September 1931
396
T h e
K i n g ’ s
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THE PANORAMA „/ PRIVILEGE . . . By ROBERT EXCELL FRY *
selves, but because they tend to obscure one of the most precious privileges in Christ, they would seem to be of some insidious origin. Christ-dishonoring, they are anti- Christian and would appear to be of Satanic propagation. It is only natural that “the father of lies” should seek by every means in his power to persuade men that there is but one family on earth, and that all men are the sons of God. In the tenth verse of this same chapter, the truth is set forth that there are two families: “In this the chil dren of God are manifest, and the children of the devil.”
H E FIR S T E P IS T L E of John IS specifically and exclusively addressed to believers. It is here that the epistle is in marked contrast with the Gospel of John. - In neither case are we left in doubt as to those to whom the message is directed. The objective of the gospel is clearly stated: “But 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” (John 20:31). The gospel is thus addressed to unbe lievers, to the end that they may believe. The epistle is
There are indeed two families, and the wall of demarcation be tween them can not be overcome except through the blood of the Son of God. The w o r d s of Dwight L. Moody may well be recalled in this connection: I want to say very emphatic ally that I have no sympathy with the doctrine of universal brotherhood and universal fa therhood. I don’t believe one word of it. If a man lives in the flesh and serves the flesh, he is a child of the devil. That is pretty strong language, but it is what Christ said. It brought down a hornet’s nest upon His head and helped to hasten Him to the cross. Nevertheless, it is true. Show me a man that will lie and steal and get drunk and ruin a woman—do you tell me he is my brother? Not a bit of i t ! He must be born into the household of faith before he b e c o m e s my b r o t h e r in Christ. He is an alien, he is a stranger to the grace of God, he is not a friend. Be fore a man can cry, “Abba,
just as definite: “These things have I written unto you that be lieve on the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5: 13). Its message is for believers, and they are summoned thereby to greater fullness of joy, to deeper assurance of eternal life, and to a closer fellowship with God. In the early verses of the third chapter, a majestic pano rama of the believer’s privilege in Christ Jesus is spread out be fore the eye of faith. “Behold” —the vision is of what we are, and also of what we shall be. W hat W e A re With respect to what we are, it says : “Beloved, now are we sons of GOdv”' ■Here we are brought face to face with a re lationship which has, with dia bolical ingenuity, been obscured , in the mists of misappropriated
0 ons of G od , beloved in Jesus; 0 the wondrous word of grace! In His Son the Father sees us, And as sons He gives us place. Blessed hope now brightly beaming, On our God we soon shall gaze; And in light celestial gleaming, We shall see our Saviour’s face. By the power of grace transforming, We shall then His image bear; Christ His promised word performing, We shall then His glory share. —E l N a th a n .
Father,” he must be born from above, born of the Spirit. In the light of the clear presentation of the Scriptures, it seems strange that such terms as “the fatherhood of God” and “the brotherhood of man,” with a universal ap plication should have crept into such generally accepted usage. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God,” and this son- ship is not ours by any natural right; it comes as a pre cious gift of God’s grace. With it are many privileges. There is the privilege of saying, “Abba, Father,” that is, the confident and loving approach of a child to a parent who is willing to give. There is the privilege of brotherly love—something vastly different from and dearer than any universal brotherhood of man. There is the privilege of chastisement—child-training. Finally, there is the priv ilege of being “heirs of God.” W hat W e S hall B e With respect to what we shall be, three elements are intimated in this panorama of privilege. There is an ele- [Continued on page 410]
terminology. It is perfectly clear, from the reiterated teachings of the Word, that sonship to God is a precious ¿ift of privilege: “But aS many as received him, to them gave he power [the right, or privilege] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13) ; “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14) ; “for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3 :26) ; and, as we have it here : “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Surely there is nothing made clearer than that the relationship of sons to God is one which men do not have by natural birth, but one which comes when men are born again by faith in Jesus Christ. In the light of this clear utterance, the widely preva lent concepts of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal sot#rip of men not only appear as false in them-
♦Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Duluth, Minn.
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