Corinth was a very wicked city. This is both specifically stated and implied in the Corinthian letters:

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men; not at all meaning the immoral of this world…since then you would need to go out of the world” (1Co 5:10).

This letter which Paul wrote to these converts needs rereading today. It sets out seven reasons why believers should shun, or flee from, immorality (1Co 6:18):

(1) The immoral will be excluded from the Kingdom of God: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral… nor adulterers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 6:9,10; cp Gal 5:19-21).

(2) You were separated from immorality at baptism: “You have been washed… separated… and justified” (1Co 6:11).

(3) Your body belongs to the Lord: Therefore you are not free to do as you wish with your body: “The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1Co 6:13).

(4) The body will be the subject of a future resurrection: “God who raised Christ by His power will raise your body by the same power” (1Co 6:14).

(5) Your body is a member of Christ: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1Co 6:15).

Immoral unions violate the oneness with Christ. The believer is one spirit with his Savior. The “one spirit” is a oneness in thinking and attitude (Joh 17). You cannot be of “one spirit” with the Savior and of “one flesh” by union with an immoral person (1Co 6:16).

(6) Fornication is a sin against one’s own body (1Co 6:18).

(7) You are not your own: “You have been purchased with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:20).

Of course, the world around us thinks nothing of premarital relations. Indeed, how can it when it tolerates or encourages intercourse between those who have no intention to marry? But it should not be so among us. Intercourse is intended only for marriage and is an expression of heart and mind by one person for one person. Premarital relations destroy the proper joy of marriage. Indiscriminate intimacy, apart from being wholly unChristian and loose, makes nonsense of the sanctity of the marriage bond and encourages unfaithfulness after marriage. Right behavior begins in the mind. Christian behavior follows the precepts of Christ.

The Call of God

There is little harm in making friendships outside the Faith, if two things are thoroughly clear and firm in one’s mind. First, that God has “called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”. The spectrum of this light includes the knowledge of God and of Jesus, the awareness of His kindness and severity, and the revelation of His truth. God called us to this light and we obeyed His call. This is the important factor. Paul wrote that upon those who “do not obey the truth” would come “indignation and wrath”.

This call of God must be kept firmly in mind, for upon faithfulness to it depends one’s eternal future. Thus everything must yield to one’s loyalty to God and to Jesus, even an affair of the heart — that is if the Faith is a reality. Jesus was clear and uncompromising about this: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Obviously each will love his own close relatives — and each will love his (or her) sweetheart — but make sure that neither is elevated above Jesus. Otherwise why wait for his coming and for all the great things that are promised us?

The second fact that needs to be clear is that whoever has not obeyed the truth is still in darkness in God’s sight. This is His judgment, not ours. So however charming, tender, kind and gentle a person may be, he (or she) is in darkness until the truth has been obeyed. God wants all these attributes in a person, but they must be the qualities of a person obedient to Him.

If one meets and is attracted to someone who is not of the Faith, what is one to do? First remember that mutual attraction is not only physical, it is also intellectual. There will be similar interests in books, art, music, games and hobbies. And in a world of hate and violence, racial discrimination and political struggles, when so many young people dread the future with its threat of nuclear warfare, one has a fine opportunity reasonably and tactfully to reveal one’s supreme interest in and loyalty to a Father who, through Jesus, is to sweep these things away. Here is the place to start a relationship.

This introduction of one’s spiritual interest in the Faith should be made at the start of a friendship, and its overwhelming importance for you should be emphasized. If your friend can be persuaded to join you at your meetings and to meet the brothers and sisters, so much the better.

The danger of friendships outside the Faith is that one’s hope of the coming Kingdom may not be revealed until one is emotionally and deeply involved — when, frightened by the thought of the possible consequences of marriage out of the Faith, one makes every effort to persuade the friend of the merits of the Truth. How can he (or she) be expected to understand at such a late date? The response is likely to be: “What is all the fuss about?” Or “Why wasn’t I told before?” Thus one’s last minute efforts may have an adverse effect on the friend, rather than otherwise, and one has done a disservice to God and His Truth.

Paul’s primary reason in writing this letter was to convince Jewish Christians not to return to Judaism — toward which some were wavering. He is showing that in every respect the believers in Christ had a high-priest and a law far superior to the old. We have a high priest.

Christ was a “minister of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.” The word “true” signifies real, in contrast to the typical or the shadow of v 5. There, “example” may be more faithfully translated as “representation, outline, copy.”

And the “shadow” of v 5 implies something of no substance which depends on something else for its very being. The Law of Moses depended for even its existence upon the great Law in Christ.

The Law of Moses was merely the pattern, or the type, of the true system. God instructed Moses concerning His first Tabernacle: “See that thou make all things according to the pattern (Greek- “type”) showed thee in the mount” (Heb 8:5).

In God’s mind there was already the plan for the building of a greater Tabernacle — of which Moses’ Tabernacle was just a feeble representation.

In contrast to the old, Christ was the true Tabernacle where God might commune with men. The old Tabernacle was a place where God might meet with man, and where man might worship God. But both of these things could be done only very imperfectly in Moses’ Tabernacle.

