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studies in the scriptures the path of the just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day series vi the new creation digital edition henceforth know we no man after the flesh yea though we have known christ after the flesh yet now henceforth know we him [so no more therefore if any man be in christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new 2 cor 5:16,17 2009

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copyright 1904 watch tower bible tract society brooklyn n.y u.s.a written in 1904 by pastor russell

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to the king of kings and lord of lords in the interest of his consecrated saints waiting for the adoption and of all that in every place call upon the lord the household of faith and of the groaning creation travailing and waiting for the manifestation of the sons of god this work is dedicated to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in god wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fulness of the times he might gather together in one all things under christ eph 3:4,5,9;1:8-10 n b this volume can also be supplied in the german swedish danonoerwgian french and greek languages.

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5 the new creation the authors foreword uch of the work of every servant of god is done in the dark that is to say like the weaver of a beautiful carpet we stand at the back seeing little of the results of our labors and trusting that in the lords due time we shall hear his well done and see some fruitage i shall be satisfied when i awake in his likeness nevertheless the lord has very graciously given us encouragement in respect to the influence of this volume in various parts of the world in the hearts of gods people the pleasure has been ours of hearing from many respecting the blessings received from a better understanding of the justification the sanctification and the deliverance promised to the church in gods word many others have told us of the blessings received from the scriptural advice given to husbands and wives parents and children in respect to the ways of peace righteousness and growth in grace many also have informed us of great blessings and aid in respect to the duties privileges and obligations of elders and deacons and the scriptural order in the ecclesia we rejoice in these things and trust that the good work will go on under divine guidance to the praise of our lord and for the comfort and edification of his people we call attention to the fact that since this volume was written the light has grown still clearer respecting gods great covenants we now see that the law covenant was a foreshadowing of the new law covenant which is about to be established at the second coming of jesus by the great mediator jesus the head and the church his body the antitype of moses who wrote a prophet shall the lord your god raise up unto you from amongst your brethren like unto me m

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6 foreword moses was merely the type of this greater prophet and the law covenant which moses mediated was merely a type or foreshadowing of the greater law covenant of the millennial age god raised up jesus the head of this great mediator first when he raised him from the dead since that time he is raising up the church as a new creation and when all the brethren of the body of christ shall have been gathered from the world through a knowledge of the truth and sanctified by the holy spirit and been found worthy by faithfulness unto death and all shall have been raised up by the power of god from the earthly conditions to the heavenly conditions as the body of christ the great antitypical melchizedek will be complete a priest upon his throne the great mediator of the new covenant will be enthroned in divine power then the new covenant will go into operation as god said to israel behold the days come saith the lord when i will make a new covenant with the house of israel and with the house of judah the antitypical mediator after paying over to divine justice fully and forever the ransom-price for adam and his race will assume full control and under that new covenant thus sealed will begin the work of blessing and restoring all the willing and obedient of adams race all who will come into harmony with the lord will be counted as part of the earthly seed of abraham until finally by the end of the millennium all exercising faith and obedience will be known to the lord as the seed of abraham in becoming that seed shall all the families of the earth bless themselves inadvertently the name new covenant which belongs to gods dealings with the world during the millennium has been used in respect to the covenant which is now in operation during this gospel age with the church our covenant of course is a new covenant in the sense that it is different from the jewish covenant of mt sinai but it is

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foreword 7 not the new covenant the churchs covenant is referred to in the bible as a covenant by sacrifice the keeping of these matters in mind will be of benefit to the readers of this volume all of these covenants stand related to each other all of them were represented and typified in abraham and the covenant which god made with him the church is styled abrahams spiritual seed and likened to the stars of heaven the world of mankind as they come into harmony with god will become abrahams earthly seed as the sands of the seashore the spiritual seed will be the channel of blessing for the natural seed the subject of justification has not changed but it has expanded and clarified if writing this volume today the author would make some slight variations of language but without any real change as respects the meaning and application of the word justification we now see that a justification to life is one thing and a justification to more or less of friendship with god is another abraham for instance and the faithful before pentecost were justified to friendship with god and to have more or less communication with him by prayer etc but they could not have full justification until the blood of atonement had been shed and until it had been presented to and accepted by divine justice the father just so the sinner today approaching god might be said to be in the way of justification he would have more of gods favor than if he faced toward sin we once spoke of a sinner in this condition as being justified because he believed in jesus as his redeemer and was reaching forward to a full consecration of himself now we see that while the sinners attitude like that of the ancient worthies might be styled tentative justification it would not reach the condition of a full complete justification from sin until the sinner had fully presented himself in consecration to our great high priest jesus and had been accepted of him in the

