Page:Darby - Christianity Not Christendom.djvu/12

 be accursed. As we said before so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which ye have received let him be accursed.”

He then goes on laboriously to deny any succession from the apostles; he had received neither the truth nor office from them: he was not of man nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. His adversaries insisted on succession in the ministry and ordination, but he indignantly repudiated it; but the main point which he declared was, the subversion of Christianity was the introduction of righteousness by works of law, or law in any shape: it was frustrating, setting aside, and making void (ούκ άθετῶ) the grace of God, for if righteousness came by law, Christ was dead in vain: that as many as were of the works of the law were under the curse. This was the great thesis of the apostle: Christ is become of no effect unto you; as many of you as are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. And what he especially appeals to in testimony of this is, that they had received the Holy Ghost as the seal of this doctrine of being justified by faith and not by works of law; the presence of the Holy Ghost and the way it came decided the question.

I do not question fruits of a new nature would follow demonstrating that the faith is real, and that the Christian has to shew his faith by his works, but never by works of law, the works which God delights in are alone those which are the fruit of faith; the christian is bound, and disposed if he is one, to do good works; you do right to claim them from him, but why? because he is a Christian first. People have forgotten the simple principle that duties flow from the relationships we are already in, and cannot exist for us till we are in those