God's Plan with Men

by T. T. Martin

The one who is thus redeemed and adopted as a son of God not only purifies himself because prompted by love to the Saviour for redeeming him from all iniquity, but because he is born again, and this new nature leads him to hate sin and to love holiness. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."—1 John 5:1. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever."—1 Peter 1:23. This is no mere theory, no mere theological dogma. Cases innumerable throughout the Christian era could be cited, where the most wicked men and women in a moment have been completely changed by simply being led to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, as their Redeemer from all iniquity.

In the author's work as an evangelist he has seen the most debased, hopeless men and women revolutionized morally, not by gradual processes, but in a moment, by leading them to repentance and faith in the Saviour as their complete Redeemer from all iniquity. And the moral revolution was not temporary, but permanent. Science cannot account for these moral revolutions brought about in a moment. Infidelity cannot account for them. God's word does account for them, that they have been born again, born of God, and have been taken from under the law and have been given a new relation to God and placed under a new motive power. In a city a great mass-meeting for infidels was widely advertised; a large audience assembled. The leader asked all the men in the audience who had once been down in the depths of sin, everything gone, hopeless, and had been led to accept the Saviour as their Redeemer from sin, please to arise. Between three hundred and four hundred well-dressed business men and workingmen arose. The leader then asked all who had been down in the depths of sin, everything gone, hopeless, and they had then been led to believe in infidelity and it had made better men of them, please to arise. One lone man staggered to his feet and he was drunk! Science and infidelity cannot explain this difference. God's word does explain it. There is no other explanation.

It may be objected that many who profess to be thus redeemed from all iniquities, to be born again, do not continue to live better lives. God's word explains every one of these cases: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest; because not all are of us."—1 John 2:19.

In closing this chapter, reader, pause and consider:—are you yet under the law? Have you been redeemed from the curse of the law? Have you been adopted as a child of God? It is one thing to say "Our Father"; it is quite a different thing to be really a child of God, and heir of God and joint heir with Christ.

Is the motive of your life love of Christ because He has redeemed you from all iniquities? Do not be deceived by calling the motive love when really it is not love. If you have been trying to serve God, thinking that if you continued to serve Him, continued to try to do your Christian duty, you would go to Heaven after this life, but that if you failed to serve Him and do your Christian duty, you would not be saved, then your motive has not been love, and you are lost. If you have been trying to serve God and do your Christian duty, fearing that if you failed you would be lost, then your motive has not been love, and you have never been redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), and adopted as the child of God (Gal. 4:4, 5). Let not pride nor prejudice prevent your coming out from under the law and becoming really a child of God. "My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."—Rom. 10:1-4. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name."—John 1:12.

FOR FURTHER STUDY: Men are prone to mix the law and redemption through Christ. They are separate and distinct. They are two separate roads to Heaven. If a man keeps the law from birth to death he will go to Heaven without any redemption; he needs no redemption. "Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth those things shall live by them,"—Rom. 10:5; not by Christ as the Redeemer; he needs no redemption. "And the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them."—Gal. 3:12. There is no Christ in this; there is no need of Christ if a man "doeth them," the law. Such a man cannot trust Christ to save him; for if he has never broken the law, there is nothing from which he needs to be redeemed. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die"; but if one has kept the law, there is no penalty, no redemption is needed. "The doers of the law shall be justified."—Rom. 2:13. But "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,"—Rom. 3:23; hence, there is need of redemption; for "apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."—Heb. 9:22. The other road to Heaven, therefore, is that "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."—Gal. 3:13. The Saviour, as well as the Apostle Paul, taught clearly the two roads; the first, when "One came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."—Matt. 19:16, 17. The question was what good thing the enquirer should do in order to have eternal life as the result of what he did. The answer was exactly what Paul taught afterwards,—"The man that doeth them, shall live in them."—Gal. 3:12. On the other hand, to the penitent woman in Simon's house the Saviour said, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."—Luke 7:50. The trouble is that many men try to make a third road to Heaven, partly by obeying the law and partly by redemption through Christ; or rather, they try to combine the two separate and distinct ways and make them one. But this is fatal. "If by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it is of works, then it is no more grace; otherwise work is no more work."—Rom. 11:6. Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."—Matt. 11:28. And God's word declares plainly, "He that hath entered into his rest himself also hath rested from his own works, as God did from his."—Heb. 4:10. No one has rested, ceased, from his own works who thinks that keeping the law or trying to keep the law is a part of the salvation through Christ as Redeemer. One must cease from his own works, from looking to obeying the law to help in salvation, before he can be saved through Christ as Redeemer. "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."—Rom. 4:5. Hence, all who are trying to get to Heaven by obedience, are under the law, are yet unredeemed, unsaved, not real Christians. "As many as are of the works of the law [obeying the law to be saved] are under the curse,"—Gal. 3:10; they have not been really redeemed.

