The Dangers of Unrebuked Vice

It is something that sin be not without rebuke. Even if we cannot, immediately, apply the remedy, it is something gained if Christians cry out against the pestilence and give alarm to souls, against the "superfluity of naughtiness," and the "overflowings of ungodliness." It is something that, at least, "our eyes gush out with water, because men keep not God's law." For if our youth grow up amid the scenes of shame and the open licentiousness of our days, without hearing any remonstrance, or being warned that such things are wicked and hateful to the Most High, the result may be easily foreseen.

They will breathe the atmosphere of vice, till their own habits are formed in corruption: and our civilization will sink to a still lower stage of dissolute living. Then, the carcass will be ready for the birds of prey, to which, in righteous retribution, God will give it over for destruction.

A. Cleveland Coxe, Moral Reforms, Suggested in a Pastoral Letter, 1869

Christianity WIthout Christ (Part 2)

Christianity without Christ

by Charles Hodge (1823-1886)

Originally published in the Princeton Review, April 1876 (Vol. 5, Issue 18).

It does not need to be proved that Jehovah was the God of the Hebrews; the object of their worship, of their love, gratitude, and trust. They recognized him as their absolute and rightful sovereign, whose authority extended over their inward As well as their outward life. On him they were dependent, .And to him they were responsible. His favor was their life, and they could say, "Whom have we in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth we desire beside thee."

As little does it require proof that Christ is the God of Christians. In the New Testament all divine titles are given to him. He is called God, the true God, the great God, God over all, Jehovah. He is declared to be almighty, omnipresent, immutable, and eternal. He created heaven and earth; all things visible and invisible were made by him and for him, and by him all things consist. He upholds all things by the word of his power. This divine person became flesh; he was found in fashion as a man, and in the form of a servant. Having been born of a woman, he was made under the law, and fulfilled all righteousness. He redeemed us from the come of the law by .being made a come for us. He bore our sins in his own body ,on the tree. He died the just for the unjust, to bring us unto God, and having died for our offenses, and risen again for our .justification, has ascended to heaven, where lie is seated on the right hand of God, all power in heaven and earth being committed to his hands, and where he ever lives to make intercession for his people. This Christ, God and man, in two distinct natures and one person forever, was to the writers of the New Testament all and in all. He was; their wisdom; from him they derived all their knowledge of divine things, and to his teaching they implicitly submitted. He was their righteousness; renouncing all dependence on their own righteousness, they trusted exclusively on the merit of his obedience and death for their acceptance with God. He was their sanctification. Their spiritual life was derived from him and sustained by him. They were in him as the branch is in the vine, or the members in the body, so that it was not they who lived, but Christ who lived in them. Without him they could do nothing; they could no more bring forth the fruits of holy living separated from him than a branch can bear fruit when separated from the vine, nor than the body can live when separated from the head. They felt themselves to be in him in such a sense, that what he did, they did. They died with him. They rose with him. What he is, they become. What he has, they receive, all in their measure — that is, as much as they can hold. They are filled with the fullness of God in Him.

This being so, it follows, of course, that Christ was to them the object of divine worship and of all the religious affections, of adoration, of supreme love, of trust, of submission, of devotion He was their absolute sovereign and proprietor by the double right of creation and redemption. Love to him was the motive, his Will the rule, his glory the end of their obedience. it It was Christ for them to live. Living or dying, they were the Lord's. They enforced all moral duties out of regard to him; wives were to obey their husbands, children their parents, servants their masters, for Christ's sake. Christians were commanded not to utter a contaminating word in a brother's ear because he belonged to Christ; they endeavored to preserve their personal purity, because their bodies were the members of Christ. The blessedness of heaven in their view consisted in being with Christ, in beholding his glory, enjoying his love, in being like him, and in being devoted to his services. It is a simple fact, that such was the Christianity of the writers of the New Testament Their religious life terminated on Christ, and was determined by their relation to him. He was their God, their Saviour, their prophet, priest, and king; they depended on his righteousness for their justification; they looked to him for sanctification. He was their life, their way, their end. If they lived, it was for him; if they died, it was that they might be with him. They did not attempt to reform or to save me, on the principles of natural religion, or by a process of moral culture. These had their place, but they are inadequate and absorbed in a higher moral power. Paul, in writing to Titus, speaking of Christians before their conversion, says: "They were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating me another. But after the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that, being justified by grace, we should be heirs according to the promise, of eternal life." They, therefore, labored for the reformation and salvation of men, by going everywhere preaching Christ as the only Saviour from sin.

