Nor is He who baptizeth with the Holy Ghost, and those who are Christ's, to be separated from Himself, or from " the unity of the Spirit," of which He is the center; for sealing by the Holy Ghost is as truly connected with our salvation through faith in the finished work of Christ, as is our membership with Christ, as Head of His body-the Church. We are baptized by this same Spirit into one body, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. It is Paul who was set apart to declare the mystery of Christ, and of the body in its relation to Christ as Head. He had been caught up into the third heaven to be instructed in " the mysteries of God," and to hear unspeakable things, and who, because of the abundance of the revelations, came back with a thorn in the flesh, lest he should be exalted above measure. John's qualifications were derived from the bosom of the Lord whereon he lay, and his subjects were the Father's love, and the Father's house, and the Bride as the Lamb's wife, as well as the reciprocal love of the family, maintained in the power of life in Christ by " this baptism of the Holy Ghost." " Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." "He that hath the Son hath life;" and as Christ is, so are we in this world, is our boast and glory. Beyond this we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Perfect in this union of life in Christ by the Spirit, and of living relationship with the Father and the Son, it imparts to us its character, and rules our expectations-" He that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself even as He is pure." Blessed surely it is to see a new-born company presented to the world by Paul as " an epistle of Christ," known and read of all men; and equally blessed to find the family under the baptism of the Spirit dwelling together in unity, even as Jesus has loved us, and given Himself for us. The beloved disciple writes, " My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." It is through this same grace of Christ that Paul says, " None of us liveth to himself, or dieth to himself; whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's." The "one thing needful" for light and testimony may vary in different dispensations, though each may be perfect in its time and season. For instance, David in his one desire to dwell in the temple of the Lord all the days of his life, or Mary and Martha in the company of Jesus in their house, or Paul in pressing onward to Christ in the glory. However encouraging to us these variations and measures may be, because so suited to our own state, and by men and women of like experience with ourselves, yet one gladly turns from all to Him who has put His comeliness upon us, and whose glory it was to say, " The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do... these doeth the Son likewise."
It was in this same comprehensive and united circle, and with holy men of old in their " times and seasons," that the Holy Ghost had long wrought, and tarried for "the eighth day power," and "the circumcision of Christ," that He might come forth in a new character as the rushing mighty wind-come forth to act in unity with the Father and the Son in Pentecostal power, and bear testimony by the newly-baptized apostles of Christ to Christ, and open out the things that were given Him to do for the glory of God, and for His own glory as the Son, and the glory of the Church as His body, and the Bride of the Lamb. The millennial union and glory of Israel and the Gentiles, and the blessing of every creature, as well as the deliverance of creation from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, waits in a yet further hope of the day when "the Son of man shall come back in His glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels," and sit on the throne of His glory. In the midst of such promises and counsels in the unity of the Spirit, and by the will of God, as are thus made known, and to be displayed in such spheres and scenes as these, both in heaven, and in the heaven of heavens, and in this earth, the Son, in the glory of God will come forth. The unction of the Holy One, and the anointing which we have received, or else the baptism and outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh, will each and all find their new and happy fulfillments and ministrations when that which is perfect is come, and all that is in part shall be done away.
The good confession before Pilate which Jesus made, when challenged as to His royal rights and kingdom glory (as well of His mission against the usurpation and lie of Satan) is of great account in these scriptures. It corresponds also with the Baptist's earlier testimony to our Lord's titles, and mission, and sealing by the Spirit, as " the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world," adding, " The same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Pilate said, " Art thou a King then? And Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a King; but now is my kingdom not from hence, else would my servants fight that I should not be delivered up to the Jews." Another object of this confession lay in " the mystery of God's will;" viz., " To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, to bear witness of the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." In like manner the Spirit of God writes, in 1 John 3:88He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8), " For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil;" and another blessing precedes this in verse 5, " We know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin." Another and a blessed result of these grand purposes flows forth to us in the statement, " Who is He that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" But beyond these victories over sin, and the devil, and the world, yea, and because of them, is the last great personal assurance in this epistle-" We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding to know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life." Well may the Spirit in this unity add, " Little children, keep yourselves from idols;" for all outside this leads to idolatry, or is an idol.
These various quotations from one and another of the apostles show that purposes of blessing now and hereafter originate, and are perpetuated, in the good pleasure of God's will, before the world was. They have been carried out through " the Son of His love " in this world, before angels and principalities in the heavenly places, and substantiated by His finished work on the cross for our faith and walk before God and men through the Holy Ghost. The truth becomes vital in us as the temples of God by the indwelling Spirit, and is a power by which to fix our affections on the things above (not on things upon the earth), where Christ sits on the right hand of God.
