=1. Example of False Faith.=--"When Europeans first began their
explorations in the New World, the Indians whom they met were
much amazed at the power and explosive properties of gun-powder,
and asked many questions respecting the manner in which it was
produced. The Europeans, taking advantage of the ignorance of the
savages, and seeing an opportunity to increase their wealth by
the deception, told the Indians that it was the seed of a plant
which grew in the lands they had come from, and doubtless it
would thrive in their land also. The Indians, of course, believed
this statement, and purchased the supposed seed, giving in
exchange for it large quantities of gold. In implicit faith they
carefully planted the supposed seed, and anxiously watched for
its sprouting and the appearance of the plant; but it never came.
They had faith in the statements made to them by the Europeans,
but as these statements were false, and therefore the evidence on
which the Indians based their belief untrue, their faith was
vain."--Orson Pratt.
=2. The Sectarian Dogma of Justification by Faith alone= has
exercised an influence for evil since the early days of
Christianity. The idea upon which this pernicious doctrine was
founded was at first associated with that of an absolute
predestination, by which man was fore-doomed to destruction, or
to an utterly undeserved salvation. Thus, Luther taught as
follows:--"The excellent, infallible, and sole preparation for
grace is the eternal election and predestination of God." "Since
the fall of man, free-will is but an idle word." "A man who
imagines to arrive at grace by doing all that he is able to do,
adds sin to sin, and is doubly guilty." "That man is not
justified who performs many works; but he who without works has
much faith in Christ." (For these and other doctrines of the
so-called "Reformation," see D'Aubigné's _History of the
Reformation_, vol. i, pp. 82, 83, 119, 122.) In Miller's _Church
History_ (vol. iv, p. 514) we read: "The point which the reformer
[Luther] had most at heart in all his labors, contests, and
dangers, was the justification by faith alone." Melanchthon
voices the doctrine of Luther in these words: "Man's
justification before God proceeds from faith alone. This faith
enters man's heart by the grace of God alone;" and further, "As
all things which happen, happen necessarily according to the
divine predestination, there is no such thing as liberty in our
wills" (D'Aubigné, vol. iii, p. 340). It is true that Luther
strongly denounced, and vehemently disclaimed responsibility for,
the excesses to which this teaching gave rise, yet he was not
less vigorous in proclaiming the doctrine. Note his words:--"I,
Doctor Martin Luther, unworthy herald of the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ, confess this article, that faith alone without
works justifies before God; and I declare that it shall stand and
remain forever in despite of the emperor of the Romans, the
emperor of the Turks, the emperor of the Persians,--in spite of
the pope and all the cardinals, with the bishops, priests, monks,
and nuns,--in spite of kings, princes, and nobles, and in spite
of all the world and of the devils themselves; and that if they
endeavor to fight against this truth they will draw the fires of
hell upon their heads. This is the true and holy gospel, and the
declaration of me, Doctor Luther, according to the teachings of
the Holy Ghost" (D'Aubigné, vol. i, p. 70).
Fletcher (_End of Religious Controversy_, p. 90) illustrates the
vicious extreme to which this evil doctrine led, by accusing one
of its adherents with having said, "Even adultery and murder do
not hurt the pleasant children, but rather work for their good.
God sees no sin in believers, whatever sin they may commit.... It
is a most pernicious error of the schoolmen to distinguish sins
according to the fact, and not according to the person. Though I
blame those who say, let us sin that grace may abound, yet
adultery, incest, and murder, shall upon the whole, make me
holier on earth, and merrier in heaven."
A summary of the mediæval controversy regarding the means of
grace, including the doctrines of Luther and others, is presented
in Roberts' _Outlines of Ecclesiastical History_, part iii,
section ii, to which the student is referred. The quotations
given above are incorporated therein.
=3. Forgiveness not always Immediate.=--"On account of the
magnitude of sins committed, repentance is not always followed by
forgiveness and restoration. For instance, when Peter was
preaching to the Jews, who had slain Jesus and taken His blood on
themselves and their children, he did not say, repent and be
baptized for the remission of sins; but, 'Repent ye therefore,
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and
[when] He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto
you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of the
restitution of all things' (Acts iii, 19-21). That is, repent now,
and believe in Jesus Christ, that you may be forgiven when He whom
you have slain shall come again in the days of the restitution of
all things; and prescribe to you the terms on which you may be
saved."--_Compendium_, p. 28.