The motive of the son towards the father is not fear, but love. And this love is produced by the fact that God, in love, provided this great, wonderful plan for men, "having in love predestinated us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself,"—Eph. 1:5, and the fact that the Saviour loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20). Hence, Paul tells us, "The love of Christ [not the fear of the law, nor the fear of Hell] constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died; and he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again." Our Saviour, the night before His crucifixion, made clear that this was to be the motive in the life of God's children. In instituting the Lord's supper He said, "This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins."—Matt. 26:28; then, following this, before leaving the supper room, He said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments,"—John 14:15, not, "if ye are afraid of the law, keep my commandments"; not, "if ye are afraid of going to Hell, keep my commandments"; not, "if ye wish to make sure of going to Heaven, keep my commandments"; but, "if ye love me." But why love Him? Because "this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins." That this love, and that this kind of love is clearly the motive power of the real Christian life, notice the teaching of the Saviour in Luke 7:41, 43, "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou has rightly judged." This is no mere theory, that love ought to be the controlling motive, but it is the controlling motive. And it is not a mere theory that love ought to constrain the real Christian, the real believer, but the love of Christ does constrain us (2 Cor. 5:14).

One may be moral, of deep piety, and yet if the motive power of his life is not this love, he is lost, not a real Christian. God's word makes this plain, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing."—1 Cor. 13:1-3. Two of the mightiest preachers of all times, men whose tongues were those nearest to angels in preaching, Chalmers and Wesley, after years of most powerful preaching, came out and stated that during all those years they were lost, not Christians. Why? They had not been really redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14); they had not been forgiven most; the motive had not been the motive of him who is forgiven most,—"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal." Why? Because eloquent, powerful preaching cannot redeem from iniquity, and God has said plainly, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."—Heb. 9:22. Men may write great books explaining the mysteries of God's word, commentaries, Sunday-school lesson helps, instructions to Christians; yet if the motive power of their lives is not love based on the fact that they are forgiven most (Luke 7:43), redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), they are lost, not real Christians,—"though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing." Why? Because there is nothing in understanding all mysteries, and all knowledge, in writing commentaries and other helpful books, to redeem from all iniquity. And God has said plainly, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission." The great capitalist, the multi-millionaire, may turn philanthropist, and spend all his wealth in building schools, or libraries, or houses for the poor, or in feeding hundreds of thousands in times of widespread drouth; the Catholic nun or Protestant or Baptist nurse may give her life in the epidemic in nursing the sick; and the heroic fireman give his life in rescuing others from the flames; yet they are all lost, unless the motive power of life is love, produced by the fact that they are forgiven most, redeemed from all iniquity,—"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." Why? Because there is nothing in giving away money to care for the poor, nor in giving up life for others, to redeem from iniquity. And God has said plainly, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."—Heb. 9:22.

When God, "That he might be just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus,"—Rom. 3:26, "so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,"—John 3:16, men must not, they must not, from intellectual pride, religious prejudice, family or race ties, nor from any other motive, trifle with God and presume to dictate terms to the Most High. Were it one poor, obscure man who presumed to do this, men would say that he deserved to be left to answer for his own sins before God at last. But vast numbers, whole religious denominations and university titles cannot change the Most High. God does not go by majorities. Earth's respectability does not pass current in Heaven. "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."—1 Cor. 3:19.

Who is this being to whom puny men in their pride and prejudice presume to dictate terms as to how they may escape the just penalty for their sins, as to how their sins should be taken away? "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel? And who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance; behold, he taketh up the hills as a little thing." "All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted by him less than nothing, and vanity." "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; that bringeth the princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as vanity."—Is. 40:12-15, 17, 22, 23.

A professor in a great university has recently said that to the "modern mind," untrained, as the Jews, to daily sacrifices, unused, as those of ancient times, to blood-atonement,—remission of sins by blood,—substitution does not commend itself. If he and those who think like him do not care enough as to their eternal destiny to strive to become acquainted with blood-atonement, to realize their need of it, and to see that God, in love, has provided it, complete and eternal, then there is nothing left but for them to go out into eternity to meet the just penalty of their sins; for even then God will be just to them. No one, barbarian or civilized, will ever be treated unjustly by the Most High.

But it is objected that, if men are taught and believe that they have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), that they are not after that under the law (Rom. 6:14), that they have been adopted as God's sons (Gal. 4:4, 5), and that they are no more servants, but sons (Gal. 4:7), they will not serve God from love of Christ for dying for them (2 Cor. 5:14, 15), but that they will become careless and not try to live Christian lives. That is true with hypocrites; they will profess to believe that they are thus redeemed, saved, and will live careless, worldly lives. But really redeemed men will love most (Luke 7:43), and live better lives from love. The Saviour said, "If a man love me he will keep my words,"—John 14:23; "If God were your father ye would love me."—John 8:42. And John, writing to believers only (1 John 5:13), says: "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one that hath this hope on him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."—1 John 3:1-3.

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.

