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said that he could get along very well himself, were it not for this devilish translation!

Therefore of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: first, the doctrine of the mortal resurrection of Christ and his brethren is another gospel than Christ and his apostles preached; second, if, when Jesus Christ came in the flesh, like the flesh of his brethren, which is sinful flesh,- if to deny that and to say that he came in any other kind of flesh was antichrist, then it logically follows that when Jesus Christ was born of the Spirit by resurrection from the dead, and came in the spiritual body,- to deny that, and teach and publish to the world that he came again from the dead in the earthy, mortal body such as Adam had when he emerged from the earth, the day that he was created, is simply the same doctrine of antichrist in a little different form.

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST

Paul sets forth what the doctrine of Christ consisted in, in the first part of his letter to the Hebrews; first, where he shows that he took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham when God was manifest in the flesh of mortal man, and, second, when he comes to treat of the priesthood of Christ, which commenced when he put on immortality by resurrection from the dead, as was written of him; first, in the second Psalm, saying, "Thou art my Son, this day (of his resurrection) have I begotten thee," the day that Paul says he was declared to be the Son of God with power (Rom. 1:4; Acts 13: 32-33); and again in the one hundred and tenth Psalm, saying, "Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec." In chapter 7 (verse 16) he shows that this means to be made a priest after the power of an endless life, of Melchisedec's order; and now being made perfect, as Melchisedec was, he became the author of eternal salvation to all those that obey him.

And now having introduced Melchisedec to their notice, of whom he says that he has "many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing," after some sharp admonition, he says, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection." Then he enumerates the principles of the doctrine of Christ, which are six in number, which he states as follows: first, the foundation of repentance from dead works; second, of faith toward God; third, the doctrine of baptisms; fourth, the doctrine of laying on of hands; fifth, the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; sixth, the doctrine of eternal judgment. These principles constitute the beginnings of the word of Christ, which the Hebrews according to the common faith consisting of Jews and Gentiles to whom this letter was addressed had confessed and acknowledged, and which, for the benefit of those who may desire to enter the race set before us, we will briefly consider.

FIRST, THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS

The dead works referred to here by the apostle are the works of the law, of which he treats so much in his letters, and which are indeed dead works in themselves if a man seeks life through them, for it is written, "By

the deeds of the law shall no man living be justified." Therefore those who were under the law were under the curse, and if they trusted in the works of the law for salvation, would inevitably perish. But the wise, even the righteous under the law were men of faith, men who believed the promises of God and hoped for the good things to come, to which the law, as a shadow, pointed, and who trusted in the goodness and mercy of God for salvation. They are to be redeemed by the blood of Christ and raised to life eternal at the last day.

But as the works of the law were only dead works, and as the Gentiles were not under the law, insomuch that what the law said it said to Jews who were under the law, and not to Gentiles (for Paul in his letter to the Romans points out that particularly and says [3: 19], "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law"), therefore when the Gentiles were brought under the preaching of the gospel and were justified by faith in the word and promises of God, and when they accepted Jesus as the Christ, the mediator of the new covenant between God and man, and on that basis were baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, and the hope of eternal life by resurrection from the dead, if after all this, they allowed themselves to be bewitched by blind guides and deceivers who came to them and said, "Except ye be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, the holy days, sabbaths, new moons, and feasts, ye cannot be saved," they virtually rejected Christ by seeking salvation in another way.

Now many were beguiled by these deceivers, even as the serpent beguiled Eve, and so Paul says to the Corinthian converts to Christianity (II Cor. 11:3), "I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." These foolish Gentiles did not see that these deceivers were hunting for their precious lives and that those of their number who were enticed by their enchantments and were circumcised and began to keep holy days, weeks, months, times, years, et cetera, that they might be saved, by so doing had repudiated their former faith, and cast behind their backs all that they had gained, and now sought salvation again through another channel, that is, through the works of the law. Therefore Paul says to them, “Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing, for I certify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace " (Gal. 5:2-4).

Now these people who had repudiated their former profession, and fallen from grace, and placed themselves under the law and under the curse of the law, would need to lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works if they desired to be saved. But this, Paul says, is impossible. They had like Esau sold their birthright, and Esau found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears, neither could these find any. The thousands of the Jews which believed, continued to circumcise their children and walk according to the customs, but not that they might be saved

thereby, but simply as a shadow of the substance, which was Christ. And as we have before showed, Peter in the conference said, "Why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear"; and why were they not able to bear it? because salvation could not be obtained through the law, but instead they fell under the curse. Therefore he says, "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they," that is, both Jews and Gentile must be justified by faith, without the deeds of the law, and the Jews continued to circumcise their children and walk according to the law because they were Jews, and because these institutions were the laws of their land and the customs of their fathers, and were the shadows of the good things which they now had attained to in Christ, and not that they might be saved thereby.

SECOND, FAITH TOWARD GOD

"The just shall live by faith"; this is one of the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, and it is said by the apostle that without faith it is impossible to please God. Every person from the creation of the world to the end thereof must be saved upon this principle if he is saved at all. And what is faith? From what is said about it in the Scriptures it may be defined as believing the word and promises of God, and rendering that obedience which a living and active faith requires; that is, performing those works which God hath ordained, that we should walk therein (Eph. 2: 10).