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8 foreword name of the father then under the covering of the imputed merit of christs sacrifice the sinner would be acceptable to the father under christs robe and begotten of the holy spirit fortunate it is for the masses who have heard of jesus and partially believed that their standing with the lord is not that of full justification that he refuses to fully justify any until they have become by covenant his disciples his footstep followers this is because justification can come only once to each individual and if he should misuse that justification and fail to get eternal life he would be in a worse state than if he had never been justified if not justified and spirit-begotten in the present time he is not of the church but will have a share in the merit of christs sacrifice and in the justification which his kingdom will offer to every member of the human family aside from the church the church receiving that better thing which god hath in reservation for them that love him glory honor immortality the divine nature to many it would not seem worth-while to mention these fine distinctions upon the subject of justification and yet having received this clearer appreciation of the divine plan we have pleasure in passing it on to all who hunger and thirst after righteousness to all bible students everywhere may the lord continue to bless this volume to the good of his people is the prayer of the author charles t russell brooklyn n.y october 1 1916

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9 contents study i page 17 in the beginning various beginnings the earth was a creative week for its ordering the length of the epoch-days prof danas admission of unwarranted speculations by scientists persistency of species refutes evolution theory mr darwins pigeons a theory of cosmogony loyal testimonies of profs silliman and dana the first creative epoch-day the second ditto the third ditto the fourth ditto the fifth ditto the sixth ditto man the lord of earth created in the dawning of the seventh epoch summary of meeting place of geology and history by sir j w dawson ll.d f.r.s the seventh epoch-day of the creative week its length its rest its object and result the grand jubilee celestial and terrestrial due at its close study ii page 59 the new creation the new creation separate and distinct from all others why chosen from amongst the human creation rather than from others the object of its election present and future missions how begotten and born to the new nature the close relationship of all its members with each other and with their captain head and bridegroom development and tests of membership the sixth or spiritual sense of the new creation for the discernment of spiritual things by what name should the new creation be known in order to be loyal to the head and to separate from none of the brethren study iii page 85 the call of the new creation none but the called eligible when this great salvation call

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10 contents began a call to repentance not a call to the divine nature the jewish call the gospel call why not many great wise or mighty are called exaltation the premium upon true humility character a condition of the call world during millennium not to be called but commanded time of gospel call limited the new creation called or drawn by the father christ our wisdom christ our justification actual and reckoned justification differentiated does the new creation need justification the ground of justification justification of the ancient worthies different from ours millennial age justification christ made unto us sanctification sanctification during millennial age two distinct consecrations in levitical types neither had inheritance in the land the great company sanctification of two parts mans part gods part experiences vary with temperaments sanctification not perfection nor emotion who healeth all thy diseases necessity of the throne of grace how justification merges into sanctification consecration since close of the high calling the churchs salvation or deliverance study iv page 163 the new creation predestinated general view of election the correct thought no injury to the non-elect distinction between elect and very elect there is a sin unto death a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god the great company their robes washed white in the blood of the lamb the elect vine and its branches various elections in the past none of these were eternal jacob and esau types jacob have i loved esau have i hated pharaoh even for this very purpose have i raised thee up god never coerces the will pharaoh no exception to this rule god hardened pharaohs heart the nation of israel elected what advantage then hath the jew much every way the elect new creation significance of grace illustration of the kings own predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son called ones according to his purpose qualifications and characteristics of called ones if god be for us paraphrase of the apostles argument making our calling and election sure

