Conversation 12

Mr. Wright—Come in, gentlemen. I was just hoping and praying you would come over this morning, for I am desiring to have a good talk with someone about the wonderful salvation of the Lord.

Mr. Truman—That is what we have come for. This is my neighbor Mr. Synsum. He has recently moved into our neighborhood, but he lives nearly half way between my place and yours, so you can claim him as neighbor, too.

Mr. Wright—I claim you both as neighbors. I have seen, you, Friend Synsum, pass on the road a few times, but I never had the pleasure of shaking your hand before. How do you like this country?

Mr. Synsum—So far, I like it fine, and I know of no reason why I should not continue to like it.

Mr. Wright—Is that the morning paper? What is the special news?

Mr. Synsum—No, this is yesterday’s paper. Are you interested in the history of our times? What do you think about preparedness?

Mr. Wright—I am a firm believer in preparedness. I wish all the preachers in the land would preach it from their pulpits. I wish every Christian would talk it everywhere he goes. I wish the press would send it out to the ends of the earth. You know “the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”* (1 Peter 5:8) I believe in being prepared—prepared to successfully resist him.

Mr. Synsum—Oh, you mean spiritual preparedness?

Mr. Wright—Yes, that is most important. Someday, the Son of God is coming again, and we know that death is on the track of every man. I believe in being prepared. “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”* (Matthew 24:44) Someday, we must stand before God in judgment. I believe in being prepared—prepared to meet the Lord.

Mr. Synsum—I understand your doctrine of preparedness; but people do not seem to be so enthusiastic about the preparedness you advocate as they are about the preparedness the President advocates. But what, in your estimation, must a man do to be prepared?

Mr. Wright—To be prepared to meet God, we must be saved—saved from sin. Jesus came to save people from their sins. He came to prepare us for a place He has gone to prepare for us. The place He has gone to prepare for us is a holy place. To be prepared for that place, we must be holy.

Mr. Synsum—Well, now, to tell you my view, I do not believe in holiness. For a long time, I have been trying to serve God; I have been doing my very best, for I wanted to be just right, but I have never gotten to that place where I could accept the idea that poor, weak, finite man can be holy and live holy. It seems to me, do the very best we can, we shall sin some. I know I do. I think it would be grand to get to a place where we could live without sinning, but it does seem to me that such a place is not this side of heaven.

Mr. Wright—Merely because I cannot comprehend all that the scientists say about the nature of light, of sound, of the distance of the stars, etc., would be, do you not thank, an unwise reason for me to say that what they say is not true and discredit it? I believe some things that I cannot comprehend because in the light of reason I know they must be true. But holiness is plainly taught in the Bible.

Mr. Synsum—I know that it is, but I cannot believe it to be a holiness that is not in the least alloyed with sin. It seems to me that what Jesus would call a holy life for us is one that has sin in it, but in which we strive against sin as much as we can. I am living a holy life as I understand holiness. I am not able to believe that man can attain to such holiness as is free from all sin in this life.

Mr. Wright—You must be aware that sin and holiness are directly opposite in their nature. They are as directly opposite as heat and cold, light and darkness. Holiness is an element, or characteristic, found in the nature of God. Sin is an element, or characteristic, found in the nature of the devil. There is not the least atom of sin in the nature of God. Do you think there is?

Mr. Synsum—No; I do not. I believe that God is absolutely and perfectly holy.

Mr. Wright—Neither is holiness found in the nature of the devil. How can a combination of such unlike, antagonistic natures rule in a man’s heart, and we call him “Christian”?

Surely we can be made holy; we can be made free from all sin; we can be in the image of God. I will read you a text from the Book: “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”* (Ephesians 4:24) “True holiness” is pure holiness—holiness without the least alloy of sin. The words, “after God,” in the above texts means in the likeness of God. The new man that we put on when we become Christians, with respect to righteousness and holiness is in the likeness of God.

Mr. Synsum—There is a text that I do not see how you can harmonize with your teaching. It is this: “He that saith he liveth and sinneth not is a liar and the truth is not in him.”

Mr. Truman—Well, how astonishing! That quotation or rather misquotation, seems to be worldwide. I have never met a man who believed that we must sin more or less through life but who would quote those words, believing them to be Scripture.

Mr. Synsum—Do you mean to say that they are not Scripture?

Mr. Truman—Yes, that is what I mean to say. For a long time, I thought those words were in the Bible, but I have found they are not.

Mr. Synsum—That surprises me. Well, what will you do with these words? “We are all sinners by nature and much more so by practise”—that is Bible.

Mr. Wright—You will take no offense, I trust, if I call that in question?

Mr. Synsum—Call what in question?

Mr. Wright—That those words are to be found in the Bible. I am sure, my dear friend, they are not to be found in God’s Holy Book. However, they are true of all, sometime in life. I was once a sinner by nature, and I was much more so practise, but I quit the practise, and God saved me both from sin and the nature of sin; and now I am not a sinner by nature nor by practise.

Mr. Synsum—If those words I have been quoting are not to be found in the Bible, I have for a long time been misinformed. I have heard them quoted all my life, and I am not yet ready to believe they are not Scripture. I shall look for myself.

Mr. Wright—A very wise thing to do.

Mr. Synsum—We all know well enough that Paul said, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” Now, tell me what he meant if he did not mean that he was saved—was a Christian—yet sinned more or less.

Mr. Wright—Again I am very sorry to doubt you, but I am very certain that those words are not the words of Paul.

Mr. Synsum—Who, then, was it that used them?

Mr. Wright—I do not know. It must have been a writer of later date than the Bible, because I never read such words in the writings of any of the apostles.

Mr. Synsum—Do you mean to say that such words are not in the Bible?

Mr. Wright—I am quite sure that such an expression is not in the Bible.

Mr. Synsum—I will determine that for myself by a thorough search.

Mr. Wright—Let us look for a moment at the unreasonableness of such a testimony. Suppose here is a man who is a slave to tobacco. He tries to free himself, but tries in vain. He hears of the silver-nitrate cure. He resolves to try it. He does so and testifies that he is cured—that he is saved from the tobacco habit. But we see him afterward using tobacco more or less. You say to him, “I thought you said you were saved from the tobacco habit?”

He replies, “So I am. I am a tobacco user saved by the silver-nitrate cure.” What would you think of such a salvation, Mr. Synsum?

Mr. Synsum—I would think there was no salvation to it.

Mr. Wright—So here is a man who is under the bondage of sin. He tries to free himself, but tries in vain. He hears of the grace cure. He resolves to try it. He does so and testifies that he is cured—that he is saved from sin. But we see him afterward sinning more or less. You say to him, “I thought you said you were saved from sin?” He replies, “So I am; I am a sinner saved by grace.” What would you think of such a salvation? You are compelled to answer in the same words you used in reference to the tobacco user that was saved by the silver-nitrate cure: “There is no salvation to it.”

Mr. Synsum—I have been looking through your Bible here, and I have found a text that reads something like the first one I quoted, though not exactly.

Mr. Wright—Read it, please.

Mr. Synsum—“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” That is in 1 John 1:8. I would like to hear what you would have to say about that text to prevent it contradicting your holy-living theory; but I have stayed now longer than I intended so must wait your explanation until I come again.

Mr. Wright—I have a little booklet here entitled, “A Religious Controversy,” that will explain that text and a number of others which, standing apart from the context, seem to contradict the doctrine of holy living. I think when you have read that little book, you will be convinced that there are no texts in the Holy Book that condemn holiness of life.

Mr. Synsum—I shall read the little book. Thank you. Goodbye.