THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER.
By Roderick S. Owen
ALL intelligent creatures must be granted a probationary time in which to develop characters, by the exercise of the power of choice. All creatures, I say, because, since God is no respecter of persons, this opportunity must be extended to all if granted to one. That it was granted to the angels is shown by Jude 6: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Here we have a “first estate” brought to view, in which the angels were granted the power to follow their own wills, and some of them did so contrary to God’s will, thus bringing upon themselves condemnation. “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:16, 17. In this man was given the power to eat or to refrain from eating as he saw fit, while the consequences of each course were clearly set before him. But some are inclined to deny man’s free moral agency, deny his having power to choose; and yet every man knows that never a day passes in which he does not exercise this power. In fact, the daily round is made up of acts which are but the expression of choice made. While some may deny choice in theory, no one dare do it in practice. Thus their own conduct gives the lie to their theory, for they will punish their children for wrong actions, will sit upon juries, and condemn men for misdemeanors. In short, they hold every one about them responsible for his actions. But if they have no power of choice, they are not responsible, for responsibility always accompanies the power of choice, for no one should be held accountable for his actions if he has no power to do otherwise. This principle is recognized everywhere. The parent, because he is supposed to control the actions of his child, is held responsible for what the child does. But when the child becomes of age, the control passes from the parent, the child now choosing and acting for himself. There is a transfer of the power of choice, and with it a corresponding transfer of the responsibility. Then the child himself is called to account for his actions. Between two machinists, the one an infidel and the other a Christian, the following conversation is said to have taken place:— “Now, we have just completed this engine,” said the infidel, “and if it doesn’t do good work, are we to blame, or is the engine?” “Why, we are, of course,” replied the Christian. “That is just it,” responded the infidel. “So God made man, and if man does not do good work, God is to blame and not man.” “Well,” said the Christian, “if God gave man no more brains and no more power to choose than we have given to that engine, then you are right. But God has made man intelligent, and has given him the power of choice, hence man is responsible.” But it is evident that during the time of choosing God can not control the man. This is not a diminishing of God’s power, but simply a suspension of its operation in order that the man may choose, and this will continue during the probationary period, for at its close God has placed a judgment, in which his power again takes hold of the man and calls him to account for his choice. The facts are concisely stated in Isa. 65:12: “Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.” Since God has placed us on probation to form characters, and since this end can be attained only by the exercise of choice, it is evident that God must place before us two ways in order to render a choice possible. One of these ways must be right, the other wrong; for if both are right, so that to follow either will ultimately bring us to the same end, there would be no real choice. The right way must be in harmony with God’s will; the wrong way must be out of harmony with him. The one will be good, the other will be evil, or sin. Thus we see that, to render it possible for man to choose, God must make it possible for sin to exist. This does not make him the author of sin, for sin is not a thing created, it is simply a condition, the condition of being out of harmony with God. Therefore that creature who first makes a choice contrary to God’s will, becomes thereby the author of sin. While character is formed by choosing, the6strength of the will depends upon the pressure under which the choice is made. It is because of this principle that God permits us to be tried and tempted. And in view of this we are admonished to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1: 2-4. So at the very foundation of character building lies this idea of trial. The strength developed in every trial will depend upon the strength of the temptation, and the rapidity of growth will depend on the frequency of the test. Then let Satan and the hosts of evil assail us with the fiercest temptations; let them come in like a flood; let them descend upon us like the mountain avalanche; if we only stand firm, trusting in God, each assault, each encounter with the enemy, will lift us higher, and higher, and bring us nearer and nearer to God. In the last generation we are told that God will make a short work, and cut it short in righteousness. Yes, for at the last Satan will be permitted to deluge the earth with strong, almost overmastering, temptations. He will be allowed to work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth.” As the rain and the sunshine cause both the wheat and the tares to grow, so these temptations will rapidly develop both good and bad characters, and the inhabitants of the earth will be speedily ripened for the harvest. The important question for us to settle is whether we will be wheat for the Master’s garner or tares for the fire. In view of this fact, let us begin at once, while probationary time still lingers, to make only right choice by rejecting all evil thoughts and retaining all good ones. For if the thoughts are right, the life will be; for as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he.”