must choose whether he s going to follow God or go along in his own sinful way. A child who dies in in fancy, however, before he can make such a rational decision, is saved. Baptism must always follow belief and acceptance of Christ. Q. Westminster, Calif. — "What is sanctification? Is it a synonym for holiness? What is meant by the eradication of the carnal nature? Are all lost who don’t arrive at this state of perfection? To whom does I John 1:8 apply?” A. The Bible never mixes up the different and wonderful accomplish ments of the Triune God. Three great words are used in the whole plan of redemption: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Jus tification means that God, at the very moment we receive Jesus Christ as Saviour, considers us righteous in a judicial sense. We are in Christ as though we had never sinned. It’s true that we’ll have a lot of things we need to get right. This develop ment or maturing process is called sanctification. This is when our spir itual condition increasingly approxi mates our proper position in Christ. We should become more and more conformed to the image of God’s dear Son. Glorification is the end of the process for then we’re made every whit like the Lord Jesus Christ. The development has finished. Theologians sometimes speak of sanctification as positional (Heb. 10: 10), progressive (II Cor. 3:18), and perfected (I John 3:2). There are those who hold to the erroneous view of the eradication of the carnal na ture. To prove the fallacy of this, read the first three chapters of I Corinthians. Paul is talking to peo ple who are saved, yet they don’t have the carnal nature done away with. I John 1 :8 is spoke.n to believ ers. “If we say we have no sin” (no carnal nature), “we deceive our
selves, and the truth is not in us.” Paul testified, “I know that in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.” Sin is even more displeasing to God in the life of a believer than it is in the life of an unbeliever. That’s why we are urged to walk in the Spirit that we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Q. Santa Monica, Calif. — “In the absence of a universal language, how is it possible for the Bible transla tions of many men to be considered the Word of God? Christianity ex cludes the Jews, Turks, and a large majority of the earth’s inhabitants. In view of religious differences and God’s intent that all men live in peace, why not confine your program to the Golden Rule?" A. The simple reason is that nobody lives up to it. If our program were confined to the Golden Rule, every body would be lost. Matthew 7:13 gives us the other half of our respon sibility, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruc tion, and may there be which go in thereat, Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Practically speaking, the Golden Rule is summarized in verses 12 to 14. Man’s relation to his fellow man is in verse 12; man’s relation to God in verses 13 and 14. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself doesn’t end His teaching with the Golden Rule. In John’s Gospel the exhortation is “to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” The Word of God is replete with passages having to do with faith as a method of sal vation. This Bible, we believe, in the original language, is the Word of God. It’s not the translation of many men in the original. There have been many translations since then, and human errors can creep in. God spoke through holy men of old, as they
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