Christ" The grand question
proposed is, "Lovest thou ME?" Christian obedience is not obedience
merely to a code of moral precepts, but to Jesus Christ and "_His_
commandments." Christian faith is not faith in "mysteries," or things
unseen, or truths revealed, though such faith may be Christian, but
its essence is faith in Jesus Christ the living Person; the supreme
command being, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." The Christian's
hope is "hope in Christ;" his joy, "joy in Christ;" his peace, "peace
in Christ;" his labour, "labour in Christ;" his strength, "strength in
Christ;" his life, "life in Christ;" his death, "death in Christ;" his
immortality, "rising in Christ;" his salvation, "salvation through
Christ;" and his heaven, "to be with Christ!" On the other hand, all
that is evil and disastrous to the soul is summed up in being "without
Christ." To reject Christ, not to believe in Christ, to be enemies of
Christ, to despise Christ, to be ignorant of Christ, to lose Christ,
to be commanded at the last to depart from Christ--these are the
characteristics of the wicked and lost: for "there is no other name
given among men whereby man can be saved than the name of Jesus
Christ."

You will observe that I am not at present discussing what Christ has
done for us, but what, as a matter of fact, Jesus Christ claimed from
us and from all men, and recognised to be the religion which He came
to establish upon earth. I repeat it, therefore, that whether these
claims were founded on fact or fiction, whether the religion which He
taught was true or false, in accordance with, or opposed to, the will
of God, that nevertheless its sum and substance is _supreme love to
Jesus Christ_.

Now, if this, or anything even approaching to this, is true, my reader
will, I am sure, acknowledge that it is not possible to separate
Christ from the Christianity of the New Testament. The person and the
"religion" become, in fact, identical--so far at least that both must
be received or rejected. That a code of morals may be extracted from
the New Testament, and Jesus himself, as its centre, be put aside, is
quite possible; or that the character of Jesus may be recognised as
a perfect example of what He taught, a living embodiment of His
"beautiful precepts," is also possible, without recognising His claim
to the supreme love and unlimited obedience of every human being; but
the question still remains, whether this "philosophic" or "rational"
syst