This is the second of two pieces in response to an article in the
current issue of The Banner of Truth, the article itself being an
extract from J.Gresham Machen’s The Christian View of Man,
which the Banner published in 1965. In my first piece, I dealt
with Machen’s words in a general sense. I now want to home in
on one particular point. Here is the relevant extract from
Machen’s article:
How, then, shall [men] be right with God? Oh, you say, there is
the gospel; there is the sweet and comforting teaching of Jesus
Christ. Yes, but do men come to Jesus Christ? Do they come to
him for the salvation of their souls? No, they patronise him as a
fine religious teacher, and then they pass him by. How, then,
shall they be brought to him? The Bible gives the answer.
‘Wherefore’, it says, ‘the law was our schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith’ (Gal. 3:24).
That was true of the Hebrews in Old Testament and post-Old
Testament times, about whom Paul is speaking in that passage;
it is also true of everyone who really and truly comes to Jesus
Christ as the Saviour from sin. The consciousness of sin alone
leads men to turn to the Saviour from sin, and the
consciousness of sin comes only when men are brought face to
face with the law of God... Do not fear, you Christians. The
Spirit of God has not lost his power. In his own good time, he
will send his messengers even to a wicked and adulterous and
careless generation. He will cause Mount Sinai to overhang and
shoot forth flames; he will convict men of sin; he will break
down men’s pride; he will melt their stony hearts. Then he will
lead them to the Saviour of their souls. |
