Scriptural references used throughout this exposition are generally from the Authorized Version (AN.). Occasionally, AN. marginal readings are quoted and where this occurs they are shown in italics.
Where the Revised Version is quoted, this is clearly marked (RN.).
The author has sometimes translated a word or a phrase slightly differently to that used in the AN. and where this occurs such variant reading is shown in brackets.
Where Mr. C. H. Welch has decided to give his own rendering of a relevant verse or passage the translation is distinguished by the use Of SMALL CAPITALS.
Hold type is used for emphasis.
The subject before us is elemental, basic, indispensable. All controversy concerning theological matters is a waste of time, if man, after a brief and troubled existence for a few fleeting years, goes down to `dusty death'. If there be no deliverance from sin and its dread consequences, then all is vanity. To be in need of salvation implies that one is `lost'. To be in need of deliverance implies that one is in bondage or in danger. To discover that `no man can redeem' either himself or his brother, makes the question `What must I do to be saved?' the most imperative question mortal man can utter.
Israel, God's chosen people, are represented as being `lost sheep' (Matt. 10:6) and Christ said of Himself and of His mission
`The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:10).
Gentiles too are in the same category:
'If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost' (2 Cor. 4:3).
The world is looks upon as `lost', for the word `perish' in John 3:16 is the same in the original. On the other hand, those who believe and are saved, `shall never perish' (John 14:28). 'ibis is elemental salvation. To fill in some of the needful details and make the subject live is die purpose of this book.
SALVATION IMPLIES A SAVIOUR.
Eight days after a Child named Jesus was born in Bethlehem over nineteen hundred years ago, an old man named Simeon, who waited for the consolation of Israel, went into the temple at Jerusalem under the influence of the Holy Spirit at the moment when this Child was brought in `to do for him after the custom of the law', and taking Him in his arms, he blessed God and said
`Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation' (Luke 2:25-34).
Salvation is an abstract term, but here it is the name given to an infant of eight days old, a Person, a Saviour.
Luke 1:26-35 reveals the message of the angel to Mary, and says concerning the Child about to be born, 'Thou ... shah call His name Jesus'. By reading Luke 1:26-35 together with Matthew 1:18-23 we learn that this Child Jesus was of miraculous conception, His mother being a virgin, and that this virgin birth fulfilled a prophecy uttered years before by Isaiah (7:14) and anticipated in Genesis 3:15. The purpose for this miraculous intervention we must consider later; here we are assembling some important facts relating to salvation.
In Matthew 1:21 we are told why this Child was called `Jesus'
`For He shall save His people from their sins'.
In addition a second name is given to Him, 'Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us' (Matt. 1:23). We are referred back to Isaiah 9:6 and 7:14 where we read
` For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given... and His name shall be called ... The mighty God'!
Immanuel (i.e. God with us)'.
With such stupendous passages before us, it is evident that salvation called for something more than might. Right seems to be involved. In the birth of this Child, we see God's unspeakable gift, His own self-sacrificing love, and at the same time a recognition of the claims of righteousness that cannot be swept aside. Right, not might, is triumphant. God is represented as `A
just God and a Saviour' (Ira. 45:21). The Gospel plan is so arranged that `He might be
just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus' (Rom. 3:24-28).
Before embarking on the great subject of the Person of the Saviour, let us pause to consider some of the ways in which Salvation is spoken of in relation to sin and its consequences.
Salvation is from; to; and by.
Salvation saves `from sins' (Matt. 1:21).
Salvation saves `from wrath' (Rom. 5:9).
Salvation is `by grace' (Eph. 2:5).
Salvation is `by faith' (Eph. 2:8).
Salvation is `by hope' (Rom. 8:24).
Salvation is `to the uttermost' (Heb. 7:25).
The Scriptures make wise `unto salvation' (2 Tim. 3:15).
`Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved' (Rom. 10:13).
Neither is there Salvation in any other
`For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved' (Acts 4:12) .
No good purpose will be furthered by multiplying references; those which have been quoted make it evident that Salvation
comes from God, is mediated through Christ, is
made known through the Scriptures, is received by faith, and is entirely an act of grace unmerited by the one who is saved.
