The Faith of Jesus
Alonzo T. Jones
1901
Reprinted for the author by
Revelation Messengers Publishing
www.revelationmessengers.com
April
2011
Alonzo Trevier Jones
1850–1923
Alonzo T. Jones was a deep Bible student and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was born in Rock Hill, Ohio in 1850, and at the age of 20 joined the
U.S. Army, where he served until 1873. Following his baptism in 1874,
Jones acquired his knowledge of the Bible through personal study. He
became assistant minister to Isaac Van Horn shortly after, and the
two ministers moved to northwestern Oregon where they held
evangelistic meetings and organized churches. Jones later moved
northward to Washington where he continued this same work and, in
1884, moved to California where he became editor of a Christian
periodical. In 1889, Jones spoke before the U.S. Congress in
opposition to a bill that would require national Sunday observance.
The arguments used and set forth by Jones in the hearing he later
published in book form, titled The National Sunday Law.
Thus he became known as a prominent speaker on religious freedom.
Among his studies, Jones familiarized himself with world history, as
well as Biblical, and the prophecies contained in the Bible, and this
lead to the authorship of many written works on the subject of Bible
prophecy and their fulfillment as demonstrated in history. Jones
believed that the Bible should be “preeminent” among
those books studied by Christians, stating: “Nothing that is
not Christian can ever properly be brought into the education of a
Christian, any more than can anything that is not Christian be
properly brought into any other phase of the life of the Christian.
Therefore, the Book of Christianity, the Bible, must be the standard of Christian education.”
Publisher
Christ
kept the commandments of God: “I have kept my Father’s
commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:10. By His
obedience it is that many must be made righteous. “For as by
one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one [Christ] shall many be made righteous.”
Romans 5:19. But these are made righteous only by faith in Him, thus
having “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no
difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:22, 23.
All have sinned; and “sin is the transgression of the law.”
As all have thus transgressed the law, none can attain to
righteousness by the law. There is righteousness in the law of God;
in fact, the Word says, “All thy commandments are
righteousness;” but there is no righteousness there for
the transgressor.
If righteousness ever comes to one who has transgressed the law, it
must come from some source besides the law. And as all, in all
the world,
have transgressed the law, to whomsoever, in all the world,
righteousness shall come, it must be from another source than from
the law, and that source is Christ Jesus the Lord.
This is the great
argument of Rom. 3:19-31: “Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every
mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may
become
guilty before
God….Therefore by
the deeds of the law
there
shall no flesh be justified
in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the
righteousness of God without
the
law
is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe:
for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Then the question
comes in, “Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Notice, he has already
said that although this righteousness of God is “without
the
law,”
and by faith
of Christ,
yet it is “witnessed
by the law
and the prophets.” It is a righteousness that accords with the
law; it is a righteousness to which the law can bear witness; it is a
righteousness with which the law in its perfect righteousness can
find no fault: it is indeed the very righteousness of the law itself;
for it is the righteousness of God, and the law is only the law of
God. It is the righteousness of God, which in Christ is wrought out
for us by His perfect obedience to the commandments of God, and of
which we become partakers by faith in Him; for “by the
obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” Thus we become
the children of God by faith in Christ. By faith in Him the
righteousness of the law is met in us. And we do not make void, but
we establish, the law of God, by faith in Christ. In other words, in
Christ is found the keeping of the law of God.
This is shown again
in Gal. 2:17: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ,
we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister
of sin? God forbid.” To be found sinners, is to be found
transgressors of the law; for “sin is the transgression of the
law.” Then since the Lord has set His everlasting “God
forbid” against any suggestion that Christ is the minister of
the transgression of the law, it follows as certainly that Christ
ministers the
keeping
of the law. The believer in Jesus finds in Christ the keeping of the
commandments of God—the law of God. Whosoever therefore
professes to be justified by faith in Christ, and yet claims the
“liberty” to disregard the law of God in a single point,
is deceived. He is only claiming that Christ is the minister of sin,
against which the Lord has set His everlasting “God forbid.”
Thus faith, justification by faith, establishes the law of God;
because faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, is the only means there is
by which the keeping of the commandments of God can ever be
manifested in the life of anybody in the world.
