River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-09-24

dead work is
T. - work upon the
merit of which one depends for saliva
ton apart from Jesus Christ. 1t is
dead because it is separated from the
sources of all spiritual life. The man
who depends upon his character rs
the ground of justification before God,
while he declares that he has No need
of an atoning Saviour, is relying upon
a dead work. The man who depends
upon salvation through baptism or any
other external ordinance is trusting to
q dead work. Dead works are like
wax fruits manufactured and hupg
upon a tree. They look like fruit, but
they are not, because they lack the
life of the tree.
Faith Toward God.
A Foundational Attitude of soul
is in the words faith toward
God" The opposite of faith toward
works. There can be no growth with
out this soul attitude toward God AS
well try to make a plant grow that
never turns it's leaves toward the sun.
AS well seek the development of ami
NAL life without the light. 1t iS more
than faith toward truth. One may be-
lieve that the Bible is the word of
God without trusting God for saliva
ton. One may even believe in the
deity of Christ without accepting
Christ as the Saviour One may be-
lieve in salvation by grace without ap-
propriating grace for his own saliva
ton. Faith toward God in Christ
means salvation. Faith toward God
the Holy Spirit means power. Faith
toward God the Father means sonship
and worship.
Doctrine of Baptisms.
A Foundational Disposition is in
the words "the doctrine of hap
tisms." There may be reference to
the ceremonial washings of the Jews
or to Christian baptism, perhaps to
both. But the underlying meaning is
the same in both cases. The Jews
practiced these ceremonial washings
because they believed that God had
commanded them. The Christians
baptized because Christ commanded
it. The disposition of the soul in both
cases was the same, though the dis
position of the Christian marked
higher type of spirituality than the
disposition of the Jew. In both cases,
however, that disposition could be de-
fined as the spirit of obedience. It
was a desire to please the one they
worshiped and loved.
Resurrection of the Dead.
A Foundational Faith is in the
words resurrection of the dead"
Both words in the Greek are without
the article and might be translated
resurrection of dead things, whether
souls, bodies or institutions. 1t is
fundamental that Christian believe
in resurrection, which means the
power of God to give life so the dead.
OF course, he believes in the resur-
rection of Jesus Christ, and he does
not explain it away by silly talk about
suspended animation. His Lord was
crusified, dead and buried, and rose
from the dead on the third day &C.
cording to the Scriptures. The very
body that was laid away in weakness
came forth in power The very body
that was entombed a natural body
came out spiritual body, not spir-
itual spirit, but real body, although
no longer subject to natural law, be-
ing ever hereafter permeated and
dominated by the Spirit. OF course,
the Christian believes in the resur.
rection of his own body. "All that are
in the graves shall hear the voice Of
the Son of God and shall come forth"
Laying on of Hands.
A Foundational Equipment is in
the words laying on Of hands,"
Beyond doubt this refers to the en-
duement of the Holy Spirit. The
and they received the Holy Spirit.
What relation the laying on of hands
had to the imparting of the Holy
Spirit we are not told.
AS to whether one person today has
the power to impart the Holy Spirit
to another we do not know. If it be
true, then our difficulty is in finding
the person or persons who have such
power.
Eternal Judgment.
Foundation Expectation is in the
words eternal judgment" Judg.
ment" may mean decree for
us or against us, though its usual
meaning is a decree Of condemnation.
Judgment for the penitent believer Is
eternal, and judgment against the
impenitent sinner is eternal. Ger
tainly there is no teaching that either
decree will be revoked after death.