God's word makes it plain that what is called the Lord's Prayer was not taught by the Saviour to the unsaved. "As he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples, and he said unto them [His disciples], When ye [His disciples] pray, say, 'Our Father.'" How did they become disciples? "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. "Ye are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus."—Gal. 3:26. Concerning this prayer the Southern Baptist Sunday School Teacher says, "It is a special gift to believers only." "We cannot too earnestly insist that the Lord's Prayer is beyond the use of mere worldlings. They have no heart for it. It is the possession and badge of the disciples of Christ. It belongs to those who can offer it in humble and hearty faith." The Sunday School Teacher, published by the American Baptist Publication Society, says: "This is a prayer that befits only Christian lips and was given to the disciples only, and so it is addressed to 'Our Father.'" D. L. Moody, in "The Way Home," "But who may use this prayer, 'Our Father which art in Heaven'? Examine the context. The disciples when alone with Jesus said, 'Lord, teach us to pray,' and this was the answer they got; they were taught this precious prayer: 'In this manner pray ye: Our Father, which art in Heaven.' It was taught by Jesus to His chosen disciples; then it is only for Christians. No man who is unconverted can or has a right to pray thus. Christ taught His disciples, not all men, not the multitude, to pray like this. A man must be born again before he has any right to breathe this prayer. What right has any man living in sin and in open enmity with God, to lift up his voice and say, Our or My Father? It is a lie and nothing else for him to say this."

The Saviour was very explicit on this point: "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me; for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil."—John 8:41-44. Here are the unredeemed calling God their Father. If He is their Father, here was the time for the Great Teacher to make it plain. If He is their Father, in any sense, here was the opportunity to make it plain. The Saviour does not reply, "Yes, He is your Father in one sense, but I am speaking of another and a higher sense." His answer is plain and unequivocal.

There are those who fly in the face of the Saviour's plain teaching. Hear two of them:—Mrs. Mary Baker G. Eddy, in "Science and Health," "God is the Father of All." "Man is the offspring of Spirit." "Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father and Life is the law of his being." "He recognized Spirit, God, as the only creator, and therefore as the Father of all"; "demonstrating God as the Father of men." Another makes his meaning just as plain: "He [Jesus] was the son of God in like manner that every other person is; for the Creator is the father of all."—Thomas Paine, in "The Age of Reason."

The issue is joined between these two on the one side and the Lord Jesus and Paul on the other, and men are lining up on one side or the other, and many of them will spend eternity with the ones whose teaching they are following now, with whom they are lining up; and the reader may as well face the fact that many of them will not spend eternity in the same place with the Saviour and Paul. With many the question as to whether the Saviour, when He said, "Ye are of your father the devil," told the truth, or was a wilful liar and deceiver, or a deluded fanatic and ignoramus, is merely a matter of taste, or preference, or opinion. It may be claimed by some that "Ye are of your father the devil," grates on refined ears and finer sensibilities. But it is more than a question whether it is pride, or religious prejudice, or refined sensibilities, when the sensibilities and feelings are so coarse and hardened that without indignation, often with complacency, they see Him who "spake as never man spake," God's "only begotten Son," branded as a liar and deceiver. Such scholarship and finer sensibilities and such refinement will fill their possessors with horror and remorse in that day when the sun shall become black as sackcloth of hair, and the full moon shall become as blood, and the heavens shall depart as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island shall be moved out of their places, and the kings of the earth, and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman shall hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?"—Rev. 6:12-17; "for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father who sent him."—John 5:22, 23. "And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he who hath been ordained of God to be the judge of living and dead."—Acts 10:42.

If all men who are unredeemed would just stop and realize their real position in the scale of being, and that they really have no Heavenly Father, and that "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, there would fall upon this world such a feeling of orphanage as it has never known since the Saviour hung on the cross. But in their pride or religious prejudice, or love of the world, or secret sin, blinded by "Our Father," they go on through life repeating it, and die, never having been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and adopted as God's sons (Gal. 4:4-7).

Teaching the unredeemed that God is their Father, and to say "Our Father" is the incubator of religious error and the hot-bed of infidelity. Many religious denominations that are fundamentally in error, that really have no Redeemer, and therefore no Saviour, have as their foundation teaching that God is the Father of the human race; and there is scarcely an infidel but that was taught "Our Father." Teach a person that God is his Father, that his Heavenly Father is far better than his earthly father, and then teach him that his Heavenly Father is going to send him to an eternal Hell, and, if he thinks, he is far on the road to infidelity, or he is ready for some modern church that denies that there is any Hell.

It is said that a missionary to one of the heathen lands, after laboring for some time among the people, employed a learned heathen to help him translate the New Testament into the heathen language. The missionary would read and the heathen would translate and write it down. They finally came to the first epistle of John. One morning as they began their work, having finished the second chapter, the missionary read, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us." The heathen translated and wrote it down. The missionary read, "that we should be called the children of God." The heathen bowed his head upon the table and began weeping. Gaining control of his feelings, he said, "Teacher, don't make me put it that way; I know our people; that is too good for us; we don't deserve it. Put it this way, 'That we may be allowed to kiss his feet,' That is good enough for our people." He had listened to the story of God giving His Son for us; of His life, of His teachings, of His death for our sins; and the thought that, beyond this, God makes the redeemed His children, was too much for him. But in enlightened, so-called Christian lands, many who have never even claimed to have been born of God ridicule the teaching that God is the Father of the redeemed only, and they blatantly proclaim God to be the Father of all human beings, of the drunkard, of the thief, the murderer, whereas, even the angels do not call Him Father. "Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son?" But when men are redeemed (Heb. 9:12), and born again of the Spirit (John 3:8; 1 John 5:1), they are really God's children (Gal. 3:26). Then they are above angels in the scale of being, "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17),—the highest, most exalted of all beings in the universe. Oh, that men would put their heels upon their pride, be redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and become God's real children (Gal. 4:4-7).

