(.Still more particularly.) 8. To THOSE WHO RECEIVED HIM . "But as many as received ( elabon=accepted) Him to them He gave the right (authority) to become children of God, even to them that believe on His name." Faith is the means of sonship, but John traces it back to its ultimate source. Hence he adds: "Who were born not of blood (i. e., of nature), nor of the will of the flesh (fleshly impulse) nor of the will of man (human volition) but born of God." This language has two objects: opposition to Jewish faith in Abrahamic descent, and emphasis on the divine origin of sonship. 9. To His INCARNATION . This characterized especially by His grate and truth- grace, His favor as seen in redemption; truth, as seen in His revelation. Note that no two other virtues or attributes would be so appropriate This fullness of "grace and truth" shown: 1. By His glory which "we beheld." 2. By John the Baptist's testimony: John . . . crieth, saying: "This is He of whom I said He that cometh after me (in'time) is become before ( in advance of) me; for He was prior (a,nd superior) to me " 3. By our experience of His grace and truth: For of His fulness (of grace and truth) have we all received, and grace upon grace." 4. By contrast with Moses: "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." 5. By His visible revelation (exegesis) of the invisible Father: "No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, HE (emphatic) hath declared Him (exegasato)." The sequence of thought in the Prologue is in places difficult to trace and in one or two instances the thought overlaps. But there is a general progression of thought which is fairly well indicated by the nine headings: time, God, creation, life His fore- runner, the world in general, His own people=the Jews, those who receive Him by faith and by the divine will become children of God; His incarnation and manifestation by His life among us of His grace and truth, attested by the Baptist, by our experi- ence, by contrast with the law, by his interpretation of the Father whom no man can see but who himself was in the very bosom of the Father. It is needless to add that if the language of this most profound introduction is understood as divinely inspired and if words are to have their usual import then the doctrine of unitarianism can not be deduced herefrom. (Prof. Wallace is an expert Greek scholar and a devout Christian.)
Thy Testimonies are My Meditation By Re v. Louia Meyer
OTE.—In our July issue Dr. Meyer questioned whether the present wide distribution of the Bible, or current activity in popular Bible study, is securing that systematic and assimilative knowledge of God's Word implied in the Psalmist's "Medi- tate," of which he said that (1) It is necessary for the full assurance of hope; (2) It is necessary for intelligent church membership. And here he adds: (3) It is necessary to growth in grace. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you," is our Saviour's condition for a fruitful, spiritual life. We cannot bear much fruit, to the glory of the Father, except we can say with God the Son, "My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent me." That will is revealed in the Word of God, where it is hidden like the precious gold in the bowels of the earth. Men sink a shaft and systematically dig deeper and deeper revealing the coveted treasure. Thus we must dig prayerfully and sys- tematically, deeper, and deeper, day by day, within the Word of God, that we may grow in the knowledge of the will of God and in grace. In quiet medita- tion upon His Word we will hear his voice speaking unto us ; and humbly we will cry out, "Speak, Lord; for* thy servant heareth," and will gladly obey Him who speaketh. (4) It is necessary to usefulness in the Master's vineyard. "Saved to serve,"
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