When a man has been justified by faith, that faith must be fulfilled by working the works of righteousness, even as it was so perfectly illustrated in Abraham, for his faith was accounted to him for righteousness, as is recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Genesis, but afterwards, as it is written in chapter seventeen, the Lord said to him again, "I am the almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect, and I will make my covenant between me and thee." Therefore although it is said in chapter fifteen, "The same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham," yet here it is still spoken of as an open question. The meaning of all that is that the covenant that God had made with Abraham was conditional; it had to be established and confirmed, and whether that would ever be done depended upon Abraham's conduct and faithfulness. Therefore after God gave Abraham about thirty-five years to walk before him, he then tried him in the most vital point when he said to him, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Abraham staggered not through unbelief even at this, but faithfully performed the commandment of the Lord (Gen. 22: 1-18), "accounting," as Paul says (Heb. 11:19), "that God was able to raise him up even from the Idead, from whence also he received him in a figure."

Now the oath which God sware to him at that time was the final confirmation of his covenant to him which he had made and entered into by sacrifice some thirty-five years before; and when the covenant was confirmed to Abraham by the oath of God, it was completed and could not be disannulled, for Paul says to the Galatians, “Though it was but a man's covenant,

yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto." The accounting of his faith to him for righteousness some thirty-five years before was now fulfilled, and as the apostle James says, "Was Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. . . . Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2: 21-24).

After this same example, when a person enters into covenant with God by sacrifice, when he believes the Gospel and is baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and when his faith in that act of obedience is accounted to him for righteousness, that faith must then be fulfilled; he must walk before God and be perfect, as the Lord said, "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God"; and as Paul says, "Ye are made partakers of Christ, if ye hold fast the beginning of your confidence steadfast unto the end" (Heb. 3:14).

THE FAITH OF CHRIST

Since Christ has come who has confirmed the promises made unto the fathers, and in whom all the promises of God are Yea, and Amen, therefore now a man must be justified by the faith of Christ, or as Paul replied to the jailor at Philippi in Macedonia when he came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, "Sirs, What must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house; and they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that was in his house," and when they were baptized, and when he had brought them into his house, he washed their stripes and set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Now Paul and Silas were wise men in the truth, and in a short time could set forth before the jailor and his household a compendium of the things of the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, so that these people could render an intelligent obedience to the faith of Christ upon their testimony. For to intelligently believe on the Lord Jesus Christ covers the whole subject; for to understand the covenants and the promises and to see the relation Jesus sustains to them, and to the inheritance contained therein, opens up before us a large subject. The inspired men of God could, in a short time, show from the Scriptures how Christ must suffer and rise again from the dead, and that Jesus had so far fulfilled all things that were written of Christ, and that Jesus had been made both Lord and Christ; and their word would be with great power, and the doctrines which they taught would be set before men with authority as they were endowed with power from on high and were in possession of the gifts of the spirit.

But now things are very different. The gifts of the spirit were withdrawn long since, and although we have the writings of inspired men from which we may reason and point out what the truth is, and by which we may expose the errors of the times in which we live, no man can now perform signs and wonders and miracles, heal the sick, cast out devils, and raise the dead, to confirm the truth of the things which he teaches.

Besides, in these days the world is full of religion, and the sectarian bodies claim to be Christians, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and the errors of the times are so wrought among the oracles of God that it requires no small effort to show to persons of willing minds what it is to scripturally believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that they may be saved. Jesus did not come to save immortal souls, as there are no such souls in existence to save, and all religious teachers who instruct people into this delusion that they have immortal souls of infinite value to save, and that they are able to show them how to save them, are deceivers. The apostles never preached Jesus and the salvation of immortal souls, but instead they preached Jesus and the resurrection, as the hope of man, saying, "If ye believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him." And if it be asked, Where will he bring them from? the answer is, From the same place from whence he brought Jesus, as Paul said in his letter to the Hebrews (13: 20), "The God of peace brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep"; and therefore when you cast out this heathen theory of immortality, you cast out also with it the theory of hell and this heathen theory of a paradise into which they propose to put the immortal souls of good men when they die; and when you cut these cancers out of the religious systems of these days, there is not much left but a dry skeleton.

THIRD, THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS

The baptisms referred to here by Paul are three in number: the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of sufferings for the truth's sake.

Baptism in Water

The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins was first preached by John the Baptist to all the people of Israel. After this, when John was cast into prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel." Therefore the baptism of repentance was continued by the disciples of Jesus, and it is said that the Pharisees heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus baptized not, but his disciples (John 4: 1-2). After Jesus rose from the dead he commissioned his apostles saying, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth and is bapThis institution still continues.

tized shall be saved."

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit

This consisted in Jesus' sending down the promise of the Father — the promise that he had made by the hand of the Prophet Joel that he would pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, Jews and Gentiles; for Jesus after his resurrection, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father "which, saith he, ye have heard of me; for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence." This

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