Christian Messenger. (Bonham, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 26, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 12, 1882 Page: 1 of 8
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TAKING THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH IS THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
(In Advance.
\'0L. VIII.
BONHAM, TEXAS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 12, 1882.
No. 26.
Cjp CJjristfeht JRessenger
IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY
Ttio*. R. Bnrnetc,
BONBAId, - - - TEXAS
_ _ _ _ $2.00
six months, - - - 51.25
Obituaries exceeding ten lines in length
sdH be charged for at the rate of two dol-
lars and fifty cents each.
N’t B.—Entered at the Poet-office at
Bonham, Texas, as second class matter.
Office of pubtieatinsy. North Timber St.
SIFTING CAMPS EL LISM.
r
ration is presents
til# view. It it li
m
“Ht repeatedly refers to Acts 2d,
and partially quotes it again, to
prove that after tha three thou-
sand believed, they were baptized
far remission of sins. We heart-
ily endorse all that Peter com-
mands, but not in the light of
Campbellism. In this light, sal-
vation is presented in a mercan-
It is like a merchant
will give you
rails ot calico for one
dollar. Here one thing is for an-
other; and in like manner, Camp-
bellism represents Christ as of-
fering pardon for immersion.”
We de not represent Christ as
offering pardon for immersion.
Peter is the gentleman against
whom Mr. Price should complain.
We qaete the language just as hs
used it, and put no strained con-
struction upon it. If it has
tha appearance of a com me cial
transaction to such quibblers as
Mr. Price, we ean not help it.
Peter commanded the people to
repent and be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for remis-
sion of sins, and promised them
the, gift ef the Holy Spirit as a
result ef tha compliance. We
suppose that if Mr. Price had
been on tha isle of Pataos when
John wrote, “Blasted are they that
do his commandments that they
may have right to the tree of
lift," he would hare complained
that that looked like a commer-
cial transaction. We do not phi-
losophize upon Christ’s command-
ments, as to whether they have
commercial rains or not, but go
forward and obey them, and leave
the results with him. We do not
believe the commandments hare
.any power to procure salvation,
in the sense of purchase, but are
sendniens of our reception of
the salvation that has already
been purchased by the blood of
Christ. But explanations will
not benefit such quibhlsrs as Mr.
Price. It is not Campbellism
ht is opposed to—it is obedience
to Christ's commandments—and
ha is not going to obey as long as
hs can find an excuse.
N4'Tlie cieed however, doss not
teach that faith and repentance—
genuine as possible—will insure
pardon. While its advocates cen-
to 'repent and be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for remis-
sion of sins/ is tantamount to a
command to believe in him ‘for
remission of sins.’
If the command to repent and
be baptized is tantamount te be-
lieve, whv did net Peter command
them to believe ? Why did he
use the WTong words in express-
ing his desires ? He could have
told them to believe just as easily
as he told them to repent and be
baptized. Was he trying to de-
ceive them ? Mr. Price saysTthat
he intended them to believe for
the remission of sins, only he
used the words repent and be
baptized for remission of sins, in
the place of beliete. Then re-
pentance and baptism are for re-
mission of sins, as Peter used
them! Does this help the mat-
ter any ? Either Peter deceived
the people, by commanding them
tode what he did not mean for
them to do, or Mr. Price deceives
the people when he pats into
Peter's mouth words that apostle
never uttered. You can take either
hern of this dilemma. Now, we
know that Peter did not intend
the pentecostians to believe, when
he cemmanded them to repent,
for they had already believed,
and were crying out by reason of
their faith, and asking, “Men and
brethren, what shall we do ?” It
would have been nonsense for
Peter to have commanded them to
believe. Most assuredly “the
creed” does net teach that faith
and repentance will insure pardon,
for “the creed” is the New Testa-
ment, and it places other condi-
tions between the sinner and salva-
tion.
“Baptism is not ths condition of
pardon, as many believe : we say
this on the ground, that there is
net another text in the New Test-
ament like it: but on our side of
the question there are hundreds
which teach that faith is the con-
dition of salvation. According to
the divine rule by which truth
and falsehood are te be tested,
Mr. B. must have another witness;
and if he can not find another wit-
ness, who states what he says Pe-
ter does, his cause—baptism for
remission is a ‘great big noth-
ing’—yes, worse than nothing.”
In the estimation of Mr. Price,
the commandment of Christ is
'nothing/'—a “great big noth-
ing”—a non-essential nothing.
But like Banquo’s ghost it rises up
before the affrighted vision of this
theological Macbeth quite often.
