PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian faith
Torrey, R. A. (Reuben Archer), 1856-1928 · 84,531 words · 139 reading sections
THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT
I spoke in a previous chapter on the personality of the Holy Spirit. We saw clearly that the Holy Spirit was a person. Incidentally I referred to His Deity in passing, but did not dwell upon it, so the question remains, Is the Holy Spirit a Divine person? and still another question, If the Holy Spirit is a Divine perso…
85 wordsSECTION 62I. THE DEITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
We take up first the question of the Deity of the Holy Spirit. The fact that the Holy Spirit is a person does not prove that He is divine. There are spirits who are persons but who are not God. There are five distinct lines of proof of the Deity of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit is God. 1. The first line of pro…
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(2) The _impartation of life is ascribed to the Holy Spirit_. This we find, for example, in John 6:63: +"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing."+ We find the same thing again in Romans 8:11: +"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from…
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(2) Another illustration of a statement, which in the Old Testament is given as referring to Jehovah, being applied to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, is found by a comparison of Exodus 16:7 with Hebrews 3:7-9. In Exodus 16:7 we read: +"And in the morning, then shall ye see the glory of Jehovah; for that he heare…
918 wordsSECTION 65II. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
But now we come to the question, Is the Holy Spirit a distinct personality from the Father and from the Son? He might be a person, as we have clearly seen that He is, and He might be a divine person, as we have just seen that He is, and at the same time He might be only the same person who manifested Himself at times a…
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8. The same thing is brought out again in Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:33, where Peter is recorded as saying: +"Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear."+ _Here a clear distin…
912 wordsSECTION 67THE ATONEMENT: GOD'S DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT VS. UNITARIAN AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE DOCTRINES OF THE ATONEMENT
"Apart from the shedding of blood there is no remission."—Hebrews 9:22.…
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Our subject in this chapter is "God's Doctrine of the Atonement vs. the Unitarian and Christian Science Doctrines of the Atonement." One of the most fundamental, central and vital doctrines of the Christian faith is the Christian doctrine of the Atonement. Without the Bible Doctrine of the Atonement you have no Christi…
1,020 wordsSECTION 69I. THE NECESSITY AND IMPORTANCE OF HIS DEATH
The first thing that the Bible plainly teaches on this question is _the absolute necessity and fundamental importance of the death of Jesus Christ, the absolute necessity and fundamental importance of the shedding of His blood_. The tendency of our day in Unitarian circles, and in orthodox circles that have been leaven…
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5. _The death of Christ is the central theme of heaven's song._ Rev. 5:8-12 gives us a picture of heaven with its wonderful choir of ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, and this is the description of the song they sing: +"And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and…
360 wordsSECTION 71II. THE PURPOSE OF THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST
So much for the fundamental and central importance of His death, or of _the shedding of His blood_. But what was the purpose of the shedding of His blood? 1. First of all, the Bible distinctly and repeatedly tells us by direct statement, and by countless typical reference in the Old Testament, that _He died as a vicar…
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4. Fourth and further yet, the Bible teaches that _Jesus Christ died as a propitiation for our sins_. God the Father gave Christ the Son to be a propitiation by His blood. That is to say that _Jesus Christ, through the shedding of His blood, is that by which God's holy wrath at sin is appeased_. We read in 1 John 4:10,…
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6. The Bible puts essentially the same truth in still another form, viz., that _Jesus Christ died as our Passover sacrifice—that is, that His shed blood might serve as a ground upon which God would pass over and spare us_. We read in 1 Cor. 5:7, +"For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ."+ Now what a pa…
274 wordsSECTION 74III. THE RESULTS OF THE ATONING DEATH
We have seen then the gracious and glorious purposes of the Atoning Death of Jesus Christ. What are the results of that death? They are even more glorious. I can speak of them this morning only in part. 1. The first result of the atoning death of Jesus Christ is that _a propitiation is provided for the whole world_. W…
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3. _By the atoning death of Jesus Christ all believers in Jesus Christ have forgiveness of all their sins._ We read in Eph. 1:7, +"In whom+ (i.e., in Jesus Christ) +we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace."+ Because Jesus Christ died as a full sa…
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5. Furthermore, _because of the full atonement that Jesus Christ has made by the shedding of His blood, by His atoning death on the cross, every believer in Him can enter boldly into the holy place, into the very presence of God_. As it is put in Heb. 10:19, 20, +"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the …
794 wordsSECTION 77THE DISTINCTIVE DOCTRINE OF PROTESTANTISM: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
"Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you, remission of sins: and by him every one that believeth is justified from all things, from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses."—Acts 13:38, 39. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the…
201 wordsSECTION 78I. WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION?
