<< Back

Chosen no: H1-666 ,   from: 0 Year.

Change lang

"Yea doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord . . . that I may win Christ . . ." Philippians 3:8

Even saintly Christians seem but imperfectly to grasp the plain teachings of the New Testament respecting membership in the Body of Christ. Some assume that it is to be had on some basis of favoritism, and trust that they will be of the Elect. Others think that the Apostle is using figures of speech in an extreme fashion, and vaguely hope that they belong to the right Church and will attain whatever others get, as in the success of a party in which all the victors share the spoils.

No doubt the errors of the Dark Ages absorbed in childhood have been more or less responsible for these vagaries and for our general neglect of proper Bible study. It seems hard for the people of God to realize that the Wisdom from Above is the noblest science and the best instruction; and that it needs intelligent and systematic study as much as do earthly sciences. But we are learning, and, thank God! progress is being made in unsectarian Bible study classes, which are springing up all over the world.

CONVERSION NOT WINNING CHRIST

What is ordinarily termed conversion is not what St. Paul refers to in our text as "winning Christ." The word conversion signifies "to turn about." It implies that a wrong course has been pursued, that the error of the way has been detected, and that a change to the proper one has been made. The wrong course is the sinful course, which brings injury and injustice on others. We never had a right to take that course; yet to some extent we are excusable; for we were born with downward tendencies, an inherited predisposition to sin.

We inherited these depraved appetites and tendencies from our forefathers under the general laws of heredity. A realization that sin always brings sorrow is a sufficient reason for a change of course. Conversion, therefore, is merely the operation of a sane mind in turning about from things recognized to be injurious. Every sensible person should be converted from sin to righteousness.

Conversion may have Christ connected with it, or it may not. Many are converted without any real knowledge of the Gospel of Christ. They merely knew that they were going in a wrong direction, and turned about to take the proper course. But this we can say, that only strong characters can successfully pursue a right course, and strong characters are in the minority. Whether strong or weak in character, great aid will surely be experienced by those who, at the time of their conversion, have a knowledge of Christ and an appreciation of His work and His teachings.

Nothing else gives such fortitude as the hope set before us in the Gospel, and the realization that there is a future life provided through Christ for all mankind, and that our course in the present life will have much to do with the stripes, or punishments, we shall receive here or in the future life-necessary to fit us for Divine favor and everlasting life.

WHAT WINNING CHRIST MEANS

One might reform his life, and have a knowledge of Jesus and of the life to come secured through His death, and of the fact that "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap," and yet, with all that conversion, belief and reformation of life, he might not be a Christian at all, in the Bible sense of that term. We would not by this discourage anybody from taking the reformatory steps already outlined. We would, on the contrary, encourage them so to do.

As already stated, reformation and righteous living commend themselves to all intelligent minds as right and advantageous, beneficial to the individual himself as well as to the world of mankind. Let us discuss Christianity, not from the ordinary standpoint, which classes every civilized person as a Christian, but from the Bible standpoint, which assures us that if any man is a Christian he is a New Creature- "old things have passed away; all things have become new."

To understand our text we must first appreciate the general outline of the Gospelthe Divine Plan of Love for human recovery from sin and death. That Plan was first of all declared to Abraham-that God would eventually bless all the families of the earth and that the blessing would come through his posterity. "In thee and in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Galatians 3:8, 16, 23

Later on, God revealed that Abraham's Seed would constitute a special Kingdom class, which would rule all nations for their uplift. When Israel, by failing to keep the Law, failed to prove itself the holy nation fit for the Divine service, God revealed that He would send a special Messenger of the Covenant; and that through Him, as Prophet, Priest and King, the holy nation would be established; and later on it would be given the glory and honor, the rule of the world.

Our Lord Jesus at His First Advent began the work of selecting this Kingdom class. First of all, He laid the broad foundation by dying for the sins of the whole world. Then from amongst the redeemed ones He began to select the members of the Kingdom. And this has been the work of this entire Gospel Age.

Soon the selective, or elective, work will be finished. Soon it will be determined who will be of the Kingdom class. God's determination will be manifested in the fact that the overcomers will all be sharers in the First or Chief Resurrection, to be priests unto God and unto Christ and to reign with Him on the earth. Rev. 20:6

"ABRAHAM'S SEED, AND HEIRS"

All who will be of that select Kingdom class will be members of the foretold Seed of Abraham. Jesus was of Abrahamic stock through His miraculous birth; and after He had laid down His life sacrificially and was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, no more a man, but a New Creature of the Divine nature, He then was Abraham's Seed on the spirit plane. His Church, called to be of the Kingdom class, are to be Abraham's Seed on the same spirit plane.

