Monday, October 14, 2024

Insights from C. I. Scofield on Luke 10:25

C. I. SCOFIELD
"A lawyer has asked Christ what he has to do, and He turns him to the law, not as the way to be saved, but the answer to his condition. The man gives the summary of the law as love to God and his neighbor, and Christ says, 'Thou hast answered right.' But we are not saved by right answers or a correct creed, but by Christ's work. The law is something to do, not to talk about. 'The man that doeth these things shall live by them.' [Gal. 3:12.] But he is willing to justify himself, instead of letting God do it, and the law never serves that end, but condemns us. ['For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.' Rom. 3:20.] There never will be in the universe such a thing as an unjudged sin, either in ourselves or in our Substitute. [Sin's penalty must be paid: 'For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Rom. 6:23.] Grace is the basis of all our blessing, and grace is 'getting everything for nothing.' We have here three things: 

   1. Grace comes to the sinner where he is
   2. [Grace] saves the sinner as he is.
   3. [Grace] cares for him to the end.

How beautiful to note that if this man went down to Jericho, Jesus came up from Jericho in His last journey to the cross. [The man's works could not avail; whereas Jesus did it all! He 'saves to the uttermost'! Heb. 7:25.] The man does nothing, can do nothing, has not to lift himself up on his elbows; all is done for him--saved where he is, then kept by the way, and cared for to the end."[1]


Reference: 

[1] C. I. Scofield, Goodly Portions, Vol. IV, No. 10 (October 1892), pg. 74, brackets added.

1 comment:

Jonathan Perreault said...

I added this comment on the Brethren Archive website in regards to the misspelling of Scofield's name in the 1892 "Goodly Portions" article:

This is most definitely the C. I. Scofield of Reference Bible fame. The wording and insights are classic Scofield. Also, concerning the misspelling of his name ("Schofield" instead of Scofield), I've noticed this same misspelling elsewhere: mainly in news briefs or headlines from newspapers during his lifetime, such as the local St. Louis and Dallas papers from the 1880s - 1890s. At that time, Scofield did not yet have the notoriety and fame that he has today, so it's understandable to see reporters/writers slightly misspelling his name by adding an "h" (phonetic spelling). Incidentally, I've noticed that ChatGPT often misspells Scofield's name the same way: by adding the "h". It's just one of those things. But yes, this "C. I. Schofield" is none other than C. I. Scofield: the editor of the Scofield Reference Bible.

The link to the article is here:
https://www.brethrenarchive.org/periodicals/exclusive-section-north-american/goodly-portions/items/some-extracts-from-goodly-portions/