CARDINAL BAPTIST DOC

CARDINAL BAPTIST DOCTRINES
By Dr. E.A. Huchison
"Those things which are most surely believed among us." – Luke 1:1
"Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
Theology is the product of man. It is but our ideas of truth classified and arranged. Men may, but truth never changes. If our ideas of the design of salvation are correct, they must be parallel with the views of the apostles. As the grave grows nearer our theology is reduced to the central thought: "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." I Timothy 1:15.
The two leading schools of theology into which Christianity is divided are Arminians and Calvinists. The former receives their name from a Dutch reformer living in the latter half of the sixteenth century; the latter from John Calvin who lived in the early part of the same century.
James Arminius was not the pioneer advocate of those freewill principles that bear his name; we are all Arminians by nature, and Arminianism was born when Cain came before the Lord offering the works of his hands. Since then Arminianism has had nothing better to offer.
Old School Baptists are not Calvinists.
That is, they do not regard Calvin as the founder of their church or the source of their doctrinal beliefs. The so-called Calvinistic principles to which they adhere were advocated centuries before the birth of Calvin. The renowned historian Moshiem, tells us that their origin is "lost in the remote depth of antiquity." We find in the words of the Pedobaptist historian, that, "Before the rise of Luther and Calvin there lay concealed in almost all the countries of Europe many persons who adhered tenaciously to the doctrines of the Anabaptists."
We love to tread the path beaten out by those who have earnestly contended for the principles so dear to our hearts. As we turn to the pages of history following the paths made red by the blood of martyrs, we find that no period this side of the Apostolic Age was the date of their birth, and the places where the Nazarene walked and taught the scene of their nativity. As we follow the path lit up by the imperishable deeds of others we find that the principles for which these persons contended and for which we contend as we hold aloft the blood stained banner of our Master, are – Election and Predestination, a Particular Redemption, The Total Depravity of Man, Effectual Calling, and the Final Preservation of the Saints.
ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION
In the physical world there is perfect order. Harmony exists in the movements of all heavenly bodies. With precision the stars rise, and set; without variation the earth plows its way through space in that path we call its orbit. The harmony and the precision that thus exists, is indicative of the fact the world is not the product of fate, neither is it controlled by chance. In the beauties of the earth by day, and the glory of the heavens by night, the omniscience and omnipotence of their Designer is presented.
As we look upon nature and observe her unerring laws, noting entire absence of chaos, we are made to marvel at the attributes of the Great Ruler of the universe. The finite has ever failed to comprehend the infinite. In vain have we endeavored to pierce the veil that separates the two, and echoing back to our inquiries comes the answer, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10.)
The foreknowledge of God, consisting of His knowledge of approbation and prescience, is an attribute; His predestination an act. Deny the existence of the former and we make Him an ignoramus. Remove the latter and we leave Him a God without a purpose. The foreknowledge of God comes first in order. His predestination follows. It at once becomes necessary that we avoid making the terms synonymous, and draw the proper line of distinction between them. Yet, they always go together.
There is no ground that will bear the weight of the doctrine of unconditional election but that of God’s sovereignty and predestination, and there it is as fixed as on a rock. This foreknowledge brings comfort and cheer to the child of grace here. "The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His" (II Timothy 2:19.)
The temple of Solomon was the grandest structure ever built by human hands. In the Architect who devised it, in the materials employed in the labor bestowed, in the costliness of the work, and in the grandeur of its whole design, it surpassed the proudest edifices of the world. There is much in the construction of the temple that is analogous with the Church of God. "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house while it was in building" (I Kings 6:7.)
Planning the construction of the temple was Predestination. The choosing of the material that entered therein, was Election. In the New Testament the church is termed, "God’s building;" "the temple of God;" "the temple of the Holy Ghost;" "the temple of the living God;" "an holy temple of the Lord;" "an habitation of God through the Spirit;" "the house of Christ." These terms denote that as God by the bright symbol of His glory manifested His presence in the movable tabernacle erected by Moses, and the stately temple built by Solomon, so does He by His Spirit dwell in the hearts of Christians, as individuals, and in the church collectively. In looking, then, at this Christian temple, let us observe:
First, the stones of which it is composed.
Secondly, the preparation of them.
Thirdly, their destination.
Peter says of Christians, that as lively stones they are built up a spiritual house. A stone is a shapeless mass of rock. It is inert – lifeless- could never split itself from its native quarry- could never fashion itself into classic shape and beauty, and could never set itself up as a lintel or column in any edifice of man. And such by nature is the spiritual state of all men, having no power to move, hear, see, feel, believe, because the moral inertia makes them as passive, hard and insensible as the stones of the earth. Hence when God would express the hardened condition of a person or people, He speaks of such as having "hearts of stone."