Of this class are all those who believe and teach "Salvation by character,"—they are yet under the law; they are yet under the curse.—Gal. 3:10. Further, they fly in the face of the Lord Jesus, who said to men who had character, "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."—Matt. 21:31. They fail to see that the Saviour takes men without character, justifies them from all things (Acts 13:39), redeems them from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), redeems them from all iniquities (Titus 2:14), and then develops in them a character that will stand the test of the ages; that He takes a Jerry McAuley, an S. H. Hadley, a Harry Monroe, and a Melville Trotter and makes of them four of the most useful men of modern times. They fail to see that character is formed by deeds; that the character of the deed can be determined only by the motive prompting the deed; that the controlling motive for the deed must, in the sight of God, be love (1 Cor. 13:1-3); that the motive of love is produced by being forgiven most (Luke 7:42, 43); that the forgiveness comes from the Saviour having given Himself for our sins (Gal. 1:4), to redeem us from all iniquity (Titus 2:14).

Because of this failure to consider the motive back of the deed, many books on morals and ethics are absolutely pernicious. In comparing the morals and ethics of Christianity with the morals and ethics of heathen religions, they fail to take into consideration the motive back of the deed. Two young men are trying to win a young woman in marriage; their deeds, outwardly, are the same; the one is prompted by pure, manly love for the young woman; the other has his eye on her father's bank account. You drop your handkerchief as you are passing along the street; a man from pure kindness picks it up and hands it to you. Again you drop it, and another picks it up and hands it to you, but his motive is that he may win your confidence and pick your pocket. Four sons are equally dutiful, in outward deed, toward their fathers; one, that he may get all the money he wishes from his father; the second, from a cold sense of duty; the third, from fear that his father might kill him or disinherit him if he were not dutiful; the fourth, from tender love for the father. In these four, many authors see no difference, or make no distinction, and yet they profess to be teachers of morals and ethics! Four men, outwardly, are living the same moral lives; one, hoping to get to Heaven by it; the second, from a cold sense of duty; the third, from fear of Hell; the fourth, from love because One died for him (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), and redeemed him from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), from all iniquity (Titus 2:14). Only the last one will ever enter Heaven; only the last one is really a Christian, redeemed (Heb. 9:12), saved (Eph. 2:8).

As men are prone to mix law and redemption through Christ, so they are prone to mix law and sonship. They fail to see that redemption from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), redemption from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), redemption from under the law (Rom. 6:14), means to be placed in a higher, more sacred relationship to God. Even in nature God has two grades of existence, a lower and a higher, for some insects, even; the mosquito, first in the water; then by a simple process it rises into the higher kingdom; the caterpillar, a creeping worm, then the butterfly. But were there no analogies in nature, God has clearly revealed a higher relation for those who are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), "God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons,"—Gal. 4:4, 5; "Having in love predestinated us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself."—Eph. 1:5. Where is man in the scale of being? "Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels."—Ps. 8:5. But even the angels, who are above man in the scale of being, are not the sons of God. "Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son?"—Heb. 1:5. But to every man who has been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), from under the law (Gal. 4:5), God says, "Ye are all the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."—Gal. 3:26. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father."—Gal. 4:6. "Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."—Rom. 8:15.

Much of the confusion concerning the higher relationship of the redeemed with God has been caused by teaching the redeemed and the unredeemed to pray what is called the Lord's Prayer. The Saviour did not teach the unredeemed to pray in this manner. They cannot pray it truthfully, honestly, for they are not the children of God. "They that are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God."—Rom. 9:5. If they are not, then they cannot truthfully say "Our Father," "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastening, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."—Heb. 12:6-8. The language, "bastards and not sons," has some meaning, but it can have no meaning if God is the Father of all human beings, and all have a right to say "Our Father." It is true, that in the Old Testament God is referred to as a Father, but it is only as Father of Israel, the redeemed. "Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us?"—Mal. 2:10. But who are the "we"? "The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi,"—Mal. 1:1;—Israel, God's redeemed people.