King's Business - 1923-03

THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S ignored. The death of Christ, they say, was not to appease the w rath of God. Surely holiness and righteousness had th e ir claims, and if God’s lové is to he righteously shown to sinners in the offer of forgiveness of sins and salva­ tion, th ere must be satisfaction ren ­ dered to God’s holiness and righteous claims against sin. In th e book quoted from, Christ is not referred to as Savior, nor th e precious blood as th a t which alone can cleanse from sin, and the confession of Jesus as Lord is al­ together ignored. How inexpressibly sad! 3. If Christadelphianism denies the divine personality of God the Son, we are quite prepared th a t they should deny th e divine personality of the Holy Ghost. They teach th a t: “T h e S p irit Is n o t a p e rso n a l God d is ­ tin c t fro m th e F a th e r , b u t th e ra d ia n t, in v isib le p o w e r of e n e rg y o f th e F a th e r, fillin g u n iv e rsa l sp a ce a n d fo rm in g th e m ed ium o f H is o m n isc ie n t p e rc e p tio n s an d th e in s tru m e n t o f H is o m n ip o te n t b eh ests, w h e th e r In c re a tio n o r In sp ira tio n ; th e d istin c tio n b e tw e e n th e F a th e r a n d th e S p irit b e in g n o t t h a t th e y a re tw o p erso n s, b u t t h a t th e F a th e r Is S p irit in fo cu s so in te n se a s to be g lo w in g su b s ta n c e in c o n ­ ceiv ab le, a n d th e S p irit, th e F a th e r ’s pow er, in sp a c e -fillin g d iffusion, fo rm in g w ith th e F a th e r a u n ity in th e stu p e n d o u s sch em e of c re a tio n , w h ich is in re v o lu tio n a ro u n d th e S u p rem e S o u rce of A ll P o w e r,” Thus in grand, swelling, empty words they deny the personality of the Spirit of God. On the con trary ,.S crip tu re repeated­ ly refers to th e Holy Ghost as a person. “H o w b e it w h en H E , th e S p irit of tr u th , is com e, H E w ill,g u id e y ou in to a ll tr u th : fo r H E sh a ll n o t sp e a k of H im se lf; b u t w h a ts o e v e r H E sh a ll h e a r, t h a t sh a ll H E sp e a k : a n d H E w ill sh ow you th in g s to com e” (Jo h n 16:13).

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“ Before Abraham was, I am ” (John 8 :5 8 ). Again observe carefully the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: “A nd n ow O F a th e r, g lo rify T h o u Me w ith T h in e ow n se lf w ith th e g lo ry w h ich I h a d w ith T h ee B E F O R E T H E W ORLD WAS” (Jo h n 17:5). “Of w h om a s c o n c e rn in g th e flesh C h rist cam e, w h o is o v e r all, GOD B L E SSED F O R E V E R .” , , “B u t u n to th e Son H e (G od) sa ith , T h y th ro n e , O God, is fo re v e r a n d e v e r” (H eb. 1 : 8 ). “In th e b e g in n in g w a s th e W ord, a n d th e W o rd w a s w ith God, a n d th e W o rd w a s God. T h e sam e w a s in th e b e g in n in g w ith . God. A ll th in g s w e re m ad e b y H im , a n d w ith o u t H im w a s n o t a n y th in g m ad e th a t w a s m ad e” (Jo h n 1:1-3). “A nd th e W o rd w a s m ad e flesh, a n d d w elt am o n g u s (a n d w e [th e a p o s tle s] b e- b eh eld H is g lo ry , th e g lo ry a s of th e o n ly b e g o tte n of th e F a th e r ,) fu ll of g ra c e A nd t r u th ” (y. 14). Could refu tation of Christadelphian teaching be more convincing and clear? In denying th e essential Deity of the Son, the fountain of Christadelphian teaching is poisoned a t its source. W hat wonder, then, th a t th e stream em anating from such a source is bane­ ful and poisonous! To proceed fu rth e r: 2. Christadelphians deny the aton­ ing value of the death of Christ, and thu s would take from us, if they could, th e Savior. They say: “T h e d e a th of C h rist w a s n o t to ap p ease th e w ra th of offen d ed D eity , b u t to e x ­ p re ss th e lo v e of th e F a th e r in a n e c e s sa ry sacrifice fo r sin , th a t th e la w of sin a n d d e a th w h ich cam e in to fo rc e b y th e first A dam m ig h t be n u llified in th e seco n d in a fu ll d isc h a rg e of its claim s th ro u g h a te m p o ra ry s u rre n d e r to its p o w e r: a f te r w h ich im m o rta lity b y re s u rre c tio n m ig h t be acq u ired , in h a rm o n y w ith th e L aw of o bedience. T h u s sin is ta k e n aw ay , a n d rig h te o u sn e s s e s ta b lis h e d .” Here the death of the Lord Jesus is looked a t as the expression of th e F a th e r’s love. Doubtless it is th e ex­ pression of God’s love, and who would wish to question th a t? But mark, reader, the righteousness of God de­ manding satisfaction fo r sin is entirely

4. Christadelphians also deny the personality of th e Devil. They teach: “T h e D ev il is n o t (as is com m o n ly s u p ­ p o se d ) a p e rso n a l s u p e rn a tu ra l a g e n t of evil, a n d th a t in fa c t th e r e is n o s u c h b e in g in e x is te n c e . T h e D ev il is a s c r ip ­ t u r a l m a n if e s ta t io n o f s in in t h e fle s in READ RESULTS OF PRACTICAL WORK BY

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