In conclusion we may ask, With what glory could " the Father of glory " glorify His only-begotten Son (who prayed to Him for it in John 17) but with His own glory? And if the same question were asked as regards " the mystery of Christ," and of Christ and the Church as His body and His bride, the same answer must be repeated; viz., " With His own glory.". Indeed, it is according to this glory of glories, with the Father and the Son-like " the holy of holies " aforetime-that the Holy Ghost forms the grand doxology for the Church in this chapter as being in this comprehensive and blessed " unity of the Spirit," and " according to the good pleasure of His will," which this epistle reveals: "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the Church in Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."
Practically we learn that the scope of the Holy Ghost's testimony, and the range of His operations, are always in keeping with the will and mind of God at any given period or dispensation, and therefore limited or extended by the suited disclosure which He makes of Himself, whether it be to Enoch, who walked with Him before the flood; or to Abraham as the friend of God in the world that now is; or since by the Son of the bosom, who came to declare and reveal the Father. The lawgiver instructed Israel in these disclosures by the ways and acts of Jehovah in their midst, and even exceeded all previous examples by writing, in Deut. 29:2929The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29), "The secret things belong unto the Lord: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Solomon, in his book of Proverbs, surpasses Moses and the Decalogue by affirming, " It is the glory of God to conceal a thing." The communication of His mind aforetime by prophets and holy men was necessarily in a certain unity of the Spirit, inasmuch as they spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless all these previous and partial ministries become proofs of " the mystery of His will," provided and kept in reserve for the subsequent and final revelation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in Godhead unity (and yet in the distinctness of divine operation), to which they all pointed "that they without us should not be made perfect." For this they wait, and according to the character of their respective calling and hope of blessing till Christ shall come a second time, and His people be willing in the day of His power.
" The good pleasure " of His will (which has been the subject of our meditations), as the divine source of all blessing and blessedness, reproduces itself by the unity of the Spirit in us; as it is written, " It is God who worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure." So likewise is it the main spring in us for the endurance of every adverse influence, arising from ourselves or from others-" Do all things without murmurings or disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life." Indeed, we may ask ourselves, What else could " the good pleasure" of the Father's will work out in us (below or above) whom He has sealed by the Spirit in this unity, but that we should be like the beloved Son in whom He was well pleased, both now and hereafter? Exhortations to walk worthy of the vocation, " with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love," are founded on these moral glories of Christ, and flow from His fullness as their source of supply; for He was this. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, casts us likewise on His unfailing love; for " unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." What a dignity attaches to the vocation wherewith we are called, whether viewed individually as in union with Christ, or as members of Christ, who is the Head of all principality and power, or as Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all!
" And is it so? I shall be like Thy Son,
Is this the grace which He for me has won?
Father of glory, thought beyond all thought,
In glory, to His own blest likeness brought?
"Nor I alone, Thy loved ones all, complete
In glory round Thee there with joy shall meet,
All like Thee, for Thy glory like Thee, Lord,
Object supreme of all, by all adored."
(Concluded from page 224)
J. E. B.
CUT>Meditations on Romans 1 and 2
It will perhaps be of use to say a word as to the meaning of the expression, "Righteousness of God." In spite of its simplicity, there prevails a good deal of misunderstanding about it. Luther's German translation has instead, " The righteousness which avails before God." Now man's righteousness, according to the law, avails before God; and although indeed it is nowhere to be found by Him, yet still it counts before God; only it is not God's righteousness, were it ever so perfect. In John 16:1010Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (John 16:10) we see wherein the righteousness of God has been demonstrated; namely, that God has seated Christ at His right hand in glory, because He has perfectly glorified Him. Righteousness consists in this, that the Father has exalted Christ as man in His own glory-the glory which He had with Him before the world was; and God, as a righteous God, has glorified Him because lie has been glorified by Christ on the cross. (John 17:5; 13:31, 325And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:5)
31Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. (John 13:31‑32)) In the above-cited passage (John 16:1010Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (John 16:10)) the Lord says: The Spirit "will convince the world of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more." In rejecting Christ, come in grace, the world has forever lost Him [in this character]; but God has exalted and glorified Him. When the Lord speaks of the world, in John 17:2525O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. (John 17:25), He says, "O righteous Father!" but in interceding for His own, He says, on the contrary, " Holy Father!" (v. 11) Thus the proof of the righteousness of God consists in this, that He has glorified Christ. As God was in Christ in the world, it must either accept or reject Him. It rejected Him, and for that reason is judged, and will see Him no more until He comes in judgment; but Christ, as man, has perfectly glorified God in all that God is, and God in righteousness has glorified Christ. The gospel then announces this righteousness of God; namely, that Christ, in what He has done for us, having glorified God, has been glorified as man, and seated at God's right hand, clothed with divine glory; furthermore, that our standing before God is the consequence of what Christ has done. Our justification and being glorified are a part of the righteousness of God; because what Christ has done to glorify God, has been done for us. We are the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)) Christ would lose the fruit of His work if He did not have us with Him in the glory as the fruit of the travail of His soul, after having glorified God in all that He is, although we are absolutely unworthy in ourselves.
