RIGHTEOUSNESS, THEN POWER.
By Albion F. Ballenger
CHRIST hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree; that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.' 'The promise of the Spirit' is the promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in its pentecostal power. Just before His ascension Christ commanded His disciples 'that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. . . . Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.' This promised baptism of power can not be received by any one who has not received the blessing of Abraham. For 'the blessing of Abraham' is received 'that ye might receive the promise of the Spirit.' Reader, have you received the 'blessing of Abraham'? It is useless to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit until you have. You do not know what the blessing of Abraham is. You may know, and know as quickly as Abraham knew, if you will do as Abraham did. Let us now go in search of the blessing of Abraham. The blessing of Abraham is the blessing of righteousness which God gave Abraham because he believed God when He spoke to him. Let us see that this is so. It is written (Gal. 3:6), 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And again (verse 9), 'So then they that be of faith [they that believe God] are blessed with faithful Abraham.' Blessed with what?—Blessed with what Abraham was blessed with,—blessed with righteousness. The blessing of Abraham, therefore, is the blessing of righteousness which the Lord gave to Abraham when He told Abraham He would do something for him that seemed hard to do, and Abraham believed God could and would do it. Gen. 15:6. Now that you know what the blessing of Abraham is for Abraham, God wants you to share in that blessing, to 'be blessed with faithful Abraham,' in order that you 'may receive the promise of the Spirit.' Paul, in Rom. 4:1-11, again shows that the blessing of Abraham is the righteousness with which God blessed him when he believed what God said, and then makes a personal application of this truth thus: 'He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.' Rom. 4:20-25. 'If we believe,' 'they that be of faith [they that believe] are blessed with faithful Abraham.' Believe what?—Believe that God justifies (makes righteous) the ungodly or unrighteous. 'But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.' Rom. 4:5. Are you unrighteous or ungodly? God says He will justify you, make you righteous, if you will ask Him to do it and believe that He does it. 'What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.' Mark 11:24. Ask for the blessing of Abraham—ask God to forgive all the sins you ever committed from the day you knew the difference between right and wrong, until this moment. Ask Him to give you the righteousness He has promised to give to the unrighteous. Then believe that you have received that righteousness. 'For every one that asketh receiveth.' Luke 11:10. But, says some one, if the blessing of Abraham is righteousness by faith, then I have always believed in that, for I have always believed in righteousness by faith. Good, if true. But if you have received righteousness by faith you have stopped sinning. Righteousness by faith not only justifies you from your past sins, but saves you from falling into those same sins again. It is both a cure and a preventative. I am passing by my neighbor's house. He is in the cow-yard, milking. The cow kicks the milk over. The neighbor kicks the cow; then he seizes the stool and chases the cow around the yard. As he has the advantage in the inside track, he gets near enough to the cow to hurl the stool at her with telling effect. As neighbor in his chase comes near the fence on which I am leaning, I speak thus: 'Neighbor, have you accepted the message of righteousness by faith?' He replies: 'I always believed in righteousness by faith. Never believed anything else. And I think it is a disgrace to even suggest that we need a special message on this subject. What will our neighbors of the other churches think of us if they hear it? But what made you ask me if I believed in righteousness by faith?' 'Because when a man believes in righteousness by faith, he will not get angry and club his cow.' Reader, have you accepted righteousness by faith—not the theory that men are made righteousness by faith, but has it become a fact in your life? 'Faith without works is dead.' Do you still get out of patience in your home, at your work, with your brethren, with your neighbors, with your stock? Do you yield to the lusts of the flesh, to the lust of the eye? Do you love the world, its goods, or its pleasures? Do you love the pre-eminence? The precious truth that men are made righteous and kept righteous by faith, is given you to give you the victory over all your besetting sins. Then you will have received the blessing of Abraham, and can pray for the promise of the Spirit. Ask and ye shall receive.
ALBION F. BALLENGER.