What Christianity was in the hearts of the apostles, it has been in the hearts of Christians of all ages, and in all parts of the world. Of this, every Christian has the evidence in his own experience. Christ is to him both God and man-God manifest in the flesh; God surrounded by the rainbow of humanity, which softens, diversifies, and beautifies his rays. Christ he worships, trusts, loves, and obey,. Christ is his wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification, his redemption. Christ is ever near him, so that he can be spoken to, appealed to, and communed with; a present help in every time of need Christ is the Christian's portion for time and for eternity. With Christ he has everything, and without him he has nothing.

Christianity Without Christ (Part 1)

Christianity Without Christ

by Charles Hodge

 

Originally published in the Princeton Review, April 1876 (Vol. 5, Issue 18).

In one sense of the word, Christianity is the system of truth taught by Christ and his apostles. In this sense the question, what is Christianity? is simply a historical one. It may be answered intelligently and correctly by a man who does not profess to be a Christian, just as he may answer the question, what is Brahmism? or, what is Buddhism?

In another sense, Christianity is that state of one's mind produced by faith in the truths revealed concerning Christ. In this sense, Christianity without Christ is an impossibility. It would be an effect without its proximate cause. Nevertheless, there is a form of religion, widespread and influential, which is called Christianity, in which Christ fails to occupy the position assigned to him in the Bible.

The Bible teaches us, that the same divine person by whom God for whom the universe was created, is the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Jesus of the New. And as natural religion (in the subjective sense of the word) is that state of mind which is, or should be, produced by the revelation of God in the works of nature, and by our relation to him as his rational creatures; and as the religion of the devout Hebrew consisted in the state of mind produced by the revelation of the same God, made in the law and the prophets, and by their relation to him as their covenant God and Father; so Christianity is that state of mind produced by the knowledge of the same God, as manifest in the flesh, who loved us and gave himself for us, and by our relation to him as the subjects of his redemption.

Three things follow from this: first, as the same divine person is the Creator of heaven and Earth, the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Jesus of the New, there can be no inconsistency between the religion of nature, the religion of the Hebrews, and the religion of Christians. The one does not assume that to be true, which either of the others assumes to be false. The only difference is that which arises from increased knowledge of the object of worship, and the new relations which we sustain to him.

The Hebrews, in worshiping Jehovah, did not cease to worship the God of nature; and the Christian, in worshiping Christ, does not cease to worship the God of the Hebrews.

Second, it is impossible that the higher form of religion should be merged into a lower. It is impossible that the religion of a Hebrew should sink into natural religion. That would imply that he ceased to be a Hebrew, that he rejected the revelations of Moses and the prophets, and that he renounced his allegiance to Jehovah as the God of his fathers. In like manner, it is impossible that the religion of a Christian can sink into that of the Old Testament, or into that of nature. That would imply that he ceased to be a Christian; that he rejected or ignored all that the New Testament reveals concerning God and Christ. There could be no true religion in the mind of a Hebrew that was not determined by his relation to Jehovah as his covenant God; and there can be no true religion in the mind of a Christian that is not determined by his relation to Christ as God manifested in the flesh.

Third, the Christian, in worshiping Christ, does not cease to worship the Father and the Spirit. He does not fail to recognize and appreciate his relation to the Father, who loved the world and gave his Son for its redemption; nor does he fail to recognize his relation to the Holy Spirit, on whom he is absolutely dependent, and whose gracious office it is to apply to men the redemption purchased by Christ. In worshiping Christ, we worship the Father and the Spirit; for these three are one — one only living and true God, the same in substance and equal in power and glory. Christ says, I am in the Father and the Father in me. I and the Father are one. He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; and therefore, he that worships the Son, worships the Father. Hence, it is written, "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father," but, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." "He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life." It is to be remembered, however, that in the mysterious constitution of the Godhead, the second person of the Trinity is the Logos, the Word, the Revealer. It is through him that God is known. He is the brightness of his glory, revealing what God is. We should not know that there is a sun in the firmament, if it were not for his (apaugasma). So we should not know that God is, or what he is, were it not for his Son. "No man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him." In having Christ, therefore, we have God; for in him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead.

