"But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest [after] having
preached to others I should be myself rejected" (1 Cor

"But I buffet my body, and
lead it captive, lest [after] having preached to others I should be myself
rejected" (1 Cor. 9:27, J.N.D. trans.).

 

Here is a Scripture which has
often led many dear children of God to think that even the Apostle Paul himself
could be lost after having been saved. It has been said that if it was possible
for him to be lost then certainly it must also be possible for the believer
now. To escape this interpretation of this verse, many others, enlightened as
to the believer’s security through many other Scriptures (John 5:24; 10:27-29;
Eph. 4:30; etc.) have said that this rejection refers not to Paul himself but
to his service. Others have said that the word rendered "rejected"
simply means "disapproved." Let us examine the verse and see what it
really does say and what it does not say.

 

"But I buffet my body, and
lead it captive," The apostle says he buffets or disciplines the body. He
does not express any fears that he may not be able to do this.

 

"lest [after] having
preached to others" He does not say, "after having been saved,"
or "born again," or "having had eternal life" "I
should be myself rejected," but simply "after having preached to
others." "I should be" It is what he is, not what he might
become.

 

"myself" He does not
say "my service" but "myself."

 

"rejected." This word
"rejected," rendered "cast-away" in the King James Version,
has been said to mean "disapproved." Looking at this word in a Greek
concordance we find that this same word "adokimos" is translated
"reprobate" in Romans 1:28, 2 Corinthians 13:5,6 and 7; 2 Timothy
3:8; and Titus 1:16, and "rejected" in Hebrews 6:8. The reference in
2 Corinthians 13:5 reads, "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus
Christ is in you, except you be reprobates?” Here surely the reference is not
to the disobedient Christian but to a false professor. A look at the other
references will also confirm that the word "adokimos" is used only
for a false professor or an unsaved person. The word then in our verse cannot
be "disapproved," but "rejected" or "reprobate."
We have noticed that with surprising regularity those who interpret
"rejected" to mean "disapproved" also misquote
"be" substituting "become," i.e. "become
disapproved."

 

It should be quite clear then
that the Apostle Paul is saying that it is not enough for one to preach to
others:one must also buffet the body and lead it captive. What then does he
mean by buffeting the body and leading it captive?

 

The apostle had been writing, in
the preceding verses, of the athlete’s need for temperance in all things. The
athlete must buffet or discipline his body, not allowing it to control him. He
must deny himself ease and self-indulgence. This is a necessity if he is to
contend for a prize or crown, corruptible though it may be. Paul now applies
this spiritually to himself. Through the power of the Spirit he mortified the
deeds of the body instead of living according to the flesh (Rom. 8:13). His
life was characterized, not by the fulfilling of fleshly desires and
gratifications of the body, but by self-denial and suffering. "If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:and whosoever will lose his
life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. 16:24,25).

This then, I believe, is the
spiritual meaning of buffeting the body and leading it captive. There must be the
practice consistent with the preaching or profession. For it is surely possible
to preach to others and yet be rejected, and it is surely possible to profess
Christ and yet in works deny Him. But those who thus do are not those who
buffet the body and lead it captive.

 

What a solemn warning for those
in that day who were preaching among the Corinthians. Paul buffeted his body
and led it captive. Did they? And how much more solemn in our day as we think
of the many preachers whose lives bear a sad contrast to their preaching.

 

Paul, therefore, has in mind the
professor as he applies this principle to himself. He had no fears for himself
but for those, among them who needed this warning. This warning is also
continued in the verses which follow in 1 Corinthians 10, where the apostle
shows that outwardly partaking of spiritual blessings does not in itself
guarantee salvation or security. No! the only security for a soul is Christ
Himself. The soul that knows Him as Saviour need never fear as to his final salvation.
"For ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God. When the
Christ is manifested who [is] our life, then shall ye also be manifested with
him in glory" (Col. 3:3,4, J.N.D. trans.).

 

It is interesting to notice that
in the address to the Corinthians, Paul includes professors when he says,
"with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord" (1 Cor. 1:2). Before the epistle closes there is another warning:
"If any one love not the Lord [Jesus Christ] let him be Anathema
Maranatha" (or accursed at Christ’s coming). Such are the warnings to
those whose confession of Christ is false —both then and now.