Thus the apostle shows why such a righteousness, the righteousness of God Himself, was necessary, if man was to be saved. Human righteousness did not exist on earth, and yet righteousness was indispensable. But as it is God's righteousness, and certainly not of our works, it must be reckoned to us through faith, on the principle of faith; for if man's works could help towards it, it would not be the righteousness of God. But if it is by faith that man participates in this righteousness, then believers from amongst the nations have part in it equally with the Jews.
We see, then, that if the person of Christ was placed in the foreground as the first main subject of the epistle, the second is the righteousness of God presented on the principle of faith, so that it is for all, and to be received through faith, and thus appropriated by the soul. What made this righteousness indispensable is the universal sinfulness of man, whilst the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. With regard to the heathen, the apostle gives two reasons for this wrath. First, the testimony of creation (vv. 10, 20); and, secondly, that, knowing God, they did not wish to retain Him in their knowledge, preferring idolatry. (vv. 21-24) " For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse." (v. 20) That does not imply that they know God in His nature, but they ought to have known Him as Creator; unless one is blind, one sees a Creator in the creation.
But God had not only revealed Himself as Creator. Noah did not only know Him as such, but also as a God with whom man as a responsible being had to do, as a God who had judged the world for its wickedness, who took note of man's ways, and who would not have unrighteousness and violence. At the tower of Babel they had learned to know Him as a God who had scattered them, because they desired to be independent in their own wisdom, and mighty in their own strength. Such a God, however, the heathen did not wish to know or acknowledge; they made for themselves gods such as man could make, which gratified their passions, and instead of glorifying the true God, or being thankful to Him, they fell into the darkness of their own hearts. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." And because they did not wish to maintain the glory of God, but abandoned it for their own lusts, God gave them up to these lusts. He gave them up to vile passions in which they did things unbecoming nature itself, and, filled with all ungodliness and controlled by their passions, they not only did such things themselves, but with deliberate wickedness they found their pleasure in those that did them. It is true that there were some who judged these infamous ways (chap. ii. 1), but they did the same things, and thus condemned themselves, and came under the just judgment of God, whilst they despised the riches of His goodness and patience, not perceiving that this goodness led them to repentance. Instead of giving heed to this goodness, they, by their hardness and impenitent heart, treasured up wrath against the day of wrath.
The apostle comes now to an important principle, simple indeed, but which greatly helps to clear the whole matter. Now that God is revealed, He deals with man according to his action. In the day of judgment He will deal with everyone according to his works, let him be Jew or Greek; for there is no respect of persons with God. It is true that God chose a people, and brought them near unto Himself for the proving of man, and for the maintenance of the truth that there is one God; but fundamentally there was no difference amongst men. All were sinners by nature, and all had sinned. We see also that God with regard to His people, although He had given them a law, remained always hidden behind the veil without revealing Himself. But now the veil is rent, and man-first the Jew and then the Greek-must be manifested before Him, each one according to his course, and according to the reality of his moral condition; and here it is not a question whether his standing be that of Jew or Greek. God, according to His righteousness, looks only at the measure of light which each one possesses. The apostle supposes Christianity when he speaks of those who seek for glory and honor and immortality; for the knowledge of these things depends upon a revelation. God will give eternal life, without distinction between Jew or Greek, to those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek these things. God looks for the reality of the divine life, and not a mere external form. Those who do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, must expect indignation and wrath. " Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile." All will be judged, each according to his deeds, according to the light which he has possessed, without respect of persons. " For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." " For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." If one from amongst the nations does what the law commands, he is accepted, and has the preference over one who, possessing the law, does not observe it. As we have said, it is a question since the revelation God has made of Himself, no longer of an external relationship, according to which some are " near " and others " afar off," but of that which is right in the sight of God. In reality, if one of the Gentiles by the Spirit walked in love, he did that which the law commanded; whilst a Jew, who had the law and walked in sin, could not be accepted of God. It is no longer a question of external relationship to God, of His administration of the world and His people, but of the condition of the soul before God, and of the day of judgment, when the secrets of the heart will be brought to light, and man will be judged according to his works.
After clearly stating these great and important principles, the apostle goes on to describe the real condition of the Jews, as he had done with regard to the nations in chapter i. The Jews boasted themselves of the law, and the privileges which they possessed; they knew the will of God, and were able to instruct the ignorant; yea, they even boasted of God. But did they also instruct themselves? On the contrary; they did all that which in their wisdom they taught others not to do. They dishonored God whilst bearing His name. The one true God was blasphemed amongst the Gentiles by them, as it is written. They possessed prerogatives, but if the law to which these prerogatives belonged was broken, their circumcision became uncircumcision. And if the Gentiles observed the law, they condemned those who, possessing the letter and the circumcision, transgressed the law. " For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly.... But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
J. N. D.