FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER:

FOURTH SERIES.

VOL. II.]	BETHANY, VA. NOVEMBER, 1852.	[NO. XI.

      MY DEAR E.--Religious faith being simply the confidence we have in the Divine testimony, as our acquaintance with that testimony increases, and we discover new truths or new facts, so our faith will be progressively enlarged or extended, being always in exact proportion to our knowledge of the testimony or revelation of God. The question now is, Must an individual wait until he is fully acquainted with all the particulars revealed in the Bible, before he can properly be regarded as having the amount of faith necessary to salvation and church membership? Or are there particular points only, in regard to which he must be instructed? And if this be true, what are these important matters, which he must know and believe, in order to salvation?

      A thorough knowledge of the Bible is not regarded, by any of the sects, as an essential prerequisite to a profession of faith which they require. And it is fortunate for them that it is so, else the party would expire with the last of its present members. All agree that there are certain fundamental points which must be believed, and which, taken together, constitute what is termed orthodoxy.¹ To extract these from the Bible, has been the great business of [601] councils and assemblies, which, smelting, as it were, in their party furnaces, the ore of Holy Writ, have obtained, as they imagined, from it, the pure and precious metal. This they have then mixed with the requisite portion of alloy to give it hardness; and having stamped it with their own theological image and superscription, have issued it as the only standard coin in the realm. Each party, however, disagreeing as to the characters which should distinguish this precious metal, have, unfortunately, obtained a different product, and we have, consequently, in circulation, as many standards as there are parties, and it would puzzle the most skillful assayer in the theological mint to determine their relative values.

      Nevertheless, after all, we certainly concur with the rest of the religious world, in making a distinction between what is properly and especially "the faith," or the Christian faith, and a general belief and reception of the Divine testimony, contained in the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. But we differ from all the parties here in one important particular, to which I wish to call your special attention. It is this: that while they suppose this Christian faith to be doctrinal, we regard it as personal. In other words, they suppose doctrines, or religious tenets, to be the subject matter of this faith, we, on the contrary, conceive it to terminate on a person--the Lord Jesus Christ himself. While they, accordingly, require an elaborate confession from each convert--a confession mainly of a doctrinal and intellectual character, studiously elaborated into an extended formula--we demand only a simple confession of Christ--an heartfelt acknowledgment that he is the Messiah, the Son of God.

      The Christian faith, then, in our view, consists not in any theory or system of doctrine, but in a sincere belief in the person and mission of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is personal in its subject, as well as in its object; in regard to him who believes, as well as in regard to that which is believed. It consists of simple facts, directly connected with the personal history and character of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and the promised Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It is personal in its object, leading to personal regard and love for Christ, and a personal interest in his salvation. It consists not in definitions; neither does it embrace the litigated questions of sectarism. It contains not one, much less five cardinal points of speculative theology; nor does it inflict upon the believer, for his sins, forty articles save one. The gospel of salvation, indeed, were ill-fitted to be preached to every creature, illiterate or learned, if it consisted, as some imagine, of those ponderous [602] bodies of divinity, and intricate systems of theology, which have oppressed the energies and entangled the movements of the Protestant world.

      It might not, indeed, be difficult, had we space to devote to the subject, to account for that seemingly strange infatuation of the Protestant community, which, like that of the alchemists in search of the philosopher's stone, which should convert base metals into gold, led them, for ages, in a long and weary search of that visionary something called orthodoxy, which, by the slightest contact with the soul, could transmute ignorance, bigotry and spiritual pride, into the most shining Christian virtues. We will only remark, that the great doctrine of the Lutheran reformation, "Justification by faith," having been established upon the ruins of Romish works of superstition, minds, imbued with a love of theory and metaphysical investigation, engaged in remote speculations touching the nature, the quality, and the extent of this justifying faith; and formed elaborate systems of doctrine, which they supposed to be comprised within its limits, and to which they thought it necessary that every other mind should conform. They seemed to attribute to a particular set of tenets an independent and exclusive saving efficacy, as though they were possessed of some talismanic influence, or as though the belief of them was so meritorious as to secure a title to salvation. Their talents, learning, and important services, in other respects, in the cause of the Reformation, gave them an influence by which the whole mind of the Reformation was turned into this channel. Purity of doctrine became the rage; and, as each party leader differed from others in his tenets, but, agreed with them all in pride of opinion and zeal for orthodoxy, doctrinal disquisitions and controversies were every where predominant, and the whole religious community became entangled and bewildered in theological distinctions and metaphysical speculations, and seemed to lose sight entirely of the real simplicity of the Christian doctrine, and of the true nature of Christianity itself.

