El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-08-29

stand fast therefore in the liberty
vyherevrifh Christ hath made you free.
Gal. W I.
Contend earnestly for the faith once
for all delivered to the saints. Jude,
/: , and 4
HAVE chosen TO associate these
texts not because they are alike,
u but because they reflect two dif-
ferent phases of our Christian pro-
fession. The one is an exhortation to
liberty. the other TO loyalty. The one
urges Us to stand fast in the liberty
OF the gospel; the other calls upon US
TO contend earnestly for the talth
once for all delivered to the saints,
They seem to point in different d.
rections, the first toward great free
dom of action anc belief; the other
toward conformity to a fixed order
of things. Are they opposed to each
other? Are they irreconcilableZ Or IS
this apparent antithesis only on the
surface2
Before answering thfe question di-
reCtly, let US study the situation Tor
a moment. They are from different
authors. The first is from Paul. the
second is from Jude Perhaps II We
knew these two men better and the
viewpoint Of each, We should under
stand the significance Of these say
Paul, the Defender Of Traditions.
Protestant orthodoxy has made Paul
the defender Of traditions, whereas ne
was rather the propagandist Of a new
theology; the steadfast and unrelent-
ing enemy Of a narrow conservatism
which threatened to lufle Christian
ity in the first century. We shan
never be able to interpret correctly
his epistles unless we keep this fact
IN mind. He snent his life Withstand
the efforts Of the Judaizers- The Ro-
man letter was written to the breInren
a. Rome in advance Of his visit TO
"a ri r1TTrnOGn There
is not a single epistle from his pen
but that gives evidence or the con-
flict in which he led on the side OF
the progressiveS. He was the leader
of the party in the church Of the first
century that refused to submit to the
contention that gentiles must first be-
come prOselytes to Judaism BEFORE
being admitted to the fellowship Of
It was a mighty controversy and
called for strong and vigorous leader
ship, al the Apostle seems TO nave
been raised up OF God Ior THIS very
service. a service which he performed
with marked fidelity and ability as
the new testament aDundanuy shows
The text which we have selected from
The GalatiaB epIstle voices the very
heart Of his contention. and is express
sive Of the mighty passion which
stirred his soul He was afraid OF
zers sought to place upon the necks
OF all Christians, and he cried out in
warning against it
Jude Slow to Accept
The other text is from Jude, the
brother Of James, the bishop of the
church Of Jerusalem, and brother Of
the Lord It reflects an entirely dif-
fereut feeling. As is well known,
these brothers OF the Lord were slow
TO accept his claims of Messiaship
Indeed. they did not accept them until
after his resurrection They were
10th Of them conservative though gen
tie and tolerant IN spirit To them
Christ ianity was hut the Towering %
Judaism, and they chung with great
devotion to the institutes Of that an
cient faith Insofar. therefore, as lie
exhOrtation Of the text relates at ali
10 doctr1nal matters it has reference
II al that the Hebrew people held
sacred as well as to later revelations.
There is, however, another fact to
be taken into consideration. In very
true sense the two texts have refer
enee TO very different things Paurs
utuerance has reference primarily to
oEes Intellectual conception Of Chris
uanity- He feared the tendency 10
bind the Intellect to a system that had
no meaning in the Christian dispen-
SaIion- Jude feared primarily the
neresy OF immortality He warned
against ungOdliness which turns the
grace Of our God into lasciviousness"
ana mus denies our only Master and
Lord Jesus Christ" His epistle is a
brief summary of the results which
follow evil doing. To both James and
Jude, the ethical teachings of Christ
were particularly precious They
were fond Of the sermon on the mount
and in their writings often referred
10 It They deplored immortality and
unrIghreousness and sought to check
oy every means at their command |
every form Of evil conduct
Are not Contradictory
Inc Two texts therefore ara 60 q