44 CAMPBELLISM on the Gospel, S. A. Paine Our friends with their conditional system are consistent in contending that the gospel is indispensable in the salvation of sinners, for if faith is the condition, and as they contend that there is no faith without the gospel, they must, to be consistent, maintain that the gospel is the necessary means. Mind you, they must not only hear the gospel but obey it also. They also claim that none obey the gospel only those who obey their teaching.
The gospel, like baptism, saves but does not regenerate. It saves the living and not the dead.
“The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,” Rom. 1:16.
We agree that the gospel saves a believer. We have proven repeatedly the condition of a believer, that he is “born again,” “has everlasting life,” not “condemned,” “justified,” etc.
But our friends say that the gospel is the means God uses in quickening the dead sinner.
Well, that puts salvation on a very narrow basis. It does not promise salvation on what Jesus does, but on what the disciples of Alexander Campbell do. It also promises damnation on what they fail to do; for if they fail to preach, the people, of course, fail to obey. If they fail to obey, they are gone, world without end, regardless of what Jesus may have done for them. Talk about a selfish, narrow, contracted theory! We certainly have it in the superlative degree in the above. That’s considerably narrower than election and grace could possibly be; for grace will save in every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
The promise of election is that “all families of the earth shall be blessed.” Campbellism is, that all families have a chance, provided we preach to them. Their system gives a chance to the very few that they preach to. The Bible system makes salvation sure to all the seed, to all to whom salvation was promised, whom God declares are as innumerable as the “sand of the sea,” or as the “stars of heaven.”
On the gospel, they miss the mark just as they do on everything else, mistake God’s purpose or design in it.
By examining the question and answers, you will observe that their position is that the gospel begets or quickens the sinner, and that baptism borns them.
“Thy word hath quickened me,” Psa. 119:50. This, they claim refers to David while a sinner, and that the word was the gospel. David said “thy word” not the “preacher’s words.” Jesus says, “The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live.” There is the word that quickened David and every other one quickened from Abel to the present. Jesus says, “The words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life,” John 6:63. When Jesus speaks the sinner lives. When Jesus asked the twelve if they would also go away Peter answered and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life,” John 6:68.
Jesus said to the Jews, “Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they that testify of me.”
The Jews thought that eternal life was in the scriptures (written word), but they, like our friends, thought wrong. Eternal life is in Jesus, and “God gives eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Rom. 6:23.
Suppose the gospel does quicken, and it was preached to a sinner and he quickened by it, yet refused to be baptized, would that sinner ever be born? Elder Nichols says no; but others with whom I have conversed say it would be a case of abortion. What awful straits they are thrown into. It may be that some of their divines can give a more respectable hue to this awful picture, if so, the quicker done, the quicker an awful horror will be removed from the minds of many.
Does the above exaggerate the theory? Dear reader, do you believe it? Is it not human from center to circumference?
Begotten by the preacher, born by the preacher of the water! Look at it. Who could have the hardihood to denominate that subject a child of God? Is God its father and “Jerusalem above which is free” its mother? “Call no man on earth father, for one is your Father, even God.”
If I believed that doctrine I would, like an obedient child imitate mother, have my priests and bow to them, saying, father.
Preaching is teaching, and in order for one to be taught they must of necessity have life and a mind peculiar to that life. That is true in nature, and is equally true in the spirit. Teaching does not give life, but cultivates and contributes much to the life already possessed. The natural mind is susceptible to being taught natural things, but cannot know the things of the spirit. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned,” 1 Cor. 2:14.
The sinner is evidently the natural man referred to, and preaching the gospel is certainly a thing of the Spirit. If so, then it follows that the gospel is foolishness unto them, and they cannot receive it. That truth is recorded in the preceding chapter, 1 Cor. 1:23. “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” This proves conclusively two things. First, the gospel is foolishness to the uncalled; second, the gospel did not call them. Verse 18 of the same chapter says, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” God saves and calls the sinner “according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began,” 2 Tim. 1:9.
