The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-06-19


GOLDEN TEXT-But we believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
we shall be saved. even as they.-Acts ISL.
The conference on missions in
jerusalem was not the result of an
appeal to ruling church organiza-
ton for decision, but rather a gath
ering of the believers from Antioch
with those in Jerusalem to confer
regarding a serious difference of
opinion. The earliest converts to
Christianity were Jews, who had
come by the way of Judaism into
their new faith in Christ. But now,
through the preaching of Paul and
Barnabas, certain Gentiles had be-
lieved in Christ. Their neW-found
joy was soon beclouded by theo-
logical problem. Certain teachers
from Judea (Acts 15;D declared
that the Gentiles were not saved I'M
less they came into the Christian
faith the way of the fullfllment of the
Jewish law. Paul and Barnabas at
once realized that this was
I. The Vital Question-Is Saliva.
ton by Grace Or Works? wv. TIL;
see also Wv. 1-5).
Paul and his fellow workers had
rightly apprehended Gods plan of
salvation apart from works of the
law. Paul realized that the entire
future of the gospel ministry was in
a sense dependent on the solution of
this problem. Christianity is the
only religious faith in the world that
presents justification by grace as the
way of redemption; all others follow
(nnore or 1ess) the path of salvation
by works.
The question now was: Shall
works of the law be mingled with
grace-can Jesus Christ alone save
men, or is salvation through Jesus
Christ plus something else?
How was such a serious question
to be settled? Should argument and
strife be permitted to go on until the
stronger party prevailed? Better
judgment indicated the desirability
of friendly discussion and a joint
decision with the believers at Jeru-
salem. This was
ii. The Christian Soluti0n-Coun-
Gil Rather Than Controversy wv. g.,
7, 1913.
There may be times when it be-
comes the duty of the Christian
worker to take an uncompromising
stand for the truth Of God and refuse
to be moved, come what may. But
certainly there should be no such
spirit in dealing with differing in
terpretations of Scripture on the part
of sincere and earnest Christian
brethren. How much would be
gained in the Church today if, in
stead of magnifying differences and
permitting personal desires and am
billions to intervene, men were will
ing to sit down in the spirit of Christ
around the tables of Christian coun-
Gil and brotherhood, presided over
and directed by the Holy Spirit (see
Acts 1928.
Observe the full measure Of lib
erty in discussion, the attentive
listening to the messages of the
brethren. Note also that there were
no secret sessions of a steering
committee" and no "steamroller"
tactics.
The whole question was honestly
and carefully considered by the
council at Jerusalem, with the result
that there was a vindication of the
preachers of Gods grace.
James finally spoke, giving the
conclusion to which the Holy Spirit
had led the conference (see V. 29).
Here for all the future we have
III. The God-Given Answer-Sal-
walton Is by Grace wv. 1921; see
also w. 22-35).
In his epistle to the Ephesians
(Eph. 2:8, 81, Paul succinctly states
this truth: "By grace are We saved
through faith; and that not of your
selves: it is the gift of God: not
of works, lest any man should
boast" The teaching of Scripture
is very plain on this point, and we
do well to receive it in all its beauty
and grace.
Let us observe, however, that the
decision in Jerusalem, while it laid
no further burden on these Gentle
believers ". 28), did quite properly
require of them that, as those who
had been saved by grace, they must
"walk in neWness of life" (Rom.
$40 which they had in Christ. Paul
had the same thought in mind when
he supplemented Ephesians 2:8 and
with verse 10, declaring that God
has ordained that we should walk
lin good works"
There are two opposite tendencies
(both of which are wrong) in this
matter, which consistently hurt the
Christian church. The one which we
have already stressed tries to mix
works with grace, making salvation
either entirely or partially by works.
Sad to say, some who have sought
to avoid this error have gone to the
opposite extreme and have done vio-
lence to Gods plan of salvation by
making grace an excuse for sin,
using their freedom from law as a
justification of lawlessness. We are
Gods workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works" (Eph.
2:10).
-1-
-Four thousand Japanese beetle