But just as many mix and confuse the teachings as to two roads to Heaven, and as to law and sonship, so they mix and confuse the old motive of fear under the law (Rom. 8:15), and of love as sons. The new motive of love could be produced in no other way than by real Redemption. Let the reader give close study to the following principles laid down in Walker's "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation":

"1, The affections of the soul move in view of certain objects or in view of certain qualities believed to exist in those objects. The affections never move, in familiar words, the heart never loves, unless love be produced by seeing, or by believing that we see, some lovely and excellent qualities in the object. When the soul believes those good qualities to be possessed by another, and especially when they are exercised towards us, the affections, like a magnetized needle, tremble with life, and turn towards their object.

"2, The affections are not subject to the will; neither our own will nor any other will can directly control them.... An effect could as easily exist without a cause as affection in the bosom of any human being which was not produced by goodness or excellence seen, or believed to exist, in some other being.

"3, The affections, although not governed by the will, do themselves greatly influence the will. All acts of will produced entirely by pure affection for another are disinterested.... So soon as the affections move towards an object, the will is proportionally influenced to please and benefit that object, or, if a superior being, to obey his will.

"4, All happy obedience must arise from affection. Affectionate obedience blesses the spirit which yields it, if the conscience approve the object loved and obeyed.

"5. When the affections of two beings are reciprocally fixed upon each other they constitute a band of union and sympathy peculiarly strong and tender,—those things that affect the one affecting the other in proportion to the strength of affection existing between them. One conforms to the will of the other, not from a sense of obligation merely, but from choice; and the constitution of the soul is such that the sweetest enjoyment of which it is capable rises from the exercise of reciprocal affections.

"6. When the circumstances of an individual are such that he is exposed to constant suffering and great danger, the more afflictive his situation the more grateful love will he feel for affection and benefits received under such circumstances. If his circumstances were such that he could not relieve himself, and such that he must suffer greatly or perish, and while in this condition, if another, moved by benevolent regard for him, should come to aid and save him, his affection for his deliverer would be increased by a sense of the danger from which he was rescued.

"The greater the kindness and self-denial of a benefactor manifested in our behalf, the warmer and the stronger will be the affection which his goodness will produce in the human heart."

And this further statement by Walker will be at once accepted by all honest seekers after truth:—

"Here, then, are two facts growing out of the constitution of human nature. First, the soul must feel its evil and lost state, as the prerequisite condition upon which alone it can love a deliverer; secondly, the degree of kindness and self-denial in a benefactor, temporal or spiritual, graduates the degree of affection and gratitude that will be awakened for him."—Walker, in "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."



V

THE SINS OF GOD'S CHILDREN—FORGIVENESS—CHASTISEMENTS

"Our Father who art in Heaven ... forgive us our sins."—Luke 11:1-4.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."—1 John 1:9.

"Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him; for 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. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection under the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us as seemed right to them; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."—Heb. 12:5-10.

"Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgements; if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David."—Ps. 89:27-35.

In coming to the question of God's plan concerning the lives of men redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), from under the law (Rom. 6:14), and adopted as God's sons (Gal. 4:4-7), let the reader keep in mind that it is not concerning the sins of unredeemed men, whether professing Christians or not. God's plan with the sins of unredeemed men has been shown in Chapter I. Hence it is not a question of the sins of hypocrites, or other professing Christians who are not really God's children.

It has been shown in Chapter IV that when men are redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), they are no longer under the law; "Ye are not under the law."—Rom. 6:14. God's word lays down a principle recognized and endorsed by all enlightened nations,—"Sin is not reckoned [imputed] when there is no law."—Rom. 5:13. Those who have been redeemed from under the law are adopted as God's children,—"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. God thenceforth deals with them as father with children, and not as judge with transgressors of law. Earthly children commit two kinds of sins against their earthly fathers; they sin under temptation and are penitent, and confess their sins and are forgiven. Second, they sin wilfully and are chastised. God's children sin in like manner; they sin under temptation, are penitent, confess their sins and are forgiven. Second, they become backsliders, sin wilfully and are chastised. Let us consider the two classes of sins of God's children and God's plan with men for them.

Our Saviour taught His disciples, God's children, to pray "Our Father ... forgive us our sins,"—Luke 11:1-4; Paul and Silas taught the jailer, a man under the law, unredeemed, not a child of God, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved."—Acts 16:31. John taught the believers (1 John 5:13), those who were redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and were God's children (1 John 3:1, 2), "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,"—1 John 1:9; Paul taught the unredeemed, those who were not God's children, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."—Rom. 4:5.

Many believe and teach that if any one, the unredeemed man as well as the son of God, confesses his sins, God will be faithful and just to forgive his sins. A Mohammedan, a Jew, a Christian Scientist, a Unitarian, a Universalist, confess their sins,—are they forgiven? To these and all others under the law, God has said, "Apart from shedding of blood there is no remission."—Heb. 9:22. "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."—Matt. 5:18. John is writing to believers only (1 John 5:13), to those who are God's children (1 John 3:1, 2), and to them he says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."—1 John 1:9. Men unredeemed, under the law, can never get rid of their sins by confession. To them God has one message,—"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life."—John 3:14-16.