God’s glory was in the Most Holy Place, hidden except for once a year, and then only seen by the high priest. Common Jews could not approach there. And all of man’s offerings and sacrifices only emphasized his own sin, and their inability to take it away.

Everything under the Law of Moses pointed forward to something better to come. To the eye of faith, every item of the Law truly cried out for a more perfect way — the way of Christ. Of him John said:

“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt (‘tabernacled’) among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Christ spoke of his own body as “this Temple” — and in Mat 12:6 he called himself “One which is greater than the Temple”. Man must serve God in and through Christ, the true Tabernacle. Here in Christ, we find true worship and the means of fellowship with God.

***

“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer” (Heb 8:3).

On our behalf, Christ offers sacrifices to God, of which we shall consider these aspects:

The High-Priest of the Old Covenant brought blood into the inner sanctuary once a year. But Christ entered there by his own blood once for all time, for himself and for our benefit (Heb 7:27)-

“By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12).

Even now, Christ acts as our High-Priest — by which we approach the Father. Christ offers our prayers to Him-so that we might come, with confidence, to the throne of grace, and obtain mercy (Heb 4:16).

And finally, a third aspect of the offerings of our High-Priest is this: Our good deeds, our righteous actions, are a sacrifice (Heb 13:16): all of our activities are “living sacrifices” to God (Rom 12:1-2).

Through Christ, these offerings have meaning and serve to present us to God as acceptable sacrifices. Only in Christ can our works be worthwhile. Only in him can they have any value.

Christ was the true Tabernacle or dwelling-place of God, by himself. But believers, upon being baptized, come into Christ-thus becoming a part of the true Tabernacle, pitched by the Lord:

“The House of God, the Ecclesia of the living God” (1Ti 3:15).

“Living stones, built up a spiritual house” (1Pe 2:5).

What a glorious promise is presented here, as we read in Eph 2:19-22:

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the Household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone; In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Heb 8:7-13 present the crisis of Paul’s whole argument. He proves that the Old Covenant, the national covenant with Israel, was not final; and he proves this from the Jews’ own Scriptures:

“For it that first, covenant had been faultless…” (v 7)

It was faultless in morality, in its own commandments — for it came from God. Paul himself calls it, in another place, “holy, just and good” (Rom 7:12).

But the Law could not save men; it could only condemn them, because all have sinned. There must be a more perfect way, a more powerful way, to which it pointed, in Christ:

“For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through flesh, God sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3).

***

“For finding fault with them, He saith, ‘Behold, the days come,’ saith the Lord, ‘when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’ ” (Heb 8:8).

God found fault, not with the Law, but with Israel and Judah who could not keep it.

In referring to the “New Covenant”, Paul is quoting from Jer 31: “I will complete a New Covenant” (Diag). He had promised the New Covenant even before the old one began — with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But its effects are eternal; it will not be concluded until Christ returns to reign from David’s throne and to give the inheritance to all the true seed of Abraham.

***

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people” (v 10).

In v 8, both Israel and Judah are mentioned. But here, Israel alone is mentioned. The two houses are now one house — as Ezekiel saw in his vision. They will be united:

“I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all. They shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all” (Eze 37:22).

The future Kingdom, with Israel as one nation, will be the culmination of that New Covenant which had its beginning in Christ, the beginnings of which the Hebrews had been invited to share.

(Never from the time of Solomon until Paul’s day, had the two houses been one. So therefore, never had this New Covenant been realized for them. It must come in the future, with Jesus Christ as its mediator.)

“I will put my laws into their minds” (that is, into their inward parts)…” and “write them in their hearts.” The Jews’ former heart of stone will then become “fleshly tablets of the heart” (2Co 3:3), ready and able to receive the engraving of God’s Word, in the spirit. (This is also what happens for us when we enter the New Covenant).

“They shall be to Me a people”: God told Hosea of the nation, “they are not My people”; but Paul promises them here, “They shall be My people”.

The New Covenant did not come simply to destroy the old, but to improve it. It offers what the Old Covenant could not: recognition as God’s people.

***

“And they (the Levitical priests) shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest” (Heb 8:11).

At the culmination of the New Covenant, Christ will reveal himself to his brethren, the Jews, who mourn that their forefathers have crucified the true Messiah, and that they themselves have long ignored his teachings.

And God will give teachers to Israel, to bring them into obedience to the New Covenant:

“And I will give you pastors according to Mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:15).

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left” (Isa 30:21).

***

“In that He saith, a new covenant, He hath made the first old” (Heb 8:13).

He hath pronounced it old, even as early as the time of Jeremiah.

***

“Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Heb 8:13).

What God had promised 600 years before Paul’s writing was then (63 AD) about to occur. At that time, the Mosaic system had indeed grown old, and it was ready to vanish away — as it did in the fall of Jerusalem, 70 AD.

Paul’s warning undoubtedly saved many Jews from returning to the old Law. Those who listened to him fled from the onslaught of the Romans and were saved from death in the horrible siege of Jerusalem.

