in all its violence under the
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