      The truth is, that this whole controversy about purity of faith and doctrine, seems to have originated in a misapplication of the Lutheran doctrine of justification by faith. It is perfectly well known, that Luther did not depend for his salvation upon any particular set of tenets which he held, but upon the merits of Christ alone. "Look to the wounds of Christ," said to him his spiritual counsellor, the Vicar General of his order, "and you will there see shining clearly the purposes of God towards man; we cannot understand God out of Christ." "Some, perhaps, will say," cried Luther himself long [603] afterwards, when, on his way to the diet at Worms, he preached at Erfurth, "you talk to us much about faith; teach us, then, how to obtain it. Well, agreed; I will show you how our Lord Jesus Christ said, Peace be unto you, behold my hands. That is to say, Look, oh man, it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sins and redeemed thee, and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord." And it was this humble reliance upon, the work of Christ that characterized both the life and death of this great reformer.

      It has been, indeed, the great error of Protestants, and the great cause of all their schisms, that they have sought to supersede this direct personal reliance upon Christ, by a mere intellectual assent to a set or system of tenets. True, they do by no means proscribe this personal trust or faith in Christ, but the natural working of the whole machinery of a party, so far as it is peculiar and denominational, tends to lead the mind away from this simple faith to a false confidence in mere human opinions and intellectual abstractions, and in outward forms. Thanks, however, to the power of the gospel itself, this tendency of the systems of the day has been checked in individual cases; and, though many are lulled into a false security, trusting to the orthodoxy of their belief, and mistaking a zeal for human opinions as a meritorious earnestness for saving truth; and substituting an extravagant admiration of the leading men and favorite preachers of their denomination for the love of Christ, there are some who have gazed, in silence and in secret, upon that face "marred;" that form insulted; those bleeding wounds of that Just and Holy One who "offered himself a sacrifice without spot to God," and have yielded to him alone their confidence and love. Such individuals are found in all parties, and they recognise each other as being fellow-heirs of the grace of life, and as having a common interest in the great Redeemer. It is, indeed, this simple faith in Christ, accompanied by its appropriate fruits, which constitutes that "common Christianity" which is admitted to exist in all parties, independent of party peculiarities; an admission, by the way, which at once assigns to these peculiarities their true character, as mere excrescences upon Christianity; as having no power to save, and as the very means of perpetuating division. Happy would it be for the world, if all could be induced to rest content with that "common Christianity," which it is the very object of the present Reformation to present to the religious community as the only means of securing unity and peace.