The Saviour taught the disciples to pray, "Our Father, ... forgive us our sins"; but so widespread is the misconception that it applies to all, redeemed and unredeemed, that all over the world vast multitudes of the unredeemed kneel down every night and say, "Our Father, ... forgive us our sins," and lie down to sleep deluded with the thought that they are forgiven. If they are forgiven, why was there any need of Christ dying for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3)? But the real child of God can pray, "Our Father, ... forgive us our sins," and he is really forgiven. Why the difference? With the unredeemed, those yet under the law (Rom. 3:19), God is dealing as judge with violators of law, and law knows no forgiveness. With the redeemed, those who have been adopted as God's children (Gal. 4:4-7), God is dealing as father with son. Let those who are redeemed, who are really God's children, realize the blessed fact that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."—1 John 1:9.

But there is another class of sins committed by God's children, "If his children forsake my law" (Ps. 89:30), wilful sins. For these God chastises His children, just as an earthly father chastises his wilful and disobedient children. "Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto sons, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him; for 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. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us as seemed right to them; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."—Heb. 12:5-10.

Chastisement or punishment of God's children is for correction; "for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness" (Heb. 12:10); punishment of the unredeemed is to carry out law, for justice: "that he might be just" (Rom. 3:26); "every transgression received a just recompense of reward."—Heb. 2:2. The unredeemed, those under the law (Rom. 3:19), are punished beyond this life, in the Day of Judgment,—"verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city."—Matt. 10:15; God's children receive their chastisements in this life,—"If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons."—Heb. 12:7. Professing Christians who are not redeemed, not really God's children, do not receive chastisements; hence, they are punished in the day of judgment with the other unredeemed. "But if ye be without chastening, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons."—Heb. 12:8.

He has observed to little purpose who has not noticed that redeemed people, God's children, suffer more in this life than the unredeemed. God says that His children endure chastenings and others who are not His children do not. The difference can be easily seen by any one who will observe closely. The Psalmist observed it and was greatly disturbed by it until he understood the cause of the difference. "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily. They set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus: behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God: then understood I their end. Surely, thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment? They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. For my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."—Ps. 73:1-24.

That chastisement in this life for wilful sins is God's plan with redeemed men, His real children, is clearly revealed even in the Old Testament. God swore by His holiness to David that this would be His plan with redeemed men:—"Also, I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever and his throne as the days of Heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David."—Ps. 89:27-35. David himself was a case in point. After his terrible sin, God sent word to him by the prophet Nathan, "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house."—2 Sam. 12:9, 10. "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die."—2 Sam. 12:13. God has but one way of putting away sin. "Apart from shedding of blood is no remission."—Heb. 9:22. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."—Lev. 17:11. But God does not stop there. "Howbeit because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."—1 Sam. 12:14. (Let the reader notice that God, foreseeing that people would ridicule the idea of God saving David, calls it blasphemy and calls those who do it "the enemies of the Lord.") David fasted and prayed for the child. On the seventh day the child died, "But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead; therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him."—2 Sam. 12:19-23. How could David be thus sure? He had God's word on which to rest, "The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul."—Lev. 17:11. But because of his sin God chastened him as long as he lived. "Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house."

Solomon is another case in point. Concerning Solomon God said to David, "I will be his father and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chastise him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my mercy shall not depart away from him."—2 Sam. 7:14, 15.

In chastening, God uses as a rod loss of loved ones (2 Sam. 12:14; Amos 4:10), loss of property (Amos 4:6-9), loss of health (1 Cor. 11:30), death (1 Cor. 11:30; Amos 4:11; Deut. 32:48-52). Consider the case of Moses and Aaron: God told them to speak to the rock that it might bring forth water for the children of Israel. But they wilfully disobeyed, and instead of speaking to the rock, struck it in anger. For this wilful sin, as a chastisement, God said to Moses, "Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto Mt. Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in Mt. Hor, and was gathered unto his people: because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin."—Deut. 32:49-52. Though Moses was thus severely chastened for his wilful sin, he was not lost, for he was with Elijah on the mountain at the transfiguration of the Saviour (Matt. 17:1-3).

The lesson needs to be learned by God's children that as certainly as a redeemed man sins wilfully, whether the sin be great or small, the chastening rod is sure to fall. "If his children forsake my law ... then will I visit their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with stripes."—Ps. 89:30-32. But God does not send the chastening in wrath, nor in justice. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."—Heb. 12:6.

