THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION.

HON. LATIMER W. BALLOU.

The Bible Doctrine of the Resurrection, and the character and condition of the soul in the immortal life, are, perhaps, the most important subjects and of the most general and intense interest of any which exercise the minds of men, and should be interpreted in such manner by Christian believers as to be in harmony with reason and sound philosophy, the character of God as the loving Father, and of Christ the universal Savior, as revealed in the New Tes

tament.

Aside from those miracles of our Savior in proof of his Divine mission, in raising some persons from death and restoring them to life, while he lived upon earth, there are two other changes spoken of and described in the Scriptures by the resurrection, or the passing from death unto life. One of these is moral and spiritual only, a change from sin to holiness, from unbelief to faith in God, and Christ, and immortality, passing from the control of the sensual and animal nature in man to the eternal life of his

higher nature as a spiritual and righteous child of God. The other is a resurrection from this mortal state, where death is universal, to a life immortal, in a spiritual body, that shall know no pain, nor decay, nor sin, nor death.

The first or spiritual resurrection may, and often does, take place in this life, by the forsaking of sin and doing the works of righteousness, by a change from a cold, indifferent selfishness, to an appreciative love of God and our neighbor, and is expressed in various ways, as "born of God," "born of the spirit," and the like, and in John 5: 24, where it is written, "he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life;" also in 1 John 3: 9, "whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, * * and he cannot sin because he is born of God;" and 5: 14, "we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren."

The second, or the resurrection to the immortal life, is very clearly stated and its condition described in

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Christ's response to the question of the Sadducees, whose wife the woman who had married seven husbands would be in the resurrection, when he said, as in Matthew 22: 30, "In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." And the same as related by Luke 20: 36, "Neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God being the children of the resurrection." And this is even more fully and clearly set forth by St. Paul in the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, where it is written, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. * For he must reign till he hath, put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. As we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. * this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up victory. * O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

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It seems very clear that these descriptions not only announce the fact of the resurrection to the immortal life, but embrace also the condition of that life, and that it must be free from sin as well as from death, for angels of God cannot be sinners and in heaven; and Christ says we are to be as they are, and equal to them. We are also to be "children of God, being children of the resurrection;" and Christ has told us also what he

means by being "children of God," and especially that we are like him in character. Thus he says, "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 5: 9.) Again, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven (44, 45.) And still again, "Love your enemies and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest" (Luke 6: 35.) And also St. Paul, in Romans 8:14; "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

Thus Christ's answer to the Sadducees, and St. Paul's description harmonize, and seem full and complete, that in the resurrection we are not only immortal and incorruptible, but bear the image of the heavenly and are as the angels of God in heaven, children of God, being children of the resurrection, made alive in Christ and can no more sin because born of God; and this is to be when the mortal puts on immortality, for then the victory over sin and death, the last enemy, is obtained through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The theory entertained by some that there can be no change in our moral character by a change of habitation from a mortal and sensual to a spiritual and immortal body, seems to lack any strong Scripture testimony to sustain it, which is strangely omitted if such doctrine be true; and it is remarkable that with such glowing accounts as are given of the resurrection life by Christ, and St. Paul, and St. John, that if there is such a tremendous drawback to its glory as the existence and continuance of sin, an evil so great that God sent His

only Son to suffer and die for its removal, that no mention should be made of it in describing the resurrection; and after portraying the condition of those who dwell in the "house not made with hands," as immortal, angelic, in the image of the heavenly, children of God, how incongruous the thought to add, "though retaining the same moral character." And the absurdity of such interpretation is even more striking when applied to the condition of those who enter the immortal life as described by St. Paul, which if without moral change, would be made to read thus, "It is raised in incorruption," in "glory" in "power," a "spiritual body," a "quickening spirit,"

"" in the image of the heavenly," though continuing in sin. "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory."

Even without this strong Scripture testimony of the great change in our physical and moral condition when the mortal puts on immortality, both reason and philosophy make it difficult to conceive how such change can be made in the former without a corresponding one in the latter; for the sins which belong exclusively to the physical body cannot exist when that body is destroyed. The spirit cannot be drunken, nor lascivious, nor sensual, neither can it kill or mutilate that which is immortal. the appetites and passions and desires of the sensual, material body must pass away with it. Food and raiment and shelter, so essential to the mortal, often exciting avarice, hatred, and war, will not be needed or desired by the spirit when it dwells in an incorruptible, immortal body. And unbelief in God and a future life can no longer exist when the infidel realizes that he has passed through death into a still higher life, and is

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clothed with a body no longer subject to sickness, and pain, and death, given by some power before unknown to him.

New surroundings, new influences, new associations, appealing to the higher nature in man, even here, create new desires, and those who go to scoff often remain to pray, and the profane and vulgar in the low saloon forget their oaths and vulgarity when they are gathered with the pure and refined in the home or the house of worship. How much greater must that change be when, amid the new surroundings and new influences of the spiritual home, they also are changed and born into the spiritual and immortal life!

I know there are those who will say this is fiat salvation, and that it makes death instead of Christ our Savior, and that it offers a strong temptation to commit suicide that we may at once be saved, as though salvation, if it comes immediately, must be in some other way than by the free choice of the individual. But why any more fiat by taking place when the great change comes and we enter upon immortality, than if made certain to take place in some indefinite period in the future, when man will cease to sin, and when "he cannot sin because he is born of God?" Just as the good mother cannot hate her children, or the loving son be ungrateful to his mother, or the righteous man violate the law of his nature by choosing to do wrong, and yet none of them will lose their conscious freedom of choice. reality there can be no fiat or forced salvation, for it is by attraction and not compulsion that men are saved, whenever and wherever that may be. It is by seeing the truth they are made free, and in this freedom they choose the good when they see that it is good.

