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Man's relations to God traced in the light of 'the present truth'.
Man's relations to God traced in the light of 'the present truth' Author:John Kennedy Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. MAN, AS EVANGELIZED, IN RELATION TO GOD. THIS NEW RELATION MUST CONSIST WITH THOSE PREVIOUSLY EXISTING—THE PECULIARITY OF THE GOSPEL DISPENSA-... more » TION—THE FIVE GREAT FACTS OF THE GOSPEL—RELATION OF SINNERS, AS EVANGELIZED, TO GOD, TO CHRIST, TO THE ATONEMENT, TO SALVATION. In considering the relation in which men, as evangelized, stand to God, it must not be forgotten, 1. That it must be consistent with those relations, in which men, as fallen, stand to God, as these are defined by the terms, and determined by the breach, of the covenant of works. All men are " children of wrath " till John lit se. they are in Christ. It is as such the gospel addresses them, and such they shall continue, till they " repent and believe the gospel." The mere revelation of God's grace cannot alter the relation in which, as sinners, they stand to God, as Judge—a work of grace alone can do so. The light of the gospel only makes more manifest how lost they are. 2. That it must be consistent with " the purpose of God according to election;" for, while I cannot explain how the general proclamation of the gospel consists with the special purpose of God, I must not form any conception of the one which is irreconcilable with the other. There can be no warrant for saying, to all who hear the gospel, that God loves them, nor that Christ is their Head, or their Brother, or their Redeemer; for this would be utterly incompatible with the purposes and arrangements of the Covenant of Grace. 3. That it is the same as that which was constituted in the days of old, between God and those to whom the covenant was revealed. In its import and design, the gospel which was preached to Abraham, was the same which is now preached to us. It was then, and it is now, a revelation of the same cove...« less