There are many who profess to be redeemed, to be God's children, professed Christians, church members, who sin wilfully, and God never sends chastisements to them; but God explains about them, "But if ye be without chastening, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."—Heb. 12:8. He does not chasten this class; in Hell they will receive their punishment, but it will be just. God will treat no human being wrong. With some it may seem severe that God should chasten and scourge His children. That is not as severe as to send them to Hell for their wilful disobedience after they become His children, and that is the belief of many. There are but three plans that God could have for those who have been redeemed from the curse of law (Gal. 3:13) and adopted as His children (Gal. 4:4-7), and afterward sin wilfully:—

First, beyond this life punish them in the judgment (Matt. 10:15) for their sins, send them to Hell. That would mean, (1) if Christ redeemed them from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), that God would force the same debt to be paid twice. "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" (2) That would mean that God would punish, by law, those who have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and who are not under the law (Rom. 6:14), and would violate God's own principle, "Sin is not reckoned [imputed] when there is no law" (Rom. 5:13). (3) That would mean a child of God, redeemed and adopted (Gal. 4:4-7), and born again (1 Peter 1:23), born of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8), sent to Hell. (4) That would mean to make the Saviour unreliable and untruthful in His statements. "Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out demons? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you."—Matt. 7:22, 23. These are the professing Christians at the judgment who are lost, and Jesus says, "I never knew you," that not one of them was ever really redeemed and adopted as a child of God. (5) It would mean for God to violate His own oath (Ps. 89: 27-35).

Second, the second plan possible to God in dealing with those who sin wilfully after they have been redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), and adopted as God's children (Gal. 4:4-7), would be to let them continue to sin wilfully, and neither punish them beyond this life, at the judgment, in Hell, nor chastise them in this life. That would mean for some of them to eventually develop characters most fearfully warped by sin.

Third, there is but one other possible plan left for God with redeemed men, redeemed from the law and adopted as His children (Gal. 4:7), who sin wilfully; and that is to chasten, chastise them in this life. That is God's plan with the redeemed, His own children; and however severe the chastening, He does it in love. In love He planned to adopt us as His children. "Having in love predestinated us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself."—Eph. 1:5 (1911 Bible), and in love He chastises. "Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."—Heb. 12:6.

Reader, the issue is before you: shall you remain under the law (Rom. 3:19) to be punished justly in the judgment (Matt. 11:22-24) and to continue to sin in Hell (Rev. 22:11, R. V.), or will you accept redemption through Christ the Saviour from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), be adopted as a child of God forever (Gal. 4:4-7), to be forgiven when you sin against your Father in Heaven and confess your sin (1 John 1:9); to be chastened when you sin wilfully (Ps. 89:27-34), and to spend eternity in Heaven with Him who loved you and gave Himself for you (John 14:1-3; Gal. 2:20), free forever from sin (Rev. 21:24-27; Rev. 22:3)? You do not intend, reader, to be wrapped in a Christless shroud, to be laid away in a Christless grave, to spend eternity in a Christless Hell. Decide now.

FOR FURTHER STUDY:—The teaching that God interposes in human affairs to chastise His disobedient children (Heb. 12:5-8; Ps. 89:27-34), to chasten with the rod of the children of men (2 Sam. 7:14, 15; 1 Cor. 11:30), will frighten, or arouse the contempt of, "the modern mind" with its self-inflated wisdom, which just knows that "the laws of nature are immutable laws." Is there a being called "Nature" who made these laws? Who revealed to "the modern mind" that these laws were immutable? Where did "the modern mind" get its authority (it takes for granted that it has the power) to drive God from His universe, or to make Him powerless, or inactive? Can "the modern mind" prove absolutely that because God's law of gravitation causes objects to fall toward the earth, He has no right and no power to make Elijah's body go up instead of down (2 Kings 2:11)? Does "the modern mind" absolutely know that God is now inactive and must remain inactive? "Dr. Mason Goode observes that worlds and systems of worlds are perpetually disappearing, that within the period of the last century no less than thirteen in different constellations seem to have perished and ten new ones have been created."—"Origin of the Globe." If God is active out in space, who shall deny Him the right or the power to be active on this planet? And if active on this planet at all, then in the individual lives of His children? And in His word, backed up by fulfilled prophecies, to prove that He is dealing with us, He tells us that He is. Is "the modern mind" too scholarly, too self-opinionated, to consider the following words from Prof. James Orr in his "The Resurrection of Jesus" ("the modern mind" is very careful not to attempt a thorough reply to Professor Orr's "Problem of the Old Testament," nor his "Resurrection of Jesus"—for obvious reasons)? "The question is not, Do natural causes operate uniformly? But are natural causes the only causes that exist or operate? For miracle, as has frequently been pointed out, is precisely the assertion of the interposition of a new cause; one, besides, which the theist must admit to be a vera causa."

If when we become God's children, we are no longer under the law (Rom. 6:14), we are redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), we are no more servants but sons (Gal. 4:7), the question arises, why pray to Our Father in Heaven to be forgiven? The child does not ask his father's forgiveness in order to be his child, but to have the disturbed fellowship restored. The unforgiven child is still a child, but will be chastened. It is fellowship of the Heavenly Father with the child that is restored by forgiveness, and is sought in forgiveness, and not a destroyed relationship. On this point hear James Denny in his "The Death of Christ": "Christ died for sins once for all, and the man who believes in Christ and in His death has his relations to God once for all determined not by sin but by the Atonement. The sin for which a Christian has daily to seek forgiveness is not sin which annuls his acceptance with God."