The first thing for us to understand clearly is just what justification is. It is at this point that many go astray in their study of this great truth. There are two fundamentally different definitions of the meaning of the words "justify" and "justification." The one definition of Justify is, _to make righteous_, and …
374 wordsSECTION 79II. HOW ARE MEN JUSTIFIED?
We come now to the second question, and the all-important question, How are men justified? In general there are two opposing views of justification: one that men are justified by their own works, i.e., on the ground of something which they do themselves. This view may be variously expressed. The good works that men spe…
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3. This leads us to the third part of the answer to the question, how men are justified. We find this third part of the answer in Rom. 5:9, +"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through Him."+ Here we are told in so many words that we are justified, or counted right…
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4. The fourth part of the answer to the question how men are justified we find in Rom. 3:26, +"For the showing, I say, of his+ (i.e., God's) +righteousness at this present season: that he+ (i.e., God) +might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus."+ Here we are taught that _men are justified…
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6. The rest of the other side of the truth about being justified by faith, you will find in Jas. 2:14, 18-24, R. V. +"What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith but have not works? Can that faith save him?"+ We see here that a faith that a man merely says he has, but that does not lead to works along …
656 wordsSECTION 83III. THE EXTENT OF JUSTIFICATION
I think we have made it plain just how one is justified, and now we come to another question and that is, the extent of justification. To what extent is a man who believes in the Lord Jesus justified? This question is very plainly answered and wonderfully answered, and gloriously answered in Acts 13:38, 39, +"Be it kno…
771 wordsSECTION 84IV. THE TIME OF JUSTIFICATION
There remains one question still to consider, though we have really answered it in what has already been said, and that is, the time of justification, or when a believer is justified. When is a believer justified? This question is answered plainly in one of our texts, Acts 13:39, +"And by him every one that believeth i…
1,063 wordsSECTION 85THE NEW BIRTH
"Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."—John 3:3, 5. Our subject in this chapter is Reg…
154 wordsSECTION 86I. WHAT IS THE NEW BIRTH?
The first question that confronts us is, _What is the New Birth?_ Many speak of the New Birth or of Regeneration without any definite conception of just what the New Birth is, and so are never sure whether they themselves have been born again or not. As plain and clear a definition of the New Birth as we can find in t…
670 wordsSECTION 87II. RESULTS OF THE NEW BIRTH
We now come to the second question, closely related to the first, and it will help us to understand even more clearly what the New Birth is. _What are the results that follow when one is born again?_ They are numerous. 1. The first of these results is found in 1 Cor. 6:19, where we read: +"Know ye not that your body i…
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5. The fifth result of being born again we find three verses further down in this same chapter, 1 John 5:4: +"For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world."+ The _fifth result of being born of God is that the one thus born again overcomes the world_. The world is at variance with God, +"The whole world lieth …
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7. The seventh result of the New Birth is found in 1 John 3:14, R. V., +"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death."+ _The seventh result of being born again is that we love the brethren._ We should note carefully what the thought of "love" is …
524 wordsSECTION 90III. THE NECESSITY OF THE NEW BIRTH
For just a few moments let us look at the necessity of the New Birth. This is set forth in one of our texts and in the verses following, 1 John 3:5, 6: +"Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and t…
424 wordsSECTION 91IV. HOW CAN ONE BE BORN AGAIN?