THE GOSPEL AND ITS CONNECTON WITH SACRIFICE.
`None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him' (Psa. 49:7). `For God so loved the world (i.e. For God loved the world
like this)' (John 3:16).
Perhaps the most repeated text in the whole Bible is John 3:16. We have elsewhere drawn attention to the importance of the use of logical particles. John 3:16 commences with the word `For', which links it with verses 14 and 15, and refers us back to the symbol of the brazen serpent,
lifted up in the wilderness. 'There can be no shadow of doubt but that the Saviour Himself endorsed this reference back to Moses and the serpent, for every occurrence in John of the words `lifted up' refers to the death of Christ. Let us see them for ourselves.
The Type `As Moses ... so the Son of Man' (John 3:14). The Fact `When ye have lifted up the Son of Man' (John 8:28). The Purpose `If I be lifted up from the earth' (John 12:32). `Signifying what death He should die' (John 12:33). The Question `The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?' (John 12:34).
SO LOVED.
The second feature of importance in John 3:16 is the true intention of the word `so'. `God so loved the world'. Here are some of the ways this word is used
`Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus
on the well' (John 4:6).
When John wrote his first epistle, he enforced this thought by using slightly different words
Herein. In this. Hereby.
`in this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him' (1 John 4:9).
`herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us,
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins' (1 John 4:10)_
`hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid own His life far us' (1 John 3:16).
It is a basic tenet, and salvation hangs upon it, that
`God loved the world like this, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'.
The issues are clear. There are same who abject to the sacrificial basis of salvation insisted on by the Scriptures, and say something to this effect
`Can we believe that a loving Father would demand a bleeding sacrifice before He would forgive His little children?'
This is an appeal to the emotions and based upon an untruth. God is the Creator of all men, but the Father only of those who are numbered among His children in the family of faith (John 1:I2). Our Saviour Himself spoke of some in His own day as children of the Devil (John 8:44), and Paul tells us that before salvation we, who now rejoice in the high calling of Ephesians, `were children of wrath, even as others' (Eph. 2:3). Further, it is a travesty of truth to say that God `demanded' a bleeding sacrifice. The overwhelming fact is that the God Who demanded, is the God Who supplied that sacrifice.
`The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world' (1 John 4:14). `He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all' (Rom. 8:32).
It is fatal to invent attributes of God derived from our own lives and motives. Apart from revelation, we may be convinced that `God is', but would have no means of adding to these two words `God is ... ?'. The Scriptures alone do that.
` God is Light'. `God is Love'. `God is Spirit'. `God is a consuming fire'. `God is just'. `God is holy'. `God is merciful'. `It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God'. `God cannot lie'. `God cannot deny Himself. `God cannot look upon iniquity'.
We read of the wrath of God as well as the love of Gad. The same God Who is love is also a `consuming fire' (Heb. 12:29). Redemption, Ransom and Atonement are necessary because God must be both just, and at the same time `A Just God and a Saviour' (Isa. 45:21); and Romans 3:23-26 makes it clear that not only must the saved be `justified' but so also must God!
`For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of Gad; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus' (Rom. 3:23-26).
It will be seen that Romans 3:23-26 is crucial, and once having been read and written, cannot be set aside without careful examination.
THE TESTIMONY OF ROMANS 3:23-26.
Before attempting a detailed examination of these verses, it will be helpful to note the following outline of the apostle's teaching in Romans 1 to 5.
1. Righteousness Revealed. Power to Salvation. (Rom. 1:17,16).
2 Righteousness Required. All guilty. (Rom. 1:19 to 3:20).
3 Righteousness via Redemption. Set forth. (Rom. 3:21-28).
4 Righteousness by Reckoning. Counted for. (Rom. 4:1-25).
5 Righteousness and Reconciliation. Peace. Access. (Rom. 5:1-11).
Romans 3:22, picks up the thread of Romans 1:16,17 after having 'proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin' (Rom. 3:9). Verses twenty two to twenty six are bounded with the thought of the righteousness of God; in the first place, that righteousness which is imputed and which is by faith of Jesus Christ, and in the second place, that righteousness which cannot be called in question. He must be just at the same time that He justifies, and this rests not upon any deeds or promises made by the sinner, but rests squarely upon the `Redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom. 3:24).