We are not ignoring the fact that Abraham has an earthly seed as well, and that to it belong certain earthly promises. We are merely pointing out that the Scriptures clearly teach that the earthly seed cannot have its share in the work of blessing others until first the Heavenly Seed, the Spiritual Seed of Abraham, shall have been perfected in the First Resurrection. God showed the two seeds in the statement to Abraham, "I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven [the spiritual, the Church] and as the sand which is upon the seashore [the earthly]." Genesis 22:17

St. Paul tells us that this Seed of Abraham, Jesus and the Church, spirit-begotten, are unitedly the Church. Using a human body as an illustration, he speaks of the anointed Jesus as the Head, and of each one of the Church as a member of the Body of Christ. Thus we read, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's Seed, and heirs according to the promise?" (Galatians 3:16, 29) Thus we see that St. Paul was anxious to win a membership in the Body of Christ, the Church.

The Apostle, of course, was a member of the Church from the time of his begetting of the Holy Spirit. But there are two bodies of Christ, if we may so express the matter. One is the probationary Body of the present time; the other the actual Body of the future. All fully consecrated believers are members of the probationary Church, or Body of Christ, from the moment they receive the begetting of the Holy Spirit. Thenceforth they are to fight a good fight, to run a successful race, that they may win the glorious position which God has invited them to fill.

THE BIBLE ELECTION IS DIFFERENT

We well know the objection that many have to the doctrine of Election. We know how opposed to it we were until we saw how different is the Bible Election from the Election which brother Calvin taught. In the Bible Election God does the nominating, and each nominated person either makes his calling and election sure, or fails to do so. The responsibility lies with the individual favored with a knowledge of God's Truth, which knowledge constitutes a call.

Furthermore, the Bible Election works no injury to the non-elect. Quite the contrary. The Election of the Kingdom class, along the lines of character development, obedience to God and self-sacrifice, is for the very purpose of qualifying these elect ones for the great work to which they are called. The elect Seed of Abraham is called for the purpose of blessing all the families of the earth.

In the light of this view of Election, how reasonable are the Bible presentational And how trials, difficulties and sacrifices-to which the Church is subjected-are evidently necessary for our testing and development in the character-likeness of the Lord! and thus they are a preparation for a share with Him in His future work.

A knowledge of the Divine Plan is very valuable to all who seek to run the race. If we knew not the object of our trials and difficulties, how could we so well learn to endure them patiently! But if we know that God is thus giving us lessons to prepare us for His service in Messiah's Kingdom, how it changes the aspect of the entire matter!

As St. Paul declared, we may even come to the place where we shall rejoice in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, and because we realize the developing of the fruits and graces of the Holy Spirit is a preparation; and that thus, as St. Peter says, "An entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior."

WHAT OF THOSE WHO FALL?

The Scriptures clearly show that two classes will fail to win the prize, even after having been begotten of the Holy Spirit. One of these classes the Scriptures liken to the sow who returns to her wallowing in the mire, losing the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of the Truth, and abandoning their consecration altogether. (2 Peter 2:22) These will die the Second Death. Whether their number is large or small is not for us to judge. We may reasonably hope that such unfaithful characters do not predominate.

Then comes another class that the Scriptures declare will fail to get the Kingdom prize. Although members of the Body of Christ now in the present life, they will not be amongst the "more than conquerors" who will be members of the Body beyond the veil. These are represented as a "great company." How great their number is, in proportion to the number who win Christ, the Scriptures do not tell; therefore we may safely withhold judgment in the matter.

The Scriptures tell us that while these love the Truth, appreciate their Covenant of Sacrifice, yet they fail to complete the sacrifice they had agreed to make; and the hindrance is their lack of sufficient love for the Lord and His work. Their lack of zeal leads them to hold back from sacrifice, although they do not draw back to wilful sin, as do the other class. They hold back through fear of death, writes the Apostle: "Who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage," restrained from going on in the footsteps of Jesus and the Apostles to make their election sure.

H1 - 666