All of this is strikingly typical of us today, and Paul’s words are therefore important to us: We have all left the old system of so-called Christianity, which can offer us nothing.

We have come “outside the camp” to Christ. Let us not return in any sense, to the ways of the old man — nor to the systems of the world, which will soon be completely destroyed.

The sacrifice of the covenant victim is described in Jer 34:18-20: “The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”

It was first referred to in Gen 15:9,10,17:

“So the LORD said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half… When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.”

In this ritual, an animal is sacrificed, and separated into parts: all parties to the covenant must pass between the separated pieces of the sacrifice. Such a practice was common in the Middle East — evidence of such a practice has been found among other peoples of the area, and not just Jews. Two individuals, or two groups, would decide to make a solemn covenant, or contract, with one another; it might be a purely secular matter, having to do with property rights or business arrangements. To confirm the agreement, they would sacrifice an animal, cut the animal in pieces, separate the pieces, and then pass between the parts, or meet in their midst. They would also participate in a common meal of fellowship, each partaking of the animal which they had sacrificed and separated. Thereby they would confirm, by a gesture of great solemnity, their mutual understanding of the terms of their agreement.

They were saying something else as well, something very profound and sobering: if anyone violated the terms of that covenant, then he was deserving of the same fate that had befallen the covenant-victim; he was deserving of death. In fact, he would have already eaten his own condemnation, in the meal itself!

1. Quite possibly, this is the basis, too, for the oft-repeated and rather enigmatic vow: “The LORD — or God — do so to me, and more also, if…”: Rth 1:17; 1Sa 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2Sa 19:13; 1Ki 2:23; 2Ki 6:31; etc. May God do WHAT, exactly? The same thing that was done to the covenant-victim!

2. Likewise, it explains the Hebraism, where “to make a covenant” — as we might put it — is, literally, “to CUT a covenant”!

3. Also, it may account for the rather gruesome procedure adopted by the Levite, when he cut up his dead concubine into twelve pieces and sent the pieces around to the various tribes (Jdg 19:29).

4. …As well as what Saul did, similarly, with two oxen (1Sa 11:7), and what Samuel did with Agag (1Sa 15:33).

5. …And the words of Jesus in Mat 24:51, where the fate of the unfaithful servant was to be “cut in pieces” or “cut asunder”!

6. Notice also how Isaac and Abimelech (Gen 26:28-31), and Jacob and Laban (Gen 31:44-54) confirm their agreements by a “sacrifice” and a meal.

An old proverb warns against “throwing out the baby with the bathwater”. (In societies where almost everyone has a bathtub and running water, and where the bathwater drains out of the tub at the flip of a switch, the reader may have to reflect on this proverb just a bit!) The point, of course, is to distinguish between primary and secondary matters, and to treat each accordingly.

A well-known Bible story deals with a baby also. Once the wise king Solomon was called upon to judge a case involving two women and one baby (1Ki 3:16-28). It seems that one mother had accidentally smothered her baby, and, discovering this, had switched her dead baby with the living baby of her neighbor. Now both mothers stood before the king, each claiming that the remaining live baby was hers.

“Then said the king, ‘The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living… Bring me a sword.’ And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.’ Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for she yearned upon her son, and she said, ‘O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.’ But the other said, ‘Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.’ Then the king answered and said, ‘Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.’ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (1Ki 3:23-28).

The wise king understood clearly that the true mother would desire more than anything that her baby live, even if it were in the hands of another woman. Its life was infinitely more precious than anyone else’s “property rights”! But the impostor (to satisfy her pride, or her injured feelings, or out of sheer spite?) said, “Divide it!”

Sometimes (almost always!) “dividing the baby” will have disastrous results, for everyone concerned. New and young converts to the truth are characterized in Scriptures as “babes” (Mat 1:25; Luk 10:21; Rom 2:20; 1Co 3:1; Heb 5:13; 1Pe 2:2), easily influenced and even manipulated by their elders — their fathers and “mothers”.

Ecclesial controversies may have (or may seem to have) an invigorating effect on some “elders” and “parents”. It can be exhilarating to “stand firm for the truth”, regardless of the circumstances, to fight for purity, to defend one’s fellowship stand, to attack the faith of others, etc, etc. But the same controversies can be very damaging, even perhaps fatal, to the “babes” in the truth who (not really by their own choice) become a party to them.

So this exhortation is especially to the older, experienced brother and sister: Be careful how you “fight” for the truth. Be careful that any “charges” you bring against others are true, and fair, and fairly stated — not colored by prejudice or pride or anger. Be careful how you treat others who may be part on the One Body as well as you.

And be very careful before you do anything that could be construed by the wise King and Judge as “cutting up the baby”! Because… the “baby” belongs to him!

