SECTION 4.
REDEMPTION.
1. What is the meaning of Redemption.
Redemption means to redeem, or deliver from bondage by sacrifice. To get out of pawn by payment of a price. So Christ seeks to redeem our souls from the claims of the broken law, and from sin, and Satan, and Hell, by the payment of His own blood.
2. What does God seek to accomplish for our race in the work of redemption?
He seeks to recover us from all the effects of the Fall, and to raise us to a position holier, happier, and more secure than that which was lost by Adam.
3. How does God seek to accomplish this?
By the life, sufferings, and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Holy Ghost operating directly on the world and working through an army of men who have been washed from their sins in the blood of Jesus Christ.
4. You have told us that Jesus Christ was a divine person, that is, He was God; was He also human, that is, a man?
Yes, He was as truly man as He was truly God. For our sakes He came from Heaven, took upon Him our nature, and thus made it possible for Him to suffer in our stead.
"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."—1 Timothy iii. 16.
5. What did the Saviour do for us?
I. He made known the Father's will in His teaching.
II. Set forth a perfect example for our own imitation in His life.
III. Made an atonement for our sins in His death.
6. What Is the meaning of the word ATONEMENT?
The word means "at-one-ment," and it signifies the way which Jesus Christ opened, in order that God and man, now separated by sin, may be reunited and made one again.
"To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."—2 Corinthians v. 19.
"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."—Romans v. 18.
"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:"—Ephesians ii. 13—16.
7. Can you describe more plainly in what way we are benefited by the death of Christ?
Well, you see the Father pitied us when He saw us cursed and condemned to everlasting death, and wanted very much to forgive and make us happy again, but then He had to consider the welfare of others, and the honour of the law we had broken. If He had forgiven us without the sacrifice of His son, the inhabitants of other worlds, and the angels of Heaven, might have said: "Oh, it does not matter about breaking His laws; you have only to say you are sorry, and He will make things right." And so the holy laws of God would have been thought nothing of; and, to meet this difficulty, Jesus Christ, though the only Son of the Father, came, and suffered as a sacrifice for us, and so magnified the importance of the law we had broken, and, at the same time, made a way for our deliverance from its penalty.
8. Is not the Death of Christ sometimes described as a "satisfaction" to Divine justice?
Yes. The death of Christ satisfied Divine justice, inasmuch—
I. Our sins deserved death.
II. Christ voluntarily died in our place.
III. In virtue of His dignity as God, and His purity as Man, His sacrifice was possessed of infinite merit, and fully met the claims of the law, and justified God in remitting the punishment, and in forgiving all who repent and believe on Him.
9. What passages of Scripture would you quote as teaching this doctrine?
I. Those which speak of Christ as being a ransom for mankind.
The word ransom signifies the price paid for the deliverance of a captive. It has this meaning in Matthew xx. 28. The word ransom in 1 Timothy ii. 6— "Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."— signifies the ransom paid for the life of a captive, by giving up the life of another person, the idea, in both cases, being that of "substitution" or "satisfaction."
II. Those passages which speak of Christ as being the Redeemer of the race—
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." —1 Peter i. 18,19.
"For ye are bought with a price."—1 Corinthians vi. 20.
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."—Ephesians i. 7."
"Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."—Acts xx. 28.
"For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."— Revelation v. 9.
III. Those passages which speak of Christ as being the Substitute for sinners—
"Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not."— John xi. 50.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."—Romans v. 8.
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures."— 1 Corinthians xv. 3.
"For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."—2 Corinthians v. 14,15
"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father."—Galatians i. 4.
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."— Hebrews ii. 9.
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."—1 Peter iii. 18.
IV. Those passages which speak of Christ as making reconciliation, by His death, between men and God—
"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation."—2 Corinthians v. 18,19.
** For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.'—Romans v. 10, 11.
10. Did the Saviour Himself teach that He came to make an Atonement for the Race?
Yes; He declared the substitutionary character of His work when He compared Himself to the serpent to which the Israelites looked and were delivered—
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up."—John iii. 14.
I. When He declared that He gave His life a ransom for many—
"Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."—Matthew xx. 28.
II. When He tells the multitudes that they may eat His flesh and drink His blood, which He will give for the life of the world—
"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood drink indeed."— John vi. 51—55.
III. When He declares that He is the Good Shepherd, who giveth His life for the sheep—
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."—John x. 11.
IV. When He affirmed that His blood was shed for many for the remission of their sins—
"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."—Matthew xxvi. 28.