God possesses foreknowledge according to approbation only in comparison with His creature man. Since He is the great "I Am," everything with God is as an eternal "now." His omniscience enabled Him to look down through that which we call time and comprehend all of the acts of men: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Isaiah 44:10.) The omniscience of God comprehended man in His lost and ruined state as the result of the transgression of our federal head, Adam. It was there
"Grace contrived a way, to save
rebellious man,
And all the steps that grace displays,
Which drew the wondrous plan."
Why God permitted the transgression of Adam and the arising and continuation of sin when He is infinitely wise, righteous, merciful and powerful is beyond the comprehension of the finite. It is in our not knowing that we recognize His Sovereignty. He has a "right to do what He will with His own." The sovereignty of God in the dispensation of His grace shines throughout the history of the human race and is evidenced in the regeneration of every soul born into that kingdom which is above. To the one in whose heart the star of hope shines it seems that grace reigns; not that sovereignty has ceased, but is transferred. Grace is the attribute that God delights to honor, and all other attributes are, as it were, subservient to it. Through the predestination of God even Christ Himself was made a servant, to perform the pleasure of His grace: "Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My Elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:1.)
The sovereignty of God does not make Him the author of sin. The sun is not the cause of darkness, yet darkness is the absence of light. The Lord’s rejecting, or reprobating, men puts nothing of evil into them, nor necessitates the will; it only leaves them to their own ways which they freely according to their nature choose; yet banking them in, and stopping them up, as He did the fountains of the great deep, lest they deluge the world with sin. He sovereignly controls their evil actions to achieve His own eternal end.
Since the sovereignty of God is toned with a love beyond our comprehension, ye weary pilgrims, lift up your heads and rejoice! The election of God is the greatest possible encouragement to seeking souls. It declares that every one who has learned "the plague of his own heart" and depravity of his nature, and who longs for the touch of that Great Physician, is already alive! The apostle has said, "Knowing brethren, beloved, your election of God." Therefore, that which you are to submit unto, is the good pleasure of God’s will, as held forth in the covenant of grace, undertaking for and perfectly able to save you; and have His sovereign power engaged to make it good.
‘Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For, Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me.
Thou from the sin that stained me
Hast cleansed and set me free;
Of old Thou hast ordained me,
That I should live to Thee.
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PARTICULAR REDEMPTION
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." – John 6:37.
The paramount question in the discussion of redemption is not whether our Lord Jesus Christ has a body or church, to whom He is Head and Savior, but who are they who make up His body? Whether the whole of mankind universally, or some particular persons? Whether He had in His death the same respect tp all as to some?
Redemption denotes previous ownership. The use of the term leads us to the distant past, when as yet the stars did not twinkle in the heavens; neither was the highest dust of the earth formed, - where, based upon the decree of everlasting love, or foreknowledge, of God, a covenant was made with His Son, "ordered in all things and sure" (II Sam. 23:5.) Through that covenant the church rested in Christ, in a prospective sense, as truly as mankind in Adam when he fell; or Levi, in Abraham’s loins when he met Melchisedec.
The church of Jesus Christ is spoken of as the "bride" of Christ. The king’s daughter, elect to be suitable for His Son, must be "all glorious within" (Psalm 45:13.) To purge her from all iniquity and present her spotless in glory, was His purpose to this world. In the Mosaic economy, when a man became espoused to a virgin, He became responsible for her debts. So Christ, as the Head of the church, became responsible for her debts. Through the transgression of our federal head, Adam, we had "sold ourselves for naught. Human volition, or the works of our hands, could not bridge the gulf of God’s offended wrath. The justice of God must be satisfied, and nothing could satisfy it, save the blood of Christ. The chasm that must have forever separated us from the glories of God, has been bridged by the cross of Calvary. By "giving Himself a ransom;" by the whole of His humiliation; by whatever He did or suffered as Mediator, from His incarnation to His resurrection; by what is summarily expressed in the "blood of the cross," He secured, as the precious fruits of His death, the "forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God." This is what redemption means to us.
As we review the life of the Man of Galilee touched at times by the pathos with which we see it blended; when we, in our imagination, follow that procession up Golgotha’s Hill; when we see the Friend of sinners bending beneath the weight of the cross, His brow pricked by the crown of thorns, and hear the dull thud, thud, of the nails as they pierced His hands and feet, and come to the climax of that scene, reached when He said, "It is finished," we ask, "Was that glorious achievement to bring men into a mere possibility of being saved?"
