T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
1148
Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the son o f God?” (John 1Ot363. “ I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). (Again note the attitude of the Jews on hearing this.) But as Dr. Dale has pointed out, such texts are by no' means the most im pressive proofs we have of Christ’s Deity, He compares proof-texts to salt- crystals cast up by the sea and left upon the shore. “ These are not,” says he, “ the strongest, though they may be the most apparent, proofs that the sea is salt; the salt is present in solution in eyery bucket of sea-waetr.” So, indeed, it is with the doctrine of the Deity of Christ, everywhere throughout the sacred pages may it be found in solu tion. In both the Old and New Testa ments Divine titles,-perfections'and at tributes are ascribed to. the Christ: He Himself not only, as seen above, asserts His Deity, but exercises the chief pre rogative of God, in forgiving sins; ac cepts and approves of human worship; and asserts His omniscience, omnipres ence and omnipotence. “ I am Alpha and Omega . . . saith the Lord, . . . the Almighty” (Rev. 1 :8). ' But not only do Unitarians (and of coursé others besides them) go astray on the Deity of Christ, they are griev ously in error on the fundamental Doctrine of the Trinity. The Unitarian declares that the doc trine of the Trinity proclaims three Gods, and not One. There is only one Uni-personal God, they say, and He is not Christ nor the Holy Spirit. Hence Christ is in ho sense an object of wor ship. They are the «lineal descendants of the Arians of old, though they are also sometimes called Socinians. In all this, of course, they stand con demned by the Scriptures, which are the sole authority and source of this doctrine. Only a few points- can be stated here.
pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” Hence in our day it is incumbent on every faithful servant of Christ to be alive to the danger that threatens; to warn his fellow-Christians and to re buke those teaching false doctrine con cerning our Lord’s Person. This en tails bearing the cross, for nominal and half-hearted Christians who desire to walk in the smile of the world are never tired of calling all such “ uncharitable,” “ narrow-minded,” “ heresy-hunters,” etc. Some evil doctrines are dangerous because they deceive us into imagining ourselves to be saved, when we are still in our sins, e- g., Baptismal Regenera tion: others are dangerous because they take us off our guard and leave us ex posed to the wiles of the devil, e. g., Eradication: others.because they bring us into a wrong relationship, e. g., the Universal Brotherhood of Man: others because they lead us to question the inspiration of the Scripture, e. g., High er Criticism; but the one we are dealing with undermines the very foundations of Christianity and presents us with a shell without a kernel, a body without life, a religion without a Saviour. It is sometimes stated that Christ never claimed Deity for Himself. We were confronted with this astounding statement some time ago when traveling in the train. Nothing is simpler than to prove the falsity of such an asser tion. Could anything be plainer than His words: “My Father worketh until now arid I work” (.John 5:17). (The Jews un derstood by this that He made Himself equal with God [v. 18], and Christ did not deny it. He justified it [v. 19, 20].) “ Before Abraham was I am” (John 8:58). (Note the result of this asser tion and their charge when before Pilate [John 19:7].) “ Say ye of Him Whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world,
KNOW WHERE and HOW YOUR MONEY IS BEING USED.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker