"Ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ." This is the
Christian's pedigree. It is true that in a broad and subordinate sense
all men are the children of God since He created them all. And this was
known even to a Greek poet, as quoted by Paul at Athens, "For we are
also His offspring." But we must not fail to remember that in John's
gospel we have this statement, viz: "As many as received Him, to them
gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His name." So that it is through faith that we become the children of
God, not only by creation, not only by adoption, but by birth, "Ye must
be born again." "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved." "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him." Now, the faith-faculty, or the grace of faith, or the
power of believing God's truth, when it is presented, is given to all
mankind. But the exercise of that power which is actual and saving
faith, often requires the coöperation of the human will. And,
therefore, God commands us to believe, and holds us responsible for
obedience to that command. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." R.V.
Thus, it is that we are saved by faith. And this is true not only in
religion, but in science as well, and not in science only, but in daily
life and daily business as well. Many of the well-established truths
of science are matters of faith, and not of demonstration. All
intelligent people believe that there is a hidden force which they
call the attraction of gravitation. Nobody can tell what it is, nobody
can prove its existence. It is received and adopted by faith, and
serves as an excellent working hypothesis. That is all. Those who
accept the undulatory theory of light are necessitated to believe that
all space is pervaded by an exceedingly tenuous fluid which is called
ether, and that it is in this medium that the waves of light from
self-luminous bodies are produced. Nobody has demonstrated the existence
of this ether. It is, for the present, accepted by faith, and explains the
phenomena of light better than any other hypothesis propounded. Science
is saved by faith. The home is saved by faith. If want of confidence
comes between the husband and wife, or between parents and children,
farewell to all the enjoyment of home life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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