THE
MINISTRY OF MR. F. E. RAVEN, 1890.
123
MUCH controversy arose over the matter of eternal life, which eventuated
in a separation among brethren often referred to as the Bexhill Division.*
With many, whose minds were not formed by the way the truth is presented
in Scripture, eternal life was regarded as no more than the assurance,
through faith in Christ, of never coming into condemnation, whereas
Scripture presents it, so far as its present aspect is concerned, as
a portion entered into, by the Spirit. It was in the mind of God for
men in giving His only-begotten Son (John 3:16) and eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord is presented as the gift (or act of favour) of
God in contrast to the wages of sin; Romans 6:23. In some scriptures
it is viewed as a portion to be entered into in the future, as for example,
Matthew 25:46; Mark 10:30; Jude 21, but in John’s writings, as
well as elsewhere in Scripture, it is presented as given us now in the
Son (1 John 5:11), to be entered upon in the Spirit (John 4:14), to
be sustained by continually eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking
His blood (John 6:54), and to consist in abiding in the Son and in the
Father (1 John 2:24, 25) and in the knowledge of the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom He had sent; (John 17:3). It is enjoyed in the
circle of the brethren, where love reigns; (1 John 3:13, 14). Timothy,
who, needless to say, was already a believer when Paul wrote to him,
was exhorted to “lay hold of eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12),
in contrast to desiring to be rich (verse 9). In the natural order of
things life is not mere existence, but consists in relationships, with
the
* This is
often spoken of as “the Lowe Division,” the leader of the
opposition to the truth having been Mr. W. Lowe. On the continent of
Europe the brethren who supported Mr. Lowe are sometimes designated
Elberfeld brethren.
124
affections proper to them, and interests, and eternal life has been
well said to be “an out-of-the-world heavenly condition of relationship
and being” in which the believer is given part. Peter declared
that the words which the Lord spoke, which He said were spirit and life,
were words of life eternal (John 6:68).
The following
letters, or extracts from letters, will help to set out the truth in
clearness. The first six are by Mr. J. B. Stoney, the next two by Mr.
F. E. Raven, and the last two by Mr. C. A. Coates.
*
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