The life of the Son of God was infinitely too precious to be given for perishing things; neither would it be consistent with divine wisdom to venture it for an uncertainty. It would have been a light thing for Christ, and not worthy of His sufferings, to raise up the ruins made by Adam to such a degree of restoration as would have only set Him in His former state, and that upon terms in which He was not likely to succeed. It was necessary that redemption should have a further reach than to bring men into a mere savable state, and that could not be less than a state of certain salvation.
To make redemption larger than electing love, is to overlay the foundation, which is, as all of you know, a momentous error in building; especially of such a tower whose top must reach to Heaven. "For I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day;" John 6:38,39.
The Levitical sacrifices were a type of the redemption of Christ. When once a year the high priest entered into the holy of holies with blood, he entered to make atonement, "not for the Jebusites, nor the Hittites, nor the Ammonites, but the Israelites." When the offering was made for personal atonement, whether it was the one who offered the bullock, the ram, or the almost valueless dove, it was specific in its application. When the two goats were brought, the one slain and its blood sprinkled upon the other, and the other to be loosed to go into the wilderness, it bore away the sins of Israel, all of which stands for particular redemption. Aaron making atonement for his household, and bearing the names of the twelve tribes on his breastplate, were typical of our great High Priest bearing the names and sustaining the persons of those for whom He offered Himself on the cross.
The right of redemption among the Jews (which shadowed this), was founded on brotherhood; from this I infer that relation was both the ground and limit of Christ’s office as a Redeemer. The apostle Paul seems to point to this when He says, "they were brethren, children and sons, whom Christ should deliver from bondage, make reconciliation for their sins, and bring to glory." Why is it they are to be God’s children, and the brethren of Christ above others? It was by predestination; and it was predestination that entitled them to redemption. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself; in whom we have redemption through His blood" (Ephesians 1:5-7.) Under the law of redemption, a stranger (one who is not of the brotherhood) might not be redeemed; but one who was of the brotherhood, though not redeemed, must go free in the year of jubilee (Lev. 25: 46-48; and 54.) This shows the peculiar respect the Lord has for His particular people.
We are obligated to confine redemption to elect persons, because intercession, which is parallel with redemption, is limited to them, exclusive of others. The priests, under the law, were to pray for those whose sacrifice they offered. This was a pattern of our Savior’s Priestly office, whom likewise we find to sacrifice and pray only for the same persons. Christ, as our great High Priest, having offered Himself, is an Advocate for those for whose sins He is a propitiation (I John 2:2,) and makes intercession for those for whose transgressions He was smitten (Isa. 53:8,12.) For their sakes He sanctified Himself; and it was for them He offered that solemn prayer, as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John. In the prayer just referred to, He is just to enter upon offering their sacrifice. The world is excluded from any benefits of it: "I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me" (John 17: 9,) Christ gives as a reason for this prayer, the words, "for they are Thine;" that is, they were the Father’s by election.
In conclusion, the motive for Christ’s dying especially for the elect, is that they are His designed spouse. As we have shown by previous references, this relationship brought upon Him peculiar obligations to die for them. Since the church, or elect, was His spouse, He was chargeable with their debts. They, through their federal head, were made under law, and Christ, through the relationship shown, made Himself one with them and answerable for them. It was for the satisfaction of the law’s account, as well as His original intent, that He made Himself their Surety (Isaiah 53: 8-11.) Consequently, in case of forfeiture, His life must go for theirs.
Christ was, therefore, "made under the law" (Gal. 4: 4,5,) as they were, and was "made sin for them" (II Cor. 5:21.) Being made sin for them, "it behooved Him to suffer" (Luke 24: 46;) and His suffering could not be avoided (Acts 17:3.) The law was just and holy; its violation must be answered for, either by principles or surety. It is here that mercy and truth, grace and justice are blended together. Grace takes hold on Christ as Surety that the sinner might go free, and Justice lays hold on Him, as the most responsible party, for none else could answer the law’s demands. As He readily yields to this satisfaction of the law, He said to the mob that sought Him on the eve of His being offered, "If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way" (John 18:8.) Let us believe that, since divine Justice has sought Him, Grace has left His subjects untouched.
On the eve of His crucifixion, our Lord sets forth clearly the scope of His own conception of the radius of the atonement, as He prayed, saying: "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee; as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him . . . . I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I am glorified in them . . . . Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are one . . . . I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17: 1,2,9-11,24.)
It has been said that if we were to lie motionless in the water, we would not sink. Permit me to close, exhorting that you lash yourselves to the mast of grace, with the assurance that when the storms of life have passed, you will find yourselves safe in the haven of rest.