1—Of Sin.

Under this head Scripture unquestionably teaches—" that all men, through disobedience to the will of God, in whatsoever way made known "—by the work of the law written on the heart (the heathen), by the Word of the Law, or Decalogue, inscribed on the Two Tables (the Hebrews), or by the Spirit of the Law recorded in the Gospel (Christians)—"are in a state of sin, and so are estranged from God, have come under just condemnation, are subject to the penalty of death and are unable to deliver themselves out of this condition." But Scripture likewise teaches that sin entered into the world by the fall of the first man, through temptation by the devil, that through falling into sin the first man's nature became prone to evil instead of good, that this proneness to evil, or moral degeneration, transmitted itself to his natural descendants, who all have been ushered into existence with an inborn tendency to sin, which in every individual has manifested itself in actual transgression. Scripture also teaches that as members of a fallen race, men are by nature objects of the divine displeasure, under condemnation, and children of wrath, and that the death to which they are subject in consequence of sin and from which they cannot deliver themselves is more than the dissolution of the body, is the perishing of the soul, by which is signified its coming short of everlasting life and its suffering all that is expressed by the phrase "the wrath to come." Whether this teaching is true or not, every fair mind must admit that it is the teaching of Scripture.

2.—Of the Work of Christ.

Assuming that a previous Article accurately and adequately sets forth the Scripture doctrine of the person of Christ, this Article on the work of Christ, as modified from the E.P. Articles, does not appear to offer either an erroneous or an insufficient exhibition of Scripture teachings on this important subject, provided the words "the demands of the Divine Nature" are understood to mean "the demands of all the attributes of the Divine Nature—e.g., those of justice as well as of mercy"; but if the words are designed to signify anything less or other, and, much more, if they have been framed with the view of opening the door to such interpretations of Scriptures as either deny or place in abeyance or leave out of consideration the substitutional, vicarious, and propitiatory character of Christ's sufferings and death, men, in my judgment, this Article does not furnish either an accurate or an adequate representation of Scripture. Even the last clause in the Article—"bearing our sins," etc.—is not sufficient to save its scriptural character, unless "bearing our sins "means "bearing their penalty," and "offered up Himself a sacrifice" signifies "gave Himself to be made a sin offering, or ex- page 34 piatory sacrifice"—both of which points are left somewhat obscure.

3.—Of Justification by Faith.

Here also the proposed alteration of the E.P. Article is unfavourable, as it leaves the remaining clauses which make up the New Zealand Article in a state which cannot be described as other than defective from a scriptural point of view. Without the words "solely on the ground of Christ's perfect obedience and atoning sacrifice" the New Zealand Article teaches nothing whatever about the objective ground or meritorious cause of a sinner's justification, but merely states "that everyone who through the quickening grace or the Holy Spirit repents and believes the Gospel, confessing and forsaking his sins, and humbly relying upon Christ alone for salvation, is freely pardoned and accepted as righteous in sight of God." Of course, if the omitted words are held to be included in those which remain—i.e., if "the Gospel signifies that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was made sin for us, though He knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, that He was set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood," etc, and if "relying upon Christ alone for salvation" signifies reiving not upon Christ's love, or Christ's promise merely, but upon Christ's finished work of propitiation, which is perhaps hinted at in the closing words of Article VIII., "through His obedience on our behalf," etc., then the truncated Article might fairly enough be accepted as an adequate presentation of Scripture truth; but if "the Gospel" means less or some-thing else than this, and if "relying on Christ alone for salvation" imports anything different from relying "solely on the perfect obedience and atoning sacrifice of Christ," then the shortened Article does not give an adequate representation of the truth, because these, as it seems to me, are the senses in which the words are understood in Scripture.

4.—Of Union with Christ.

No serious objection can be taken to this Article, as what it asserts is undoubtedly correct; but as an exposition either of union with Christ or of its consequence, son ship in Christ it is neither specially luminous nor remarkably full.

5.—Of Election and Regeneration.

6.—Of Christian Perseverance.

The omission of Articles on these subjects, by whatever motive dictated, leaves important departments of Scripture teaching undefined. No Creed which lacks a deliverance upon these points can claim to be an adequate presentation of Scripture doctrine.

7—Of the Last Judgment.

To drop the words "when the wicked shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal" is to page 35 discard what is perhaps the strongest and clearest pronouncement of Scripture on the destinies of men hereafter—a pronouncement, too, by Christ Himself, whom the Article declares to be the Supreme Judge at the last day, "before whom all men must appear, who shall separate the righteous from the wicked, make manifest the secrets of the heart, and render to every man according to the deeds he hath done in the body, whether good or evil." Some strong reason must have existed to move the compilers of the New Zealand Article to shut the mouth of Christ on this momentous theme.

8.—Of the Lord's Day.

It is not to be supposed that this Article is regarded by the Assembly's Committee as stating all that could fairly be deducted from Scripture concerning the Lord's Day or Christian Sabbath.

It cannot fail to strike the reader of the preceding lines how frequently the qualifying "if" has required to be introduced before a favourable verdict could be returned as to the adequacy of the particular Article to represent the doctrine of Scripture. In a theological Creed, to say the least, this is unfortunate, as it opens the door to "private interpretations," which may be as various as the persons who make them. However short and simple the Creed of a Church may be, it should be characterised by absolutely clear definition, so as to preclude the possibility of misinterpretation and secure unity of the faith among those for whom it is prepared.