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To know God is to love Him, for we then realize that He loves us and is always blessing us.

The babe that goes from its mother's arms to the immortal world unstained by sin, is not supposed to be saved by death, or that its pure soul must be polluted and blackened by transgression before it can enter on the upward and heavenly life, though death may be the gateway through which it will pass; and I know no reason why adults may not cease to do evil, see the truth, and begin to do well when they enter upon immortality, as well as babes.

Is it the pathway from the home to the schoolhouse, through which the child passes, that saves it from ignorance, instead of the light that comes to it from the new surroundings, the instruction of the teacher, and its own efforts when there? Was it the journey of Saul to Damascus that changed him from the most violent opponent to the warmest friend and ablest defender of Christ and his doctrines, or the light that shone round about him, and the voice

of the risen Savior who had been crucified calling upon him? If Saul had been struck dead instead of being made blind, and the light of truth had dawned upon him as suddenly and convincingly through the same influence in the immortal world as it did in this, would it have been death or Christ that saved him? Is it the door through which we pass from the darkened to the brilliantly lighted apartment that enables us to see, appreciate, and enjoy, or the bright light that shines all around and upon

us?

It is not death that makes man immortal, because he passes through it to the spiritual life, but the power of Him who is the author and giver of all life. And it is not death nor immortality that makes us holy, and

moulds us into the likeness of God, whether it be at our entrance to the immortal life, or an indefinite period afterward, but the light of truth and goodness and love from the Sun of Righteousness, shining upon the human soul, when it shall see through a clear spiritual vision, unencumbered by the senses.

It is difficult to conceive how Christian salvation, which consists in being freed from sin, and in doing the works of righteousness, can be a temptation to commit sin; for it is only by making salvation unchristian, outward, material, sensual, that which the Apostle describes as "meat and drink," instead of "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," that will tempt the suicide to enter an imaginary heaven by sinful means. The righteous man would

not commit sin to obtain a heaven of righteousness which he already enjoys; and the wicked man would not be tempted to do it, for he does not seek righteousness, and suicide would deprive him of the privilege of gratifying his sinful propensities which he ignorantly imagines will bring him happiness. He who thinks he can gain by deception does not wish to deprive himself of the power to deceive. The lover of intoxicating drinks does not want prohibition. The lascivious do not desire purity; and certainly a heaven of righteousness would have no attractions for such persons to commit suicide.

When St. Paul announced the doctrine that "where sin abounds grace doth much more abound," he anticipated this argument that some would use and say, We should continue in sin, then, that grace may abound; but he denounced the thought with the emphatic "God forbid, how shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein?" For being dead to it, there could be no inducement or

temptation to commit sin; and those who love the sensual will have no temptation to commit suicide and thus deprive themselves of the power to gratify those desires which they deem essential to happiness.

Probably wrong conceptions of what constitutes Christian salvation and who may enjoy its blessings, and when, and where and how those blessings may be enjoyed, is the fruitful source of most theological errors, and causes a vast amount of unprofitable labor, for although we are assured that Christ came into the world to save it from sin, the great majority of Christians to-day are taught and believe that his labors and sacrifices were principally to save men from punishment, and especially from punishment in the immortal world for sins committed in this; and yet Christ never speaks of saving men from the punishment of their sins, either in this world or the world to come; and perhaps there is no doctrine more clearly and emphatically stated in the Scriptures than that the wicked cannot go unpunished, for they declare that "the soul that sinneth it shall die," that "there is no peace to the wicked," that "the way of the transgressor is hard," and that "though hand join in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished." "Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world," but "the wicked

are like the troubled sea whose waters cast up mire and dirt," and "though he forgiveth inquity, transgression and sin, he will by no means clear the guilty." Such are the strong and emphatic expressions of Revelation, and there would seem to be no possible way to save man from the consequences of sin once committed, for the penalty is inherent in the law itself, the natural and inevitable effect of its violation, the same in the moral and spiritual as in the physical

nature of man, where the pain is coexistent with disease, and removed with it, and although they may have weakened and emaciated the system so as to require much time before it can be fully restored to its normal condition, yet the joy of growing health and strength will be immediate and continuous when freed from the disease which dragged it down, for it is the consciousness of improvement and growth from whatever position we may occupy that constitutes the joy and peace of the soul.

And as sin always brings suffering, and sorrow, and pain, so righteousness as certainly brings joy, and peace, and happiness, for "Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace," and "in keeping the commandments there is great reward." The pure in heart see God, and become like him, and are blessed; and nothing can deprive man of this blessing, for it also is inherent in the law of goodness, and righteousness, and truth; and thus sin will bring sorrow, and righteousness will bring joy, to the soul at all times and in all places and in all worlds, for holiness and happiness are inseparably connected, and vice and misery go

hand in hand.

We know that in this mortal life we are subject to conflicting laws, the flesh often warring against the spirit, causing the higher and spiritual nature in man to yield to the sensual and animal, thus producing sin and sorrow and death; and it is sometimes contended that the change which we are assured will come to all in the resurrection, has reference to the body only, while the soul will remain unchanged and continue in sin there even as here, and that purity and holiness must come through trial and discipline and gradual attainment there, and that it may take a long period of time before eyes.