King's Business - 1928-02

102

February 1928

T h e

K i n g ’ s

B u s i n e s s

ings throughout the Scriptures, and to utterly set aside the words o f Christ. W e are puzzled to know how the writer arrives at the conclusion that the idea o f salvation through achievement rather than personal acceptance o f the Lamb of God as Sin-bearer, “ more nearly approaches the thought o f Jesus.” W e would have been interested in seeing a collation of Scripture to prove this assertion. If there is anything upon which our Saviour placed double emphasis, it was that salvation is an individual mat­ ter { “ Him that cometh to M e I will in no wise cast out” ) and a gift from God, wholly apart from any merit. Sal­ vation through any kind of self-achievement has absolutely no place in His teachings. W e seem almost to be insulting the intelligence o f even the most casual readers o f the Gospels, in making the assertion, so persistent was Jesus in denouncing that which is born of the flesh, and in calling for the definite acts o f confession and acceptance o f sal­ vation by grace. Yet The Youth’s Companion tells its young readers otherwise. W e would not have quarreled with the writer over his having characterized these ideas as “modern thought” (al­ though they date back to Cain, and describe this very road on which all heathendom is still toiling), but we do object to the statement that these teachings come nearer the thought o f Jesus. Teachers o f salvation by character and achievement have absolutely broken with Jesus Christ, to say nothing of having totally ignored the purpose o f His death on Calvary’s Cross. “ I cannot work my soul to save, For that my Lord has done; Don’ts for Daughters D ON ’T forget that you can greatly lighten mother’s burden by your sympathy and help. Don’t allow yourself to say words to your parents that will be thorns in your pillow afterwards. Don’t despise your mother because she is not so smart or so well educated as you are. Don’t forget that your younger brothers and sisters are, consciously or unconsciously, copying your conduct. Don’t let this fact escape you, that many have been made great, and many more have been made good, by their sisters. Don’t forget that it is character, and not beauty of face, that forms woman’s true attraction. Don’t spend more time in adorning your person than in beautifying your mind, and in adding to the wealth of your soul. Don’t imagine that a pretty face will atone for an empty head. Don’t forget that untidiness of dress is unpardonable in a young woman. Don’t encourage that thought that it is better to be clever than to be good. Don’t forget that to be able to see to the welfare of a home is a finer accomplishment than to be able to play a piano, or to paint a picture. Don’t have secret correspondence with any one, or clandestine meetings of which you would be ashamed to tell your mother. Don’t encourage the attentions o f any young man who speaks lightly o f home or o f sacred things. — C. J. T. M. in Armor o f Light. But I can work like any slave For love o f God’s dear Son.” PPI

Hea r t to Hea r t ::

The Youth’s Companion on “ Salvation.” John 6:28-29.

•T is with deep regret that we note in a recent num­ ber of that splendid paper, The Youth’ s Com­ panion, as “ The Companion’s Religious Article,” the following paragraphs: “ The emphasis o f religion shifts from age to age, as the thought and temper of the people change. A late change in religious thought has moved the emphasis from salvation to achieve­ ment. “ In periods within the memory o f living men and women, the preaching and teaching and experience of religious people were mainly con­ cerned with personal salvation. “With Browning the youth o f this day affirm: ‘I go to try my soul.J TThere is a new and pregnant faith that salvation i|5to be obtained, not by selfish search for that high privilege, but as the logical and inevitable result o f an achieve­ ment in character. Salvation is to be achieved, not by any selfish seeking to save our souls, but by the adventure in which we lose thought of our own souls in promoting the welfare of others.” The most amazing thing about the article is the con­ clusion that modern thought about these matters “ more nearly approaches the thought o f Jesus.” I f we may express ourselves with utmost frankness, it would seem to us that this writer in a subtle way has tried to put over upon youthful minds what he never could have hoped to palm off on those familiar with the Bible or the teachings o f all Evangelical churches today. The assumption expressed in the second paragraph quoted above, that the tribe o f those believing the Gospel to be concerned with personal salvation, is practically extinct, would be amusing but for the sad fact that many young readers may be deceived by it. T he H eresy of H eresies Surely this writer must have forgotten a great part of the Bible, in order to credit to modern thinkers the idea that- salvation is something to be achieved by one’s own efforts and character. This was the very first notion o f man that had to be severely rebuked o f God. The great heresy o f heresies which gathers into itself all false religious systems, the heresy condemned by the entire Bible, is the very idea that man by his own niceness and achievements can make God his debtor. If there is one thing made clear between the two covers of the Bible, it is that it is “ not by works o f righteousness which we have done, that we are saved, but by His mercy, the washing o f regeneration and renewing o f the Holy Ghost” (Tit. 3 :5). “ Ye must be born again” (Jn. 3 :5). A Christian will certainly give himself to promoting the welfare o f others, but for an unregenerate person to put away all thought o f his own soul’s salvation, as sug­ gested in this article, would be to reject scores of warn­

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