Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1913-07-24

- ~ declaring him
righteous Rom.
t;sl.
How can God reckon one righteous
who Is not righteous. This Is a fair
question and We must face t. Sup
pose n merchant In a small town had
fallen into debt He IL not a good
buyer. he Is not accurate in his ac-
counts. and he Is shiftIess. Suppose
rich uncle who has made a fortune
In the same business. and has retired.
should pay him a visit. After q few
days he says to his nephew: John. I
hear bad reports about You: people
say that you are sadly in debt and
that your credit Is poor. / have had
a good year. and believe I will help
you. n you will foot up all your debts
! will give you q check for the whole
amount
his creditors. As they 20 out OF his
store they say to one another: We
are fortunate in getting our money
I this time, but we will not trust him
again He is the same shIftless John.
and he will soon De as badly In debt
as ever" Now what has his uncle &C.
complished for John, He has paid
his debts. but he las not restored his
credit
Suppose. on the other hand. that the
uncle had said: John. have been
cut Of business a few years and find
that I am getting rusty. like this
town and I have about decided to go
into partnership with you John Is
delighted. Of course. The uncle SAYS.
Il will put in all my capital and ex-
perience. but ! shall insist upon be-
ing manager OF the business. You can |
be the silent partner and work under /
nv direction And John. think you |
had better take down that sign over |
the door. for your name does not com |
nand the highest respect In this town. I
Suppose you put up my name instead.
4 Co. I think IL viii look better. and
you can be the company
John gladly complies with the condI-
tons. and the business opens under
new auspices John goes out To buy
goods. and what does he hndr In
L u%~A@A - E8AM8A18 " 1M0N MN. SN8EJ
merchant m town ~ siaA To ua~~ him
credit. because bis rich uncle has be-
come identified with the business. In
the one case the uncle paid bis debts.
but did not restore his credit In the
other case he restored his credit by
going into partnership with him
Gods Law says that the soul which
sinneth shall die When Jesus took
our place on the cross ard died for
our sins. that paid our debt but IL did
not restore our credit. Il lid not make
Us righteous. Had there been no
resurrection OF Jesus We could not
have been justified. though it is con.
ceivable that We might have been fer
given But when Jesus rose from the
dead and identified himself with Us BY
faith coming into our heart and TAX
ing possession Of our life. then he not
only paid our debts. but he restored
our credit He made il possible for
God TO declare US righteous. since We
have gone into partnership with a
righteous Saviour. who has not only
kept the law perfectly himself. but
who Is able to help US to keep it. He
Is the managing partner. and we sim
ply obey his orders. We have even
taken down the old sign. and now We
bear his name-Christian-
Martin Luther said: If any one
knocks at the door Of ny heart and
inquiries II Martin Luther lives here.
I should reply. Martin Luther is dead.
and Jesus Christ lives here Paul
had the same idea. for he said. Il
live. yet not |. but Christ Hveth in
me- For re are dead and your life
IS hid with Christ in Cod
When 4 woman urarries she loses
her name and identity. but she takes
the name Of her husband and shares
his rank II he Is a duke she be.
comes a duchesE. N he Is a prince
she becomes a princess Even so. the
believer who surrenders his life &c
the Lord Jesus loses his Identity and
his sins. bur shares with him his name
mis- character and his rank God calls
him Christian. because he is the bride
Of Christ, his onl.- begotten son. Cod
can Justly declare him righteous be.
cause he is forever united to One who
Is righteous, and who Is able to make
him Ike himself
!, II Jesus lived holy life in one
!. body he Is surely able to do IL in an.
. other. II that body is yielded TO his
control God then can properly and
Justly reckon the believer righteous
because OF his union with the right.
eous Saviour who has atone,i for bis
past sins by his death on the cross
|, and who guarantees his present ana
future conduct because that life has
been committed to his keeping
/, II. as he says. he Is able To save nm.
) to the uttermost." able TO keen ma
from falling" dude "a. and II h.
guarantees to present Us before tn
presence Of Gods glory Absolutely
faultless. surely God can safaIv
reckon US as righteous The ground
Of our justification then is not VIVA,
we are. but whose we are. not our on,
good works. or our desire to be r,xht.
eous. but our union with the ora
Jesus. who was delivered for our ~
fences. and was raised for our tu.f,
! dcation" from f:z5).