“The Samaritans were neighbors in the most literal sense, but as for loving them, that seemed impossible. Christ loved them and caused his disciples to marvel at the manner in which he spake to the woman at Jacob’s well and afterwards to others who came out to hear him. The Jews as a whole almost made it a part of their religion to hate the Samaritans, and if they were able to analyze their own feelings, they would probably have to admit that the hatred was directly traceable to the fact of their being such near neighbors. This is a common weakness of poor human nature. Those who are near but not quite with us arouse more bitterness of feelings that complete strangers. Then when such an evil feeling has once been started, the deceitful heart begins to build up fancies to justify, the hatred, thus further traducing those who have already wronged” (Islip Collyer, “The Guiding Light”).

Of all Scriptural principles, this may seem the simplest. Almost any brother or sister could expound it, could exhibit the beauty of the apostle’s simile and reveal the folly of any member being either puffed up with an impression of superior office or depressed by lack of qualification for any particular form of service. Eye and ear and foot and hand all have worthy parts to play. A well equipped mouth is of no service if it fails to arrive at the place where it is wanted. The feet have to bring it. It may follow therefore that an inferior mouth would render better service if only it could be supported by better feet.

The principle is recognized at least in theory, and it needs no further theoretical exposition. Is it recognized in practice? Do we realize the object “that there should be no schism in the body”? Have members “the same care one for another”? So that if “one member suffer, all the members suffer with it”?

The apostle truly presents a high ideal, but it is the ideal at which we must aim if we want to be saved. All that we are told of the judgment seat tends to show that the supreme test is in these matters. If we are repudiated then, it will be because we have failed to live the Truth and not for inability to understand it. We are told that some will be punished for errors committed without adequate knowledge of their Lord’s will; but assuredly it will not be because of inability to understand. It is our duty to know our Lord’s will. The necessary instruction is given to us, and if we fail to hear and understand it is almost certain that an obstinate self-deception is at the root of the difficulty. Such obdurate self-deception is deserving of stripes.

A simple test will probably prove to all who are able to receive instruction that they have far to go in pursuit of the apostolic ideal. Have we the same care one for another? If one member suffers do we all suffer in sympathy, or if one member is honoured do we all rejoice? The natural tendency of the flesh is in the wrong direction under each of these headings. It is natural to have care for those who are the objects of our especial regard, and to be indifferent to all others. Of course, there will be special friendships in the Brotherhood, with different degrees and even different kinds of love. This is inevitable, and not at all incompatible with true fellowship. It is well to understand the distinction between the two words. Friendship is individual and peculiar. You cannot have ten thousand close friends. Fellowship is collective and comprehensive. You can be in true fellowship with any number. Friendship is at liberty to make selection of special companions. Just as a man in the Faith is at liberty to marry whom he will “only in the Lord”, so is he at liberty to choose his special friends, assuming, of course, in both cases, that the desires are reciprocal and that the choice made is in harmony with the other commands of the Lord. Fellowship does not give us such liberty. We fellowship each other on the basis of the one Faith, and this may draw together men and women who are utterly different in taste and temperament. These differences will inevitably affect our choice of special friends but they ought not to affect our “care for one another” in the fellowship of the Gospel. The point can be illustrated without departure from the most ordinary experiences of life. If a brother or sister who is a very dear friend shows signs of weakness and a need for special help, we are ready to give any amount of care and attention to nurse the feeble one back to healthy faith. We would reprove any impatient critic, and find plenty of scripture to assist our advocacy of gentle methods. What long-suffering, patience, gentleness, and compassion are shown in our great example! How many injunctions there are to be kind, considerate, and forbearing! But are we quite as ready to think of these passages if the straying sheep is one whose personality repels us? Are we as ready to sacrifice rest and comfort in trying to assist the unattractive wanderer?

The question whether brethren attract us or repel us personally does not in the least degree affect the truth of their being members of the One Body, and we ought to have the “same care one for another”, because of our fellowship in the Truth, unaffected by the affinities and preferences which belong to human personality. This, of course, as with many others duties, is unnatural. The natural tendency is to be “partial” in judgment. We may be quite innocent of showing any undue respect to the man with a gold ring or disrespect toward the one who is poorly clad, yet we may fall into an exactly similar error on a different basis. A dear friend has erred. Well, we remember how forbearing our Lord was with sinners. We must restore him in the spirit of meekness. One who always repelled us has erred. We remember how Samuel treated Agag; we remember the apostle’s instructions to withdraw from those who are disorderly. We must be valiant for the Truth.

It is not suggested that all are under the sway of such fleshly instincts leading to such partiality of judgment. This, however is the natural tendency, and it is questionable whether even those who are most conscious of the weakness have overcome it entirely. Has there never been a time when in dealing with a friend, you have shown a consideration and patience far beyond anything you can muster for that other offender who does not interest you or possibly repels you? If there has been any such partiality, has it been an instance of weakness in dealing with a friend when you should have been valiant for the truth; or has it been harshness in dealing with another when you should have remembered the meekness and gentleness of Christ? True fellowship demands that we should have the same care one for another “that there be no schism in the body”. When we are least inclined to remember the rights and the interdependence of members, then we should try our hardest. When we are least attracted to members we have the best opportunity for increasing the duties of fellowship. Where our sympathies are least engaged we have the best opportunity of showing that we can be impartial, having the same care one for another.