There needs to be kept in mind, in considering that God chastens His children, the distinction that while chastenings are sufferings, all sufferings are not chastisements. The expression, "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" (Heb. 12:6), has been widely misused and sadly misapplied. Because David's babe was taken from him as a chastisement (2 Sam. 12:14), many thoughtlessly conclude that every babe's death is meant for a chastisement for the father and mother; and many apply "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" to all of the sorrows and sufferings of God's children. But there is another purpose accomplished by some sufferings, in "that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."—1 Peter 1:7. "And he shall sit as a purifier and refiner of silver."—Matt. 3:3. The silver is not to blame for the dross; nevertheless, it needs to be burned out. A child stole a piece of bread; the father chastised the child for it. That chastening was suffering. But the same child was born a cripple. In straightening the foot, the father forced many weeks of fearful suffering on the child, but the suffering was not chastisement. Chastisements are sufferings of God's children for wrongdoing to correct them; but there are sufferings that are not chastisements for wrongdoing, but are to take out of us defects, or to develop us. Hence, to say to some one who is suffering from sorrow or affliction, "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth," is often cruel and untrue.



VI

REWARDS—DEGREES IN HEAVEN

"I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish."—John 10:28.—"Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."—Matt. 6:20.

"By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any one should boast."—Eph. 2:8, 9.—"Each man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor."—1 Cor. 3:8.

"Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire."—1 Cor. 3:11-15.

"But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."—Luke 12:20, 21.

"Whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what shall a man be profited if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life, or what shall a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds."—Matt. 16:25-27 (R. V.)

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give each one according as his work shall be."—Rev. 22:12.

The teaching of God's word of degrees in future punishment ("These shall receive greater condemnation,"—Mark 12:40) according to heredity and environment ("It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than for you;" "it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee,"—Matt. 11:22, 24), and according to sin ("Every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward,"—Heb. 2:2), commends itself to the judgment, to the conscience, of every honest man. The companion teaching to this in God's word is that there will be different degrees, or rewards, in Heaven. Just as the degree of man's punishment in Hell will be determined by his life here; so the degree of a man's reward in Heaven will be determined by his life here. The dividing line is redemption.

With many, salvation and rewards mean the same thing, but the Saviour made a clear distinction. "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish."—John 10:28 ("He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."—John 6:47);—"Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven."—Matt. 6:20. Our salvation is a gift and depends upon the Saviour; our treasures in Heaven must be laid up by ourselves. Paul makes the distinction equally clear. "By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast."—Eph. 2:8, 9 (R. V.).—"Each man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor."—1 Cor. 3:8. But by rewards for service God's word does not mean God's blessings on the faithful Christians in this life. It means rewards beyond this life. Jesus said, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen nor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee, for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."—Luke 14:12-14.

If "each man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor" (1 Cor. 3:8), there will, then, be different rewards or degrees in Heaven; for doubtless no two redeemed people ever served God in exactly the same degree of faithfulness. Paul makes this distinction clear, as well as the difference between salvation and rewards. He uses the illustration of building houses out of different material. He has been speaking of preachers and their work, and then seems to turn and apply his teaching to every one, for he says, "Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon."—1 Cor. 3:10. Whether he is speaking only of preachers and their work, or applies it to every man; whether he is speaking of building in the lives of others by what we teach or do, or whether he makes a turn and applies it to every man and his building in his own life, he draws the clear distinction between the foundation on which the building rests and the building built thereupon, between salvation alone through Christ, and rewards for service: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it; because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire."—1 Cor. 3:11-15. Why is he saved? Because he has been redeemed from the curse of the law, Christ having been made a curse for him (Gal. 3:13); because he has been redeemed from all iniquity (Titus 2:14); because he has been redeemed from under the law (Rom. 6:14); and God means His promise, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31), and he means the promise of the Saviour, "Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

But when the redeemed man's works shall be burned, though he himself shall be saved (1 Cor. 3:15), he shall suffer loss (1 Cor. 3:15), and the loss shall be irreparable, eternal, and so great that no human being in this age can fully realize it. Here the old translation, the King James' version, has misled us. The oft-quoted sentence, "What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" is a mistranslation. The Revised Version translates it correctly: "What shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life, or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?"—Matt. 16:26. By noticing verse 25, and verse 27 the reader can see what the Saviour meant: "whosoever would save his life shall lose it," not his soul, but his life, "and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it," his life not his soul; "whosoever shall lose his life for my sake,"—men do lose their lives for His sake, but no one loses his soul for the Saviour's sake. Following immediately He says, verse 26, "For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life?" In verse 27 the Saviour makes plain how a man who would save his life, loses it, and how the one who shall lose his life for the Saviour's sake shall find it,—in the rewards that he loses by trying to save his life, or gains by losing his life for the Saviour's sake, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds." What deeds? Deeds of losing his life for the Saviour's sake. For all eternity he will have no reward for the life he lived here—he has lost his life. Now, the Saviour says that if a man "shall gain the whole world," and in doing so shall "forfeit his life,"—shall have no reward in eternity as a result of his life (the principle laid down by Paul, whether of preachers or of all, "if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved."—1 Cor. 3:15), he has made a fearful mistake. But if the one who "shall gain the whole world" and in doing so "shall forfeit his life," shall have no reward for it, makes a fearful mistake, how much greater mistake does the one make who forfeits his life to have no reward throughout eternity, in order to gain a very small part of the world, as so many are doing? But if the one who "shall forfeit his life,"—have no reward in eternity,—in order to gain but a very small part of the world, makes such a fearful, such a great mistake, far worse is the bargain made by the unredeemed man who loses not only his life but also loses his soul in order to gain a very small part of "the whole world"; and yet this is what the vast majority of men are doing. We cannot grasp it, we cannot realize it, but Jesus says that the rewards (not salvation—1 Cor. 3:15) that men are losing are more than "the whole world."