Foitunaieiy, we have the other
witness to establish the testimony
of Peter. Most people will be-
lieve on the evidence of one apos-
tle, but it takes two or three to
convince such a doubting Thom
£end that both are conditional as as our friend of the Texas
jet, w.nderfoJ to b»j, * penite., ^^thodist. P*ter says that r»-
b»h»,»r will ba damned wlt*lou^p#atauee aad baptism are far the
remission ef sins, and he places
remission after both of them. In
another plaoe he says* “baptism
doth also now save us.” Ananias
commanded Saul to “arise and be
baptized and wash away thy sins.”
His sins were washed away in
baptism. Jesus said, in the com-
mission, “He that believeth aud is
baptized shall be saved.” He
plaeed salvation after baptism.
Here are seyer&l witnesses. Are
water. Plunging that part of the
subject above water, is the saving
act, (?) fer as Mr. B. contends,
'they should be baptized fer the
remission of sins. Peter com-
manded penitint believers to re-
pent and be baptized ‘in the name
of Jesus Christ.’ This clause we
put in quotation simply signifies,
that they trusted or belie red in
Jesus Christ for remission of
«ins, and on condition of this
trust, or faith, they were pardon-
ed and then received ‘the gift of
tke Holy Ghost.’ The command
you convinced, Mr. Price ? If
yon are not, you weuld not believe
though one should rise from the
dead. * But you say you have hun-j
dreds of texts which say that faith
is the condition of salvation. You
have not a single text that says
‘faith only.' If you make faith
the only condition, then you
throw away repentance and pray-
er. Can a man be saved without
these ? If your scrap texts ex-
clude baptism, because it is not
mentioned, they exclude repent-
ance also, for it is not mentioned.
And the text which says, “bap-
tism doth also now save us,” will
exclude ail your faith texts, be-
cause faith is not mentioned, and
the passage, “By grace are you
saved,” will destroy faith, repent-
ance and baptism, if we exclude
everything except what is men-'
tioned in the text. And by this
scrap system we destroy the Bible.
There is not a Methodist preacher
in Texas who believes that a man
can be justified by faith only—
without repentance and without
prayer. They do not believe
their own creed. They debate
about it, and quibble about it, but
they do not believe it. ‘Faith
only’ excludes everything but
faith.
“We further assume, that as far
as we have any knowledge, there is
not a Campbellite in the world,
who believes that the ‘ gift of the
Holy Ghost’ is a consequent bless-
ing of baptism. Ged is the giver
and the Holy Ghost is the 'gift/
Does Mr. Burnett believe that he
has the 'gift of the Holy Ghost?'
If he dees will he be se kind as
to tell up what ‘gift’ is, and how
he received it ? We would like
to know—if he has received it—
how he got it. Did he find him
by the word, through the word,
m the water, or out of it ? (We
need light Bro. Burnett. Will
you tell us your experience ?)'*
Our expei ience is that we did
not receive the Holy Ghost in the
straw, but when we complied
with the conditions required by
the gospel. Feter says, “Bepent
and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission ef sins, and yen
shall receive the gift of the Ho-
ly Ghost.” When we repented
and were baptized for the remis-
sion of sins, we received the gift
of the Holy Ghost, aud net when
we did what the Methodist preach-
er taught us to do. Peter told
believers to repent and be bap-
tized ; Mr. Price tells them to
kneel down in the straw and wait
for the Holy Ghost. There is a
difference. We prefer to follow
the inspired preacher. It may be
that, “as far as he has any knowl-
edge,” Mr. Pi ice thinks that no
Campbellite believes in the re-
ception of the Holy Spirit as a
result of baptism. His knowl-
edge is so limited, that we dislike
to base a denial upon it. If he
does not know that Christians
everywhere believe and teach
that we receive the Spirit after
baptism, he is about as ignorant a
naan as can be found in these
United States. If he does know
it, and ie assuming that it is not
he is a base deceivdfe He
choice of the horns of
mma.
“Another wonderful develop-
ment of a Campbellite’s judg-
ment. ‘God commands all men
everywhere to repent, ‘and if Mr.
Price does not repent, he will like-
wise perish/ His faith-alone sys-
tem which excludes repentance
and prayer and baptism, is an un-
wholesome doctrine and very full
of deception.”
“Well, Mr B. is hard pressed for
something to write. Being des-
titute of reason and Scripture to
sustain his false doctrine, he is
now dealing in personal reflec-
tions. He asserts that if we do
not repent we will perish. We
woDder on Campbellite principles
how any man can get to heaven
without immersion. This, the
most important of all other fea-
tures of his religion he forgot, or
in consequence of one scriptural
idea, he left out of Mr. Campbell’s
programme. Without telling our
experience (for we have no hope of
his conversion) we ean truly'say,
like Paul: ‘The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God.’