It is easier for us to conform to the Apostolic command under the second heading we have mentioned. We can suffer with those who suffer, more readily than we can rejoice with those who are honoured. The suffering, however, has to be near and obvious, or we can easily forget and ignore it. We have heard of the millionaire who was so touched with the pitiful story of a caller that he said to a servant, “Send this poor fellow away at once, or I shall have no appetite for dinner.” Perhaps there are many even in the Brotherhood who would find it too painful to regard the lives of their fellows very closely. A tragedy in the house of a next-door neighbour will cast a gloom over us when a far greater tragedy in a distant land hardly affects us at all. In the same way we shall be partial in our treatment of brethren near and distant unless we make a great effort to enlarge our sympathies.

When we are called upon to rejoice with the member who is highly honoured, the task is still more difficult, especially for some natures. There are men who could sympathize with a friend’s misfortune and even make a generous effort to assist him; but they can never forgive him for being successful. The jealous feeling is well disguised, of course. They fear that the friend’s good fortune will turn his head and spoil his character, and we may rest assured that they will find ample confirmation of their worst fears, act how he may. Such people are capable of killing an old friend with pinpricks; shaking their heads all the while, and deploring his supposed weakness.

It is only too true that even brethren are often very unkind to each other without ever owning the fault or recognizing the tortuous self-deception which leads to the cruelty. The evils in the world are reproduced among those who are supposed to have come out from the world. It is easy to forget that there are any obligations in connection with the One Body or that if we sin against any of the members we sin against the Head. The One Body is formed on the basis of the One Faith; the essentials of which remain as in the days of the apostles. They do not change from year to year with the exigencies of human policy. Faith has been corrupted repeatedly both by the neglect of essentials and by the additions of human ideas. We must hold fast to the Word which is the only true light. It does not matter what men may think or say of us; what would the Lord have us do? That is the supreme test and it is well for us to use it now in the day of opportunity and before the day of judgment. If we can really bend our spirits to “learn of him”, we find at once that our duties are constructive and that they begin with the nurture and care of the One Body which is being developed on the basis of the One Faith.

(PrPr)

“Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.” The doctrine of atonement involved in this scriptural principle is one of the most important and in some respects one of the most difficult of all the primary truths connected with the Gospel. Nowhere else is it so easy for men to get out of their depth, and there is no other subject that proves so tempting.

There is certainly danger that vital truths affecting the sacrifice of Christ may be called in question or may be obscured by wrong teaching on this subject. There is far more danger that a destructive strife of words should arise through men getting out of their mental depth in an effort to measure the mind of God. Dr. Thomas once remarked that the elementary truths regarding redemption were few and simple and no reason could be given for them beyond “the fact that God wills them”. If a candidate for baptism revealed a sound knowledge of these simple truths and of this simple explanation of them, we should not dare to “forbid water”.

Suppose that having rendered a satisfactory confession of faith on all other first principles the candidate said: “I believe that God required a perfect sacrifice before He could forgive sin, and that He provided the One capable of rendering that sacrifice. He sent forth His Son, the Lord Jesus, made of a woman, made in all points like his brethren, tempted in all points as we are, but by virtue of his divine parentage so superior to us morally that he was able to render the perfect sacrifice required and thus to secure redemption for himself from sin-stricken human nature and both forgiveness and redemption for those who come to God through him in the way appointed.” Should we dare to forbid baptism because the candidate was unable to explain why God required a perfect sacrifice, or why He demanded the shedding of blood before sins could be remitted ?

If we are quite agreed that an understanding of these simple elements is sufficient for one to enter the Covenant, surely it is a tragedy if brethren become divided simply through the effort to see further. It may be even worse than a tragedy, for it sometimes leads to destructive strife in which extremes act and react upon each other, the disputants getting further and further out of their depth, while the vital duties of life are neglected.

We would not suggest for a moment that being agreed on the simple and elementary truths we should be content to go no further. Certainly we must push on and gain all the knowledge of divine things that is possible. Discussion of such matters may be very helpful if conducted by brethren who have grasped the more elementary teaching of the Word regarding human conduct. This, however, is certainly a subject in which we do well to be swift to hear and slow to speak; we may venture to suggest, still slower to write. So much sin lies at the door of the man who invented printing.

It may be helpful to take note of the main causes that have led brethren astray when they have tried to probe deeply into the doctrine of atonement. We may then be on our guard against these particular dangers.

One cause has been through the tendency to confuse the shadow with the substance. Brethren have reasoned that the types of the law suggested such and such necessities and the sacrifice of Christ had to conform. The truth is, of course, exactly the other way. The work of Christ was the very central feature of the divine purpose and all the shadows of the law had to conform to it. The Apostle in writing to the Hebrews, truly reasons from the types forward to Christ, but he makes it plain that Christ is the substance. We recognize the writings of the Apostles as of precisely the same authority as the Old Testament Scriptures. We do well therefore to take their plainest language as our guide and see that our understanding of types and symbols falls into line.

