We shall now see what the word of God says on the subject of Christian position in connection with forgiveness.
The apostle John in his first epistle says, " This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (John 1:5-75And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. (John 1:5‑7).) In verse 7 we have the three great features of our christian position, looked at as men walking down here. John is not describing some special class among the faithful, but all true Christians whoever and wherever they may be. We walk in the light as God is in the light, where all sin is judged according to Him with whom we are in fellowship. Next, what the world knows nothing of, " we have fellowship one with another," that is, we have the same divine nature, and the same Holy Spirit dwells in us; so that there must be fellowship. This we may see every day and wherever we may be. When traveling, it may be, we meet a' perfect stranger; a word is dropped-Christ's blessed name, or that which conveys to the heart the sense of His grace, and we have communion with that man, just because the divine life is there. This is only natural in the new creation of God, all being indwelt by the one Spirit. But besides these, we are cleansed from all sin-" the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." This is not brought in here as a provision against our failure, as some say, and for our daily restoration. The apostle is speaking of the position in which the believer is set by the grace of God from the beginning of his christian course, and which remains unchanged right through.
We are in the light as God is in the light; we have fellowship together; and are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ-the ever-abiding power of the blood of Jesus which knows no limits.
"These are the three great principles of christian position. We are in the presence of God without a veil. It is a real thing, a matter of life and walk. It is not the same thing as walking according to the light; but it is in the light. That is to say, that this walk is before the eyes of God, enlightened by the full revelation of what He is. It is not that there is no sin in us; but, walking in the light, the will and the conscience being in the light as God is in it, everything is judged that does not answer to it. We live and walk morally in the sense that God is present. We walk thus in the light. The moral rule of will is God Himself; God known. The thoughts that sway the heart come from Himself, and are formed upon the revelation of Himself. The apostle puts these things always in an abstract way: thus he says, " He cannot sin, because he is born of God;" and that maintains the normal rule of this life; it is its nature; it is the truth, inasmuch as the man is born of God. We cannot have any other measure of it; any other would be false. It does not follow, alas that we are always consistent; but we are inconsistent if we are not in this state..;. we are not walking according to the nature that we possess; we are out of our true condition according to that nature.
" Moreover, walking in the light as God is in the light, believers have communion with each other. The world is selfish. The flesh, the passions, seek their own gratification; but if I walk in the light, self has no place there. I enjoy the light and all I see in it with another, and there is no jealousy. If another possess a
carnal thing, I am deprived of it. In the light we have fellow-possession of that which He gives us, and we enjoy it the more by sharing it together. This is a touch-stone of all that is of the flesh.
" We feel the need there is of the last thing;-the blood which cleanses from all sin. While walking in the light as God is in the light, with a perfect revelation to us of Himself, with a nature that knows Him spiritually, as the eye is made to appreciate light, we cannot say that we have no sin. The light itself would contradict us. But we can say that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses perfectly from it."
It seems strange to us, more than strange, that the writers of such sweet, comforting, edifying, and yet such profound thoughts, should be spoken of as teachers of error-so serious are their errors, according to some who are professedly walking in the steps of the Faithful and True Witness, that " love and respect for individuals, that a just desire for christian union," are insufficient reasons for silence-that faithfulness requires an exposure of the teachers of such "serious error." With such selections from their writings before us, what must we think of their critics? especially, as even their enemies admit, that they are godly and unworldly in their lives. Thank God, it is not our place to judge; but we confess to being deeply pained at highly respectable christian journals ceaselessly denouncing such devoted' Christians as teachers of dangerous and false doctrines. But there we leave them, firmly persuaded that they cannot appreciate, that they do not understand that heavenly side of truth with which Brethren are so familiar. The one is looking at truth from earth's side of the cross, the other from heaven's side. Those who know their place in association with Christ as risen from the dead, know that they have eternal life, and that in resurrection; death, an empty grave, the world, sin, and Satan, are all behind the Christian. The grave of Christ is the terminus of every foe. "But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, bath quickened us together with Christ [by grace ye are-not will be, but are-saved], and bath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Eph. 2