This is yet further
shown in Rom. 8:3-10: “For what the law could not do, in that
it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh,
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
What was it that the
law could not do?
The law was ordained to life (Rom. 7:10), but it could not minister
life, because “all had sinned,”—transgressed the
law,—and “the wages of sin is death.” And this
being so, all that the law can possibly minister is death.
The
law was ordained to justification (Rom. 2:13), but it will justify
only the doers
of the law:
but of all the children of Adam there have been no doers of the law:
“all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
The law was ordained to righteousness (Rom. 10:5), but it can count as
righteous only the obedient: and all the world is guilty of
disobedience before God.
Therefore, because
of man’s failure, because of his wrong doings, the law could
not minister to him life, it could not justify him, it could not
accept him as righteous. So far as man was concerned, the purpose of
the law was entirely frustrated.
But mark, “What the law could not do, in that it was weak” through the sinful flesh, God sent
His Son to do,
in the likeness of sinful
flesh.
What the
law
could not
do, Christ
does.
The law could not minister life, because by transgression all had
incurred its penalty of death; the law could not give justification,
because by failure to do it, all had brought themselves under its
condemnation; the law could not give righteousness, because all had
sinned. But instead of this death,
Christ gives life;
instead of this condemnation,
Christ gives justification;
instead of this sin,
Christ gives righteousness.
And
for what?—That henceforth the law might be despised by us?—Nay,
verily! But “that the righteousness of the law might
be
fulfilled
in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
“Think not
that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but
to fulfill,”
said the holy Son of God. And so, “Christ is the end [the
object, the aim, the purpose] of the law for
righteousness
to everyone that believeth.” Rom. 10:4. For of God, Christ
Jesus “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and
sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:30, 31.
“The law is
spiritual.” But “the carnal mind [the natural mind, the
minding of the flesh] is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh can not please God.” Rom. 7:14; 8:7, 8.
How
then shall we please God? How shall we become subject to the law of
God? The Saviour says, “That which is born of the flesh is
flesh,” and we have just read in Romans that “they that
are in the
flesh
can not please God.”
But
the Saviour says, further, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Therefore it is
certain that except we are born of the Spirit, we can not please God;
we can not be subject to the law of God, which is spiritual, and
demands spiritual service. This, too, is precisely what the Saviour
says: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God.”
We
know that some will say that the kingdom of God here referred to is
the kingdom of glory, and that the new birth, the birth of the
Spirit, is not until the resurrection, and that then we enter the
kingdom of God. But such a view is altogether wrong. Except a man be
born of the Spirit, he must still remain in the flesh. But the
Scripture says, “They that are in the flesh can not please
God.” And the man who does not please God will never see the
kingdom of God, whether it be the kingdom of grace or of glory.
“Marvel not
that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” “Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see
the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God, whether of grace or of
glory, is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost.” Rom. 14:17. Except a man be born again, he can not see,
nor enter into, the righteousness of God; he can not see, nor enter
into, the peace of God, which passes all understanding; and except he
be born of the Spirit of God, how
can he see,
or enter into, that “joy in the Holy Ghost”?
Except a man be born
again—born of the Spirit—before he dies, he will never
see the resurrection unto life. This is shown in Rom. 8:11: “If
the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal
bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
It
is certain, therefore, that except the Spirit of Christ dwells in us,
we can not be raised from the dead to life. But except His Spirit
dwells in us, we are yet in the flesh. And if we are in the flesh, we
can not please God. And if we do not please God, we can never see the
kingdom of God, either here or hereafter.
Again: it is by
birth that we are children of the first Adam; and if we shall ever be
children of the last Adam, it must be by a new
birth. The first Adam was natural, and we are his children by natural
birth; the last Adam is spiritual, and if we become His children, it
must be by spiritual birth. The first Adam was of the earth, earthy,
and we are his children by an earthly birth; the last Adam is the
Lord from heaven, from above; and if we are to be His children, it
must be by a heavenly birth, a birth from above.
“As
is
the earthy, such
are they
also
that are earthy.”
