Fundamental
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©FOUNDATION
A MAGAZINE OF BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM
Dennis W. Costella, Editor; Karel Beyer, Production Manager; Matt
Costella,
Copy Editor
M.H. Reynolds, Jr. (1919-1997), Founding Editor
What Is Truth
by S.S. Craig
Taken from the April 1913 Edition of Watchword and
Truth
FOUNDATION Magazine, July-August 1999
N
EVER IN THE HISTORY of Christianity has it
been more necessary for the true children of God to know how to distinguish truth from
error than in these perilous days. The methods of the enemy are far more subtle now than
ever before. Even the very elect of God are in great danger unless they walk very humbly
and give the Word and Spirit their proper place. In the sphere of the material and
commercial, there are certain units of measure and value which make it comparatively easy
to detect fraud. In linear measurement we have the yardstick; in weight we have the pound
and in currency the dollar. But the moment we leave the lower realm and ascend even one
degree into the sphere of the ethical, confusion begins and intensifies as we go higher.
In the Bible, however, God, in love and mercy, has given men a measurement for
everything. The Golden Rule, for example, is both just and beneficent as a unit of ethical
and religious values. But the real, infallible standard is given in God's Word in
the Cross of Christ-not the wooden cross on which He was crucified, but His Life and Death
and Resurrection as an embodiment and revelation of the will of God as a God of Love, of
Wisdom, of Power and Justice. Because the Cross is a measure of these, it is necessarily a
measure of everything in the universe. Whether it be in heaven above, in the earth beneath
or in the underworld makes no difference. The Cross is as truly a measure of human
depravity as it is of God's Love and Justice. Beyond a doubt this is the one standard by
which all men, saved and unsaved, will be ultimately judged. This being so, Christians
should glory in the Cross. Galatians 6:14.
The world absolutely refuses this standard of measurement and, having no other, goes
its way to perdition. Pilate asked the Son of Man the question: "What is
truth?" The unspoken reply was the Cross. The whole trouble with Christians in their
failure to distinguish between truth and error is that they do not wish to use God's
standard of measurement and value beyond the boundary of worldly convenience and
established ecclesiastical usage.
There are, however, multitudes of Christians who believe God's Word is all He claims
for It, but they are unable beyond a certain limited degree to apply It when face
to face with the subtle working of evil spirits. For the benefit of these we ask
permission to present a few propositions which will, if followed, greatly assist them in
avoiding the snares and pitfalls that abound on every side today. Chief among these are
Christian Science, Spiritualism, Millennial Dawnism, Theosophy, New Thought and Bahaism.
Now the dangerous thing about these is that they all profess to accept the Bible but so
pervert and distort Its teaching as to make It a pathway to destruction. Here, Satan works
and works successfully, only as an angel of light. Current theology, so far as it is
influenced by the higher criticism and the spirit of the age, is quite as dangerous as any
of the above and in the present article may be classed with them. of Christianity has it
been more necessary for the true children of God to know how to distinguish truth from
error than in these perilous days. The methods of the enemy are far more subtle now than
ever before. Even the very elect of God are in great danger unless they walk very humbly
and give the Word and Spirit their proper place. In the sphere of the material and
commercial, there are certain units of measure and value which make it comparatively easy
to detect fraud. In linear measurement we have the yardstick; in weight we have the pound
and in currency the dollar. But the moment we leave the lower realm and ascend even one
degree into the sphere of the ethical, confusion begins and intensifies as we go higher.
In the Bible, however, God, in love and mercy, has given men a measurement for
everything. The Golden Rule, for example, is both just and beneficent as a unit of ethical
and religious values. But the real, infallible standard is given in God's Word in
the Cross of Christ-not the wooden cross on which He was crucified, but His Life and Death
and Resurrection as an embodiment and revelation of the will of God as a God of Love, of
Wisdom, of Power and Justice. Because the Cross is a measure of these, it is necessarily a
measure of everything in the universe. Whether it be in heaven above, in the earth beneath
or in the underworld makes no difference. The Cross is as truly a measure of human
depravity as it is of God's Love and Justice. Beyond a doubt this is the one standard by
which all men, saved and unsaved, will be ultimately judged. This being so, Christians
should glory in the Cross. Galatians 6:14.
The world absolutely refuses this standard of measurement and, having no other, goes
its way to perdition. Pilate asked the Son of Man the question: "What is
truth?" The unspoken reply was the Cross. The whole trouble with Christians in their
failure to distinguish between truth and error is that they do not wish to use God's
standard of measurement and value beyond the boundary of worldly convenience and
established ecclesiastical usage.
There are, however, multitudes of Christians who believe God's Word is all He claims
for It, but they are unable beyond a certain limited degree to apply It when face
to face with the subtle working of evil spirits. For the benefit of these we ask
permission to present a few propositions which will, if followed, greatly assist them in
avoiding the snares and pitfalls that abound on every side today. Chief among these are
Christian Science, Spiritualism, Millennial Dawnism, Theosophy, New Thought and
Bahaism.
