To these quotations might be added many others, but this will suffice to show the effects of faith, that it is a principle of power. We ask, has God changed? Is not faith, being a principle emanating from Deity, as unchangeable as God Himself? Who, professing to believe in Christ, will say, if we believe and are baptized by rightful authority in this age, that Jesus will fail in His part of the contract to bestow the promised blessings?
In view of all that is written in the Bible concerning this true faith and the effects which flow therefrom, and the reverse of that pure faith of the Bible which characterizes the "Christianity" of today, is it wonderful that the Savior exclaimed: "When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on earth?" (Luke xviii:8.)
REPENTANCE.
Repentance follows faith as a natural sequence; for when the human mind has sufficient faith in God, based upon the perfection of His attributes, to desire His guidance and a final return to His presence, the thought is foremost that no unclean thing can enter his presence. Repentance from all sin, not merely an expression of sorrow but a discontinuance of sinful practices, amounting to a reformation of life, therefore suggests itself as a matter of course. This philosophical view of the subject is in perfect accord with Holy Writ. Hence it was, upon the day of Pentecost, when the sin-convicted multitude cried out: "Men and brethren, What shall we do?" that Peter commanded them to repent as the first step following the manifestation of their faith in Christ and His atonement. (Acts ii:37.)
That repentance is an indispensable condition of salvation has been taught in all ages of the world by men of God, the only exception being that which applies to all other requirements of the Gospel. That exception is in the case of persons incapable of knowing good from evil, such as children who cannot believe, or disbelieve, and are exempt from the law until they arrive at the years of accountability. Hence the saying of the Savior: "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. xix:14.)
Ezekiel said to ancient Israel, in his 18th chapter and 30th verse, "Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin." Israel did not repent as a nation, and their sad history proves that iniquity caused their ruin. The olive branch of peace was offered them without money and without price. They rejected the means of escape, and in consequence they have verified the words of Moses, their great lawgiver: "And I will scatter you among the heathen and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste." (Lev. xxvi:33.)
It was supposed by those in Palestine that the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices, were greater sinners than others because such agonies had come upon them. "And Jesus answering said unto them, 'Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffererd such things? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'" The foregoing contains the divine lesson that suffering is not a substitute for repentance: that while He did not justify the agonies brought upon them by persecution, He did not intimate that the suffering would be acceptable instead of repentance, or that these sufferings were any evidence of the sins of the sufferers as to the height or depth of their transgressions. The weight of responsibility is measured either by the light men possess or the light which opportunities afford them to possess. As Paul said to the Athenians (Acts xvii:30.), "And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent"; and again the Savior enunciated this doctrine: "And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (St. John iii:19.)
No matter how strict the individual may be in living a life of moral rectitude, it is very plainly taught in the Scriptures that rejecting further light from God constitutes a sin. We cite the case of the young man told of in Matthew, chapter 19, who came to the Savior for instructions, but who, when he was commanded by the Redeemer to sell all that he had, give to the poor, and follow Him, went away sorrowful, rejecting the injunction of the Savior, and yet he had kept the commandments from his youth up, and probably was as righteous as any modern Christians, who, if commanded by the Savior to give their possessions to the poor, would go away sorrowful. There were "devout" people assembled on the day of Pentecost, and yet Peter made no exception when he commanded the multitude to repent. If they had done the best they could previously with the light they had, greater light had come to them and they must receive it or be condemned.
This truth applies to every gospel dispensation, not excepting the "dispensation of the fullness of times," the greatest of all. God promised to send a holy angel and make a restitution of all things as predicted by the ancient prophets, preceding the second advent of the Messiah. The light has come. A new dispensation has been ushered in. The Everlasting Gospel has been restored with its ancient gifts and blessings, and "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent," whether they be so-called Christians or infidels. Repentance is a principle and not merely an expression of penitent grief. It involves, as before stated, a reformation of life. In II Cor, vii:9, 10, Paul says: "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance. * * * For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death." The sorrow of the world may be illustrated by the conduct of the inebriate, who, when intoxicated, commits acts of violence which mantle his brow with shame and fill him with remorse in his sober moments. He expresses sorrow, perhaps weeps in his agony, but again gives away to the tempter and repeats his acts of dishonor instead of "fleeing temptation." This kind of sorrow does not work repentance to salvation. We find religious people sorrowing and sometimes confessing their sins, only to repeat sin. This is the sorrow of the world and needs to be repented of because it savors so much of hypocrisy, and consequently "worketh death." On the contrary, true repentance consists, not in the outward expression of grief, but in forsaking sin. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isa. lv:7.) Repentance is required not only of the evil deed, but of the unrighteous thought. Every wicked deed is first conceived in the mind, hence the need of casting away the evil thought before it germinates into actual crime, which leads to prison, the gallows and to spiritual death. Of the ruin caused by the talented, but corrupt Aaron Burr it was truly said: "His brain conceived it, his hand brought it into action."