The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1919-03-01

Ae IOSe dSull.
But we should note the qualifying
phrase, According to the Scriptures"
None of these facts of the Gospel is to
be interpreted apart from the Scrip
lures; so, if we would understand
them, we must turn to the Scriptures
to see what they say about them.
Summing up the teaching of the
Scriptures concerning the death of
Christ, it is evident that somehow, in
a way that we may not fully compre-
bend, Christ's death upon the cross
was a sacrifice for sin. We read:
"The Lord hath laid upon him the in
iquity of us all' lisa. SO :6) "who his
W self bare our sins in his own body
on the tree Il Pet. 2:24) that he put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself"
(Heb. 9:26). 1t is not necessary that
we should fathom all that this means;
it is enough, if we know that our sins
have been atoned for by Christ's death
on the cross; that "he is the propi-
tiation for our sins; and not for ours
only, but also for the sins of the whole
world" (I John 2:2). This, then, is
the great fundamental fact of the Cos
pei, without which there is no Gospel.
The second and third fundamental
facts have to do with the burial and
resurrection of our Lord; and again
we must interpret these by the Scrip
lures, for the qualifying phrase is,
According to the Scriptures" Now,
it takes no prolonged study of the
Scriptures to find out the facts con-
corning the burial and resurrection of
Christ. They stand out so prominent
~ that one soon discovers that the
Scriptures teach that the dead body
of our Lord was taken from the cross
and buried in the tomb, and that u
Lord in his body, which was dead and
buried, arose from the tomb. This
may not be the idea that some have
of the burial and resurrection of
Christ; but we must remember that
u qualifying phrase is not, accord
ing to u IDEAS" but According to
the Scriptures" They and they alone
are to determine and to interpret these
facts for us, and whether we under
stand them or not, it is nevertheless
true that the Scriptures teach the bod
lily burial and resurrection of our Lord.
Again, we would say that 1t is not
necessary to our understanding of the
Gospel that we fathOm these facts; 1t
is enough for us to know that they
are facts, and that they are funda-
mental to the GOSPEL.
Furthermore, Paul say of this Cos
pei, that it Is the power of God unto
salvation. No wonder he is not
ashamed of it. If it We're an impotent
thing, he might wei be; but, since it
is a divine dynamic, there is no need
of being ashamed of it. We may not
understand how it can be the power
of God unto salvation, but that is of
little moment, If it is his power to
save men from sin and does save them.
It is not necessary, however, for us
to rest upon Paul's statement that the
Gospel is the power of God we can
test it ourselves. Now that which will
prove whether or not the Gospel is
powerful unto salvation is to do that
which will enable it to do its work.
Paul plainly states what this is when
he says: "The Gospel of Christ is the
power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth.' That which en-
ables the Gospel to do it's work in our
lives is our belief in it, for just as it
Is necessary to make a connection with
the DYNAMO if we are tO have IFS now
er, so it is necessary for us to make
a connection with the Gospel if we
are to experience its power in our
lives. The connection is faith in the
Gospel, and it is therefore important
that we understand just what Paul
means when he says "to everyone that
believeth." There is no mystery in
this, for belief here means just what
it does anywhere else, that is, the ac-
ceptance of a fact as true. The Scrip
lures, however, make it very clear that
in the acceptance of the facts of the
Gospel as true one is to accept them as
true for himself. 1t is more, then, than
simply believing that the facts of the
Gospel are true historically, or that
they are true for others. These of
course are included when one believes
in the Gospel, but that faith
which makes the Gospel the power
of God unto salvation in ones life is
l. r. IL