11. Did not all the Prophecies which described the coming Messiah as a Sacrifice for sins find their fulfillment in Him?
Yes; the 53rd chapter of Isaiah throughout can only be understood as descriptive of Him as a sacrifice, and specially the 5th and 6th verses—
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his strips we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all,"—Isaiah liii, 5, 6.
SECTION 5.
THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT.
1. Do the benefits of the atoning work of Christ extend to all men?
Yes; they were obtained, and are intended for the whole world; that is, for all who have lived in the past, for all who live now, and for all who will live hereafter.
2. How do you prove that Christ died for all men?
1. From what we know of the benevolent character of God we should expect that He would include the whole race in the merciful undertaking. It would appear to us absolute cruelty to leave any out.
2. There is not a passage in the Bible that says He did not die for all men.
3. There are many passages in the Bible that say He did die for all.
"Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified ia due time."—1 Timothy ii. 6.
"For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe."—1 Timothy iv. 10.
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."— Hebrews ii. 9.
4. The Bible also says that Christ died for "the world," the " whole world."
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, bat have everlasting life."—John iii. 16.
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."—John i. 29.
"This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."— John iv. 42.
"And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."—John vi. 51.
3. How do the Calvinists try to explain away these passages?
By saying that it is the "elect world " that is intended here; that is, every elect man. But there is no such phrase as the elect world in the whole Bible, and we will not allow any one to narrow up the mercy and grace of God by any such fanciful inventions.
4. What other argument do you draw from the Bible which proves that Christ died for all?
All agree that Christ died for those who are saved, but the Bible positively states that He died for those who will be lost, and therefore He must have died for all.
"But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died."—Romans xiv. 15.
"And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died."—1 Corinthians viii. 11.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."—2 Peter ii. 1.
5. Have you any other argument?
Yea; if Christ did not die for all, how could we urge all sinners to believe He died for them? Unless He died for all, no man could be sure He died for him, neither could any man be condemned, or condemn himself for not believing that of which he had no assurance. But Christ did die for every man, and every man must believe it on the peril of everlasting damnation.
6. Is there any other argument?
The Bible says we are to offer mercy to all; but how can we do so and tell every man he can have salvation if Christ only died for a portion of the race?
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."—Mark xvi. 15.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."—Matthew xi. 28.
"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." —John vii. 37.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."—Revelation xxii. 17.
SECTION 6.
THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST.
1. You will sometimes hear people talk about the finished work of Christ. What is meant by it?
That Christ, when He died on the Cross, put Himself in the place of the sinner and bore the exact amount of punishment which he deserved, thus actually paying the debt that the sinner owed to Divine justice. And that if the sinner will only believe this, he is for ever free from the claims of the law, and can never be brought into condemnation either here or hereafter—
2. Is this so?
We think not.
3. What makes you think it is not so?
If it were so, if Christ did literally pay the sinner's debt, in this sense, God cannot justly demand payment twice and consequently no one will be sent to Hell, and all will be saved.
4. But do not those who hold the view that Christ did actually and literally pay all the sinner's debt upon the cross hold and teach, also, that the benefit of the payment will only be experienced by those who believe that it is do so?
Yes; but if a debt is paid, it is paid, and the sinner's unbelief does not in any way affect the fact. If I owe a man £5, and some one pays it for me, my creditors cannot sue me for the sum. I am all right, seeing the debt is paid, whether I believe it or no.
5. But is it not replied that if the sinner is lost it is not because he is A SINNER, seeing that his sins have been borne by Christ, but because he will not BELIEVE the fact, and they quote:—" He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned"?
Yes; but any one can see that if all the sinner's debt has been paid, all the sin of unbelief must have been paid also, otherwise how can his past unbelief be forgiven, and if all his unbelief has been atoned or paid for, how can he be sent to hell for that, any more than any other sin?
6. How can anyone consistently hold this doctrine of the literal payment of the sinner's debt?
Only by rejecting the glorious truth that Christ died for all. Those who hold to a limited atonement are at least consistent, because they say that Christ paid the debt of a certain number, and therefore their salvation is secure whatever they do, as Christ cannot die in vain.
7. But is not this view of the literal payment of debt inconsistent in those who believe that Christ died for all?
Decidedly so. Because if Christ paid everyone's debt, then everyone will be saved, and so the doctrine leads up to universal salvation.
8. But is it not true that Christ did pay our debt when He died for us?
Not in the sense that debts are paid here. Otherwise, as we have seen, those for whom Christ died are for ever free, act as they may, because payment cannot be twice demanded, as a favourite hymn, with those who hold this view, says:
"First at my Surety's hand,
And then at mine."