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE.
While Scripture maintains in many passages the difference that exists between Jew and Gentile, there is `no difference' so far as sin is concerned, and there is `no difference' so far as salvation is concerned (Rom. 3:22; 10:12). There is no difference for all sinned (in the past) and are coming short of the glory of God (in the present).
SINNED AND COME SHORT.
The Hebrew word for sin is chata, and its primitive meaning can be seen in Judges 20:16, where it speaks of men of Benjamin who could `sling stones at an hair breadth, and not
miss'. The apostle was an Hebrew, and knew the meaning of the word `sin' in the O.T. Hence he writes `come short'. We shall appreciate the definition better if we turn aside to consider the O.T. symbol of righteousness. It is neither more nor less than `sixteen ounces to the pound'. How many jibes have been directed to the `bloodthirsty and primitive savagery' in the law `an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'? Yet, would anyone reprimand a housewife who, at the butcher's or the grocer's, insisted on `sixteen ounces to the pound'? Would any tell her that she was perpetuating a `bloodthirsty and savage creed'? The simile is not fanciful, for the symbol of righteousness in the O.T. is a pair of balances, or a plumb line. Even Shakespeare through the lips of Portia reminds us that `In the course of justice, none of us should see salvation'. If we all have `come short', what must follow? Either we die under condemnation, or God lowers His standard and accepts a dividend, or, to maintain unsullied righteousness, He Himself provides the Sacrifice which will honour the law, and allow God to be just at the same time that He justifies the ungodly. Sing it is God Who demands and God Who supplies the `bleeding sacrifice', it amounts to blind blasphemy to throw His unspeakable gift back in His face and accuse Him of lack of love.
COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.
What does it mean to come short of `the glory' of God? Glory in English, like the Latin
gloria, includes fame, splendor, and magnificence, but none of them fits Romans 3:23. Underlying every reference to the word `glory', if it translates the Greek word
doxa, is the idea of testing and proving, especially the testing of a metal: so the derivatives
dokimazo to try, to prove, and dokime proof or test, as in
`The trial of your faith ... more precious than of gold ... though it be
tried with fire ... found unto ... glory' (1 Pet. 1:7).
Whether we are like the Pharisee, who can boast of his good deeds, or like Paul and say `TOUCHING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS Of THE LAW, ... BLAMELESS', or whether we are 'the chief of sinners' is a matter of
degree, we have all `come short'. Our only hope is to be found in Him; not having our own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
To deal with the great mystery of Godliness, `God manifest in the flesh', would tax our powers to the limit, and go beyond the scope we have in mind in this booklet, which is rather to speak to those who are either seeking
salvation and are not yet quite assured, or those who know that they have passed from death unto life, and now need to be built up in their faith. And so we pass by `the mystery of Godliness' and consider some of its implications.
THE ONE MEDIATOR.
The book of Job is perhaps the oldest book in the world, and though difficult to follow, has one or two illuminating passages with which we can start our enquiry
`He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both' (Job 9:32, 33).
Here Job is crying out for `the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus' (1 Tim. 2:5) . The margin tells us that the `Daysman', which is an old English legal term, is an `Umpire'. Something of its meaning can be seen in the reference Isaiah 1:18, `Come now, and let us reason together', or in Elihu's intervention when he says :
`If thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me, stand up. Behold, I am according to thy wish 1N GOD'S STEAD: I also am formed out of the clay' (Job 33:5, 6).
`If there be a messenger with Him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom' (Job 33:23, 24).
`A messenger'. This word (Heb. malak) means
(1) An ambassador. (2) An angel. (3) A messenger.
In the N.T. the word messenger is angelos, the Gospel is an evangel or a `good message', to preach is to evangelize, and a preacher is an evangelist. This is the message and the messenger spoken of to Job.
`An interpreter'. This word (Heb. l) places the one needing an interpreter in an invidious situation, or as Paul put it
`That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens ... strangers... far off' (Eph. 2:12,13).
The first office of this messenger or interpreter is
`To shew unto man His uprightness'.