The question, therefore, confronts each one of you, Have you been born again? There is no more important question that you could possibly face. Face it in these pages and don't dodge it. And that brings us to the immediately practical question, How are men born again, or what must any one here to-day, who is not born a…
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3. The third and last and decisive truth as to how we are born again is found in Gal. 3:26 and John 1:12, 13. In Gal. 3:26 we read, +"For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus."+ This tells us plainly that _we become born again through putting our faith in Christ Jesus_. This is even more explicitly st…
826 wordsSECTION 93SANCTIFICATION
"And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."—1 Thess. 5:23. Our subject now before us is Sanctification. The subject is one of great importance. Not only is there much ignorance and error and misconc…
305 wordsSECTION 94I. WHAT SANCTIFICATION IS
First, then, let us consider what Sanctification is. 1. In the first place let me make it clear that, _Sanctification is not the "Baptism with the Holy Spirit."_ The two are constantly confused. There is an intimate relation between the two, but they are not at all one and the same thing; and only confusion and miscon…
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(1) The first meaning of Sanctification we will find in Lev. 8:10-12, +"And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the laver and its base, to sanctify th…
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(2) But the word as used in the Bible has also a secondary signification closely related to this primary meaning. An illustration of this secondary meaning will be found in II Chron. 29:5, +"Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and carry forth the fil…
476 wordsSECTION 97II. HOW MEN ARE SANCTIFIED
We come now to the second question, _How are men sanctified?_ There are several parts to the complete answer of this question. 1. The first part of the answer is found in our text of this chapter, I Thess. 5:23, +"And the God of Peace himself sanctify you wholly and may your Spirit and soul and body be preserved entir…
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5. The fifth part of the answer to the question, how men are sanctified, is found in John 17:17, +"Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth."+ Here our Lord Jesus in His prayer indicates that we are _sanctified in the truth, and that the truth is the Word of God_. In what sense does the Word of God sanctify? This …
749 wordsSECTION 99III. WHEN DOES SANCTIFICATION TAKE PLACE
We now come to the question about which there has been the most discussion, the most differences of opinion, the most controversy. When does sanctification take place? If we will go to our Bibles to get the answer to the question there need be no difference of opinion. There are three parts to the answer. 1. The first…
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2. But this is not the whole answer to the question of when we are sanctified. The second part of the answer is found in I Thess. 3:12, +"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do towards you."+ And the 4th chapter of this same epistle, the 1st and 1…
695 wordsSECTION 101THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY OF JESUS AND OF OUR BODIES
"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to my gospel."—2 Tim. 2:8. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that _he hath been raised_ on the third day acco…
353 wordsSECTION 102I. THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY OF CHRIST AND OF OUR BODIES
We shall consider first _the fact of the resurrection of the body of Jesus Christ and of our bodies_.…
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1. Turn first, please, to II Tim. 2:8, +"Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David, was raised from the dead, according to my gospel."+ Here Paul explicitly declares that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead according to the gospel which he preached. Now what was raised? Certainly not His soul. That did not die.…
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In Luke 24:5, 6, the angels at the tomb from which the body of Jesus had disappeared are recorded as saying to the women who were seeking the body of Jesus to embalm it, +"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen."+ Now what were the women seeking? The body of Jesus to embalm it, and the angel…
293 wordsSECTION 105II. THE CHARACTER OF OUR RESURRECTION BODIES
Having clearly settled the fact of the resurrection _of the body_ of Jesus Christ and of our bodies, let us next consider the character of our resurrection bodies. 1. First of all, we know that _the body which is raised will not be exactly the same body that it was when it was laid in the grave_. This appears from I C…
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5. In the fifth place (and closely connected with 3 and 4), _our resurrection bodies will be incorruptible_. We read in I Cor. 15:42: +"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption."+ The thought of this word "incorruption" is that the body is not subject to decay, it …
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9. _Our transformed bodies will be luminous, shining, dazzling, bright like the sun._ This is seen in many passages. For example, Matt. 13:43, +"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."+ This is to be taken literally for it is in the _interpretation_ of the parable and not in the…
752 wordsSECTION 108III. WHEN WILL THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY TAKE PLACE?