 

May we then be more exercised
today to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him. The Corinthians
were seeking ease and comfort (1 Cor. 4:8) and in our day it is the same. May
we be content with His path of rejection, shame and suffering, knowing that we
shall soon see Him face to face.

 

FRAGMENT   The things by which
Christian fruitfulness are most seriously affected are apt to be, not so much
things positively evil (these, for the most part, bear their brand upon their
face, and the conscience, if it be not dull indeed, is roused against them); it
is rather the negative than the positive quality which is dangerous. It is
occupation with that which simply has not Christ in it, which (tolerated for
its very harmlessness) insensibly steals away the vigor of spiritual life.
Lawful things, as the apostle reminds us, may bring us thus under their power;
and even the name of "duty" may be invoked to cover with its sanction
what is in reality only the slipping of the heart away from its first duty to
Him who has redeemed and purchased us with His blood.

 

Our hope as believers is the personal return of the Lord to fetch us to
Himself, as He said, "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself"
(John 14:3)

Our hope as believers is the
personal return of the Lord to fetch us to Himself, as He said, "I will
come again, and receive you unto Myself" (John 14:3). Ah, that is it.
Himself coming is our "blessed hope," and Himself in the Father’s
house and we like Him, as He is morally (1 John 3:2), and bodily (Phil. 3:21),
our richest blessings.

 

Death cannot touch the
"blessed hope." Some are waiting with the Lord in His own immediate
presence; others are waiting on the earth for Him. Whether, therefore, we
"wake or sleep," we wait for the Lord to come. Death may change the
"waiting room," but not the waiting position itself. The sleepers
will accompany Jesus on His road to glory and the kingdom equally with the
living (1 Thess. 4:14). Jesus is "expecting" (Heb. 10:13), and if I
am called into His presence, I will wait with Him, for we are called to share
in His kingdom and in His patience (Rev. 1:9).

 

The hope of the Church is the
personal return of the Lord to claim "His own." He will come from
heaven into the "air," and with "shout," "voice,"
and "trump" gather His people from every land and every clime, from
tomb and sea. Not one redeemed through the precious blood of Christ shall be
left behind, whether alive on the earth or resting in the grave. All will be
caught "up" in clouds to meet the Lord in the air—our trysting-place
with our adorable Lord and Master  (I Thess. 4:17). Thus will the Christ
present to Himself His Church all glorious and spotless, without sign of age or
decay, holy, too, and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27; Col. 3:4). What is the hope of
the Bride but the coming of the Bridegroom? (Rev. 22:17) Now espoused to
Christ, what is her hope but to have the relationship of wife established? (2
Cor. 11:2, with Rev. 19:7) What a hope! Christ, will come personally to take us
to Himself, displaying His Church in the coming ages in joint-heirship over
creation (Eph. 1:10, 11), and forming in us everlasting bridal affections and
establishing eternal relationship (Rev. 21:2).

 

The hope of the servant is to
find the fruit of his labor in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His
coming (1 Thess. 2:19). "And now, little children, abide in him; that when
he shall appear, we (the servants) may have confidence, and not be ashamed
before him at his coming" (I John 2:28). The crown of glory will, on the
appearing of the Chief Shepherd, be set on the brow of the faithful laborer,
now toiling among the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:1-4). The crown of
righteousness will be bestowed as reward of service, and to all who love His
appearing (2 Tim. 4:7,8).

 

There are four crowns held out
as reward and encouragement. Every Christian will receive a crown of gold (Rev.
4:4). The faithful witness gains the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). The devoted
servant earns the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8). The crown of glory (1
Pet. 5:4) will be a rich recompense to the faithful pastor.

 

Heralds
of the grace and glory of the risen Jesus, may ye be ready when thy Lord cometh
and knocketh, to open unto Him "immediately" (Luke 12:36).