      I am aware, that it will be difficult for those who have been accustomed to regard the Christian faith as an assent to a [604] particular set of tenets, to recognise this simple belief in Christ as sufficient to admit an individual to the blessings of Christianity. If, however, they will fully consider the scriptural import of this faith in Christ, they will perceive, that, under an extreme simplicity which adapts it to all minds, it necessarily involves and includes all the conditions of salvation. It is to be noted, that to believe in Christ is not simply to believe what Christ says; that is, to receive as true whatever may be regarded as the teaching or doctrine of Christ. This is the very inadequate and erroneous view which we have been combating, which mistakes an intellectual assent to the deductions of reason from scripture premises or even to the express dictates of inspiration, for a personal and direct reliance upon Christ himself. Again: to believe in Christ, is not merely to believe that there lived a person bearing that name. Yet there are multitudes who seem to have no higher idea of the Christian faith than this, and no better knowledge of the term Christ than to suppose it a mere personal appellation. But the word Christ is not a name. It is an official designation. The name JESUS, given by express command of God, is itself significant, and the addition of the word CHRIST, with the definite article, which is often expressed and may be always supplied, furnishes the titular and qualifying expression which denotes the peculiar character of the person. He is not Jesus Christ, as an individual thus named and surnamed, but he is JESUS THE CHRIST. These are propositions totally different. The former might be to us of no peculiar moment; but the latter expands itself over the past, the present, and the future, and involves in it the eternal destinies of the human race. Yet, though to believe the person to whom this title is applied to be what the title really imports, is to believe something concerning or about this person, of a most important and far-reaching nature, even this would fall short of constituting the Christian faith, if this conviction be supposed unconnected with that trust and direct reliance upon this person which would be justly due to him in the office and character thus assigned to him.

      Whether or not it be possible for any one fully to understand the import and bearings of the sublime proposition that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, and truly to believe it, and yet, at the same time, to entertain the proposition as a mere intellectual conviction, without giving up the heart to him in humility, penitence, and love; to trust and confide in him as the only Saviour, and the anointed King of Kings, is a question which I deem it unnecessary here to consider. For certain it is, that if it be possible for any one thus to separate, [605] in point of fact, words from thoughts, thoughts from things, or things from the emotions they are fitted to excite, and to believe this proposition as a mere doctrine, tenet, or mental abstraction, such a one does not possess the Christian faith. To believe in Christ, is to receive him in all the glory of his character, personal and official; to trust in him in all the relations which he sustains to us, as our Prophet, our Priest, and our King; to behold in him our only hope and refuge; and renouncing ourselves, our own self-confidence, our righteousness, and every vain device, to lean on him only as our stay, and to look to him only as the "Lord our Righteousness," as our salvation and our life. It is not merely to believe what is said of him as the Son of God; as the Son of Man; as living, dying, rising, reigning, returning; but, believing this, to trust in him as our Saviour, to walk with him as our teacher, our friend; to realize his gracious presence with us, and to discern his footsteps in the path we tread. It is to be brought into direct relation and fellowship with him; to think of him as of a person whom we know, and to whom we are known; to speak to him as to one who hears, and to listen to him as to one who speaks. Such, in our view, is the Christian faith; not a trust in definitions; in doctrines; in church order; in apostolic succession or official grace; in opinions or dogmas, true or false; but a sincere belief of the testimony concerning the facts in the personal history of the Lord Messiah, accompanied by a cordial reception of him in his true character as thus revealed to us, and an entire personal reliance upon him for our salvation.

      That this simple trust in Jesus, and nothing else, is really and truly "the faith," will be clearly seen by any one who will examine the Scriptures upon the subject. He will there find--

      1st. That the history of Jesus of Nazareth is related to us--his birth, his miracles, his teachings, his sufferings, his glorification; and that our attention is called to the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies, in the incidents recorded of him, for the express purpose of producing this faith. I need only here refer to the close of the testimony of John, where he expressly declares this to have been the object: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

      2d. That Jesus himself declares, that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." And he announces, also, on the other hand, that it is the rejection of this faith which occasions [606] condemnation. "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God." And many other passages might be quoted of the same purport.

      3d. That he commissioned the apostles "to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," declaring that he that believed and was baptized should be "saved," and that he that believed not should be "condemned." Now, "the gospel" is simply the glad tidings concerning Christ; that "he died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and rose again, according to the Scriptures." 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. It consists of the simple story of the cross; of those wonderful facts in Christ's history which reveal him as the promised Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world. To believe these facts is to receive Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and the Saviour of men.

