The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1908, Page 67

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‘Che Lutheran Pioneer.

67

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sight of God. And as we think of food when we
hear or see the word “eating,” so, whenever we hear
of justifying faith, we ought to think of the re-
demption that is in Christ, even if it is not always
expressly mentioned.

Not wishing to prolong this paper beyond this
present issue, we shall conclude it now with a few
brief remarks about living righteously. When a
criminal is pardoned, he does not imagine that he
has received permission to break the law. It would
be very foolish and sinful to conclude that this
doctrine of justification grants us license to sin.
By many passages and in various other ways we
could show that remission of sins is not permission
to sin. For instance, we read Ps. 130, 4: “But
there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest
be feared.” ‘The wonderful love that God mani-
fested in sending Christ into the world to save sin-
ners, and which He now manifests in offering us
forgiveness for Christ’s sake, begets love to God in
the heart of every sinner that repents of his sins
and accepts the gift of righteousness. We Chris-
tians know by our own experience that when we
meditate upon God’s grace in, forgiving us for
Christ’s sake, this does not teach us to treat sin as
a trivial matter, but it moves us to place ourselves
at His disposal, to do or suffer according to His
good pleasure. ‘The more we let our hearts and
minds dwell upon the marvelous grace of God in
Christ, the more fervent is the grateful longing:

Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, ALL for Thee.

J. Pu. S.

——__—__ -—_+ es _—_____

A Plea for the Colored Race.

By a friend of Colored Missions.

The Bible teaches us that God formed Adam

‘from the dust of the earth and breathed into his

nostrils the breath of life, and that all mankind
of every generation and of all races descended from:
Adam. It is, therefore, beyond doubt that all
human beings have one common parent from whom
all, regardless of color or condition, originate,
namely, Adam. ‘They all, without a single excep-
tion, are, like Adam, their father, in their body of
the dust of the earth and in their soul of the breath
of God.

Had Adam not sinned and had not Seoath
him sin permeated the entire human race, this
equality of birthright would have remained undis-

turbed. But sin and its punishment brought many
changes. However, notwithstanding these changes,
all men still continue to be dust from the same
dust of the earth and breath from the same breath”

. of God.

All this is true of the colored race in the United
States as of each and every nation of the world;
they are dust of the same dust of the earth and
breath of the same breath of God. We must also
remember that Christ, in His infinite love and
mercy, expiated by His suffering and death the
sins of the whole world, of every nation or tribe,
of whatsoever color or condition. He suffered and
died for all, and expiated the sins of one person
no more than of any other person nor of one less
than of any other. He redeemed them all alike by
the same infinite love and on the same basis of
equality.

But, say some, why do we find so great a differ-
ence in body and soul between the colored race and
the white?

As far as the difference in body is concerned,
we will, in reply, ask two questions: Why have not
all flowers the same color? Why have not all trees
the same height? The reply is: Because it pleased
God to make them thus. To Him one flower is as
precious as the other, the short, .stumpy tree as
dear and favored as the tallest giant tree; to Him
the colored race is as beloved and precious as any
other race of any other color or condition; -He
loves all His creatures alike and pays no respect
to their personal appearance; they are all equally.
dear to Him. ae!

But, says the skeptic, what about the difference
in the soul and its powers between the colored race
and the white? :

We reply: There is no difference in the-soul
and its ability between the white and the colored
race, except such as has been brought about by the
conditions, habits, learning, and training of each
individual soul; they are, each and every one, of
the same breath of God. The colored man’s soul
and its ability is as able to develop intelligence as
that of any other race if given the same training
from early childhood under equal opportunities and
advantages. Colored children six years of age have
learned to read in ten days; many have learned it
in two months, and the greater portion acquire it
in four to five months, all in the regular routine
of common school education, without special effort
on the teacher’s part. The same nay be said in
regard to other studies. ieee