L UKE, in writing the account of the miraculous birth and the works and teaching of our Lord, Jesus Christ, informs Theophilus that his purpose was that Theophilus might know the certainty of the things in which he had been instructed. In doing so he was following the example of others who had taken in hand to set in order a declaration of those things which were most surely believed among them (Luke i. i). In the opening chapters of the book that goes under his name Luke devotes the opening chapters to an account of incidents connected with the Virgin Birth. This doctrine, it is scarcely necessary to remind our readers, is rejected by Modernist preachers and theologians but it is one of “those things” that seemed good to Luke to write to Theophilus about in order that he might know the certainty of those things of which Luke had perfect understanding from the very first. It is not our purpose in writing this article to deal with this important doctrine but we may be permitted to remark that it is only one miracle in a life that was full of miracles from beginning to end. If we believe that in Jesus Christ there dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, that He who was God’s equal became man then surely everything after this is in keeping with the mystery of the Incarnation. Our purpose, however, at present
is to direct attention, not so much to this important doctrine, but to some others which are most surely believed among us. Among these are (1) the verbal inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures; (2) the doctrine of the Trinity; (3) the total depravity of man; (4) the atonement; (5) doctrine of justification by faith; (6) Regeneration; (7) the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ; (8) the Judgment Day and the doom of the finally impenitent. This list of doctrines does not include all those things which are most surely believed among us but they are of such importance that no body of Christians rejecting any of them can be said to hold the whole counsel of God.
(1) THE VERBAL INSPIRATION AND INFALLIBILITY OF THE SCRIPTURES
As a church we have consistently witnessed for this important doctrine since we came into existence. It is a doctrine that has been tampered with by many of the professing churches in the land until at length the authority of Scripture has become a thing of nought and the Scriptures themselves have come to be looked upon as a broken reed. The views of the unbelieving critics have entered the theological colleges, and the training seminaries for teachers; many pulpits are filled by men who have imbibed the new views of the Bible and even a considerable amount of the religious literature for the young is saturated with the new doctrines. Of old it was a common practice in time of war to poison the wells and Satan has gained a victory when he is poisoning the wells out of which the young drink. The secular literature published for the young generally speaking is not of the type that is suited to give them a serious view of life and its responsibilities. The imaginative side of their nature is well catered for and the printing presses are pouring forth thousands of volumes for the rising generation, of fairy tales and puerile fiction. When one turns to the religious literature provided for them things are no better. It requires more than ordinary care in these days to get suitable religious books for the young. It is, however, a most serious matter when
the Bible view of creation, the fall, etc., is set aside for the vain imaginations of men. Christ’s endorsement of the Old Testament Scriptures is too emphatic to be lightly set aside and it behoves all who reverence His authority to accept His teaching in regard to the Old Testament Scriptures. What science taught forty years ago as to the constitution of matter is set aside to-day and if our hope was built upon this changing foundation we would be of all men most miserable. The fact that those who had obtained like precious faith with himself through the righteousness of God did not keep back the Apostle Peter from putting them in remembrance of the things which they had received as the truth of heaven. Not only so, but he says he will not be negligent in reminding them of these things though they knew them and were established in the present truth (II Pet. i. 12). The truth of the verbal inspiration and infallibility of the Scriptures cannot be too insistently set before both old and young in our congregations. It is part of the master policy of Satan to direct our attention to matters of comparative unimportance and to leave the great matters unattended and kept well in the background.
2. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY.
The mystery of the Incarnation is that there are two natures and one person; the mystery of the Trinity is that there are three persons and one nature. These are matters that are beyond our reason to comprehend but as revealed truths it is our bounden duty to conserve them. Our Shorter Catechism, in stating that there are three persons in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, says that these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory, it thus presents to us an excellent statement of the Scripture doctrine on this great subject. The Unitarians, who deny the deity of the Son and Holy Ghost, wrongly claim the exclusive use of this term for their false doctrine of the Trinity. Trinitarians, that is those who hold the doctrine of the Trinity, are the true unitarians as they hold the
unity of the Three Persons in the Godhead. This is a doctrine also firmly held by our Church and proclaimed from our pulpits. It is impossible here to touch on the various heresies that have been held on the person of Christ in connection with His Sonship, the unity of the two natures and His true deity but we may point out that we hold as a truth most firmly believed among us that Jesus Christ is the Son by eternal generation. This is a doctrine which should be proclaimed with no uncertain sound. The mysterious union existing between the human and the divine natures so that the human is really human and the divine really divine is a truth that is most firmly believed among us. There is no confusion nor mixture of the natures. We purposely avoid using the phraseology of theologians as it is not for trained theologians we are writing but we take occasion to direct attention to one of the finest and most exact statements we have in any of the Reformed creeds or catechisms on the Person of Christ. This is the answer to the question in our Shorter Catechism: “Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?” The theologians of the Westminster Assembly answered it in these remarkable words: “The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God became man and so was and continueth to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person forever.” The various heresies held on the person of the Lord Jesus are carefully guarded against in these well-chosen words. The truth of the deity of our Lord must be held at all costs and proclaimed. He is one with God, the Father, equal in power and glory or to use the phrase of the Athanasian period—co-eternal, co-equal and consubstantial with God. The professing Church must ever be jealous of the maintenance of this doctrine and no lowering of the standard should ever be tolerated. In virtue of our Lord’s equality with God in knowledge His testimony to the books of the Old Testament is not only of supreme importance but final in its authoritative-ness and admits of no controversy.
(To be continued).