Then the gospel is the power of God unto them. It takes that saving and calling by grace to enable one to believe the gospel, and to be saved in a practical way by it. Paul, in speaking of the gospel to the church (children of God at Corinth), says, “By which also are ye saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain,” 1 Cor. 15:2.
We should not become confused over the term salvation, and mistake the gospel salvation of God’s people for the salvation (regeneration) of the sinner. The sower in the parable, unquestionably, represents the true minister. He sows the seed broadcast, but the sowing never did prepare the stony ground. The ground represents the hearts of the people. The position of our friend is, that the gospel, which is the seed, prepares the hearts, which is the ground. Jesus in speaking to the ungodly said, “Ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.” Again he says, “Why do you not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my words,” John 8:43.
Why do they not hear his words? Let him answer, “They that are of God hear God’s words; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Our friends say that one must hear and obey in order to be of God, but the Bible (Jesus) declares, they must be of God in order to hear.”
Now, of course, there is a practical or gospel coming that follows. That was done when Ananias preached to him. But remember Ananias did not teach Paul to know God, for he said to Paul, “The Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight.” Paul already knew Jesus, “whom to know is life eternal,” John 17:3.
Then the gospel does not give life, but “brings life and immortality to light,” 1 Tim. 1:10.
The gospel in its effect is compared to the rain, “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb and showers upon the grass,” Deut. 32:2.
The gospel is to affect the people as the rain affects the grass. If our friends will demonstrate that the rain gives life to vegetation, then we will concede that an argument is made in proof that the gospel gives life to sinners. The rain does administer to the living vegetation, by way of feeding or nourishing it, and brings the life more vividly to light, but to the dead vegetation, the effect is quite different. So it is with the gospel. While the gospel shower is falling, you can see a marked difference in the effect on different people. Some will melt in tears of rejoicing, while others will mock. Some will say, “Men and brethren, what must we do?” while others will mock and say, “These are full of new wine.”
The gospel did not make the difference in the material, but only brings to light the difference already existing. I once heard a brother make a beautiful illustration of this. He said, “Take two toys, one of wax, and the other of earth; shape and color them just alike, until the natural eye could discern no difference; then place them near each other with a torch of fire between them, and you will soon see the difference in the effect produced by the same cause. The wax will soften, while the earthen will harden; and hence different effects. Fire only proved the difference. So the gospel does not make a saint or sinner, but manifests them. It is a “savor of life unto life and death unto death.”
Glorious gospel! While it does not rob Jesus of the glory in the salvation of sinners, but does contribute glory to him in ascribing all honor to his matchless name. While it does not give life to sinners, it does “feed the sheep” brings “life to light,” “perfects the saints,” “edifies the body of Christ,” brings them to the “unity of the faith,” “strengthens the weak,” “comforts the mourner,” “saves the believer,” yea, it serves as a faithful index hand, pointing us to the final day.
The glorious gospel is so adapted to the struggling, fearful ones, it says to the mourner, “You shall be comforted;” to the weary and heavy laden, “Come to Jesus for rest;” to those who feel cast down and forsaken, Jesus loves you and has borne all your grief and will never forsake you. It tells us all about Jesus, how he loved us and gave himself for us, and how he now reigns to intercede for us until he comes to take us unto himself. To those who have a heart open by God’s power and love, as Lydia of old, rejoice in these things; to them it is “glad tidings;” but to those in sin it is an idle tale and repulsive to their very nature. Dear reader, if you love the gospel and feast on its fruits, heaven will be your home, for your love of the truth is proof of a change of heart, and if your heart is changed, God’s grace wrought the change.
I love the glorious theme of grace, for it embraces all who love the Lord; all that are of a fearful heart or a contrite spirit. Yea, it will save all in heaven that solemnly think upon his name. “And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name, and they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him,” Mal. 3:16,17.
But, on the other hand, this ridiculous heresy which we have been exposing speaks in thunder tones, uttering condemnation to every one of the earth that does not think and go their way. It needs only to be stated to be rejected.
Friendly readers, let me turn from this humanism and speak to you of Jesus. Jesus was the promised seed, the seed of the woman that was to “bruise the serpent’s head.” He it was that was promised in the language, “Behold the Lord God shall come with a strong hand; his arm shall rule for him; his reward is with him, and his work before him,” Isa. 40:10.
