Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1916-08-23

lGaS!2N Sz the Call and De-
- velopment of the
Church OF Christ. These, called dur
ing the Gospel Age, are the only
ones with whom the Lord is now
directly dealing. Originally they
tence. But through the sacrifcial
death of our Lord Jesus, God has ar
ranged to extend to them an invita-
ton to become His sons on new
plane-the highest in existence.
From the time of their spirit-beget-
ting to this new nature until their
birth in the First Resurrection this
class are subject to experiences de-
signed to develop in them the char
acterIlikeness of Christ. Those who
make their calling and election STE
will be glorifed with their Lord and
will share in His exaltation.
The Pastor showed that his text
applies, not to the world, but TO the
Church. This class were formerly
dead in the sense that they were con-
demned in Adam, like the remainder
OF his posterity. They were included
in his death sentence. From the Di-
vine standpoint, Adams children are
a dead race. No human being has
life in legal sense except those who
have obtained it from God through
His appointed Channel-the Lord
Jesus Christ, the great Life-giver to
the world! The life which He will
give to Adams posterity in Gods due
time will be the life which He pur-
chased for them by the sacrifice Of
His own human nature.
The Scriptures speak of Adam in
his original perfection as son of
God. (Luke $3.50 He was human
son. The holy angels are also sons
of God, as the Bible declares. Adam
lost this relationship through DISC
bedience. Consequently there is no
sense in which his posterity are chill
dren of God. But through our Re-
deemer God has opened a way by
which He could, during this Gospel
Age, call some of Adams sons to be-
come a New Creation, sons of God
ON the Divine plane. q Peter IA;
/ John 3:1-3.) The arrangement by
which He is doing this is suggested
in You hath He quickened."
How These Sons Were Quickened.
The Apostle is not here speaking
of the birth of his class in the First
but of their present
condition. They were quickened-
made alive as New Creatures in
Christ-when, after having accepted
Christ as their Savior and having
presented themselves in full conse-
Grafton to God, they were received
and had imputed to them the merit
of Christ's blood There they were
begotten of Gods Holy Spirit (His
power) to new nature. There the
new life in Christ had its beginning.
This embryo life is to grow and de-
velop until it's perfection in the res
direction, when it will receive it's
new spiritual body.
Though these spiritual sons are
the creation of the Heavenly Father,
yet their quickening could not come
the Son. Il Corinthians
$50 Not that the Son quickened
them. but that He died for the sin
of the world, and so opened the way
by which any of Adams posterity
could approach the Father More
over, since this called class must
still use their imperfect human
bodies, it is necessary that their Re-
deemer's merit continually cover
them as robe while they remain in
the flesh; and because of their daily
they need Jesus to be
their Advocate with the Father, that
they may continue to be acceptable.
Il John 81.
The Pastor then demonstrated
from Scripture that
there are two salvations therein pre-
sented; one for the Church, the 9TH
er for the world. (Hebrews 2:3;
Jude 3; / John 2:3; etc. The Church
receives life from the Heavenly
Father, through the Lord Jesus
Christ The world will receive life
as a direct gift from the Son, who
alone will deal with mankind during
the incoming Age. Our Lord Jesus
will be the worlds Everlasting
(Age-lasting) Father" But He is the
Churchs Elder Brother. The world
will not have access to the Father
until the close of the Millennium.
The Church has access now, through
the imputed merit of our Lord Jesus.
What the world will receive dur
ing the next Age is something pur-
chased for them directly by our Lord
What the Church receives is some
thing far above what was purchased
by Christ. This purchased human
life they laid down as a joint-sacri-
fee with their Lord, in order that
they might share in His sufferings
and in the glory to follow. Jehovah's
great Plan is being carried out upon
q wonderful scale.
LIZ