SELECTED WRITINGS OF



became the duty of one as the administrator and the
other as the subject to observe this divine appointment.
Had their idea been that baptism was to be adminis-
tered to those free from sin, such an objection could
never have been raised. Here the word " righteous-
ness'" evidently refers to God's appointments in the
divine economy-the plan of salvation.
   When Peter went to the house of Cornelius to
break the bread of life to the Gentiles, he said: " I now
perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in
every nation he that feareth God and worketh right-
eousness is accepted of him."  Here " righteousness"
is something to be " worked." It is, therefore, some-
thing to be done. In it men are active. It is not,
therefore, a quality in God or man, but something that
enlists the activities of men. It is a plan by the observ-
ance of which men are accepted of God.
   Speaking of his own brethren according to the flesh,
Paul says:  "Brethren, my heart's desire and sup-
plication to God is for them, that they may be saved.
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God,
but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their
own, they did not submit themselves to the righteous-
ness of God" (Rom. x. 1-3). Here the righteousness
of God is contrasted with that of the unbelieving Jews.
They rejected God's, and set up one of their own.
They did not submit to God's righteousness. Here it
is clearly a religious system, a plan of salvation. They
rejected God's plan and tried to establish one of their
own.   In this they were zealous, but it was a mis-
guided zeal.
   In harmony with this idea of righteousness we un-



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