In this we see a wonderful provision, a mighty Savior, clothed with authority and power, and his work (salvation of sinners) is before him. In the purpose of God, all was as certain as after it occurred. The prophet asserts this when he says, “Unto us a child is born, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,” Isa. 9:6.
Again, the prophet saw him in his holy attire and character when he says, “Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength, I that speak in righteousness mighty to save,” Isa. 63:1.
Friendly reader, will this Jesus fail, all because Campbellite preachers will not help, or that sinners won’t let him? Will the “work before him” fail for the want of aid or permission? Or will “he do his will in the army of heaven and on earth, and none can stay his hand?” This is the wonderful Savior of whom the angel spoke when he said, “Fear not, for thou shalt bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Remember that his “work was before him” and that was to save his people from their sins.” The prophet declares that “He is a rock and his work is perfect.” Again, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, until he set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law.”
Paul declares, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” If he came to save sinners, and he “shall not fail,” it follows that all he came to save will be saved. The reason why there is no failure is because the whole affair rests upon the faithfulness of the Trinity, and nothing depending upon an arm of flesh.
Christ was born according to promise, an all sufficient Savior. The shepherds received the message from heaven at his birth, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Christ the Lord,” Luke 2:11. “And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.”
Though he was a babe, he was the “Savior, Christ the Lord.” How wonderful, and how greatly to be admired is the promised Messiah as he was given to us! He was God, and yet as perfectly man. Why is this? While it is beyond our power to fully analyze the Holy One, we can only say, “Where reason fails, let faith adore.” Yet we can understand why he was manifest in the flesh. This must be in order for him to be adapted as Mediator between God and man.
It is God and man at variance. God is a Spirit; man is flesh, and Jesus is both, and therefore, complete within himself as Mediator. If he is complete as Mediator, he needs not any human aid to reconcile men to God. For one to insist that any human agency, other than the humanity of Jesus, is employed in redemption is to deny that Jesus came in the flesh.
“According to the word of heaven,
The child is born, the son is given,
And in a manger lies,
He sleeps as other infants sleep,
And weeps as other infants weep
Though Lord of earth and skies.
“The Godhead is not laid aside,
The manhood is not defied—
In him they both combine;
Flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone,
He’s David’s Lord and David’s son,
Both human and divine.
“In vain may human reason try,
To comprehend the mystery
of God and man in one;
The eye of faith alone can see
The glory and the mystery
Of Mary’s infant son.”
The eye of faith pierces into the inexplicable, yet glorious, character of our Lord, and enables us to rejoice in him as the “Only name under heaven, and among men, whereby we must be saved.”
The babe grows in years, and at the age of 12 years is found in the temple confounding the wise with strong reason and hard questions. When he was reproved by his parents for lingering, he replied, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business.” His history now becomes very obscure until he is found on the bank of Jordan, demanding baptism at the hands of John his harbinger. This, it seems, was a solemn separation and consecration of himself to the work that lay before him.
He was baptized, and went his way teaching his own precious gospel, doing good, working miracles, and thus demonstrating that he was the “very Christ.” He was reviled, yet he reviled not again. He was “rejected of men,” “A man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief.” Yet there were always a few that clung to him, loved him, and delighted in following him. So it is till this good day. Only a few are contented with the sure mercies of David, coming through the exalted Jesus.
The multitudes have ever been against him, and his humble followers. While his followers were few they were devoted; they looked to him for all blessings and not to man. They believed he was the Savior, and was able to keep them.
To show the weakness of man, we have only to refer you to the fact that even his disciples forsook him in the death agony, notwithstanding Peter had declared he would go with him even unto death.
Finally the hour comes; Jesus is betrayed, and falls into the hands of murderers, tried, condemned, and crucified. See him, dear reader, in the judgment hall, innocent, harmless, and undefiled! Listen to his wicked conspirators as they maliciously swear falsely against him. Apparently he is without a friend or a witness or an attorney. He must bow to their mandates. The picture is dark indeed, and if there was no help higher than man, indeed, it would be. But the scene grows darker. They place upon him a purple robe, and upon his innocent head a crown of thorns, they lead him to Calvary, they strip him, and nail his hands and feet to the rugged wood. They make bare his innocent breast, and pierce his side.
