205
April 1924
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
G od s Proposition m Black and W kite By Keith L. Brooks Superintendent of the Correspondence School, Bible Institute of Bos Angeles
B ! CHRISTIAN man some time ago, as an experi- l ment, sent out a questionnaire to a number of 5 prominent laymen of, the churches to see if they could give “ à reason for the hope that was in them.” Strange to say, nearly every reply given was a quibble, and the number who had any Scriptural conception of what it means to have the “gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ” was amazingly small. Doubtless many of those who were questioned were truly saved people but their lack of familiarity with the Word of God, the instru ment of their salvation, was deplorable, and it is probable that questionnaires sent out on a much wider scale would reveal the same results. The little Gospel of John is a book written especially for believers. Its purpose is stated in Chapter 20, verse 31: “These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.” We need not go outside this vest- pocket edition of the Gospel to find the clearest possible statements as to what is involved in accepting Jesus Christ as a personal Saviour. If you have one of these little Gos pels in your pocket, mark the passages to which we shall refer, get them well in mind, and let them inspire you to trace the great salvation promises through your New Testa ment. Such passages as John 1:12; 3:16, 18 and 36, are suf ficient to make it clear that our salvation is all of divine grace, wholly apart from our own merit. But not only are we saved by grace—we stand in grace (Rom. 5:2; 1 Peter 5 :12 ). If grace is the one basis on which God can save meritless sinners, it is likewise the only basis on which he can keep us saved, for our own ability can no more main tain our salvation than it could procure it in the first place. Hence the promise reads that in accepting Christ, we be come the immediate possessors of a life that can never end. In a sevenfold way, we shall find this doctrine in our little Gospel of John. 1. John 1:13; 3:5—We receive salvation through a supernatural birth. It is therefore God's undertaking from the start, and what God undertakes He completes. “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it, until the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1 :6 ). The person who has truly been born of God, cannot be unborn. 2. John 3:16, 36— These promises declare that accept ing Christ brings the present possession of everlasting life. Eternal life is not something that a person may have tem porarily. We either have it, or we do not have it. If it may come to an end a year from now it is not eternal life. The promise is not stated in the future tense, God’s propo sition in black and white is, “He that hath'the Son hath life” and not to have everlasting life is not to have had a genuine saving faith in the first place. (See 1 John 5: 11-13) 3. John 5:24— This promise states that the true be liever shall never come into judgment. He has a new Pos session-—“everlasting life;” a new Provision, “shall not come into judgment;” a new Position, “passed out of death into life.” He was judged for sin at the cross. The pen alty of all his sins was taken care of at Calvary. “There is therefore now no judgment to them which are in Christ
Jesus” (Rom. 8 :1 ). He will be judged as a Christian as to his service at Christ’s coming for His Ctiurch (2 Cor. 5:10) but never as a sinner. 4. John 6:39.; 17:9-10, 24. Here salvation is spoken of as a transaction between the Father and the Son. If one true believer loses his salvation, God has not made good his contract with His Son. One who in answer to the Holy Spirit’s pleading has come to Christ by faith, has been given to Christ by the Father— so the promise reads— and surely this is a transaction that cannot be undone. John 6:40 extends the scope of the promise even to the salvation of our bodies at the resurrection. 5. John 7:37-39; 14:17. (Compare Eph. 1:13, 14; 4 :30 ). The true believer is immediately sealed with the Holy Spirit. The purpose of a seal is to guarantee safe delivery. The born-again man, imperfect though he may be, bears the seal of the Spirit of God and therefore cannot be snatched away by the devil. The unsaved moral man of the world, cultured and refined as he may be, does not bear the mark of God and therefore will never reach the destination of heaven. 6. John 10:27-29. The believer is held in the omnipo tent grasp of the hand that created him and the hand that was wounded for him on Calvary’s cross. “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand” (Psa. 37:74). There is no longer a question of the regenerate man losing Him,— but the ques tion is— “Can the Saviour lose His own?” John 6:39 answers decisively that of all that the Father has given Him, He shall lose nothing, but shall raise it up at the last day. (Compare Rom. 8:38-39). Trusting in the double grasp of the Father and the Son brings perfect peace and assurance. Trusting in one’s own grasp can bring nothing but uncertainty. 7. John 17:9-20. (Compare Heb. 7:25) The true child of God is backed up by the continual intercession of his representative in heaven. Can any prayer of the Inter cessor go unanswered? If one born-again person may go to hell, Christ’s intercessory work has failed. If His prayer cannot be denied (John 11:42) then the Christian should be of Paul’s persuasion: “for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day,” (2 Tim. 1:12). To such promises as these, some are always ready to say: “Then what is to hinder the Christian living in sin?” Some one must have put that question to the Apostle Paul for he says (Rom 6:15) "What then, shall we sin because we aré not under law but under grace? God forbid!” What shall hinder the born-again man from living in sin? The Holy Spirit shall hinder him, and rob him of all joy so long as he tampers with sin. The chastising hand of God shall hin der him, leaving him nothing except his salvation, for “we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32).
Send to Biola Book Room, 536 S. Hope Street, Los An geles, for sample copy (5c) of a “New. Vest Pocket Edition of the Gospel of John the Apostle.” 300,000 already sold. Hundreds of conversions reported. IT WORKS!
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