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contents the racecourse i press down upon the mark knowing your election of god 11 study v page 195 the organization of the new creation the living stones for the spiritual temple the nominal vs the real new creation the mystery of god and the mystery of iniquity great antichrists organization the scriptures trustworthy freedom permitted to the world and to churchianity order out of confusion in due time the ends of the ages the vine of the fathers planting the twelve apostles of the lamb paul the successor of judas number of apostles limited to twelve the apostolic commission the apostles strong characters the apostle paul not one whit behind the other apostles the inspiration of the twelve divine supervision of the apostles writings upon this rock will i build my church harmony of the gospels keys of authority apostolic infallibility objections considered one is your master the true church is the flock of god apostles prophets evangelists teachers the lords organization of the new creation absolutely complete he is also its superintendent gifts of the spirit ceased with their necessity unity of the faith once delivered to the saints unity of force antichristian bishops elders deacons true significance of prophet humility essential to eldership other necessary qualifications deacons ministers servants teachers in the church many should be able to teach be not many of you teachers brethren ye need not that any man teach you him that is taught and him that teacheth woman s province in the church women as fellow-workers let her be covered study vi page 273 order and discipline in the new creation meaning of ordination only the twelve ministers plenipotentiary clergy and laity choosing elders and deacons ordaining elders in every ecclesia who may elect

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12 contents elders and how majorities not sufficient various ministries a paid ministry discipline in the ecclesia mistaken calls to preach warn them that are unruly to admonish not a general order public rebukes rare see that none render evil for evil provoking to love the assembling of ourselves variety and character of our meetings doctrine still necessary opportunities for questions profitable meetings illustrated let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind funeral services tithes collections charities study vii page 349 the law of the new creation the giving of a law implies ability to keep that law the divine law as originally written a law of life could not be given to the fallen race redemption not of law but of grace law covenant fulfilled and new covenant sealed by the one sacrifice of christ sinaitic law to fleshly israel only the law of the new covenant the commandment under which the saints are developed new creation separate and distinct in divine relation and in covenant growth in appreciation of the perfect law running for the mark and standing fast thereat the golden rule the perfect law of liberty study viii page 379 the rest or sabbath of the new creation change of divine dealing dates from the cross the apostles preaching in synagogues on sabbath day no indorsement of jewish sabbath or system as binding on the new creation the building in which one preaches the gospel does not affect his message neither does the day origin of first day of the week as christian sabbath-its observance began long before the time of constantine nearly all the manifestations of the risen lord were made on the first day the general observance of the first day as a sabbath a matter for gratitude it is not however of divine appointment france and the number seven israels sabbath typical when the sabbath of the new creation began and how it continues.

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contents 13 study ix page 395 the judgment of the new creation jehovah the great judge of the universe all blessings favors etc are from jehovah through the son the new creation to be associates and joint-heirs with christ all power in heaven and in earth is given unto me the fathers judgment to condemnation of mankind already expressed the judgment during the millennium one of mercy and assistance the final executive judgment will be justice without mercy judgment of new creation during the gospel age new creation judged by the perfect law of love the supervision of the glorious head over the body with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged we should judge ourselves properly he that judgeth me is the lord the church should judge some matters if thy brother trespass against thee forgive seventy times seven times offenses against the church we must all appear before the tribunal of christ study x page 421 the baptism of the new creation baptism in the second century sponsors in baptism baptismal ceremonies of the church of rome infant baptism why introduced scripture testimony on baptism disciple view baptist view the true view baptism into christs death by one spirit we are all baptized into one body the baptism of fire symbolical baptism in water is symbolic baptism necessary the proper symbol who may administer it the form of words repetition of the symbol baptized for the dead study xi page 457 the passover of the new creation the yoke of egypt and deliverance therefrom in type and antitype the church of the first-born we being many are one loaf the memorial still appropriate who may celebrate who may officiate an order of service easter-passover extracts

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