The Standing Use and Authority of the Old Testament (Part 3)

(continued from 8/21/2015)

Conclusion:

Not only is the former part of Scripture necessary for our edification with regard to the meaning of the latter, but we also find that Christ and his apostles assert that the moral precepts of the Old Testament are the will of God abiding for ever, and enforce the keeping of them, as they are there, and there only, handed down to us in the proper form and order. Yea, the expression for the whole sum of duty, embraced in Christ's injunction, " Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," seems to have been taken from, or at least founded upon, that passage in Leviticus 11:44, "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy;" and is repeated by Peter, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." (1 Pet. 1:16). So that not only is the attention of men directed to the tables of the law as they were delivered, and to each command as it appears there singly: "Keep the commandments," but also to all the precepts collectively - to the sum of them all in the very words of the Lawgiver himself in the Old Testament once and again repeated; and, finally, their attention is fixed, by the endearing way in which Christ crowns the Old Testament idea, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." The examples of the Old Testament saints are referred to in the New, implying the standing use of such records for our imitation. The instance of Elijah as an example in prayer (James 5:17). The long catalog of "worthies," is remarkable for their faith (Heb. 11). These and a multitude of similar references take for granted a knowledge of the Old Testament, and clearly show its abiding use to Christians in all ages. Besides, there are some particulars of faith and practice, which are learned from, and can only be fully established by the Old Testament. It contains the sublime account of creation, and subsequently narrates the fall of man. The moral obligation of the Sabbath, of baptism, and of the worship of God in the family capacity; the scriptural institution of marriage and of civil rule, and the nature and importance of federal engagements...cannot, we think, be satisfactorily established but by the Scriptures of the Old Testament. The Old seems to contain the history and prophecy of the church in all time and in eternity too. It furnishes examples of lasting influence and the germ of all doctrines, and it guides us in our devotions at the throne of grace. The New may be regarded as an enlargement on the character and sufferings of Christ, as these were witnessed by his disciples; it unfolds the manner of his life and the matter of his teaching, and declares the nature and design of the ordinances and institutions of the New Testament church. We do not say that because of these things greater importance is to be attached to the New than to the Old, but rather that on all the leading doctrines of the Christian religion, much more enlarged and accurate views are obtained by a careful collation of the whole Word of God. Christians are much indebted to many parts of the Old Testament for elevating ideas of the Deity and directions in his worship. What soul-breathings after God are contained therein, suitable to every age and every clime! ... Some are inclined to overlook certain portions of the Old Testament, and labor under the mistake, that the divine character as therein revealed is far different from that in the New . This error seems to arise from incorrect views of the law and the gospel. The thunders of Sinai and the fearful punishments threatened on offenders are the true representations of God's justice in taking vengeance on those who violate his holy law. The minister of the gospel should see the important use of the Old Testament in giving weight to his warnings, and the sinner should be driven by its threats to flee from the wrath of an angry God to the covert of the covenant. This error arises also from an idea entertained that there are not such gospel invitations and comforts contained in the Old as in the New . But though we have the moral law and its accompanying terrors, we have likewise most lively and encouraging traces of the Covenant of Grace. The sinner finds salvation in the Old as well as in the New ; and the terrors of the law as well in the New as in the Old. The "Sun of Righteousness" is equally the light of both: in the one his benign beams burst forth from amid lowering clouds; in the other the clouds may be said to have passed away, and we behold him fully revealed. Certain it is, that much in the Old should no longer be practiced under the New Testament dispensation, for we are come to a more glorious and spiritual economy; but we do not say that such parts as refer to the past economy are no longer useful. On the contrary they are in many ways indispensable - as they declare still the infinitely holy character of the Most High, the necessity of awe and reverence the most profound in approaching him, and of a strict regard to the divine glory and the welfare of the church in administering civil and ecclesiastical law; and taken in connection with the New , we find most valuable aid and direction from these laws and observances in practice obsolete. In short, they are, so to speak, the mold in which the mind of the Church of God in past and present ages was formed and fashioned. To conclude, God as he is in himself, and as he manifests himself in the display of his perfections in the works of creation, providence, and redemption, is presented in his true character in the Bible, taken as a whole. The God who is our hope, our trust, our all, is pleased to give to man this revelation of himself, and The Power of Truth as the Instrument of Union taken from first to last, the view is connected, perfect, and, we had almost said, unbounded. Isolate from the other part, either the Old or New, and a void is left which all created wisdom never can fill up. The Bible, as we have it, is precious and inestimable. It is dependent in all its parts - a golden chain suspended from the eternal throne, its links secure and inseparable. To vary the figure, it is a mine of knowledge, too deep for man, where every new discovery leads to others more valuable still, and thus we may go on from one degree of Scriptural wealth to another, until we arrive at the source and fountain of all; there to enjoy the riches of his glory.