Another teaching of the Saviour along this line has been widely misapplied: "He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods, and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?"—Luke 12:16-20. At once many rush to the conclusion that he was lost, that he went to Hell; and they proceed to warn men against laying up treasures in this life and losing their souls. But God said, "This night thy soul shall be required of thee," not "this night thy soul shall go to Hell." Let the Saviour make His own application: "So is he that layeth up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God."—Luke 12:21. "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon he shall receive a reward" (1 Cor. 3:14), he is rich toward God; "if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss" (1 Cor. 3:15), he is a fool; he spent a life here on earth and has no reward in eternity as a result of it;—"but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire."—1 Cor. 3:15. (If in the passage 1 Cor. 3:11-15, Paul is speaking only of preachers and their work in building on the foundation of Christ in the lives of others by their teaching, he yet shows that some whose work abides will be rewarded, and that others whose work shall be burned shall suffer loss and yet shall be saved; so that the principle applies with all Christians). Two cases in point:—

A great American statesman was told by his physician that in a few days he must die. That afternoon a minister called to see the dying statesman and asked as to his hope beyond the grave. The dying statesman replied, "Mr. Blank, I am going to Heaven when I die." The minister asked the dying man on what he based his hope. He replied: "Mr. Blank, I am ashamed to say that I am a Christian; but now that the time has come, I must not deny my Saviour. When I am dead tell your people that days before I died, when my mind was calm and clear, I gave my dying testimony that I was going to Heaven, redeemed by the blood of Christ." The minister pressed the question, why he thought he was a Christian. The statesman said to the negro man who was nursing him, "Jack, go into my library and bring me my Bible." Turning to the minister he said, "Mr. Blank, as I said to you, I am ashamed to say that I am a Christian, but now that the time has come, I must not deny my Saviour. Long years ago, back in the old red hills of Georgia, when I was a young man, one Sunday in an old country church I heard a Baptist preacher preach, and I understood him. He showed that God honestly loves this world, that Jesus Christ, God's Son, died for our sins, and that He died for all of our sins; and that every one who would repent and trust Christ to save him was certain to go to Heaven. Out there in that old country church in the red hills of Georgia I accepted Jesus Christ as my Redeemer and Saviour that Sunday morning, and trusted Him to save me. I came west and became overwhelmed in business and politics. I have wasted my life." Just then the negro man returned and handed the Bible to the dying statesman. He turned the leaves and finally stopped, and turning to the minister he said, "Mr. Blank, I am ashamed to say it, but I don't know much about this book; but I do know that this is God's word; and I do know that out in the old country church in the red hills of Georgia that Sunday morning, when I heard and understood the country preacher, I did, as a guilty, lost, justly condemned sinner, accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Redeemer and trust Him to save me. Listen, Mr. Blank: 'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.' Mr. Blank, God says I have everlasting life, and I am going to Heaven when I die." And turning, the great statesman buried his face in his pillow and sobbed out his grief and remorse. He did go to Heaven, "but God said unto him, Thou fool ... so is he that layeth up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God."—Luke 12:20, 21.

The second case in point:—

A rich banker in the West a few weeks before Christmas sent a check for three hundred and fifty dollars to his brother in the East, a poor country preacher, telling him to come and bring all of his family and spend Christmas with him. They had not seen each other since boyhood. The preacher and family arrived Christmas eve morning. That afternoon in carriages the two families drove over the banker's beautiful farm of a thousand acres of rich land. Coming in late in the afternoon, they came by the pasture and saw the beautiful herd of blooded cattle. After a sumptuous supper the banker's daughters gave them some splendid music and the two families went upstairs to sleep. The two white-haired brothers, the banker and the poor country preacher, remained downstairs, and for hours talked of boyhood days in the old country home in the East. At last the conversation, like the fire in the fireplace, had about died out. Finally the banker turned and said, "Brother John, may I say something to you and you not get angry?" Said the preacher, "Why, brother James, you can say anything you wish to me and I will not get angry." Said the banker, "Brother John, you and I were poor boys back in the old country home in the East and we agreed to be partners for life. One day you came to me and told me that you were called to preach. I told you then that you were a fool. What a fool you have been! Do you remember that rich farm of a thousand acres you saw this afternoon? Paid for with honest money, John. This comfortable home for my old age, paid for with honest money, John. The fifty thousand dollars I have in the bank in the city where I am president of the bank, every dollar of it honest money, John. John, you could have had as much as I have. What a fool you have been! Why, I had to send you the three hundred and fifty dollars to bring you and your family that I might see them before I die. And look at your daughters; they are dressed in such a shabby way that I am ashamed for my neighbors to see my children's cousins. And look at you with your old seedy, worn suit and your patched shoes; I am ashamed to take you to town day after to-morrow and introduce you to my business associates. What a fool you have been! Now, John, I am not saying this to wound your feelings; for I love you, John. But I don't want you to let any of your boys be such fools as you have been. You know you have been a fool, John." Then there was silence for some time. The tears were trickling down the cheeks of the old country preacher. At last he broke the silence, "Brother James, may I say something to you and you not get angry?" "Why, certainly, John, I did not say what I did to make you angry, but to keep you from letting any of your boys be such fools as you have been, for you know you have been a fool, John." "I know," replied the old preacher, "that it looks like I have been a fool from this end of the line, brother James. But, brother James, we are both old men and we must soon go. Don't be angry with me, brother James, but what have you got up yonder?" Again there was silence, which was suddenly broken by the banker sobbing, "Oh, John, I am a pauper at the judgment bar of God." "So is he that layeth up treasures for himself and is not rich toward God." They are dying all over the world, men who are redeemed, going to Heaven, but paupers. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire,"—1 Cor. 3:15. But far better be a pauper, and saved without any reward, than be a rich man in Hell (Luke 16:22, 23): for they are dying all over the world who not only lived for this life, but from pride, or religious prejudice, or love of the world, or secret sin, would not repent and be redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13) and be saved (Acts 16:31).