Evolution, man says, is a result of accidental changes (mutations) in
the genetic make-up of an organism

Evolution, man says, is a result
of accidental changes (mutations) in the genetic make-up of an organism. This
genetic make-up is the organism’s "blue print" which tells the cells
of the developing embryo what structures to make in order to become an
offspring similar to its parents. If an accident occurs such that the
organism’s blueprint is different from that of its parents, it will "grow
up" into an organism which differs from its parents. Evolution says that
if such a difference is beneficial toward the organism’s survival, the
difference would tend to persist from generation to generation. If other such
beneficial mutations occur, still more changes would take place, and over
billions of years, such accidental changes could result in the formation of a
man whose ancestry could be traced back to a unicellular protozoan. Such is
man’s reasoning as to his origin. The evolutionist thus attributes his
existence to accidental mutations. He exists only by chance.

 

But, man shows his own folly of
such faulty reasoning with regard to the question of differentiation (the
process by which a two-celled zygote is transformed into a child). The early growth
of a fertilized egg (the zygote) takes place by simple cell divisions which
produce many cells which are similar to each other. Hence we might suspect that
the genetic blueprint for these cells must also be similar. If this is true, a
zygote could never develop into a child, for the genetic blueprint would know
nothing of bone, muscle, nervous tissue, etc. But, we now could use the same
reasoning as man does with regard to evolution, that
is, "accidents" occur which change the blueprint as the embryo
develops, thus enabling it to form the complex structures of the body, just as
accidents occurred in the protozoan blueprint which resulted in the formation
of man. Such reasoning sounds utterly foolish, and rightly so. Man himself
realizes that such a complex organism as a child could never be thus produced
from a zygote merely by accident; yet, he claims his ancestry to be one of mere
chance. Man thus condemns his own carnal reasoning as to evolution by his
reasoning in connection with differentiation.

 

What a
contrast we have in God’s word, where the "fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom." Man apart from God can not even attain to this
beginning of wisdom. It is not therefore surprising that he is so far from the
truth so many times. God says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul" (Gen. 2:7). What a resource! What a rock to stand on in the
midst of man made follies which would say otherwise! We ought to hearken to
God’s word rather than man’s for surely the wisdom of
this world is foolishness with God.

A CHALLENGE

 

How could an amoral
process, evolution, produce a moral being—man?

 

There is not a maze
of falsehood, not an error by which Satan has deluded man, and kept him thus
from God, which is not met in the Word.

 

"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long
hair, it is a shame unto him

"Doth not even nature
itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if
a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her:for her hair is given her for a
covering" (I Cor. 11:14-15).

 

In nearly every New Testament
passage in which the word "hair" occurs, the underlying Greek word is
thrix, meaning hair of any sort. However, in 1 Cor. 11:14-15 there is a
different Greek word for hair which appears only in this one passage in the New
Testament. The Greek word corresponding to the expression "have long
hair" is komao. According to W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words and Greek lexicons by Bagster and by Liddell and Scott, the
word komao means variously:"To have long hair," "to wear the
hair long," "to let the hair grow long." The third occurrence of
the word "hair" in our text comes from a derivative of the same word,
komao, and also has the meaning of "long hair."

 

Since a single, special Greek
word is used here to express the thought of the hair growing long, it would
seem to imply long hair in an absolute sense. Now, many persons would like to
think of the modifier "long" as a relative term and would make the
verses read thus:’If a man have longer hair than have women, it is a shame
unto him; but if a woman have longer hair than have men, it is a glory to
her." But the alternative meanings of komao, "to wear the hair
long" or "to let the hair grow long," contradict this thought.
Thus one who has just had her hair cut shorter certainly cannot say she is letting
her hair grow long.

 

Some have also suggested that
God’s reason for specifying long hair for women and short hair for men is that
the sexes may be thus more easily distinguished. The Scripture nowhere gives
this as God’s reason. We rather believe God’s reasons are both spiritual and
deeper than so superficial a thought.

