The Rev. Frederick Maser in a column in the Olney Times Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Mark the perfect man," writes the Psalmist, "and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace."

This is not idle talk or a pleasing fantasy. There is a real reason why the upright man finally attains peace of mind. He is going in the same direction that the entire universe is moving.

Jesus taught that goodness is at the core of life. Truth and righteousness are at the center of the universe. Holiness and love are at the heart of God. Our world, therefore, is being governed by a God of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

A person, therefore, who breaks the laws of God is like a swimmer breasting the strong currents of a wide river. He is trying to go upstream, against the powerful currents of life. No matter how strong he is, sooner or later he will grow tired and weary. He will miss the joy of life. He will be emotionally upset, unhappy, lacking peace of mind or gladness of soul.

The person, however, who is following the laws of God is as a swimmer who is swimming with the liver. Powerful currents are helping him. He swims easily, enjoyably. He is going with the stream of Life and is filled with joy and peace. Little wonder that the Psalmist, who saw life clearly and steadily, should write, "Great peace have they which love thy law."

The Rev. Lewis Emerson Maples in The Baptist Observer Indianapolis, Indiana

The purpose of the gospel is to shed light upon everything that would lead men to love God. At the same time, it is the main business of the gospel to shed light on everything that would help men to love one another. This is the end of all religion. Christianity is ... the truth about life. It is not to be mere doctrine or mere ritual.

The church will reach its highest vision-point in the ministry of the gospel when men can see the message of God, not as mere commandments which may be arbitrary, but as an unfolding of the nature of God. "Love never faileth."

A. Oechsner de Coninck in an article in Le Christianisme au XXe Siècle, Paris, France

[Translation from French] The question of healing seems today to occupy the attention not only of religious circles, but of all groups of society.

On the subject of healing, the Biblical accounts are explicit: it is the power of God which heals. In the wilderness the Israelites who had been bitten by fiery serpents were healed by faith in the Almighty, who directed them to behold "a serpent of brass" (Num. 21). The prophets Elijah and Elisha raised the dead through faith in the power of God (I Kings 17, II Kings 4). In the Gospels we find Jesus healing by laying his hands on all the sick who were brought to him (Mark 6:5 and 7:32, Luke 4:40 and 13:13, etc.), showing that to him sickness was contrary to the will of God. When the imprisoned John the Baptist became doubtful of the Messiahship of Jesus and sent his disciples to question the Master, Jesus by way of reply drew their attention to the various healings he had done and added. "The poor have the gospel preached to them" (Matt. 11: 5). Similarly, in his instructions to the twelve apostles (Matt, 6 and parallel references).

After his resurrection and ascension, in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and in pagan lands, in Caesarea and Syrian Antioch, the power of the Lord was manifest in healings: that of the impotent man by Peter and John (Acts 3); numerous healings effected by the deacon Philip (8: 4–8); the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Dorcas (9:31-43); the healing through Paul's ministrations of the cripple at Lystra who never had walked (14:8–20), and others.

Let us note also the practice of the apostolic church with a view to healing and to the forgiving of sins, in which the elders, according to James's instructions (5:14–15) prayed for anyone who was sick, "anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."

When the church was organized little by little through the work of St. Paul, we find (Rom. 12, I Cor. 12. Eph. 4) different ministries established, according to the gifts granted the faithful, and among them the ministry of those who had the gift of healing.

Dr. T. T. Shields in a lecture in The Gospel Witness and Protestant Advocate Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The New Testament abounds with promises to the effect that the life which God gives is eternal, it is everlasting. ... That means very much more than mere endlessness of duration. These words are used to define a quality rather than to describe a quantity. It does not mean merely that we are given a life that goes on and on and on forever; but that we are given a life which is, in its very nature, like God Himself, eternal, and is therefore not subject to death.

The life that God gives is of a nature which time has no effect on at all, It is eternal; it is the same kind of life that is in God.