P lain Christianity then, it seems to me, begins with accepting the claim of Jesus Christ to be God in human form. It means dropping our ridicu lous habit of trying to justify our selves and accepting the reconcilia tion which Christ has made. And then it means the knowledge with in ourselves that we are now insep arably connected with the eternal life of God; so that there is nothing which life can do, and nothing which death can do, to interfere with that relationship. It means, too, that since Christ is alive and well able to supply the spiritual needs of those who trust in Him, the Christian religion is no longer seen as a grim battle or a lonely, joyless pilgrimage, but as a life lived with the very vitality of God within a man — enabling him, though he may be unconscious of it, to present a quality of living which no non-Christian can pro duce. Now all this is so much theory unless we really see it in practice; and that is precisely what I claim to have seen over a period of years. I find that people who accept these basic facts about God and go on maintaining their contact with Him through Christ do exhibit the qual ities I have already mentioned— an inward peace, a steady joy and an overflowing love. It is possible that you are conscious that these are the very things in which your life is deficient. It is possible, isn’t it, that you have been keeping an open mind too long—you can get very tired of an open mind—and •what you and I and everyone else needs is this inner quality which gives point and purpose to our living. I don’t honestly see how thiat is going to come to us without God, and I don’t honestly see how we are going to get into contact with God without Christ. But I do assure you that where Christ’s claim is accept ed and where sincere adult loyalty is given to Him, the result is never a disappointment. The certainty which you may have seen in the plain Christian will become your certainty too. END.
first, because He knew very well that anybody who approached God would experience this sense of deep unworthiness—and of course there were people who felt it in His own presence; and secondly, because He knew that in Himself, in His own life and death and resurrection He was the Living Reconciliation be tween man and God. As St. Paul so rightly said, “ God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Him self.” I have not time to attempt to deal with theories of Atonement, and indeed I am not sure that the theories are important, but it is very important for us to realize that what we could never do has been done, by Christ. Just to accept this means a revolution in our thinking about God. For once we can see God reconciling the world unto Himself in Christ, we no longer picture Him as unimaginable Perfection inevit ably and by His very nature mak ing us feel guilty and afraid. In stead we see God Who was utter Perfection allowing the forces of evil to close in upon Him and kill Him. And we see Him passing right through death to demonstrate that in Him, the perfect human being who was also God, death itself has no more terror.
ward confirmation. The true Chris tian finds that, beyond all argu ment, he is spiritually sure; he feels, “ This is right, this is true. This is what God must be like; this is what life is meant to be.” I know that this certainty is particularly infuriating to the non-Christian, partly because it is something you cannot argue about, and partly be cause it only comes to those who have taken this step of faith. The agnostic who wants to sit on the fence and keep an open mind about God may retain his open mind, but he never succeeds in achieving con viction one way or the other. I think the other obstacle be tween man and God which becomes apparent to any serious-minded seeker after God is the appalling gulf between God’s perfection and our own sinfulness. All serious re ligions make some attempt, some times indeed most desperate and pathetic attempts, to bridge this gulf. The feeling deep in the heart of man that “ something ought to be done about it” is awakened as soon as a man begins seriously to want to approach God. I have already said that Jesus Christ did not go about underlining people’s sins or trying to arouse a sense of guilt. This I think was for two reasons:
H A V E YOU BEEN BORN AGA IN ? F or nearly 2,000 years people have in turn been irritated, amused and indifferent to Christ’s command: “Ye must be bom again.” (For the Biblical account see page 10.) If you are confused as to what the term means you are not alone. The man Christ spoke the command to was also con fused. The fellow had a mind’s eye picture of going through the maternity ward again and that just didn’t make much sense. Of course Christ was speaking of a spiritual rebirth. The important thing to remember is that it is a birth and not a reformation. And it isn’t a figure of speech. When we are properly related to God through personal faith in Jesus Christ we have been spiritually reborn. This is what takes Christianity out of the just-another-religion category. If God didn’t actually do something to the believer’s spirit then Christianity would be a hollow mockery. You and I demand something beyond our own feeble efforts of reform. We want something that changes us and makes possible a really meaningful life.
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THE K IN G 'S BU SINESS
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