Now the dangerous thing about these is that they all profess to accept the Bible but so
pervert and distort Its teaching as to make It a pathway to destruction. Here, Satan works
and works successfully, only as an angel of light. Current theology, so far as it is
influenced by the higher criticism and the spirit of the age, is quite as dangerous as any
of the above and in the present article may be classed with them. of Christianity has it
been more necessary for the true children of God to know how to distinguish truth from
error than in these perilous days. The methods of the enemy are far more subtle now than
ever before. Even the very elect of God are in great danger unless they walk very humbly
and give the Word and Spirit their proper place. In the sphere of the material and
commercial, there are certain units of measure and value which make it comparatively easy
to detect fraud. In linear measurement we have the yardstick; in weight we have the pound
and in currency the dollar. But the moment we leave the lower realm and ascend even one
degree into the sphere of the ethical, confusion begins and intensifies as we go higher.
In the Bible, however, God, in love and mercy, has given men a measurement for
everything. The Golden Rule, for example, is both just and beneficent as a unit of ethical
and religious values. But the real, infallible standard is given in God's Word in
the Cross of Christ-not the wooden cross on which He was crucified, but His Life and Death
and Resurrection as an embodiment and revelation of the will of God as a God of Love, of
Wisdom, of Power and Justice. Because the Cross is a measure of these, it is necessarily a
measure of everything in the universe. Whether it be in heaven above, in the earth beneath
or in the underworld makes no difference. The Cross is as truly a measure of human
depravity as it is of God's Love and Justice. Beyond a doubt this is the one standard by
which all men, saved and unsaved, will be ultimately judged. This being so, Christians
should glory in the Cross. Galatians 6:14.
The world absolutely refuses this standard of measurement and, having no other, goes
its way to perdition. Pilate asked the Son of Man the question: "What is
truth?" The unspoken reply was the Cross. The whole trouble with Christians in their
failure to distinguish between truth and error is that they do not wish to use God's
standard of measurement and value beyond the boundary of worldly convenience and
established ecclesiastical usage.
There are, however, multitudes of Christians who believe God's Word is all He claims
for It, but they are unable beyond a certain limited degree to apply It when face
to face with the subtle working of evil spirits. For the benefit of these we ask
permission to present a few propositions which will, if followed, greatly assist them in
avoiding the snares and pitfalls that abound on every side today. Chief among these are
Christian Science, Spiritualism, Millennial Dawnism, Theosophy, New Thought and
Bahaism.
Now the dangerous thing about these is that they all profess to accept the Bible but so
pervert and distort Its teaching as to make It a pathway to destruction. Here, Satan works
and works successfully, only as an angel of light. Current theology, so far as it is
influenced by the higher criticism and the spirit of the age, is quite as dangerous as any
of the above and in the present article may be classed with them.
The Bible Affirms and They Deny:
I. That the whole human race was on probation in Adam and fell with him in his fall
into death–temporal, spiritual and eternal. Romans 5:12-21. The important point to be
noted is that in the process of generation, children do not merely inherit sin, depravity
and death immediately from their parents but immediately from Adam. Romans 5:12. This
truth is fundamental, and the man who lets it go, or even holds it indifferently, is
already at the mercy of the devil. God's Word affirms this, and there is no room for
reason to speculate. The one thing to do is to believe, in the face of the most profound
human ignorance and the most brilliant scholarship. This is wisdom and all else satanic
folly. On this foundational fact God is building the New Creation, and on its denial the
devil has already built all the kingdoms of the world. Look at Theosophy and Bahaism in
the light of this one fact. They reject it, but still the Bible affirms it, and the whole
record of human history reaffirms the depravity of man. In the light of this fact, all
these "-isms" are seen at one glance to be emanations from the Pit.
II. That Jesus Christ is the Eternal Son of God and the Son of Man, having two
natures in one person forever, and that He by His Life, Death and Resurrection potentially
redeemed and rescued the whole human race from its fallen condition and, thereby, founded
the New Creation and laid the basis for the Coming, Universal, Theocratic Kingdom. In
Romans 5:18, the "all men" of the second part is coextensive with the all
men" of the first part. But while He potentially redeemed the whole human race, only
those who actually believe on Him will benefit by the purchase. Indeed, it is this very
fact of the universality of redemption that makes the sin of unbelief carry with it such
fearful retributive condemnation. While the substitutionary work of Christ confers
unspeakable blessing on the race in lifting the curse, it at the same time exposes a
fearful danger-the danger of a far deeper curse because of rejected mercy. The fact that
He tasted death for every man put every man under obligation to accept the offered
redemption or expose himself to a judgment proportionate to the enormity of his sin as
measured by the price paid-the sinless life of Christ given up to be a curse and to die on
the Cross.