The same writer says : ‘Now if
any man have not the spirit of
Christ, he is none of his.’ As
Mr. B. denies the direct witness
of the spirit, and os Paul declares
that ‘if any man have not the
spirit of Christ he is none of his/
we think our experience will com-
pare favorably with his, all things
considered. We suppose on his
principles that he can say : 'We
know that we have passed from
death unto life/ because we
werh immersed for remission of
sins. If he is not absolutely ig-
norant of our theology, he knows
that the above statement is un-
true. A man who will strike in
the dark as he does, needs some
one to teach him the way of the
Lord more perfectly. 'None so
blind as they who will hot see ;’
and none so ready to allege that
our principles are unwholesome
and full of deception, as those who
believe God has given ‘the effica-
cy of blood to water.’
We stated that Mr. Price’s
faith-alone system is an unwhole-
some doctrine and very full of de-
ception, from the fact that it ex-
cludes repentance, prayer and
baptism. He claims that Metho-
dists do not exclude repentance
and prayer, and that we make a
false charge against them when
we so state. It is not against
Methodists that we make the
charge, but against the faith-alone
doctrine. It excludes repentanee
and prayer and baptism, and is
therefore unwholesome and full
of deception; but there is not a
Methodist in the world that be-
lieves the faith-alone doctrine. If
Mr. Price preaches that people
can be saved by faith done, when
he knows they must repent, he
deceives the people ; if he preach-
es repentanoe, and holds that
it is necessary, then he does not
believe the faith-alone doctrine.
The thing is deceptive all over,
and unwholesome enough to be
buried out of sight. We do not
think that Mr. Price can claim
that the Spirit bears witness with
his spirit that he is a child of
God, for the Spirit that wrote the
Bible bears direct witness against
him all the time. He has net
complied with its requirements,
and is therefore not a child of
Ged. Paul says, “Ye are all the
children of God by faith in Jesus,
for as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ bare put on
Christ.” Mr. P. has net beeu
baptized into Christ, and has not
put on Christ, and is therefore
not a child of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. His “feelings,” and
not the Holy Spirit, bear witness
with his spirit thaV he is a child
of God. But feelings, like the
faith-alone doctrine, are very de-
ceptive. We have not "struck in
the dark,” as Mr. P. represents.
It has been our earnest desire
that all we have said should be
published in the Texas Method-
ist, so that the readers of that
paper could read iu open day-
light just what we think of their
system of religion. Bat the sift-
er-in-chief of that organ will not
allow it. He locks his columns,
and gives only a scrap here and
there of what we write, and keeps
his readers in ignorance and dark-
ness as before. Their eyes hs
has closed and their ears he has
stopped, lest at any time they
should see with their eyes and
hear with their ears, and under-
stand with their hearts, and be
converted.
(To be continued,)
-——m-mm 1
Three questions of grave mean-
ing are asked by A. J. Thompson
A. M. in the last issue of the Chris-
tian Quarterly Beview. We will
give the questions in his own
words: “1. Is the church of Christ
a sect or denomination in the s^nse
in which these words are common-
ly used ? 2. Can one be identified
with, and an active member of, the
church of Christ, in our day, with-
out being identified with a sect?
3. If one can be thus identified
with the church of Christ, and yet
not be identified with any sect or
denomination, how can he be so
identified?” These questions are
quoted from the Quarterly to ex-
cite thought in the readers of the
Messenger on a subject of vast
importance to all. We suggest
the following answer; 1. The
church of Christ found in, and
growing out oL the commission in
Matt. 28:12-20, is not a sect in any
sense of that word. 2. A person
can be identified with and an ac-
tive member of the church and not
belong to any sect. 3. A person
can be identified with the church
of Christ in the commission by
doing and being all that the com-
mission requires a person to do
and be. C.
The Texas Baptist says the re-
vised New Testament properly
renders John 5; I, “begotten” in-
stead of “born.” According to
this rendering, hs that believeth
that J«sus is the Christ is begot-
ten of God. Baptists have been in
the habit of calling this faith “head
faith” or “Campbellite faith,”
when preaching on their mystical
new birth, and genuine Christian
faith when they oppose the true
design of baptism. We hope they,
will follow Mr. Buckner and say
that the revisers did right to
change '‘born” to “begotten.”
----- ■ m m m
A man’s love for any cause is
measured by the amount of money
he is willing to spend for it or the
labor he is willing to devote to it
How mnch money or labor do you
devote to the cause of Christ
jeadtr?
inr riiliMgfr
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Burnett, Thomas R. Christian Messenger. (Bonham, Tex.), Vol. 8, No. 26, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 12, 1882, newspaper, July 12, 1882; Bonham, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth913836/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bonham Public Library.