      4th. That the Apostles, in fulfilling this commission to preach the gospel, gave to those whom they addressed a concise statement of these facts in Christ's history, and presented the evidence on which they rested; thus endeavouring to produce in the minds of their hearers this belief in Jesus as the Messiah, and requiring no larger faith than this, and no more extended knowledge than this involves, for introduction into the Kingdom of Christ. Take, for example, Peter's discourse, Acts ii.: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders, and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. *   * Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. *   * Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

      The effect of this discourse was, as we are told, that three thousand persons were pierced to the heart and converted to Christ. Or, take, in the following chapter, Peter's address to a different audience: "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you: and killed the Prince [607] of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses." The result of this was, we are told, that about five thousand men "believed." "Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand." Or, take the first discourse to the Gentiles: "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, (He is Lord of all.) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and at Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained to be the judge of quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Or, again, take Paul's preaching at Antioch, Acts xiii. 17-41.

      5th. That this faith in Christ is that which is expressly enjoined in order to salvation. See the address of Paul and Silas to the Philippian jailor, Acts xvi. 31--"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Or Philip's declaration to the eunuch, Acts viii. 37--"If thou believest, with all thy heart, thou mayest;" and the satisfactory reply, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Again: John says, "This is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

      6th. That it is this faith which not only introduces the believer into the Christian institution, but enables him to maintain his profession and sustain himself against the temptations of life. "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God." Again: "Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

      But I need not multiply quotations, to show that a sincere belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, is emphatically and truly the Christian faith, and the only faith which can lawfully be demanded in order to admission to Christian privileges and church fellowship. [608] This is the CHRISTIAN'S CREED, and the only creed to which any one may be justly called upon to subscribe. And this being so, all other creeds and confessions are at once nullified and repudiated, as without Divine authority, and mere inventions of men, leading the mind away from Christ, and from a direct and personal reliance upon him, to mere intellectual conceptions, abstract propositions, and human opinions; or, if not wholly to these, at least to subordinate truths, collateral questions, remote conclusions, which belong not immediately to what is properly the Christian faith, but to the subsequent chapter of Christian knowledge. Hence, even upon the hypothesis that the religious formularies of doctrine, now in vogue, contain nothing but truth, we deny the right of any one to complicate the simplicity of the Christian faith in this manner, and to demand, in advance, a degree of knowledge and experience in the child, which, in the very nature of things, can be expected only in one who has attained to the stature of a man in Christ Jesus.

      It will appear, then, from the above, that while we regard the Bible as the great and only repository of knowledge in religion, and as the volume which is to occupy the mind and heart of the Christian student, we consider that particular portion of it which is immediately concerned with Christ's personal history and ministry, as that which is to be presented to the unconverted world as embracing the subject matter of the Christian faith--the simple gospel of Christ. This may be either read in the book itself, or presented by the living preacher. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." It is a plain and simple narrative, the truth of which was confirmed by signs and miracles; "those demonstrations of the Spirit" which attended its introduction, and which were then faithfully recorded, in order to accomplish the same purpose in all future ages. It is this gospel which is the "power of God for salvation, to every one who believes it." It is not a power of God--one of the methods which God employs to save; but it is emphatically the power of God for salvation; the only revealed way in which God can, in consistency with his own attributes, justify and save the sinner. It is the cordial belief of this love of God, thus manifested in the life, death, resurrection, and glorification of Christ, which reconciles man to God, which overwhelms the soul in penitence and contrition for its offences, and, through the influences of the Holy Spirit, produces an entire renovation of heart and reformation of character. In brief, it is Christ himself who is thus made to us "wisdom" and " righteousness," "sanctification and redemption."