 

The spiritual reason why wearing
long hair is a glory to the woman is taught in earlier verses of 1 Cor. 11. It
all goes back to creation, where Eve was made from Adam, not vice versa. We
have this in verse 8 of our chapter:"the man is not of (that is, made
from) the woman; but the woman of the man." So in verse 3, "the head
of the woman is the man." The woman’s hair, given as a natural covering
for her head (verse 15), symbolizes her subjection to the man, her true head.
We read in the Scriptures that the woman’s place is a hidden place (1 Peter
3:4), a place of subjection (Eph. 5:22-24, Col. 3:18, 1 Peter 3:1), and of
silence and meekness (1 Peter 3:4, 1 Tun. 2:9-11). Her long hair, as covering
or hiding her head, betokens this bidden, subject place given her in creation.

 

These are days in which we see
women’s hair being cut off shorter and shorter and men’s hair styles tending to
get longer. Do not we correspondingly see women becoming less subject to their
husbands, and men giving the place of head of the household over to their
wives. How honoring to God to see a woman take her God-given place of
subjection and meekness. Also, how pleasing to the Lord it would be to see more
women let their hair grow long, both as a symbol to others and a reminder to
themselves of their desire to manifest their true place in this life. May
Christian men also be diligent to assume their God-given place of headship and
the attending responsibilities and keep their hair short as symbolizing this
place.

As a final remark it should be
pointed out that the covering mentioned in. verses 4-6 and 13 is not the
natural covering, the hair, but an additional covering, such as a hat, scarf,
or veil, worn on the head when one is praying or prophesying. "Every man
praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But
every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her
head:for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not
covered, let her also be shorn:but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or
shaven, let her be covered." "Judge in yourselves:is it comely that
a woman pray unto God uncovered?" (1 Cor. 11:4-6, 13). This double
covering for the woman seems to emphasize that she owns and acknowledges the
truth of her subjection to the man. A woman might wear long hair, as given her
by nature, without understanding the truth that is in this symbol. Thus when
praying or prophesying, the Scripture teaches that the  woman display the added
testimony of a covering, showing her recognition of the truth. The man, on the
other hand, is told in these verses that (in addition to having short hair) he
should remove any other covering from his head when praying or prophesying, as
representing his Head, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Where
there is spirituality, the heart finds a command in the barest hint and the
most remote example of the Word of God; where there is not, all the commands in
both Testaments would be in vain to form Christian obedience.

Some years ago there lived and
worked in Italy a great artist in mosaics. His skill was wonderful With bits of
glass and stones he could produce the most striking works of art, works that
were valued at thousands of dollars.

In his workshop was a poor
little boy whose business it was to clean up the floor and tidy up the room
after the day’s work was done. He was a quiet little fellow and always did his
work well. That was all the artist knew about him. One day he came to his
master and asked timidly, "Please, master, may I have for my own the bits
of glass you throw on the floor?" "Why, yes," said the artist,
"the bits are good for nothing. Do as you please with them."

Day after day the child might
have been seen studying the broken pieces on the floor, laying some on one
side, and throwing others away. He was a faithful little servant, and year by
year went by and saw him still in the workshop.

One day his master entered a
storeroom little used and in looking around came upon a piece of work carefully
hidden behind the rubbish. He brought it to light and to his surprise found it
to be a noble work of art nearly finished. He gazed at it in speechless amazement.
"What great artist can have hidden his work in my study?" he cried.
At that moment the young servant entered the door. He stopped short on seeing
his master, and when he saw the work in his hand, deep dye flushed his face.
"What is this?" cried the artist. ‘Tell me what great artist has
hidden this masterpiece here!" "Oh, master," faltered the
astonished boy, "it is only my poor work. You know you said I might have
the broken bits you threw away." The child with an artist’s soul had
gathered up the fragments and patiently wrought them into a wonderful work of
art.

Do you catch the hint? Gather up
the bits of time and opportunity lying around and patiently work out your life
mosaic—a masterpiece by the grace of God. God does not give many of us great
things to do; but it is the odds and ends of everyday life which He sets us to
pick up and make morally beautiful and glorious. "Gather up the fragments
. . . that nothing be lost" (John 6:12).

Are we
doing it day by day? When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give
an account of what we did with our life here, what answer shall we be able to
give if He asks us:"How many baskets of fragments took YE up?" (Mark
8:20).