With this teaching, that there are rewards in Heaven, there is another most helpful teaching and blessed fact, that the poorest, most ignorant and obscure can have just as great rewards as the richest, most learned, most applauded. "Each man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor,"—1 Cor. 3:8, not according to what he accomplishes. "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give each one according as his work shall be,"—Rev. 22:12; not according as his success shall be. "And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast in more than all they that have cast into the treasury."—Mark 12:41-43. The wealthy, the mighty, the renowned who serve faithfully after they were redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), shall receive their reward. But the poor, the weak, the obscure who serve faithfully after they are redeemed shall receive equally as great rewards; and if they have been more faithful, however small their sphere, they shall receive even greater rewards. "Two mites that make a farthing," but it was all she could do; "Verily I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than all they that have cast into the treasury."—Mark 12:42, 43. In an American city, one morning a man apparently sixty or seventy years of age, dressed as a plain business man, walked into the dining-room of one of the leading hotels and sat down to breakfast. Some men at the adjoining table were talking of a sad case of suffering, as reported in the morning paper; a poor widow with five children was very sick, who had, since her husband's death a few years before, struggled and made a living for herself and children; but now, having been down sick for some time, everything was gone and they were suffering. The stranger listened to the sad story; and, having finished breakfast, he called a newsboy and bought a paper. The account gave the street address of the poor widow. He went to the street address, a street of poor cottages, and, knocking at the door, was led into the sick room by a child. He saw the condition of affairs and heard the widow's story. Sitting by the bedside, he talked in a fatherly, cheerful way and tried to encourage the poor widow; and quietly slipping something under the pillow, as he was talking, he told the widow to use that as she needed it. Then taking out a little book from his pocket, he wrote something and tore the paper out of the little book and slipped the paper under a book and told the widow to use that when she needed it. Then calling down God's blessings upon the widow and her fatherless children, he bade them good-bye. As the door closed, the widow slipped her hand under the pillow and drew out a roll of money, to her a large sum. Then she reached for the piece of paper under the book on the table. There was a check for a goodly sum, signed by one of America's Christian millionaires. The glow in his soul as he walked away from the widow's cottage was not the only reward—"thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."—Luke 14:14. But the following Sunday a poor widow working in a sweatshop to make a living for her fatherless children, listened to an appeal for foreign missions, to get the gospel to those who have never heard, and she threw in ten cents, all she could give, "two mites that make a farthing."—"Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast in more than all they that have cast into the treasury."—Mark 12:42, 43. All over the world, by the multiplied millions, there are graves where lie sleeping the bodies of those who, down the ages, because they were redeemed, gave their lives in service. They went down to their graves, their praises unsung by the world. Many of them went down to their graves, never realizing that there were rewards for them; simply rejoicing in their salvation through Him who loved them and gave Himself for them (Gal. 2:20).

"The desert rose, though never seen by man; Is nurtured with a care divinely good; The ocean pearl, though 'neath the rolling main, Is ever brilliant in the eyes of God.

"Think not thy worth and work are all unknown Because no partial pensman paint thy praise; Man may not see nor care, but God will own Thy worth and work; thy thoughts and deeds and ways."

Riding along a lonely country road one Sunday afternoon, many years ago, returning from a country church, a young preacher was talking to his companion, a young man eighteen years of age, telling him of God's love and of God's plan with men. The conversation had ended, and for some minutes they had been riding along in silence, when suddenly the young man spurred his horse up to the young preacher's horse, and seizing the reins, stopped both horses. Dropping the reins, he threw both arms around the preacher's neck, and as he began sobbing said, "Oh, R——, how good God is!" How little men consider God's goodness. How good God is to have ever brought us into being! How good God is, though we have all sinned against Him (Rom. 3:23), "that he might be just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26), to have provided complete redemption for us from all iniquity (Titus 2:14)! How good God is to have "in love predestinated us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself"!—Eph. 1:5. How good God is to chastise us in love (Heb. 12:5, 6) instead of punishing us in Hell for our sins after we become His children (Ps. 89:27-34)! How good God is to place us where we will serve Him from love, and not from fear of punishment (2 Cor. 5:14, 15)! How good God is, in addition to our salvation, to provide rewards in Heaven for the services we render here (Matt. 6:20)! How good God is to provide that the poor, the ignorant, the obscure, can have just as great rewards as the more fortunate ones (Mark 1:41, 42)! How good God is to say, "if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire"!—1 Cor. 3:15.