The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-07-05

when 10 the great Deliverer every
knee shall bow and every tongue con.
fess. to the glory of God 1t will be
grand indeed, to witness during the
thousand years of Chrst's, reign the
gradual liberation of the slaves of Sin
and Death-their gradual attainment
of full mastery over their weaknesses
and imperfections by the assistance of
the great Emancipator! Many of these
poor slaves went Gown to the tomb IN
fearful anticipation of future of eter-
nal torment How glad they will be
when they awake from the sleep Of
death. realizing 1t as only momentary
interim. They will be advised of the
fact-that the Redemption price has
been paid by Jesus and that. there
fore. he is fully qualified and empow-
cred to set them free in every sense of
the word-not only from the condemnd
ti0n Of death, but also from the actual
blight of death--the mental, moral and
physical weaknesses, which are ele-
ments of the death sentence.
True. the Scriptures intimate that all
will not appreciate the privilege of
emancipation from the dominion of Sin
and Death. 1t is not for us to specu-
late as to the number who will ulti-
matey be set Free 1t is sufficient for
us to know that all will be brought to
a full opportunity of attaining or re-
jecting the emancipation privileges.
All will be free in the sense that none
will die the Second Death. except by
his own wilful. deliberate sympathy
with sin and rejection of the righteous
and liberal terms of the Great Liberator.
Not Only They but Ourselves.
Pursuing the subject, the Apostle
marks the Church of this Gospel Age
as separate and distinct from the
world. He shows that those who re-
ceive the begetting of the holy Spirit
now, are already children of God, and
already enjoying full freedom, full lib.
Grafton from the condemnation of Sin
and Death. He says, "And not only
they the groaning creation, the world),
but ourselves also Ghe spirit-begotten
Church Of this age), which have the
first fruits of the Spirit, even we our
selves groan within ourselves. waiting
for the adoption, to wit, the redemp-
ton (deliverance) of our Body"-"the
Body Of Christ, which Is the Church"
Verse %; Corinthians xii. 20.
The Apostle is here pointing out that
while the world is groaning under its
share of the Adamic condemnation, be-
levers in Christ also groan-though In
q different manner. The world groans
and travails, waiting for the Church's
manifestation-"the manifestation Of
the Sons of God" The Church groans,
not outwardly, but lnwardly. while
waiting for something different. The
world Is waiting for the manifesta-
tion of the Sons of God. because Now
are we the Sons of God" q John iii,
q. Our salvation will come, therefore.
of God, which will bring release to the
world. The elect Church Is icaitinD
for the adoption. the deliverance Of the
Body In the First Resurrection. Our
Heavenly Father has already granted
us the spirit of adoption whereby we
can cry. abba. Father" but our ndop-
tion Is not yet accomplished. COM
pleted. We are already set free in our
minds from the Law of Sin and Death.
but will not be entirely free until our
adoption shall be completed by our
resurrection change. The adoption of
the Church by the Father will be her
full entrance into the liberty OF the
Sons Of God, her full entrance into per-
fection. changed In moment, In the
twinkling of an eye" Il Cor. XIV. 52).
The Apostle continues the same
thought, pointing out that the saliva
ton OF the Church at the present time
is not her actual or complete salvation.
but Representation or a faith-salva-
tion. He points out that what we hope
for Is to be brought unto us at the
revelation of our Lord and Savior Je-
sus Christ. at his second advent He
points out that, in the meantime. il
we have this hope as an anchor to our
souls, 1t will lead us to be patient in
waiting for the glorious things of the
Divine arrangement. 1t Will lead us
to wait patiently for the Lords time
for our own blessing and further op-
portunlty for service In bestowing
Gods blessings upon the world We
are To wait for our deliverance, with
patience, and In this we shall be exer-
cising and developing one OF the
graces of the holy Spirit necessary for
our perfectlng. 1t Is not sufficient
that we learn to lore liberty; we must
learn full submission to the Divine will
and 10 receive our liberty, in kind and
In time, according to the good pleas
ure of the Father.
The expression, "The redemption of
our Body" does not refer to the Lords
people, individually, for each of us
will have separate body in the resur-
rection. The Apostles thought is that
of the Scriptures in general. namely,
that there is one Body which is the
Church; and that. so far as our com
plete adoption by the Father is con-
cerned, this must be done In unison;