This is from Part 3 of The Christian: His Position and His Work. I am going to be putting the whole book, along with other works from C.H. Mackintosh on the church library page here.
"It is absolutely essential to the enjoyment of settled peace that the heart should rest solely on the authority of holy scripture. Nothing else will stand. Inward evidences, spiritual experiences, comfortable frames, happy feelings, are all very good, very valuable, and very desirable; indeed we cannot prize them too highly in their right place. But, most assuredly, their right place is not at the foundation of the Christian position. If we look to such things as the ground of our peace, we shall very soon become clouded, uncertain, and miserable.
The reader cannot be too simple in his apprehension of this point. He must rest like a little child upon the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the word. It is blessedly true that "He that believeth hath the witness in himself" And again, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." All this is essential to Christianity; but it must, in no wise, be confounded with the witness of the Holy Ghost, as given to us in holy scripture. The Spirit of God never leads any one to build upon His work as the ground of peace, but only upon the finished work of Christ, and the unchangeable word of God; and we may rest assured that the more simply we rest on these the more settled our peace will be, and the clearer our evidences, the brighter our frames, the happier our feelings, the richer our experiences.
In short, the more we look away from self and all its belongings, and rest in Christ, on the clear authority of scripture, the more spiritually minded we shall be; and the inspired apostle tells us that "to be spiritually minded (or, the minding of the Spirit) is life and peace." The best evidence of a spiritual mind is child-like repose in Christ and His word. The clearest proof of an unspiritual mind is self-occupation. It is a poor affair to be trafficking in our evidences, or our anything. It looks like piety, but it leads away from Christ — away from scripture — away from God; and this is not piety or faith, or Christianity.
We are intensely anxious that the reader should seize, with great distinctness, the importance of committing his whole moral being to the divine authority of the word of God. It will never fail him. All else may go, but "the word of our God shall stand for ever." Heart and flesh may fail. Internal evidences may become clouded; frames, feelings, and experiences may all prove unsatisfactory; but the word of the Lord, the testimony of the Holy Ghost, the clear voice of holy scripture, must ever remain unshaken. "And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto us."
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Quote From Dr. Chafer
I wanted to share this quote with you:
"The heavenly people, by the very exalted character of their salvation being 'made' to stand in all the perfection of Christ (Rom. 3:22; 5:1; 8:1; 10:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:22; Eph. 1:6), have no burden laid upon them of establishing personal merit before God since they are perfected forever in Christ (Heb. 10:9-14); but they do have the new responsibility of 'walking worthy' of their high calling (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:1-3; Col. 3:1-3). No system of merit, such as the law, could possibly be applied to a people who by riches of divine grace have attained to a perfect standing, even every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10). It is to be expected that the injunctions addressed to a perfected heavenly people will be as exalted as heaven itself; and they are (cf.. John 13:34; Rom. 6:11-13; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 4:30; 5:18). Similarly, as these requirements are superhuman and yet the doing of them is most essential, God has provided that each individual thus saved shall be indwelt by the Holy Spirit to the end that he may, by dependence on the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit, live a supernatural, God-honoring life—not, indeed, to be accepted but because he is accepted. Those who would intrude the Mosaic system of merit into this heaven-high divine administration of superabounding grace either have no conception of the character of that merit which the law required, or are lacking in the comprehension of the glories of divine grace." Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. IV, p 19.
If we could only bring back to light the heavenly nature of the Church, the bickering about earthly things would cease. We are sojourners in this world, but citizens of Heaven, seated in Christ at the right hand of God (Eph 1:20, 2:6). Dispensationalism is about a literal approach to the Scripture, sure, but even more, it is about the heavenly nature of the Church. To deny it is to bring the Heavenly Church back down to the earth and to exchange our place in Christ as His Bride, His very Body, for something far less.
Abide in Him, at the right hand of God, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. That is where you are, dear brother, dear sister. It is your unique privilege as members of the entirely New Creation.
"The heavenly people, by the very exalted character of their salvation being 'made' to stand in all the perfection of Christ (Rom. 3:22; 5:1; 8:1; 10:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:22; Eph. 1:6), have no burden laid upon them of establishing personal merit before God since they are perfected forever in Christ (Heb. 10:9-14); but they do have the new responsibility of 'walking worthy' of their high calling (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:1-3; Col. 3:1-3). No system of merit, such as the law, could possibly be applied to a people who by riches of divine grace have attained to a perfect standing, even every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:10). It is to be expected that the injunctions addressed to a perfected heavenly people will be as exalted as heaven itself; and they are (cf.. John 13:34; Rom. 6:11-13; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Gal. 5:16; Eph. 4:30; 5:18). Similarly, as these requirements are superhuman and yet the doing of them is most essential, God has provided that each individual thus saved shall be indwelt by the Holy Spirit to the end that he may, by dependence on the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit, live a supernatural, God-honoring life—not, indeed, to be accepted but because he is accepted. Those who would intrude the Mosaic system of merit into this heaven-high divine administration of superabounding grace either have no conception of the character of that merit which the law required, or are lacking in the comprehension of the glories of divine grace." Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. IV, p 19.
If we could only bring back to light the heavenly nature of the Church, the bickering about earthly things would cease. We are sojourners in this world, but citizens of Heaven, seated in Christ at the right hand of God (Eph 1:20, 2:6). Dispensationalism is about a literal approach to the Scripture, sure, but even more, it is about the heavenly nature of the Church. To deny it is to bring the Heavenly Church back down to the earth and to exchange our place in Christ as His Bride, His very Body, for something far less.
Abide in Him, at the right hand of God, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. That is where you are, dear brother, dear sister. It is your unique privilege as members of the entirely New Creation.
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