This is the second of two pieces in response to an article in the current issue of The Banner of Truth, the article itself being an extract from J.Gresham Machen’s The Christian View of Man, which the Banner published in 1965. In my first piece, I dealt with Machen’s words in a general sense. I now want to home in on one particular point. Here is the relevant extract from Machen’s article: How, then, shall [men] be right with God? Oh, you say, there is the gospel; there is the sweet and comforting teaching of Jesus Christ. Yes, but do men come to Jesus Christ? Do they come to him for the salvation of their souls? No, they patronise him as a fine religious teacher, and then they pass him by. How, then, shall they be brought to him? The Bible gives the answer. ‘Wherefore’, it says, ‘the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith’ (Gal. 3:24). That was true of the Hebrews in Old Testament and post-Old Testament times, about whom Paul is speaking in that passage; it is also true of everyone who really and truly comes to Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin. The consciousness of sin alone leads men to turn to the Saviour from sin, and the consciousness of sin comes only when men are brought face to face with the law of God... Do not fear, you Christians. The Spirit of God has not lost his power. In his own good time, he will send his messengers even to a wicked and adulterous and careless generation. He will cause Mount Sinai to overhang and shoot forth flames; he will convict men of sin; he will break down men’s pride; he will melt their stony hearts. Then he will lead them to the Saviour of their souls. |