(Continued from page 75, March, Help and Food.)

In closing my review of Mr. W.'s article on "New Birth and Eternal Life," I will present his views and bring them to the test of Scripture; but I will first mention that in which we agree.

Mr. W. holds that eternal life has two aspects, that it is both objective and subjective. As to natural life he says:"Now, when an ordinary human child is born, the nature is in any and every case the same, 1:e., it is the Adam nature. As to its environment or development, you may have Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free -these form the environment into which the nature grows … We can rightly speak of different spheres of life into which the birth is the introduction. It is in this sense that we can rightly speak of distinguishing between new birth and eternal life." We gladly agree with all this, for eternal life is certainly viewed in this light in some texts, as, "The end everlasting life" (Rom. 6:22); "The righteous shall go into life eternal" (Matt. 25:46).

Now as to the subjective side, Mr. W. says:"Moreover, where eternal life is possessed, there are certain features delineated in the epistle (of John) by which it may be known.. .obedience, love, and righteousness are evidences on the subjective side of the possession of eternal life" (p.20). In this also we are in full accord. The Word of God speaks of eternal life in these two aspects-as in us, and as a sphere in which it will be enjoyed in its fulness. And how is this life received, according to Mr. W.? "Let it be remembered," he says, "that according to the Gospel itself, its own testimony, these things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, ye may have life in His name. The possession of life (and the known possession of it) flows from faith in testimony" (p.20). With all this we again fully agree, and also when he says that the "nature" communicated in new birth is "spiritual, morally of God, and so Divine and incorruptible" (p. 18).

There is, then, for Mr. W. a nature, which he calls "life" (p. 19), communicated to the sinner in new birth, yet apart from faith, and the same person comes into possession of eternal life when he believes on the Son; and that life is evidenced to others by certain characteristics, as obedience, love, and righteousness:that is, it expresses itself in these traits, by which it can be recognized by men.

Now let me ask Mr. W.:Has such a person two lives, two spiritual natures?-one received in new birth, and the other when he believes on the uplifted Christ?

Here are a few texts which teach that eternal life is a new vital principle in the soul of the believer. In fact, Mr. W. holds the same doctrine, as shown already. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life" (5:24, R. V.). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live" (ver. 25). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life" (John 6:53, 54). "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:14,15).

These scriptures prove that eternal life is a principle of life in man, by which he lives unto God. A person either has this life or is spiritually dead. It is either this life, or no life. But Mr. W. holds that a person without this life may yet be born again, and have the spirit-nature, which he also calls "life."

Now the two passages in John 5 teach that eternal life was possessed before the Cross. The hour "now is" proves this; as does also John 3:36. Yet Mr. W. says on p. 20, "It is only when He presents Himself as lifted up, the subject of testimony, that He speaks of faith in Him and eternal life." Mr. W. seems to have a system of teaching which prevents him from accepting the plain sense of these texts.

In closing I would say that we must either hold that eternal life, in the passages referred to, is the spirit-nature, which according to John 3:6 is given in new birth, or that a person receives two natures-one in new birth, and the other when he believes on the Son. J. B. Gottshall