9. But what is the correct view of the Atonement?
"We have already explained it in Section 4. The Scriptures teach that Christ on the Cross, in virtue of the dignity of His person, the voluntariness of His offering, and the greatness of His sufferings did make and present, on behalf of poor sinners, a sacrifice of infinite value. And that this sacrifice, by showing all worlds the terrible evil of the sin man had committed, and the importance of the law man had broken, did make it possible for the love and pity of God to flow out to man by forgiving all those who repent and return in confidence to Him, enabling Him to be just and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
10. Then did Christ endure exactly the amount of suffering that sinners ought to have endured?
We do not know what our blessed Saviour suffered, and we never shall, but we do know that His sacrifice is far more likely to make the inhabitants of the universe have a profound respect for the law and justice of God, than would have been effected by sending the whole race to Hell.
11. Can any man do or suffer anything, either before or after Conversion to MERIT SALVATION in any way?
No. The alone ground or merit of our salvation from first to last is to be ascribed to the love of God, as displayed in the work and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
"And every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever,"—Revelation v. 13,
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William Booth (1829 - 1912)
Was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). The Christian movement with a quasi-military structure and government founded in 1865 has spread from London, England to many parts of the world and is known for being one of the largest distributors of humanitarian aid. Though Booth became a prominent Methodist evangelist, he was unhappy that the annual conference of the denomination kept assigning him to a pastorate, the duties of which he had to neglect to respond to the frequent requests that he do evangelistic campaigns. At the Liverpool conference in 1861, after having spent three years at Gateshead, his request to be freed for evangelism full-time was refused yet again, and Booth resigned from the ministry of the Methodist New Connexion.The name The Salvation Army developed from an incident in May 1878. William Booth was dictating a letter to his secretary George Scott Railton and said, "We are a volunteer army." Bramwell Booth heard his father and said, "Volunteer, I'm no volunteer, I'm a regular!" Railton was instructed to cross out the word "volunteer" and substitute the word "salvation".[7] The Salvation Army was modelled after the military, with its own flag (or colours) and its own music, often with Christian words to popular and folkloric tunes sung in the pubs. Booth and the other soldiers in "God's Army" would wear the Army's own uniform, 'putting on the armour,' for meetings and ministry work. He became the "General" and his other ministers were given appropriate ranks as "officers". Other members became "soldiers".
William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. At the age of 23 he began his evangelistic career and subsequently traveled through England as an itinerant preacher of the Methodist New Connection Church.
After separating from the church in 1861, he continued his ministry independently. In 1865 Booth and his wife, Catherine, to propagate the Christian faith and to furnish spiritual and material aid to needy persons, founded the Christian Mission in London, which in 1878 became known as the Salvation Army.
Members of the army, equipped with uniforms and flags, drums and cornets, were greeted with riotous demonstrations on their first appearances in the streets and were frequently arrested for disturbing the peace. The work progressed, however, and branches of the army were established in all parts of the world, with international headquarters in London.
Booth wrote several books, the best known of which is In Darkest England and the Way Out (1890), and he founded The War Cry, the official organ of the Salvation Army.
William Booth was born in Nottingham, England to an Anglican family. At thirteen he was converted in a Wesleyan Chapel in London. Soon his growing burden for the souls of men led him to begin bringing street people to the church.
Mr. Booth, whose job as a pawnbroker showed him the need of London's poorest, began preaching at 17. He brought so many of the poor and ragged drunkards to church that he was asked to leave. He was the pastor of a Methodist church until 1861 when he withdrew from the denomination.
In 1865 Booth came across a group of evangelists who were struggling to hold an open air meetings. Such was Booth's impact that he was invited to become the leader of the group. His first words to his wife when he returned home later in the day were: 'Kate, I've found my destiny!'
This small band of evangelists was the seed from which The Salvation Army grew. First they called themselves 'The Christian Revival Society' then they became 'The Christian Mission' finally in the autumn of 1878 they declared themselves to be 'The Salvation Army'. These changes of name prove their growing vision of a calling from God to engage in all out, no holds barred, war like mission in the name of Christ.
During his lifetime, the Salvation Army remained focused on salvation as opposed to the social gospel which is its trademark today. It is believed that more than 2,000,000 souls were converted by this great work.
When Queen Victoria asked Mr. Booth the secret of his ministry, he replied, "I guess it is because God knows I am hungering to keep souls out of Hell!" William Booth died at the age of 83, still seeking to win men and women to Christ.