This takes place in Job 42:5,6
`I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes'.
Let us observe the implications of these two passages. Job is described in chapter one as being `perfect and upright'. He was so proverbially `righteous' that Ezekiel 14:14 declares
`Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD'.
It is one thing to have a righteousness that delivers one from `famine' and `pestilence' (Ezek. 14:13, 19) , it is quite another to possess a righteousness that will stand the scrutiny of the Living God, and provide a perfect acceptance in His Presence. We are provided with a N.T. parallel in Philippians three. When it is a matter of comparison between Paul and other men for boasting in the flesh, he can say `I more', for `Touching the righteousness which is in the law' he could write that he was
`blameless'. This is something deeper than the oft repeated excuse `I'm as good a man as my neighbour'. Yet, this selfsame blameless Paul, just as Job before him, continued
`I count all things but loss ... but dung (and garbage) ... and be found in Him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith' (Phil. 3:8, 9).
We must now move on to consider some of the outgoings of this salvation which God has provided.
Salvation includes (1) The forgiveness of sins, (2) A righteous standing before God, (3) The gift of eternal life, (4) The hope of immortality at resurrection. It is received by faith and it is manifested by a changed life. These are some of the consequences of being saved. Let us consider the testimony of the Scriptures with these headings in mind. Let us `search and see' if these things are `so'.
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
Possibly this item does not occupy the first place in the mind of God but it bulk& very large in the awakened conscience of the sinner seeking salvation.
For - give and par - don are the same terns derived from different languages. The underlying idea in these English words is that some penalty or exactment that could have been demanded by justice is relaxed, the Saviour being willing to for - go what was due
`I forgave thee all that debt' (Matt. 18:32).
Before we proceed with this study, let us ventilate an objection that comes readily to the minds of certain folks. `Forgiveness' means `Forgiveness'; why all this scrutiny? Some have acted similarly when putting their signature to certain documents, contracts, deeds and agreements, only to discover, when too late, bow wise it is to understand the terms of any subject, especially one so vital as salvation from sin and death.
Our first observation, which must be patent the moment it is made, is, that while we are grateful for the Word of God to be accessible in the language in which we were born it nevertheless was originally given in Hebrew and Greek; and while no one will be saved by linguistic ability, nevertheless he would be foolish to ignore the opportunity to consider just
what words were `given by inspiration of God'. This we hope to do, avoiding as far as possible all technicalities, but exhibiting the language of inspiration so that `The wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err'.
Forgiveness translates three Hebrew words namely kaphar, nasa and
salach, and three Greek words charizomai, aphiemi, and apoluo. Let us see whether we can make these words live.
First the Hebrew.
Kaphar, means primarily `to cover'. To cover over as with `pitch' (Gem. 6:14) as a protection against the Flood. This word is used for `make an atonement' (Lev. 5:18). We must be careful to distinguish between `covering by cancellation' and `covering by concealing'. This we shall see presently.
Nasa means primarily `to lift up or to bear'. This word is used in Isaiah 53:12 `He bare the sin of many'. In the mind of God borne sin is forgiven sin, hence this word is translated `forgavest' (Psa. 32:5). This blessed fact occasions difficulties sometimes in translation. For instance, did Cain say
`My punishment is greater than I can bear' or `Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven' as the A.V. reads in the margin? (Gem. 4:13).
The reverse of iniquity is its punishment, and the reverse of sin being home is sin forgiven.
Salach. The primary meaning of this word is `to let go', `to remit', hence `to forgive' (Psa. 103:3). This is the word that is translated `let go' in Leviticus 16:22 where the scapegoat bearing upon it the iniquities of the people shall be `let go'.
We make no attempt here at an extensive exhibition of the usage of these words: our purpose is simpler, and enough has been exhibited to show that `forgiveness' in the O.T. is based upon atonement; is sin that has been borne, and consequently remitted.
The three Greek words must now be considered.
Charizomai. Charis means grace as over against merit, as can be seen in Romans 11:6
`If by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace'.