The earthy is “natural”—of the flesh. And “the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;”
“because they are spiritually discerned,” and “they
that are in the flesh can not please God.” Such is the
birthright, and all the birthright, that we receive from the first
Adam.
But, thank the Lord,
“as is the
heavenly
such are they also that are heavenly.” The heavenly is
spiritual; He is “a life-giving Spirit;” and the
spiritual man receives the things of the Spirit of God, because they
are spiritually discerned. He can please God because he is not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit; for the Spirit of God dwells in him. He is,
and can be, subject to the law of God, because the carnal mind is
destroyed, and he has the mind of Christ, the heavenly.
Such is the
birthright of the last Adam, the one from above. And all the
privileges, the blessings, and the joys of this birthright are ours
when we are born from above. “Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born from above.” “Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born from above, he can not see the kingdom of
God.” With the argument of this paragraph, please study 1 Cor.
15:45-48; John 3:3-8; 1 Cor. 3:11-16; Rom. 8:5-10.
“
If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17. As a
new creature he lives a new life, and life of faith. “The life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” But it is a faith that
works; for without works faith is dead.
In Christ nothing avails but a new creation; he lives by faith; it is a
faith that works, and the work is the
keeping of the
commandments
of God.
Thus saith the Scripture:—
“In
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision, but a
new creature.”
Gal. 6:15.
“In
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision; but faith
which worketh by love.”
Gal. 5:6.
“Circumcision
is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the
keeping of the commandments of God.”
1 Cor. 7:19.
Again: it is “faith
which worketh by love,” that avails; and “this is the
love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3. And
“love is the fulfilling of the law.” Rom. 13:10.
Therefore, in Christ Jesus the faith that avails is the faith that
keeps the commandments of God, the faith that fulfills the law of
God.
Once more: “We
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph.
2:10. “Created in Christ Jesus,” is to be made a “new
creature” in Christ Jesus. But we are created in Him “unto
good works,” and these good works are those which God hath
before
ordained that we should walk in them.
That is to say, God
before ordained good works in which we should walk. But we have not
walked in them. Now He creates us anew in Christ, so that we may walk
in these good works in which before we failed to walk. These good
works are the commandments, the law, of God. These commandments
express the whole duty of man, but man has failed to do his duty;
“for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
But now Christ is manifested to take away our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness, “that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21.
We
are made new creatures in Him, that in Him and by Him we may perform
acceptable service, and do the duty (keep the commandments of God),
which before we failed to do, and which, out
of Christ,
all must ever fail to do. For He Himself said, “Without me ye
can do nothing.” This is according to that which we have before
shown: “What the law could not do,” “God sending
His own Son” did, “that the righteousness of the law
might
be
fulfilled
in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3,
4.
This article was taken out of the book,
The Great Nations of To-day,
written in 1901 by Alonzo T. Jones. It can be found in the 21st
chapter of that book, under the same original title:
The Faith of Jesus.
The entire chapter, including original grammatical emphasis and
paragraph breaks, has been republished in this booklet.
Additional Study Materials Available
The New Covenant and The Law
The Spirit of God
The Importance of Understanding and Keeping God’s Commandments
(According to the
Scriptures)*
Enter His Rest
Sunday (the first day) in the New Testament*
A treatise on God’s Sabbath
The Law before Sinai
The True Israel of God**
The Rusty Woomer Story (Bill Stringfellow)*
What Denomination Should I join? (Lynnford Beachy)
Christ Reflected (Alonzo T. Jones)
What Must I Do To Be Saved…?
Changed By The Spirit
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
A Need For Heavenly Enlightenment
The Dangers of the Cares of Life
Living for Christ and Keeping His Work
An Investigation of the Scriptures on Truth and its Importance
Anathema Maranatha
The God of Our Fathers
Hidden Truth
Take Your Stand and Fight
By Beholding We Become Changed
Baalmass and Pagan Easter (L. B. Brunk)
Christ In You (Lynnford Beachy)
*Available in Polish **Available in Spanish
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Holy Spirit. The law cannot save; it only condemns those who
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Conversion means change. Christian reform means to repent, abandon
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