Romans, and I and II Corinthians

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 Excerpt: ...in Christ fought, the one with the other, before a heathen tribunal for what they considered their rights. It is as though the apostle said, Do not invoke the courts to decide matters between yourselves. The Church is to judge the world; why, then, should the Church call upon the world to judge it? Even the Jews were taught that they must not bring their cases before Gentile courts for adjudication. Any violation of this teaching was regarded as blasphemy against this law. Further, the Eoman government allowed the Jews the privilege of bringing their grievances before Jewish rather than Eoman tribunals. Inasmuch as there were no Christian courts, strictly speaking, in those days, and all the judges were heathen, there remained nothing else for believers to do but to adjudicate their difficulties within the Church itself. But further, in bringing lawsuits one against another, they were not only injuring the cause of Christ and giving the world an opportunity to rail against Christianity; they were, in injuring their brothers, injuring themselves (vi. 7, 8). The litigants had overlooked the truth of the solidarity of believers. In the light of this great truth such litigation is suicide. The result of the sin of litigation, therefore, Is seen in its effect on the outside world, on the Church, on the individuals themselves, and on their relation to Christ. The existence of occasions for such lawsuits indicated a very low level of Christian experience (vi. 7); shows no confidence in the body of Christ (vi. 4-6); gave heathen tribunals occasion to gloat over the faults of the Church (vi. 1, 2); manifested an unwillingness to suffer for Christ's sake (vi. 7); showed a lack of faith in the justice of God (vi. 7), and a failure to realize the position o...