As the Epistle to the Hebrews teaches, certain great truths which are
generally regarded as distinctively Christian were common to the divine
religion of Judaism upon which Christianity is based

As the Epistle to the Hebrews
teaches, certain great truths which are generally regarded as distinctively
Christian were common to the divine religion of Judaism upon which Christianity
is based. And as the opening words of Romans remind us, "The gospel of God
concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" was "promised afore"
in Hebrew prophecy. The most distinctive truth of the Christian revelation is
grace enthroned. That truth was lost in the interval that elapsed between the
close of the New Testament canon and the era of the patristic theologians. That
He to whom the prerogative of judgment had been committed is now sitting upon
the throne of God in grace, and that, as a consequence, all judicial and
punitive action against human sin is in abeyance—deferred until the day of
grace is over and the day of judgment dawns—is a truth that will be sought for
in vain in the standard theology of Christendom.

 

"My gospel," the
Apostle Paul calls it, for it was through him that this truth was revealed—not
the gospel "promised afore," but "the preaching of Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the
world began."

 

Even among men, the wise and
strong keep silence when they have said all they wish to say. And this gospel
of grace is the supreme revelation of divine mercy to the world; the silence of
heaven will remain unbroken until the Lord Jesus passes from the throne of
grace to the throne of judgment.

 

It is not that the divine moral
government of the world is in abeyance. Still less is it that spiritual
miracles have ceased. For in our day the gospel has achieved triumphs in
heathendom which transcend anything recorded in the New Testament. Infidelity
is thus confronted by miracles of a kind that give far more certain proof of
the presence and power of God than any miracle in the natural sphere could
offer— hearts so entirely changed, and lives so thoroughly transformed, that
fierce, brutal, and degraded savages have become humble, pure-living, and
gracious.

 

What may be called evidential
miracles have no place in this
"Christian dispensation." In the ages before Christ came, men may
well have craved tokens of the action of a personal God. But in the ministry
and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, God has so plainly manifested
not only His power, but His goodness and love toward man, that to grant
evidential miracles now would be an acknowledgment that questions which have
been for ever settled are still open.

 

No one may limit what God will
do in response to individual faith. But we may confidently assert that, in view
of His supreme revelation in Christ, God will yield nothing to the petulant
demands of unbelief. And that revelation supplies the key to the dual mystery
of a silent heaven and the trials of the life of faith on earth.

 

 

I
desire in Scripture not to explain but to receive, and in communicating, to say
what is there, not to add thoughts. This may seem a slight distinction, but the
effect of the difference will soon be seen in the formation of systems, instead
of actual profiting upon divine instruction.

A recent news broadcast closed with the oddity of a young man winning
second place in a girl’s beauty contest in Nottingham, England

 A recent news broadcast closed
with the oddity of a young man winning second place in a girl’s beauty contest
in Nottingham, England. His long, blond, curly locks must have appeared very
feminine to the beguiled judges and contestants. His gender was discovered by
his all male yell after taking second place—ahead of 27 other girls.

 

In various localities, last
fall, a number of male students were refused admission in both high schools and
colleges until their hair was shortened to the present fashions of masculine
appearance. We learned also that some schools are renting shaving equipment for
the bearded students as well.

 

Our attention was also drawn to
this subject by a book review of Fashions in Hair by Richard Corson. He claims
to have made an authoritative and documented study of hair styles covering the
last 5000 years and includes 3500 illustrations. Styles are depicted for
Egyptian and other ancient civilizations and continue up to the present,
confining the later years largely to western cultures. We wearied with the book
itself in noting that down through the ages about every conceivable length of
hair and style of managing it was in vogue at one time or another by both men and
women. Wigs were also worn, not only by the bald, but on top of healthy heads
of hair. In certain eras, the heads were shaven to accommodate wigs styled in
every imaginable contortion. Yes, Solomon aptly said, "That which is was
long ago, and that which is to be hath already been; . . ." (Eccl. 3:15,
J.N.D. trans.).