A second cause of confusion is the tendency to seek an explanation according to a human conception of logic and legality. Many years ago we had to point out that while human laws might often have effects far removed from the intention of the law makers, this could never be the case with the laws of God. We cannot recognize any distinction between the divine law and the divine will. When God makes a law it is the expression of His will for the time to which it applies, and it is made with a full knowledge of all its effects (see Act 15:18). We can hardly suppose that any brother would ever dispute this proposition; but some have reasoned as if they never thought of such an idea. We do well therefore to remind each other of this simple truth, which forbids us to make any distinction between legal necessities and the divine will.

A third cause of confusion has been through the persistent use of phrases that are sometimes misleading. Some staunch brethren in upholding the truth that Christ bore our sin-stricken nature have used language suggestive of an automatic cleansing by death. We could easily have rival camps in this matter, disputants on each side being totally unconscious of the ambiguity of their own language but too acutely conscious of the worst interpretations that could be put on the language of opponents.

Earnest brethren and sisters, anxious to hold the truth, have sometimes been perplexed and almost distracted in the strife of words, beyond their power to understand. The havoc that such strife may cause is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that one of the most capable men we ever had among us, in his efforts for legal logic ended by teaching justification for sin without faith, and we were all slow to realize the full enormity of the position. I well remember the surprise and even consternation of one of his supporters when he was first shown this feature of the case.

Even now there is the same disposition towards legal reasoning regarding types and shadows with the clear principles of Scripture neglected. Although disputants would deny the charge, it is a fact that some of them persistently lose sight of the fact that all things in God’s dealings with this world centre round Christ. The reason that all things under the law were cleansed by the offering of blood, was that all things in the age to come will be through the sacrifice of Christ. In reasoning with Jews it might be necessary to invert the argument, but we who are privileged to know the substance of God’s great purpose must never lose sight of it.

What is the literal truth revealed in the New Testament as to the meaning of sacrifice? It is that God forgives sins and offers eternal life on the basis of the perfect sacrifice effected by Christ in his life and death. Whatever figurative or partly figurative language the Bible may use, this is the real meaning. Washed in his blood, our sins laid upon him, a bearing of our sins in his own body, the purchase of his blood, the ransom, his being delivered for our offences, the just for the unjust: all such expressions must be understood in harmony with the literal truth that God forgives. Transgressions of the divine law can only be put away by the forgiveness and forbearance of God. Physical uncleanness of nature can only be put away by the power of God. The sacrifice of Christ is the divinely appointed basis in which God in mercy and forbearance offers forgiveness and redemption to sinners (Rom 3: 23-24; 4:7; Eph 1:7; Col 1:14; 1Jo 1:9; 2:12).

If we desire to probe further and ask the question why did God require such a sacrifice as the basis of the forgiveness offered to humanity, we shall never find any answer through the various interpretations of the law or by talk of the penalty due to sin. Divine law is simply an expression of divine will. It was not the will of God that man should sin, but it was the will of God that man should be a free agent and that death should be the wage of sin. It was the will of God that the human race having been defiled by sin should have no access to His holy presence except on the basis of a perfect sacrifice. And it is the will of God that we should respond to the gracious invitation and be saved on the basis He has provided (1Th 5:9). If we ask why God required such a sacrifice, we must seek a moral explanation. It is no answer to quote the law which expresses His will.

Guided by Scripture we can find a moral explanation that satisfies every demand that the intelligence can make. The perfect sacrifice was required that the flesh might be effectively repudiated, that sin might be conquered and condemned, that the righteousness and holiness of God might be declared, and that sinful man should be humbled without a particle of ground for boasting being left to him (Rom 3:23-27; 8:3; Eph 2:1-9).

God made it clear even in ancient times that humanity could not approach to Him at all except with humble faith and on the basis of blood shedding. He gave a law that emphasized the sinfulness and helplessness of His people (Rom 8:15; 5:20). He made it clear that when sins were put away by sacrifice they were really forgiven (Lev 4:20,26,31,35). He promised a deliverer who should “make an end of sin”, and “bring in everlasting righteousness” (Dan 9). When the fullness of time was come He revealed that scheme of love into which even the angels had desired to look. He made selection of a virgin of the house of Israel and produced from her one who should be strong for the great work required. So the flesh was repudiated even in the birth of Christ, sin was conquered and condemned in every act of his life, and finally he freely rendered the last obedience even unto death that he might be raised from the dead to immortality and glory as the captain of our salvation — made perfect through suffering (Heb 2:10). To him much was given and of him much was required. The lights and shadows inseparable from the formation of a character needed to be intense in the probation of our great Captain. He worked out his perfection and salvation by the strength God gave him, and thus through him God opened the way of life for us. Here is the sin nature that had produced only helpless sinners, controlled, condemned and finally put away by the strong Son of God in his perfect obedience of life and death. On this basis humanity can approach the holiness of the Creator and men of faith though sinners can be exalted to the divine. On this basis of the sin nature conquered, repudiated and condemned by the one God made strong for Himself, God forgives. That is the real meaning of atonement.

