Jackson County journal., 1919-02-21

A buried; third, that
he rose again. /
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
way that We may not fully compre-
bend, ChriSt's death upon the cross
was sacrifice for sin. We read:
"The Lord hath laid upon him the in
iQuity of us ull' (lsa. 53 :6); "who his
own self bare our sins in his own body
ON the tree U Pet > 2:24) that he put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself"
(Heh. 9:o6). It is not necessary that
we should fathom all that this means;
1t is enough if we know that our sins
have been ntoned for by Christ's death
on the cross: that "he is the propl-
, tiatiOn for our sins: and not for ours
only, but also for the sins Of the whole
world" Ct John 2:2) This then. is
the great fundamental fact of the Cos
! oel, 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,
A H.. Nov
it takes no prolonged study of the
Scriptures to find out the facts con-
cerning the burial and resurrection of
Christ. They stand out 50 PROMINENT
ly 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 our
Lord in his body. which was dead and
buried. arose from the tomb. This
may nOA be the idea that some have
Of the burial and resurrection of
Christ: but we must remember that
our qualifying phrase is not, Accord
ing to our ideas" but "According to
the ScriptureS.' They and they alone
are to determine and to interpret these
1dClS lOI us, anu NlltllltI "e ullUcI
stand them or not, it is nevertheless
true that the Scriptures teach the bod.
ily burial and resurrection 81 our Lord
Again, we would say that it is not
necessary to our understanding Of the
Gospel that we fathom these facts II
p is enough for us to know that the!
are facts. and that they are funda
nkal 70 hn
y Furthermore, Paul says of this Cos
: pei. that it is the power of God unit,
: salvation. No wonder he is no
ashamed Of it, If it were an impoten
thing, he might we'll be; but, since
!. is divine dynamic, there is no nee
J. of being ashamed of it. We may nc
" understand how it can be the powe
of God unto salvation, but that is {
g. little moment if it is his power
II save men from sin and does save then
= 1t is not necessary, however, for I
rt to rest upon Paul's statement that tt
Gospel is the power of God; we ca
us test it ourselves. Now that which wi
II. prove whether or not the Gospel
- powerful unto salvation is to do th
which will enable it TO do its wor
Paul plainly states what this is wht
he says: "The Gospel of Christ is II
as power Of God unto salvation to ever
one that believeth." That which e
,id ables the Gospel to do its work in o
to lives Is our belief in it, for just as
is necessary to make 4 connection wi
the dynamo. if we are to have its po
er, so it is necessary for us to ma
ing connection With the Gospel if
Oh are to experience its power in Q
lives. The connection is faith in
Gospel and it is therefore imports
that we understand just what P;
on means when he says "tO everyone tt
believeth.' There is no mystery
this for belief here means just WI
i''h it does anywhere else. that Is, the
ceptance Of fact as true. The SCI
lures, however, make it very clear t
,ht'. In the acceptance of the facts of
ges- Gospel as true one is to accept them
true for himself. 1t is more. then. Il
1ous simply believing that the facts of
Gospel are true historically. or t
they are true for others. These
:, >, course are included when one belle
dizz, in the Gospel but that #
which makes the Gospel the po
,,,, of God unto salvation in ones lif'
to believe 1t as true for ones self