      MY DEAR E.--Every one will agree, that the true basis of Christian union is the Christian faith. All the parties assert this, but, unfortunately, each one adds to that faith, or, rather, substitutes for it, human opinions, and matters of doctrinal knowledge not immediately connected with salvation; and they refuse to receive each other, because they do not happen to agree in these opinions and doctrines, while, at the same time, they may hold in common what really constitutes the Christian faith. This Christian faith, as we have seen, is simply belief in Christ, as he is presented in the gospel, and it is concisely engrossed in the great proposition, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. No one can comprehend the terms of this proposition, without having before his mind the whole Christian faith in its subject matter. The predicate, "the Son of God," if understood, implies a knowledge of God and a belief in Him. The subject, "Jesus Christ," is an expression which can be comprehended only as it involves an acquaintance with the personal history of Jesus of Nazareth, and, consequently, of the great facts which constitute the gospel. The whole proposition thus presents to us--Jesus as the Son of God--the Christ, or anointed One, whom God has appointed to be our Teacher, our Redeemer, and our King; to whose precepts we are to listen; through whose precious blood and intercession we are to obtain forgiveness; by whose word and Spirit we are to be sanctified, and by whose mighty power we are to be rescued from the captivity of the grave. As in nature, the lofty spreading oak was originally contained in the acorn, or, rather, in a single cell of that acorn, upon which were impressed all the nature and laws of development which distinguish the mighty monarch of the woods, so it has pleased God to wrap up, as it were, in a single proposition, that vast remedial system, which may overspread and shelter, in its full development, the whole assembled family of man. In it is presented the simple word, or gospel, which is most appropriately termed "the good seed of the kingdom," and which, when it grows up and is fully matured, produces fruit unto eternal life. It is the same Infinite Wisdom which has dictated the arrangements both of nature and religion. In both, means apparently the most simple, produce the grandest results. In both, the processes are slow and gradual. It is "first the blade, then the ear; then the full corn in the ear." Nowhere is the ground uptorn with sudden violence that the full-grown oak may be planted; or that it may receive into its bosom the spreading roots of grain ready for the sickle. [610] "The Kingdom of God," says the great Teacher, "is as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how." It is the simple gospel which is sown in the heart, and not, as sectarians imagine, complete and elaborate systems of theology. It is with this proposition and its proofs, that God first meets the sinner, and it is in its cordial reception that the latter finds the grace and mercy of God. Oh! that the sectarian world could thus contemplate this beautiful simplicity of the truth, as originally presented by Christ and his Apostles, and, adopting it as the true ground of Christian union, could be induced to forsake for it those confused and complicated systems which have no power either to save sinners or to unite saints.

