The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-08-09

experiencing that transformation o.
the mind Of which St. Paul tells us
(Romans xii. % These are no
to be blamed for having been borr
under less favorable conditions thar
some others. And so God has made pro
vision for all such to come to knowl
edge Of the Truth and not merely to
faith In it. that they may be saved.
There are others more favOrably
born. so far as their mental makeup
Is concerned, who have been unfa
vorably born as respects environment
and place. Born in heather lands
where they heard nothing of the Mes
sage Of Gods grace. or where they
heard 1t under such unfavorable cir
cnmstances that they could not appre
ciate it. these must indeed lose the spe
cial favors Of this Age, which go only
to those who do exercise faith; but
they are not forgotten nor left out OF
the Divine Plan, but will share in the
general blessings coming to the worlG
through the Redeemers Kingdom.
work Out Your Saivation.
The favored class who hear the Mes
sage Of Divine favor. speaking peace
through the sacrifice of Christ. assur
ing them of the Heavenly Fathers
willingness to forgive their sins AND
receive them as members Of the Body
Of Christ. are obliged to receive this
Message by faith. What is there tc
prove that Jesus died and rose AGAIN.
This must be received by faith. What
Is there to prove that the sacrifice
which Jesus made met with Divine ap
prevail and that as a consequence all
that come unto the Father through
Him as their Advocate will be accepted
There is no proof except to the eye OF
faith and ear OF faith. To the natural
man these things are imagination, and
those who fully and completely trust
In them are accused Of being rather
weak minded.
This step of conservation through the
merit of Jesus brings them into such
relationship with the Heavenly Fa
Their that He is willing to accept them
and give them the holy Spirit OF
adoption into His Family. Up to this
point they have done nnthing-mere.
iy believed - merely accepted Gods
gifts. favors. invitation. etc. Here our
text applies, Not Of works. lest any
man should boast"
Every Christian takes these same
steps Of faith and conservation, or he
Is not Christian There are no other
steps to take. True. indeed. as we ap-
preached God we thought to put away
some Of the filth of the flesh: but such
endeavor to wash and free ourselves
from sin cannot be counted good
works. good work is one that Is
done for God or for others. Merely
seeking to cleanse our thoughts and
words and deeds Is not good works In
the Scriptural sense-but. anyway, none
has ever been able to purge himself.
to wash himself. to cleanse himself.
Our own righteousness is as filthy
rags. In which God could not receive
Us. We can come to Him only under
the robe Of Christs righteousness. and
it is given only as reward of faith
and a conservation of the heart
But while there are no works up to
that point. after that point there will
be works. else we will never come off
conquerors. nor ever gain the great
prize which Jesus llkens to pearl
Of great price," We can do no works
to Justify ourselves, but. after being
justified by faith. we are permitted to
do works. Yea. We are required TO
work out our own salvation. Note the
difference. however. 1t is the old
creature. the sinner. that was justified.
When God accepted him living sacri-
fee through faith in Jesus he was be-
gotten to a new nature and became a
New Creature in Christ Jesus-a spirit
being. though without spirit body.
This New Creature not only main
tains the faith which brought it into
existence, but in it the faith must
work. 1t must grow by exercise
grow In grace. knowledge and love-"
grow in all the fruits and graces of
the Holy Spirit. Under figure of be-
getting and birth the Apostle repre-
sents the New Creature as foetus
developing and getting ready for its
birth-resurrection. Again. this New
Creature is referred to by the Apostle
sometimes as a babe. saying, "As new
born babes desire the sincere milk Of
the Word, that ye may grow there.
by" The milk of the Word repre-
sents the simplest truths, the simplest
elements Of Divine instruction. the first
principles of the doctrines of Christ.
Gradually we grow in grace and be-
come strong In the Lord and able to
assimilate the stronger foOd-able to
appreciate the deeper truths. AS a
child requires the exercise of every
muscle in order to become the youth.
and as the youth needs exercise In or
der to become fully developed. so it is
with the New Creature. He must
have works in order to his develop
ment He must work ont the good
things which he takes In as milk an0
StTOuS meaI- Lucy must oc "othSu
out in his own mind. in his conduct
toward others, in his ministry Of spir-
itual truths to his family. 10 the
Church and before the world.
I'VE Are Gods Workmanship"
AS we look into the starry sky and
learn that it contains approximately a
thousand millions Of worlds, and per-
haps many times that number. we are
amazad of Gods work m nShin Pint