“To believe on Christ is to receive Christ; not to assent to a creed (a mere theory of the Truth), but to accept a Life ! . . .
“Marvel not that I say unto you, Ye must be born (begotten) again !” John 3:7
To all who sincerely pray the prayer, “Create in me a clean heart,” (Psalm 51:10), the reply comes, “Believe ye that I Am able to do this? according to your faith be it unto you . . . !”
Matt. 9:28-29.
“To believe on Christ is to receive Christ; not to assent to a creed, but to accept a Life; not to strive for the maintenance of certain outward forms, but to become “partakers of the Divine nature.” II Peter 1:4.
Christ (G5547) = the Anointed One, the Anointing, to consecrate, to smear with oil
“And this is the Promise that He hath promised us, even Eternal Life . . . . and this Life is in His Son !” I John 2:25 & 5:11
“For the Anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you (ref: John 14:17-20) . . . and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same Anointing teacheth you of all things, and is Truth (Verity – John 14:6), and is no lie. For even as It hath taught you, so shall ye abide in Him . . . !” II John 2:27 & John 15:7
Creeds and forms cannot save people from their sins. Terrible is the catalogue of the sins of those “having a form of godliness (god-likeness), but denying the power thereof.” II Timothy 3:1-5.
A new Life must be imparted before man can “live unto God.” For Jesus verily said, “Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3. “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Galatians 6:15. This experience depends upon the faith which each one exercises for himself, and “it is of faith, that it might be by grace.*” Rom. 4:16.
To all who sincerely pray the prayer, “Create in me a clean heart,” (Psalm 51:10), the reply comes, “Believe ye that I Am able to do this? . . . According to your faith be it unto you.” Matt. 9:28-29.
“And Jesus said unto the centurion . . . . Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour !” Matt. 8:13
“And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith !” I John 5:4. But faith for victory is the “faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 5: 6. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments, and His commandments are not grievous !” I John 5:1-3
“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31. “For the law of the Spirit of (and) Life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death (in Adam). For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh . . . . God sending His Own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and (in exchange) for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. So that the righteousness of the Law might be filled full in us, who walk (and live) not by the flesh, but by the Spirit . . . !” Romans 8:2-4
Note: Our Saviour’s Own Words . . . . “If ye love Me, keep My Commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another (more, even greater) Comforter . . . so that He (the Father) may abide with you for ever !” John 14:15-16
“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid . . . . Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto The Father: for My Father is greater than I !” John 14:27-28
“For ye are the temple of the Living God . . . as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God (Elohim – Mighty One), and they shall be My people . . . . And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the LORD Almighty !” II Corinthians 6:16-18
“This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our Christ made present with all His glorious power by faith;” but this is the Christ in Whose heart is the law of God; Who said of Himself, “I have kept My Father’s Commandments” (John 15:10) . . . “For He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things (by faith in His Word) that please Him !” (John 8:29).
And this is He, Who was and is the Law of God in Life, so that when the prayer, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph. 3:17), is answered, the Law in Christ is “written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshy tables of the heart.” II Corinthians. 3:3.
And thus do we establish the Law. Where there is not only belief in God’s Word, but a submission of the will to Him . . . “receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls. And be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves !” (James 1:21-22). —where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there is faith, faith that works by love and purifies the soul !”
– Taken from a message given at the 1895 Armadale Campmeetings, “The Law in Christ; Or, the Relation Between the Law and the Gospel,” Also printed in: The Bible Echo, April 20 & 27, May 4, 11, 18, & 25, June 1, 1896