III. The method of redemption is redemption by substitution, by vicarious suffering
of an innocent victim. It is redemption by Blood. It is by an atonement so infinitely
meritorious that it puts away sin. It deals not only with the results of sin but with sin
itself, that is, with the very principle of sin. He put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. Hebrews 9:26. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Atonement by Blood, by the substitution of one life for another, the innocent for the
guilty, is the scarlet thread which runs from the third chapter of Genesis to the end of
the New Testament. But this third proposition, so vitally related to the first and the
second, is exactly what all these satanic systems ignore or repudiate, and that with scorn
and contempt. It is quite common in some quarters to use the terms "redemption"
and "atonement," but when you look for the Blood there is none. That which God
affirms to be absolutely necessary they regard to be quite superfluous, and moreover, they
do not hesitate to say that the very idea is repulsive. On the other hand, the Divine
Trinity, the angels and the choicest and most self-sacrificing souls that have ever walked
this earth regard it as the one supreme manifestation of the Love of God for man. With
absolute certainty, wherever the blood of atonement is absent, the devil is present, and
that in the very choicest, the most plausible and charming humanitarianism which says,
"Ye shall not surely die." Yes, look for the blood. Look for the blood. Without
shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Hebrews 9:22.
IV. The fourth proposition is also foundational. We state it thus: The imperative
demand on all who would enter the New Creation, the Kingdom, is "Ye must be born
again." John 3:7. Regeneration is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, the Third
Person in the Divine Trinity, whereby, on the condition of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
He imparts the very life and the very Nature of Christ to the believer by virtue of which
he becomes a son of God and an heir of eternal glory. The underlying assumption of the
prior "-isms" is that every man, regardless of creed or nationality, has in him
a divine principle by virtue of which he is a son of God. On the contrary, Jesus Christ
makes it unmistakably clear that every man is by nature a child of the devil and that this
condition of life may coexist with a high profession of religion. He said to the Jewish
leaders, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do."
V. The Bible affirms that the devil is no myth but a veritable person possessed of
marvelous wisdom and almost boundless resources and that he has at his disposal millions
of inferior spirits through whom he controls and governs the present world system in the
interests of organized lawlessness. The above systems, including the Higher Criticism,
refuse to believe a word of this and, in doing so, put themselves at his disposal to work
out his iniquitous designs against God and His people. Satan has power not only to inject
his thoughts into the mind of man and also nourish and develop the same by suitable food
(falsehood), but he is able, under certain circumstances, to enter personally or
representatively into men and women and control their whole activity spiritually,
psychically and physically and in such a manner as to leave them quite satisfied that they
are acting in perfect freedom while in reality they are his slaves and tools.
VI. The Bible affirms that Hell is a reality, a place as well as a condition. They
all deny this awful fact. Satan is obliged, by his very character, to work in the
darkness. "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it." John 8:44. It is worthy of the most serious consideration that
wherever the Blood of Atonement is ignored or denied, a personal devil and a literal hell
are also ignored or denied. Take for illustration, not simply the literature of the above
systems, but search carefully the weekly publications of almost any of the big
denominations representing current Christianity.
VII. The Bible affirms that the progress of the human race is downward. They affirm
that it is upward. In the Great Image seen in vision by the King of Babylon (Daniel 2),
the order of the metallic elements is thus: gold, silver, brass, iron and iron mixed with
clay. The world is now in the fifth stage. This is quite as incredible and even
inconceivable to modern theology as to modem science. "The wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God." 1 Corinthians 3:19. They have no unit of measurement for
anything higher than dollars and cents, pounds and yardsticks. Above this, the world's
thought is a bedlam of human opinion and ceaseless contention. Who is reckless enough to
challenge the assertion?
VIII. The Bible affirms that the world-system, considered as a whole, is approaching
its doom, and that it is going down under the wrath of God in the most fearful
judgment ever recorded in the history of the race. Matthew 24:21; Revelation 16, 19.
They deny this and affirm that the outlook for the race never was so bright as today.
This is the devil's gospel of optimism and delusion. In the last ten years, thousands upon
thousands of Christians have been caught in these and other snares of the enemy. But there
is no need for it. No true child of God need be deceived.
IX. We must add one more proposition of boundless significance, namely, that the
world's hope and the hope of the Church centers wholly in the Second Coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They deny this also. Inasmuch as Millennial Dawnism denies the true
Divinity of Christ and, therefore, denies the true doctrine of Atonement by blood, the
whole system is a delusion. There is some truth in Russel's writings, but the leaven of
error nullifies it.
Finally, let it never be forgotten that the mere mental possession of the above facts
will help no man. They must be received into the heart and practiced in the life.
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