 

The hair, being epithelial
tissue, has not been spared the tortures of singeing, crisping, curling,
braiding, bleaching and what not! To manage the hair a host of preparations
have been used, varying from the bee’s wax melted and applied by ancient
Egyptians to the "greasy kid’s stuff" of today. The hair has been
decorated by sprinkling ground up gold dust, powders, ribbons, flowers—limited
only by the imagination.

 

The ancients had religious significance
also attached to hair styles. Even their idols had hair styles with imputed
meanings of good or evil. It is believed that these idolatrous practices
accounted for the law of Moses forbidding Israelites to "shave the corners
of your head round, neither shalt thou mutilate the corners of thy beard"
(Lev. 19:27, J.N.D. trans.). "After the doings of the land of Egypt, . . . shall ye not do:and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I
bring you shall ye not do:. . ." (Lev. 18:3).

 

Of Old Testament worthies,
perhaps Samson is the most famous of all with respect to his hair. In
accordance with Nazarite vows, no razor had ever touched his head, for he was a
Nazarite from his mother’s womb. Uncut hair pictured self-neglect in yielding himself
to the will of God. It also renounced his masculine dignity and rights, for the
long hair, even then, pictured the subject place, characteristically that of a
woman. It was a sign of authority and power on his head. (See also 1 Cor.
11:10.) From this place of outward weakness, dependence and subjection to God,
Samson derived super-human strength. This was lost, however, when his seven
locks were shaven breaking his Nazarite vows. No longer in that place of
pictured weakness, he became "weak, . . . like any other man" (Judges
16:17).

 

When the Nazarite vows were
voluntarily assumed for a time and the stated time expired, the Nazarite was
then to shave the head and put the hair on the fire under the sacrifice of the
peace offering. Thus he offered it to God when the vows were completed (Num.
6:18.) In Samson’s case the vows were broken and no such offering followed.
Jeremiah the prophet penned God’s word to Israel saying, "Cut off thine
hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away" (Jer. 7:29). Jerusalem, pictured as
leading and representing God’s people, was sorrowfully disobedient and wholly
unsubject to God. Her long hair (not literally) pictured a subjection that was
not real and true. Hence God’s word to "cut it off’ and "cast it
away." It could not be offered to Him.

 

In ages past, hair length
variations were more predominant for men than women. When the hair length
increased, since New Testament times, threats of church officials often rang
out against men following the trend of the effeminate fashion. Mr. Corson
noted, with somewhat muffled glee, that church rules served as only the
slightest deterrent to stem the tide of hair fashions. In fact, church leaders
sometimes followed the fashion lagging but a generation or so behind the pace
setters. Even in Christendom, where allegiance is professed to Christ, the hair
styles of kings and famous people influenced the vast majority far more than
the inspired words of Holy Writ. Mr. Corson also observed that if the present
trend holds, as it has before, we may be in for two centuries of long hair and
wigs for men.

 

In this day few realize that the
Scriptures regulating the hair and head coverings apply, although conversely,
as much to men as they do to women. If the historical record be correct, it is
evident that men have been in violation of the injunction specifying short hair
more than the women that of long hair.

 

The present popular styles find
the man with short hair, which is in agreement with Scripture, and the majority
of women cutting their hair with regularity so as to be robbed of that which
God calls "glory to her." There is, as previously observed however, a
trend among men toward "Beatle bangs" and the more effeminate curls.
Who knows which way the fickle cycle of style is turning?

 

God’s numbering of our hairs,
which none of us has ever bothered to do, shows His detailed concern about us
even in such matters as we might esteem insignificant or trivial. But, if He is
concerned as to their number, we are assured their length is also noticed. Few
issues in the Scriptures are more incontestably plain than God’s will about our
hair. Might it be that this issue, though confessedly a small one, is one of
God’s testing points as to our state of soul and subjection to His Word? The
Lord Jesus said, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful
also in much:he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much" (Luke
16:10). What is it that makes us think we can ignore these obvious, simple
things and yet humbly orient our lives in subjection to weightier matters of
faith, hope and love? We are persuaded that this trinity of Christian virtues
is manifested by obedience— the true expression of love.

 

And so, a sign of our times is
but a reminder of man’s rebellion through the ages. The natural heart "is
not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."