It is hardly possible to imagine anyone who had ever caught even the most fleeting glimpse of this vision turning back to the pitiful speculations of men as to supposed legal necessities. There are those in the world who think that the real body of Christ never rose, but remains eternally dead as the price due to God or the punishment due to sin! It would be difficult to make any comment on such an idea while preserving the language of decorum. The brethren are doubtless proof against such monstrous teaching. Let them keep far from the narrow reasoning that leads in that direction. The New Testament describes the sacrifice of Christ in plain and literal language. Let us interpret all figures and symbols by reference to the plain statements. God — who knows the end from the beginning, who does according to His will, but who “cannot deny Himself” — God provided the means for condemning and overcoming sins on the basis of which He with much forbearance forgives those who please Him by their faith.

Much controversy has been caused by the question as to whether Christ offered for his own cleansing. It has been largely a war of words, due on the one hand to a fear of saying or subscribing to anything derogatory to Christ and on the other hand perhaps a tendency to relapse into the old exaggeration of “original sin”. There ought not to be a minute’s difficulty in dealing with the question and securing agreement.

When we speak of “sin” in the flesh we use the phrase just as the Apostle used it in Rom 7. Obviously it is a derived or secondary sense of the word, for the primary meaning of sin is transgression of divine law. It is a similar extension of meaning to that of the word “death” for poison when they said, “there is death in the pot”. The Apostle speaks of a law in his members which wars against the laws of God and leads to transgression. He calls this physical weakness “sin” in the flesh or “sin” that dwelleth in me. It is the diabolos in human nature, the natural desires of the flesh which, if they are allowed to “conceive”, “bring forth sin”. We need not argue as to whether there is such a law. We all know it only too well. We are born with it and if we give way to any sin we correspondingly strengthen the evil desire in that direction and thus make “sin” in the flesh more active.

To suppose that an extraordinarily pure and righteous man would feel this weakness less than others is a huge mistake. The truth is the other way. It is the thoroughly fleshly man who is unconscious of the sinful law in his members and who probably would not understand what the Apostle meant. The man with the highest ideals and the most spiritual mind will feel the struggle most. To suggest that Christ was tempted in all points as we are and yet without this law of sin in his members is to proclaim a complete contradiction. It is like saying, “Except that he was not tempted at all!” Suggestions from without are no temptation to us if they do not appeal to something within. Christ bore just this same defiled nature that we bear or he could not have been tempted as we are and therefore could not have condemned and conquered sin. Christ bore this quality in the flesh, but he never allowed it to conceive even to the point of sinful thought. Therein was the most terrific struggle and the most portentous victory of all human experience. It is easy to understand that with his ideals, and his standards of rectitude, the weakness of the flesh would be so distressing that even the most startling language of the Psalms is comprehensible.

Now whether we take the plain language of the Apostles (Heb 9:12; 10:20) or the prophecies and types of the law, the teaching is that all things were to be cleansed by the perfect sacrifice and that no one of Adam’s race should have access to the Most Holy place except on the basis of that sacrifice (Lev 16:2-14 — note seven times of sprinkling) .

Some have caused confusion by arguing whether Christ’s offering for himself was “only a matter of obedience to God” or whether it was something more. What do they mean? Obedience to God is carrying out the will of God. What can be required beyond this? Surely we are all agreed that Christ, “the beloved son”, “the servant in whom God delighted”, and the one who “always did his Father’s will”, needed no forgiveness. Surely we are also agreed that he needed cleansing from the sin-stricken nature in which he wrestled with and conquered the diabolos. There could be no forgiveness for personal sinners except on the basis of the perfect sacrifice, for this was the will of God. There could be no cleansing and immortalizing, no entry into the Most Holy by any of Adam’s race except on the basis of the same perfect sacrifice, for that also was the will of God. Christ came to do God’s will, he was obedient in all things even unto death, and so with his own blood — in other words, on the basis of his perfect offering — he entered the Most Holy “having obtained eternal redemption.”

The truth is that when brethren who are agreed as to these fundamentals still argue and suspect each other of being “unsound”, they are really in their minds raising that old question of many years ago, “Supposing Christ had been the only one to be saved, would he still have had to die a sacrificial death?” Everyone ought to have learned long ago that this question is not legitimate. It is asking, “If the will of God had been totally different in one direction, would it have remained the same in another closely related matter?” There is only one proper answer to such a question. No one knows what the will of God would have been if His purpose had been other than it is, and only a presumptuous man would claim to know.

We have to do with the purpose of God as it is and as it is revealed to us. These truths are so simple and withal so beautiful that unless brethren insist on a misleading form of words making for strife, there should be no difficulty in agreeing.

The will of God determines everything. It was the will of God that none of our sin-stricken race should enter His holy presence except on the basis of the most complete repudiation of the flesh involved in a perfect obedience even unto death. He provided the strength necessary for this great work and it was for this purpose that Christ was born. Thus through the blood of the everlasting Covenant he was brought again from the dead. With his own blood he entered the Most Holy place, having obtained eternal redemption, and we, if we are faithful, can stand at last “washed from our sins in his blood” and covered with his righteousness. All these figures meaning that God accepts, forgives and cleanses His people on the basis of the perfect life and death of His Anointed Son.