Charizomai is translated `He frankly forgave' (Luke 7:42) and `freely give' (Rom. 8:32) and `forgive' (Eph. 4:32) . It differs however from
aphiemi , which not only means to forgive but to `set free' (aphesis Eph. 1:7), and like the references to the O.T. types already considered, is based upon `borne sin', for 'without shedding of blood is no remission' (Heb. 9:22). Aphesis is the word used in the Greek version of the O.T. for the `Jubilee', the year of `release' (Dent. 31:10).
Apoluo `to loose away from' is only translated `forgive' twice, namely in Luke 6:37; but its other renderings, `set at
liberty', `release', `let go', `dismiss' are suggestive. The forgiven sinner has not been merely `let off as an act of
kindness, something deeper has been involved. A kindly father (remembering his own shortcomings) might be
expected to `let off' with a `Don't let me catch you doing it again' attitude, but God must be just at the selfsame
time that He justifies the ungodly. Sin as sin must be righteously dealt with, even if love beyond our
comprehension should go all the way to Calvary to make such forgiveness possible, permanent and priceless . This
leads us to our second heading.
SALVATION INCLUDES A RIGHTEOUS STANDING.
Forgiveness is negative and is set forth in symbol
`Take away the filthy garments' (Zech. 3:4).
Here iniquity is made to pass from the forgiven sinner.
'I will clothe thee with change of raiment'.
Here, the sinner puts on the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness, and all in the face of Satan, the accuser. So, in Romans 8:31-34
`If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not Hs Own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us'.
Those who are justified by faith have access by faith into this grace wherein they `stand' (Rom. 5:1,2). `No condemnation', `no separation' (Rom. 8:1,35). This is the positive aspect of salvation. Forgiveness - negative, justification - positive. Sin `taken away', righteousness `imputed'. So wonderful is this transaction that, though our space is limited, we must give enough to consider this term `imputed'. If we turn to Romans four we shall see how it is used in its two forms
(1) To impute, logizomai. (2) To impute for, logizomai
eis. The word is translated `count' verse 3, `reckoned' verses 4, 9, 10, `counted for' verse 5, `impute' verses 6, 8, 11, 22, 23, 24. Let us make sure that we can discern the passage where
logizomai eis is used
`Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness' (Rom. 4:3).
`To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness' (Rom. 4:5).
`Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness' (Rom. 4:9).
Sin is a fact. Sin was not reckoned `for' anything. It was just `reckoned' or `imputed', but righteousness was not our own doing, our faith in the finished work of Christ being `counted for' righteousness. Now all this would have been impossible apart from the blessed fact contained in one other reference. The Lord Jesus Christ said
`I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors' (Luke 22:37).
This is a quotation from Isaiah 53 `My righteous
Servant (shall) justify many; for He (The Righteous) shall bear their (the unrighteous) iniquities ... and He (the Righteous) was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many' (Isa. 53:11,12).
If God could thus act toward His beloved and sinless Son on our account then He can and will also act in grace and love to us the unworthy.
`For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust, that He might bring us to God' (I Pet. 3:18). `FOR HE WHO KNEW NO SIN WAS MADE SIN (OR A SIN OFFERING) FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM' (2 Cor. 5:21) .
Once again, we must be content with this poor introduction to a mighty theme. May each reader be able to see for himself his need, God's gracious provision, the justifying of God as well as of man, and all through Him Who was
`Wounded for our transgressions, ... bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him ; and with His stripes we are healed' (Isa. 53:5).
THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.
`The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Rom. 6:23) .
Perhaps the most loved and often quoted text dealing with this gift of eternal life is John 3:16, which we touched upon on page 3. Eternal life is equated with immortality and embraces honour and glory in Romans 2:7 and 5:21
`To them who ... seek for glory and honour and immortality, (God will grant) eternal life'.
`That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord'.
Here, the apostle sums up his teaching concerning the first and last Adam (Rom. 5:12-21). Sin earns its
wages, but eternal life is the gift of God (Rom. 6:23). How is this life, this eternal life, entered and received?
`Verily, verily, I say unto you,
1
He that heareth My word, and
2
Believeth on Him that sent Me,
3
Hath everlasting life, and
4
Shall not come into condemnation; but
5
Is passed from death unto life' (John 5:24) .