"This book, this holy book, on ev'ry line

Marked with the seal of high divinity,

On every leaf bedewed with drops of love

Divine, and with the eternal heraldry

The Standing Use and Authority of the Old Testament (Part 2)

(continued from 8/18/2015)

1^st Instead of finding fault with the Jews for reading the Old Testament, the very reverse was the case. They are reproved by the Savior for their carelessness in not receiving and acting upon the statements laid down therein. Said he to the chief priests and elders of the people, "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?” Matt. 21: 42. To the multitude, "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words." John 5: 46-47. Whence may we not see the very way in which the Jews are yet to be brought to a knowledge of the truth; not, indeed, by a laying aside or neglect of the Old Testament, but by a reverential study of it, and the blessing of the Spirit accompanying it; and that thus the veil of ignorance shall be removed, and they brought to bow at the feet of the Great Teacher himself? Then shall he say to them like as he did to the two disciples that journeyed with him to Emmaus: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" Luke 24: 25. Such references plainly intimate not only the necessity and importance of these writings, but stimulate to a continued and close examination of their bearing in order to a cordial reception of the truths which he taught.

2^nd When Jesus was tempted of the devil, though he could, by the arm of his omnipotence, have at once hurled him and his legions back whence they came, defeated; yet, strange to say, he suffered the deceiver to confront him - the Innocent One - and taking upon him our infirmities, he employed against Satan the weapons he would have us to wield. He set us an example that we should follow in his steps. By the words of the Old Testament Scriptures did Christ oppose his arch insinuations, thereby inculcating their use, and teaching us not only to resist the devil and he will flee from us; but that these same Scriptures are the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, the weapon of attack in the armor of righteousness provided by the Captain of our salvation.

3^rd Not only have we Christ's example, which we should follow, but his plain and pointed command: "Search the Scriptures." John 5: 39. This, of course, at the time in which it was spoken, referred to the Old Testament, and thereby its authority and use are established to all generations.

4^th In the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epistles, we have 'its perusal commended and enjoined, and its statements introduced to corroborate the truths published. Of the Christians in Thessalonica, it is recorded as exemplary and praiseworthy; they "searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17: 11. Again, "the righteousness of God without the law" is said to be now " manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;" and this is explained in the next verse to be "the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe," - a righteousness "without the law" in this sense, that our personal obedience has no influence in procuring the sinner's justification, "by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." Rom . 3: 20, 21, 22. And this righteousness of faith then is "witnessed by the law and the prophets" - the usual expression among the writers of the New Testament, for the Old. How important the testimony, both by reason of the witness, which is the Spirit himself, and because of the object, which is Christ with all new covenant benefits for our salvation. We have the Old Testament so interwoven with the apostles' instructions that to separate the two would be to rend and destroy the whole. Their connection is so completely established in the Epistles, their harmony so clearly maintained, that, by neglecting the Old, we render the New , as far as we are concerned, in many places, useless and unmeaning. The Epistle to the Hebrews would be unintelligible without Leviticus—the perpetual reference to the former dispensation renders necessary the continuance of this book for our instruction. Moreover, how could we aright understand the Epistle to the Romans, and the words "atonement," "reconciliation," "blood," &c , without the Pentateuch? Is it not by a constant reference to the Old, and by comparing Scripture with Scripture, that our ideas are properly formed and enlarged? In truth, the distinguishing doctrines of the Church of Christ regarding his substitutionary sufferings, his resurrection, his exaltation, and the exercise of his mediatorial power over the nations, can only be fully proved by having recourse to the Old Testament in connection with the New.