“What communion [koinonia] hath light with darkness?… Therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing” (2Co 6:14,17).

This passage has always been popular with separatists, but it is even more sorely misapplied than some of the others we have considered. The context clearly speaks of a life of unrighteousness. From such a worldly outlook and way of life the believers are certainly prohibited, since such a joining is an “unequal yoking with unbelievers”. But it is a peculiar wresting of Scripture which would take this passage and wield it in cutting off believers for some minor deviation, real or imagined!

The entire passage is much richer and more detailed than one would ever imagine from a cursory reading. Each phrase is fully expounded in a series of articles by David Parry — in which practical applications are precisely drawn (Tes 46:218-220, 270-272,311-314, 341-344, 427-429, and 452-455; Tes 47:70-74). These exhortational conclusions reveal once and for all the moral force of the passage, in contrast to the mere legalistic approach in “withholding fellowship” at the breaking of bread. We have certainly come to see by now, if we had not realized it already, that “fellowship” is a much broader and more meaningful concept for believers than the question of whom we exclude from “our” table (which is not even ours, but Christ’s). Fellowship with God is a way of life which permeates all corners of our lives, and calls us constantly upward to a fuller appreciation of life lived always in the presence, and in the household, of our Heavenly Father. Those who convince themselves that their duty in the way of “separation” is accomplished when they ruthlessly exclude some or many of their brethren from their “fellowship” have simply not understood as yet what “fellowship” is all about! And it just may be that, in giving undue attention to one area of responsibility, they are on their way to ignoring other, more far-reaching duties!

1. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers (v 14): Only two can wear a yoke, and they must agree together in the direction they are traveling. We are commanded to be yoked with Christ (Mat 11:28,29), and we can be yoked with no other at the same time.

“The call of Christ is to a complete way of life — it is all-sufficient. Failure to realize that when Christ spoke of two ways, he meant two and no more, has led men to try and walk in both, looking for a third. For the Christian partnership to work, the believer must at all times try to match the example of his Master. The only incentive is to think deeply of the work being performed together. Unless positive reasons for a life in Christ are understood, the yoke of Christ will chafe and the discipline be irksome” (Ibid 220).

2. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? (v 14): This word “fellowship” might best be translated “partnership”, a joint partaking in something. Righteousness describes the ethical standard by which God offers men salvation. It is the pattern of life in Christ. It is impossible that there should be any partnership between this way of living and its exact opposite — unrighteousness, or lawlessness.

3. What communion hath light with darkness? (v 14): This word “communion” is the common word for “fellowship” — koinonia. To think of fellowship between light and darkness is an impossibility, for the two cannot in any way exist side by side. Those who say they fellowship light and yet walk in darkness are liars (1Jo 1:5-7). Correct beliefs are necessary, but our fellowship in light must be proven by the actions of a new life (1Jo 2:29; 3:7; Joh 3:19-21; 8:39; 10:37). The Bible definition of walking in darkness is not holding false doctrine, but hating one’s brother (1Jo 2:11)!

4. What concord hath Christ with Belial? (v 15): “Concord”, relating to the English word “symphony”, expresses the idea of harmony in singing or other verbal expression. In Christ’s life the “symphony” has already been composed. Each performer and each instrument should be controlled by that original plan. We as the players bring our individual talents to bear upon the composer’s score. But we cannot “play our own tune”, or else there will be discord and not concord in the finished product. Trying to follow both Christ and Belial (idols) is like singing two songs at once. How much easier to follow the example set by Christ, so that there be true harmony in our lives!

5. What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (v 15): Here is the idea of sharing, or having a portion or an inheritance, which may be understood against the Old Testament background of the promised possession of the land. “Believers and unbelievers have nothing in common which they can share. The believer cannot take part in activities and associations which are not controlled by God. The believer cannot share his inheritance, nor allow it to be taken away by unholy men. He can, and must, seek to share his inheritance by converting the unbeliever; but he must take care that this work is the one that God has described in His Word. The Lord is the portion, the Hope of Israel, the founder of the New Jerusalem. It is His inheritance, His kingdom, His memorial” (Ibid 429).

6. What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? (v 16): This question involves the idea of putting together, or a joint deposit, particularly of votes. The ecclesia is the temple of God (1Co 6:19); its members must cast in their “votes”, and their hopes and aspirations, with their brethren — not with the “idols”, crude or sophisticated, religious or secular, around them. The temptation to cast in one’s lot and find apparent satisfaction with the godless of today is a strong one to the modern saint. The only real antidote is not knowledge alone but application to the example of Christ.

“Therefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (v 17): “The teaching of these words as highlighted by Paul involves an equal determination on the part of a Christian to become holy through separation from unrighteousness, darkness, Belial, unbelievers, and idols. The far-reaching implications of these words are now obvious and it behoves those who would apply them in very limited circumstances to take care that in casting the first stone they are not condemning themselves” (Ibid 72).