      The above observations address themselves to those who may, at first view, suppose this basis of union to be too narrow, and to contain too little, while, in truth, it contains all, and is the very germ from which the whole Christian institution proceeds. But there are cavillers who may object, on the other hand, that it contains, or rather implies, too much; involving questions about which men will differ. They will say, that there are not only in the above proposition itself, but in the preliminary knowledge which it supposes, many matters about which men may and do disagree; and that this formula, then, however simple and concise it may appear, may, nevertheless, give rise to debate and division. To this I would reply, that we might as readily look for the giving of a law by which men could be justified, as expect to obtain any basis of union which men, in their pride of opinion and love of controversy, may not make a ground of disunion. It is true, that men have started a great many questions respecting the nature and attributes of God; about the character and sonship of Christ; the method, object, and extent of the atonement, &c. &c., and that some of the warmest religious disputes are upon these very topics. But these are either untaught questions, with which we have nothing to do, (for we have no business with any religious questions which are not mooted in the Bible,) or they are vain speculations upon matters utterly beyond the reach of the human intellect, or, lastly, they are sublime truths, which can be fully unfolded only in the chapters of Christian knowledge and experience, and in regard to which we have no right to demand, in advance, even that amount of knowledge which the Scriptures themselves furnish when fully explored. All these disputes, in short, are about doctrines, intellectual conceptions, abstract truths; but, as we have endeavored to show, the Christian faith has respect to facts, by [611] which we do not mean truths delivered, but things really and actually performed and attested by witnesses. There are, indeed, some general truths, which we must suppose the mind to have received, before it could possibly apprehend the gospel facts. For instance, it must have admitted the being of God. But all such fundamental and elementary truth here required, is either self-evident, or of such a nature that it cannot be supposed absent from the mind. Hence the Bible no where attempts to prove the existence of God. It begins by declaring the fact, that "God created the heavens and the earth," but it takes for granted the elementary truth, that there is a God. Now, the great proposition on which the Christian Institution rests, affirms, in like manner, a simple matter of fact, involving the same elementary truth, which requires no new proof, and can justly give rise to no controversy. It is either the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, or it is not. Upon this question rests the whole Christian fabric, and it is one which is not to be proved by reasoning from abstract principles, but by the testimony of God himself and the evidence of such other facts as are pertinent to the case. Such, accordingly, are the very proofs which are supplied in regard to this great basis of Christianity, which, like the sun in the heavens, is placed far above all those controversies which have so beclouded the religious parties as almost wholly to conceal its splendor and intercept its life-giving beams. It is in this great fact that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is presented to us in his true and proper character, that we may so receive him and trust in him. He is, indeed, the Sun of Righteousness, the radiating and attracting centre of the spiritual system, shedding light on the heavens and on the earth--upon the things of God, and the nature, duty, and destiny of man. In accepting the above proposition, then, we take Christ himself as the basis of Christian union, as he is also the chief corner stone and only foundation of the church. To demand, instead of this, as a profession of faith and basis of union, an exact knowledge of remote points of Christian doctrine, is as unscriptural as it would be irrational to prohibit men from enjoying the light and warmth of the natural sun until they had first attained a high proficiency in astronomy, and were able to determine the movements and magnitudes of the remote planets and inferior satellites of the solar system.

      Neither do we, on the other hand, at all concede that this great fact may be confounded with any thing else in the Divine testimony, or that its splendor may be at all diminished by comparison with any one or all other facts presented to the mind. It stands alone in all its sublime grandeur, amidst the revelations of God. There is [612] nothing,indeed, which may be justly compared with it. All other propositions in religion are subordinate to this, and can be rendered visible only by the light which it sheds upon them. Allow me here to offer a few additional considerations from the Scriptures, which will serve to give a just view of the position which this fact occupies in the Christian institution.

      1. The proposition which asserts it is a DIVINE ORACLE, in a specific and peculiar sense. For it was announced by the Father himself from heaven. It is seldom, indeed, that God has directly addressed himself to men, and when He lays aside the ordinary methods of communication and presents himself, as it were, in person, to speak to mortals, we may be sure the communication is one of the most transcendent importance. Such was the case when, at the baptism of Jesus, in presence of the assembled multitude upon the banks of the Jordan, there came a voice from heaven, saying, "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON." Such was also the case at the transfiguration, when the same declaration was repeated to the chosen disciples in presence of Moses the giver, and Elijah the restorer of the law, with the significant addition, "HEAR, YE HIM."

      2. This proposition is the rock upon which Christ himself declared he would build his church. I refer here to Math. xvi. 13-19, where we are told that Christ, after inquiring what were the conclusions of the people in regard to him, and receiving, in reply, a statement of their various opinions, put to his own disciples the question, "But who say ye that I am?" To this Peter promptly replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God."

      This is a most remarkable passage, and is, of itself, quite sufficient to show the position which this declaration occupies. It was because Peter was the first to make this direct confession of Christ, that the Saviour honored him by committing to him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; that is, the privilege of opening the gates of this kingdom to the Jews and also to the Gentiles--an office which he fulfilled, as recorded in Acts, chap. ii. and x. This, of itself, indicates the high value attached to this declaration. But we are not left to judge of its importance merely from the honor awarded to him who was the first to make it. Christ himself expressly declares here, referring to Peter's confession of his Divine sonship, that upon this rock he would build his church, and that against it, thus founded, the gates of death should not prevail. Now, it must be evident to every mind, that the foundation of the church can be the only basis of Christian union. The church is but the general assembly of saints, and the basis on which it rests must, of [613] necessity, be the ground of union and communion of its members. Whatever is a sufficient basis for the whole church, must, of course, be sufficient for each individual member of that church. Upon that basis they can be united together as a church of Christ, and upon no other basis. "Upon this rock," says Jesus, "I will build my church." "Other foundation can no man lay," says Paul, "than that which is laid, which is Jesus the Christ," who was announced in his divine and proper character in the above declaration.

