The Ohio Independent Baptist, June 1963

arta ers o rist By Dr. Edward Morrell, Jr. The principles that underlie the Christian faith are many "For ive are 111ade partakers of Cl1rist . . ." H ebreivs 3: 14. Thomas a Kempis has authored a little, popular volume that has been read by thou and over scores cf year ince its publication. It i en– titled , • Imitation of Christ." Referring to this liter ary work, F. J . Huegel says, "There are good thing jn . . . Imitation of Chri t ' but the basic idea is fal se to the principles that un– derlie the Christian Life." With thi conclusion we would have to agree. Huegel goes on to say, "To imitate hri t is like havi ng a chain of freight cars without an engine. ' This i the inherent weakness in religion. Imitat– ing Christ, without the power to per– form is as Dr. Clifford Maddox, Dean of Cedarvi lle College woL1ld say, "a pious platitude.' ' Wh at, then, i the answer to the believer's dil emma? I The Program Outlined by God This may be evalu a ted in varioLts wa)'S. A look at the ten command– ment~ staggers one. It i immediately recognized as being impo ~ible of fulfillment. A quick look at the di– rectives outlined in Deut. 10: 12. 13 is frustrating. It uggC:; t~: I ) revcrent– i al awe 2) circumspect decorum 3) unfeigned love 4) LJnstinting erv1cc 5) unquestioned obedicr1ce 6) 11n– plici t holiness. Attends seminar l{ccently it was n1y good pica Ltrc to attend ~t profitable sc111i11ar co11- ducted 011 tl1e ca1111Jus of edarvillc ollege l>y the l1ristia11 Ar1ti- 0111- 111uni 111 ru ade. I11 r11}' heari11g, t}1c leader Mr. W. trt1be, ice-president of the ""'1 u aclc a\ 1 erred that tl1e anti– dote to tl1c co111n11.111i t 111enacc is to be f0u,1d in 1 J l1ronicle 7: 14. Thi ' i a pa age fan1iliar to all f ti . Jt peal of 1) t1u111i)il)' <)J c )t1dt1cl 2) intercouu e \\ itl1 d i l)' ) • ltll– n1i io11 t directi 1 es 4) , e1Je11 ta11 c r placing r l, l]io11. H OHIO INDEPENDENT BAP IS The New Testament is none-the– le demanding. In F. J. H eugel's book he outlines even spec ific re– pon ibilitie incumbent upon the aints: 1) walk as Jesu walked I John 2:6; 2) love our enemies Matt. 5 :44; 3) forgive a Jesus forgave Col 3: 13 · 4) more than conqueror Rom. 8 : 37; 5) give thank in everything I The . 5: 18 · 6) be anxiou for nothing Phil 5 : 6 · 7 ) be holy as he i ho1y I Pet. l: I 6. It isn 't enough, beloved to laugh thi s off with the quip, "Well that's all fulfilled in Christ.., The burn– ing que tion remain , "How do I get it fulfil led in my own life?" II The Problem Obstructing Man This can be simply described in the word of the Apo tie Paul a tran lat– ed by Kenneth Taylor in hi recent "Living Letter " . "The law i good. The trouble i not there, but with me, becau c I am too inful to obey it. I don't under tand my elf at all, for I really want to do what i right, but I ca n' t. I do what I don' t want to - what I hate. I know perfectly well th at what I an1 doing i wrong and th at the law I an1 breaking are good one . But I can' t help 111 1 1 elf because I'n1 no t doing it. It i in inside me that i trongcr than I an1 that n1akes 111e do the c cvi I thing . I know l an1 rotten throttgh anc.I throt1gh !)0 Jar a my a le.I si 11ft1 I n a tLtrc is co11ccrneti. o matter \.\ l1ich \Va) I tur11 I can't r11ak.c n1y~clf do right. I ,vant to l)Lll I car1't. Whc11 I want to do goocJ, l dor1 't; and ,, hen l tr 11ot to do \.\ rong, I clo it an,,, a\ o,v if I a111 doing what l Jt)11 't \V1\1ll to, it is JJlai11 \.\'here tht: t1 c)t1l1lc is: si11 ,\till !,as 111t' i11 its evil gr<tff>. It ee111s tel l1e a fact cJf lift: tl1at \\ l1cn l \\' an t to <.Io \V }1 at i rigl 1 t, I i n c: \' it a l1 I (] \\ l1at i \\ r 11g. 1 I >\'e t ll ) 1od's • \Vill so far as Jll) 11 ,, 11all1r 1 tl11- Dr. Edward Morrell , Jr. cerned · But there i something el e deep within me, in my lower nature, that i at war with my mind and win the fight and makes me a lave to the in and death that are till within me. In my mind I want to be God' willing ervant but in tead I find my- elf still en laved to in. So you see how it is: my new life tell me to do right, but the old nature that i till in ide n1e loves to in. Oh what a terrible th ing tl-ii i ! Who will free n1c f ro111 n1y lavery to thi deadly lower nature?" Roman 7: 14-24 What mor~ need be aid?! Ill The Provision Obviating Defeat Once again we r e ort to the Word of God and call attention to two tr an - lation of a very familiar text. Roman 5: 10 · And ince, when we were Hi enemie we were brought back to God by the death of Hi on, what BLE INGS H e mu t have for u now that we are Hi friend . and H I LI - l G WITH! .. - '•Li, ,i ng Letter ,, . ··For if while V.'e ,vere cr1cn11es \\ c were reconciled to 1o<l through the tlcath of H i on. it 1 n1L1ch 111 re (certain) now tl1at ,ve arc re n ilcd, that we hall be av Ll ( D ll \ D .. _ LI\' R ·D RO 1 I ' DO 11 - IO ) throt1gh H t · (re ·t1rrection) life.. 111pl1fit:ti . 1 P, t1l ,t1ppl1cd the a115\ er .. hank. Goti I It hJ\ hcc11 tlone th1 ot1gh J c,tt\ <.. hr1,t ot1r 14t)t tl He h,l\ s~ t 111e tree·· - ( l .. i\111~ I ctter':.) 11tl 1gain. "S111 ~t,all not l1a, c llo111in1011 vcr tis' r a~ 1'.\.'1111cth ' ) a l<.)T h.,1\ ~ 111 C\\t:Ll it, •. '111 n~Cli 1ll:\ er aga111 l1e ) l)lll 111ast r ." Rell,\ tJ t l1c ff cri11g of J ll~ l1rist , )fl c t \), all. tiill 111(,rt: tl1a11 gt1arantc:e '\ 111an– ~i ,11 i11 llt ~ \ c:11 , it gt1aran1c d a .. ,11ira- l ,, i11 111 ,, l1ilc )11 \.'.. rtl1 . {Continued on pag 13) Page 3, JUNE 1903