There remains but one question to be considered and we can deal with that very briefly. That question is, when will the resurrection of the body take place? This question is plainly answered time and again in the Bible. For example, it is answered in Phil. 3:20, 21: +"For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also …
854 wordsSECTION 109THE DEVIL
"The Devil. . . .is."—John 8:44. "The Devil Sinneth."—1 John 3:8.…
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Our subject in this chapter is The Devil. I have two texts—John 8:44: +"The Devil. . . .is."+ The second text is 1 John 3:8: +"The Devil Sinneth."+ The Bible doctrine concerning the Devil, his Existence, Nature, Character, Work and Destiny is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, and is of vital importance. T…
311 wordsSECTION 111I. THERE IS A DEVIL
The first point to make clear is that _there is a Devil_. This is plain from our first text, John 8:44: +"The Devil. . . .is."+ The whole verse reads: +"Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do: He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there i…
613 wordsSECTION 112II. THE NATURE OF THE DEVIL
Having settled it that there is a Devil, we now face the question as to the nature of the Devil. 1. First of all, the Bible teaches us that the _Devil is a person_. This comes out in our second text, 1 John 3:8: +"The devil sinneth."+ Only a person can sin. When we say that the Devil is a person we do not mean that ne…
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2. The second thing that the Bible teaches as to the nature of the Devil, is that, _the Devil is a being of very great power and authority_. This comes out in the verses we have just read, Eph. 6:10, 11: +"Finally be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be …
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How the Devil came to be Prince of this world it may be impossible for us to say, but that he is so admits of no question, if we are to accept the teaching of Jesus Christ, and any one who will study the ruling principles of commercial life, of political life, of social life, and above all of international relations, t…
206 wordsSECTION 115III. THE CHARACTER OF THE DEVIL
1. _As to the character of the Devil, the Bible teaches us that he is a being absolutely wicked._ In Matt. 13:19 he is called, "_The Wicked One_." That is to say, he is one who is the personal embodiment of absolute wickedness. In I John 5:19 R. V. also he is called "The Wicked One." God is "The Holy One," that is to s…
269 wordsSECTION 116IV. THE WORK OF THE DEVIL
We come now to the question of the Work of the Devil, or How the Devil Manifests Himself, and What He Does. 1. In the first place we are taught that _the Devil tempts men to sin_. We have a most striking illustration of this in his temptation of our Lord. We have in the Bible three accounts of this temptation. We will…
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2. But Satan not merely tempts men to sin by insinuating doubts of God's Word, he also _has his_ +synagogues and ministers among men to do his work.+ Turn to Rev. 3:9: +"Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before…
594 wordsSECTION 118V. THE DEVIL'S DESTINY
We come now to the fifth general division of our subject—_The Devil's Destiny_. 1. Turn in the first place to Rev. 20:1-3: +"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the keys of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound…
550 wordsSECTION 119VI. HOW TO GET VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL
Now just for a few moments let me show you from the Word of God, _how, in practical every day life, to get the victory over the Devil_. There are four things to be borne in mind. 1. Read first, James 4:7, +"Be subject therefore unto God: but resist the devil, and he will flee from you."+ This teaches us that, _we are …
645 wordsSECTION 120IS THERE A LITERAL HELL?
"In danger of the hell of fire."—Matt. 5:22. My subject is "Is There a Literal Hell?" I wish that the things that I am going to preach to you were not true. God wishes so, too, +"The Lord is longsuffering to usward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"+ (2 Peter 3:9). But God has…
686 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.