      3. This is the "good confession" which Christ himself "witnessed" before his judges, and for which he was condemned to be crucified. During his ministry he had forbidden his disciples to tell any one that he was the Messiah, reserving to himself to make this confession at this awful moment, before the great tribunal of Israel. When all other evidence had failed his enemies, and he was adjured by the High Priest to say if he was the Christ, the Son of God, he replied in the Hebrew style of affirmation, "Thou hast said." "What further need," cried the High Priest, "have we of witnesses; behold we have heard his blasphemy." And they answered, "he is worthy of death." Can any thing more clearly display the true character of this great proposition, than the fact that Jesus thus honored it by dying for it? He was himself thus laid as the foundation corner stone of the church of the Living God.

      4. But finally, it is abundantly evident from the Scriptures, that it was this very confession which was made by those who, during the ministry of the Apostles, were admitted to the institutions of the gospel and the fellowship of the church. I have already referred you to the discourses of the Apostles, which have all the same object--to produce the belief, and, of course, the acknowledgment of this great fact. I need only refer again to the detailed case of the Ethiopian eunuch, who, after JESUS was preached to him by Philip, demanded baptism. Philip said, "If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest." And he answered, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." We see, then, that as Christ declared he would build his church upon this rock, and was himself laid as its foundation stone, so the Apostles and Evangelists proceeded to build upon this tried foundation, as living stones, those individuals who, through this simple faith in Christ, were made alive to God.

      From what I have already said, you will doubtless fully comprehend our views of what constitutes the true basis of Christian union. A truth-loving mind is not disposed to cavil, and knows how to select the most favorable point of view from which to judge correctly of the questions at issue. [614]

      Sectarians, however, are a race of cavillers. Partyism narrows the mind and perverts its powers, so that it becomes incapable of appreciating or even perceiving the beauty or excellence of truth. Self-satisfied and confident in its own infallibility, it has no love of progress, and desires no change, so that it necessarily opposes itself to any overture that can be made to heal the scandalous divisions that exist, and restore the original unity of the church. It will, doubtless, start many groundless objections to the above basis of union, which are unworthy of notice. There are some, however, sometimes presented, which, as they involve misrepresentations of our views, I will here briefly consider. Thus, it will sometimes be asked, Do you propose, then, to receive persons into the Christian Church upon a simple confession of their belief in Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, without repentance or change of heart, or even baptism? Would you receive any one to communion with the church upon such a declaration, without any inquiries as to the sense which he attaches to the expression, "Son of God," or in respect to his feelings and experience of the grace of God in his heart? May you not thus receive and fraternize with those who are Unitarian or Sabellian in faith, or mere formalists in practice?