See the lovely Savior as he hangs upon the cross, the blood flowing from his wounded side. His life ebbing out until he says, “I thirst.” Oh, is there no heart to pity? No hand to lovingly administer? His disciples are fled. He is left alone. “He trod the winepress alone.”
Instead of water, a sponge of vinegar is pressed to his dying lips by a fiendish hand. God withdraws his divine protection, and our Savior dies. This picture is sad, but it is glorious to feel in one’s poor heart that he died for me.
The sun ceased to shine, and darkness prevailed, the earth rocked, the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom.
Dear reader, do you believe that such a death could be for a sinner, and that sinner robbed of its benefits, all because some Campbellite preacher fails to reach him and convert him to his selfish creed? Nay, but, “He suffered, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” It is Christ’s suffering that brings, by redemption, the sinner to God.
Something was accomplished by the death of Jesus. If so, whatever that something was is not left to be accomplished by the Campbellite or any other fraternity. Let’s see if we can find what that something was.
“He appeared once in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” If Christ put away sin by the “sacrifice of himself,” it follows that the sin he put away is not yet left to be put away by baptism.. If Christ put your sin away by his death, then you could not be lost, because of your refusal to be baptized, unless you are lost with your sin put away.
Again, “If when we were enemies, we were reconciled by his death, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life,” Rom. 5:10.
If his death reconciled us to God, it follows that baptism, or any other act of ours, does not reconcile us to God.
Again, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” 1 Pet. 2:24. If Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree, must we bear them in hell, because we refuse to suffer a Campbellite preacher to baptize us?
Here is what the Bible declares that Jesus accomplished in his death, viz: “Redeemed us from all iniquity.” Tit. 2:14. “Reconciled us to God,” Rom. 5:10. “Put away our sins.” “Bear our sins in his own body,” 1 Pet. 2:24. “Redeemed us to God.” Rev. 5:9. “Justified by his blood.” Rom. 5:9. “Perfected forever them that are sanctified,” Heb. 10:14.
If Jesus did all of this for sinners, the question remains unanswered, “Who can lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth, yea, it is Christ that died,” etc. Christ did not only die, but is risen again, and “because he lives we shall also live with him in glory.” Yes, “much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Jesus lives and reigns today to have all that he redeemed. Paul declares, “He must reign until all enemies are put under his feet.” No enemy can prevail in the capturing of a single one of his redeemed people. He is “the lion of the tribe of Judah.” The Shepherd of the Sheep. He “gives unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”
“Grace reigns unto eternal life by Jesus Christ.” “He has power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him.” O precious Redeemer, blessed Savior. He has saved me from a state of ruin, he has filled my heart with love to him and his dear people. He
gently and prevailingly leads me along life’s rugged pathway. He makes the rough places smooth and crooked places straight. He exalts the valley, and makes the rugged mountain low. When I pass through the fire and water, I am not destroyed. When I am low down in despondency and trouble, I have only to make my requests known unto Jesus.
When I am heavy laden with care and crushed down with the load, I have only to cast my cares upon him, and realize that he cares for me. When I am racked with pain, or scorching with fever, his precious Spirit whispers consolation to me, sweetly resigning me to all my trouble. “If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him.” All my sufferings are nothing to compare with the Savior’s agonies here on earth.
I am trusting in him to go with me even unto death. I am sure, if I am what I profess to be, he will never forsake me, but continue his loving benefits until he shall have conducted me home to glory.
Dear reader, if Jesus is not my all, I have no hope, I have no Savior. “I commend you to him, and to the word of his grace.” He is your lawgiver, and you shall obey him. If a tender lamb should chance to read this that loves Jesus and his flock, my admonition is, “Come home to your friends.” Prove your love for your king by living in sweet obedience to his commands and loving fellowship with his people. This will bring joy to you through life and a sweet comfort in death. (Writings of S. A. Paine: ppg. 38-46)