p. 3 | The Old-New Gospel

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 26, 1907

The Old-New Gospel

Believing on Christ

THE blessings of the gospel are obtained by believing. This is made clear by such statements as these: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Mark 16:16. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.” John 5:24. “And he [the jailer] called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.” Acts 16:29-31. Many more passages might be read, but these are sufficient to show that the one thing which we must do in order to avail ourselves of the redemption provided, is to believe on Christ.

We are further taught that to believe on Christ is to receive Christ. Thus we read: “He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name.” John 1:11, 12. So also we are justified by believing on him: “Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins: and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38, 39. “But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified

freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in his blood, to show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God; for the showing, I say, of his righteousness at this present season: that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.” Rom. 3: 21-26. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ.” Gal. 2: 16.

How plain and simple is the gospel! Forgiveness of sin, righteousness, justification, salvation, are all freely offered to us through the infinite grace of God and the sacrifice of Christ, and we receive all these gifts by believing on Christ. We can not buy these things, and we can not pay even the smallest price for them, and we can receive them in no other way than by believing.

Since everything depends upon believing on Christ, it is important that we should know just what is included in such an experience. All the blessings of the gospel come through believing on Christ because all the gifts and all the promises of God are inseparably united with him, and become personality in him. We can not deal with forgiveness, or righteousness, or justification, or power, or wisdom, or sanctification as an abstract thing, but only as revealed in Christ. He is “the Lord our righteousness;” he is “the power of God, and the wisdom of God;” he “was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption;” in him “we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.” When we receive him by believing, we receive him as power and wisdom and righteousness and forgiveness and justification—all that we need to make us complete in him. And so we should remember that we do not believe on him and then receive the blessings of the gospel apart from him, “for it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell,” and in him “are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.” When God gave Christ, he gave all; and when we receive Christ, we receive all in him.

But we believe on Christ not only for what he is, but also for what he does. The Son of God became the Son of man, in all things “made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people;” and “we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” “He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises,” and “he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” When we are brought into union with Christ by believing on him, we become united to him in his work for us as our high priest and mediator, and our faith lays hold upon all that he secures for us as our intercessor. It is thus that we receive the full benefit of his mediation in our behalf.

As the work of the gospel develops and the intercession of Christ takes on new phases, if we exercise an intelligent faith in him, it is necessary that we should accept him in the very work he is doing for us. This is especially true as it relates to the final work of atonement and the blotting out of sin. Just as on the day of atonement and the cleansing of the sanctuary in the olden time the people showed their faith in the redemptive work in a different way than at other times, so in this antitypical day of atonement and cleansing of the sanctuary, believing on Christ for salvation from sin involves a different attitude toward the atoning work than at any previous time. By faith we must enter in with him into the holy of holies, and stand before the ark of the covenant, in which is the unchanged and unchangeable law, and we must accept his life of complete obedience to that law to be manifested in us as a life of obedience to that law. This will set aside all creeds and all human traditions, correct all perversions of the truth, and restore the gospel in its purity and power. But this is simply the experience of believing on Christ and receiving him for all that he is to believers in this last generation.

From what has been said the conclusion is easily drawn that to believe on Christ in our day will involve the acceptance of the threefold message of preparation for the coming of Christ, and the rejection of all that human philosophy which really puts man in the place of God and treads under foot the Son of God. The message for to-day points out the Christ just as definitely as did John the Baptist when he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world,” and urges faith in him for salvation; but it directs the believer to the heavenly sanctuary, the place where the Christ actually is, and to the work which he is actually doing in the blotting out of sin. The gospel message for to-day is a message of righteousness by believing on Christ, of salvation by faith, but a faith which takes hold of realities and which transforms the life, so that we may have boldness in this hour of judgment “because as he is, even so are we in this world.”

The jailer's inquiry brings the same answer to-day as in the jail at Philippi, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved;” but the faith which accepts Christ to-day will bring a fulness of light, a fulness of knowledge, and a fulness of experience which will prepare the believer for translation. Let this message be so preached “in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.”