This life is hid with Christ in God, and though the outward man perish, the inward man is renewed from day to day, and when Christ Who is our life shall be manifested, then we also shall be manifested with Him in glory (see 2 Cor. 4.16; Col. 3:1-4). This leads us to our fourth heading
THE HOPE OF LIFE AND IMMORTALITY.
`The first lie that the Bible records is found in the words of the Devil in Genesis 3:4, "Ye shall not surely die", and this initial conceit, held up before the eyes of our first parents, permeates Philosophy, Paganism, Theosophy, Spiritism, Protestantism and Popery'.
The above quotation will be found in Volume 1, page 64, of The Berean Expositor issued in February 1911. We are writing the present booklet fifty years afterward, during which time we have made a continuous study of the Scriptures, but can find no reason to alter or mitigate the passage written so early, for the Devil's lie persists in unremitting insistence, in Book, Hymn and Ideology. So inbred is the doctrine of `the immortality of the soul' in many children of God, that one we questioned saw no apparent incongruity in advancing as a `proof that the soul was immortal, the words of Ezekiel, `The soul that sinneth it shall die'! It is assumed in the first instance that man alone is called a `living soul', and an appeal is often made to Genesis 2:7 as a proof of this. A brother in the Lord approached a Bible bookseller to see whether they would stock or handle some of our publications. They refused. He said to the assistant who was dealing with this request
`I see you have copies of the Septuagint on your shelves for sale. Well, in Genesis 1:20, 21, 24 and 2:7 you will see that the same words are used of `the moving creature that hath life', `every living creature that moveth' including `great whales', `the living creature' which included `cattle and creeping thing' and `man became a living soul', namely
psuche and zoe . Yet you refuse us for saying
just that'!
This is true also of the original Hebrew, and the AN. has placed in the margin of Genesis 1:20 `soul' but all to no purpose for the Devil's lie `blinds the minds of them that believe not' even though they use the AN. with its margin. Man sees in the term `a living soul' a synonym for immortality; not so the inspired apostle
`There is a natural (psuchikon soul-ical) body, and there is a spiritual
(pneumatikon) body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit' (1 Cor. 15:44, 45).
In this selfsame chapter, and in continuation of the argument, the apostle says
`We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ... for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality ... ` (1 Cor. 15:51-54).
So, Death will be swallowed up in victory, not because man inherently possesses an immortal soul, but because immortality is entered only at resurrection. `Life and immortality' is brought to light `through the gospel' and through the gospel only (2 Tim. l :10).
Nephesh, the Hebrew word `soul' occurs 754 times in the Old Testament, and the equivalent Greek word
psuche occurs 103 times in the New Testament. The astounding fact is that not once in all 857 verses scattered throughout the whole Bible is there found a statement which would lend the remotest colouring to the oft repeated statement `the immortal soul' or `the never-dying soul'. We are fully aware that many make a last ditch stand at Mark 9:44, `Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched', but few
realize that this is a quotation from Isaiah 66: 24 where
`carcasses of men' are the subject.* (For a more complete analysis, see the
`Hell or pure from the blood of all
men'.)
It has not been our intention that an exhaustive treatment of salvation in all its aspects should be attempted, which must include a careful study of O.T. types such as the Passover, the great offerings of Leviticus one to five, the fasts and feasts of Israel, and the many aspects of the sacrifice for sin made by our Saviour, variously spoken of as Redemption, Ransom, Propitiation, Offering, and the unbroken insistence in Law, Prophets and Psalms, in Gospel, Acts, Epistles and Revelation, that for sinners of whatever nationality, and under whatever dispensation they may be called, there is an unqualified reiteration of the principle supplied in Hebrews 9:22
`Without shedding of blood is no remission'.
To set aside as obsolete, or unenlightened, or not being upon a high spiritual plane such insistence, is to set aside the whole Book. Ephesians and Colossians are confessedly among the most spiritual of all books of the Bible, yet we do not read more than six verses in Ephesians before we read
`In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; wherein He hath abounded toward us' (Eph. 1:7,8).
To illustrate something of this abounding grace we conclude this booklet with a series of short studies which look at the Redeemer's work from a number of angles.