      As a general answer to all such objections, I might say, that it is enough to know that any course of procedure has a Divine warrant, in order to adopt it without the slightest fear of any consequences which may ensue. But to be more particular, I would say in regard to the reception of those who would attach a peculiar, or Unitarian sense to the words of the above proposition, that such perversions are natural results of preconceived theories and speculations, which lead men to explain away the plainest statements of Scripture, or wrest them by specious glosses; and that, since, according to the fundamental principles of this Reformation, all such speculations are to be abandoned, and the word of God itself is to be taken as the guide into all truth, there is not the slightest room for apprehension. And this is, thus far, fully confirmed by our experience, for I presume there is not a religious body in Christendom, which renders a more true and just honor to the Lord Jesus Christ, or receives with a more sincere faith, all that the Scriptures declare concerning him. With us, he is the Son of God, in the strict sense of these words. He is the Word which was in the beginning, which was with God and was God: the Word by whom all things were made; in whom was life, and who became flesh and dwelt among men, revealing his glory--the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the [615] express image of his person. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is Immanuel, God with us, who, having brought in an everlasting righteousness, and made an end of sin by the sacrifice of himself; and having for us triumphed over death and the grave, has been invested with all authority in heaven and in earth, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, where he must reign until all his enemies are subdued, and from whence he shall come the second time in his glory, with all the holy angels, to judge the world. In short, whatever character, office or relation, is assigned to the Father, to the Son, or to the Holy Spirit, in the Sacred Scriptures, we most sincerely acknowledge in the full sense and meaning of the terms employed, and it is for the express purpose of securing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, upon this most momentous subject, as well as upon all others in religion, that we desire to adhere to the exact language of the Bible, and repudiate all that scholastic jargon which theologians have presumed to substitute for the diction of the Holy Spirit, and which mystifies, perverts, dilutes, and enfeebles the sublime revelations of God.

      With regard to the other inquiry, respecting and a change of heart, we do certainly expect every one who presents himself for admission into the church, to exhibit satisfactory evidences of both. Indeed, there is no one who can truly receive the Christian faith, as we have defined it, without experiencing that "godly sorrow" for sin which "worketh reformation." It is the contemplation of the love of God in Christ, which leads the sinner to love God; which overwhelms his soul with penitence for the past, and inspires him with, hope for the future. These are natural and necessary results of a sincere belief of the gospel. The sinner becomes reconciled to God, when he learns that he has so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. We do not imagine, as many do, that God is yet to, be reconciled to the sinner, and that the prayers, and tears, and penitence, which either he, or others in his behoof, may offer, can possibly render God more propitious, or more willing to save. There is not a more unscriptural or anti-evangelical conception, than that the sinner can do any thing, either to atone for his own sins, or induce the Deity, by an act of special or extraordinary grace, to interpose in his behalf, and to renew his heart independent of the gospel. We have no fellowship with any theory which makes the word of God of no effect, or represents God as requiring to be moved with greater love for man than that which [616] he has manifested in the gift of his Son, and we are accustomed to place far more reliance upon a willingness to hear and to obey the Lord's commandments, as an evidence of a change of heart, than upon all those dreams, visions, and animal excitements, on which many are taught to depend for the proof of their conversion. The heart is changed when we love God. "We love God because he first loved us." And "by this we know that we love God, if we keep his commandments." A sincere belief of the gospel will produce its appropriate fruits, and it is by these alone that we can scripturally recognize the sincerity of the faith. Individuals may confess Christ in word, but in works they may deny him. They may call him Lord, but refuse or neglect to obey his commands. And when such persons unite themselves to the church, we find in their case the Scriptures no less profitable for reproof and correction, than they are in that of the true believer, for "instruction in righteousness."

[The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, 2 (November 1852): 601-617.]

      Robert Richardson's "Principles and Purposes of the Reformation" (Part II) was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, Vol. 2, No. 11, November 1852. The electronic version of this essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1852), pp. 601-617.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. In the printed text, footnotes are indicated by printer's devices (asterisks, daggers, etc.); in the electronic text, they are treated as sequentially numbered endnotes. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

 Page       Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 604:    supercede [ supersede
 p. 607:    1 Cor. xvi. 4. [ (1 Cor. xv. 3, 4.)
            determinate council [ determinate counsel
 p. 608:    6th. That this faith [ 5th. That this faith
            Philipian [ Philippian
            7th. That it is [ 6th. That it is
 p. 612:    sattelites [ satellites
 p. 616:    into the church. [ into the church,
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
e_stefanik@msn.com

Created 25 July 2000.