Covenanter Witness Vol. 53 - Rparchives.org

crime."society."by preaching repentance, and very heartsearchingand definite he was. Christ Himself stressed thesame note. Peter's sermon at Pentecost led to thesame command, "Repent," while Paul declared thatin all his preaching he testified "both to the Jewsand also to the Greeks, repentance toward God andfaith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." The salvationaccording to God's Word involves repentance.The Fruit of ObedienceThe salvation of which the Bible speaks alsoissues in obedience. While we are not saved by keeping God's holy law, we are saved to keep it. The salvation which is according to God's Word not onlycancels the penalty of the guilt of sin, but deliversfrom its power. It not only means justification, inwhich the believing sinner is reckoned righteousin God's sight because of the righteousness ofChrist, but it also includes sanctification, in whichthe believing sinner is made righteous by the HolySpirit working in his heart. Thus we are led alongthe pathway of obedience.In this gracious process the Word is an important factor. Not only does it bring to us the offer ofsalvation, showing how it is provided and pressing ithome to the heart, but after the priceless gift is received the Word continues to nourish the newly bestowed life. It shows the high and holy standard Godexpects of us, but also reveals the Divine resourceswhich are available for us. It warns us of the snaresof evil, it guides our footsteps in the paths of righteousness, it encourages us by its promises, when weare downcast to press on with renewed zeal until weenter into the full enjoyment of that salvation, readyto be revealed in the last time. Such is the salvationwhich is according to the Word.The Crisis in the HomeBy Leslie R. Marston, Bishop of the Free Methodist Church(reprinted by permission from' the United Evangelical Action magazine \1/1U/5U)Some years ago J. Edgar Hoover declared thatcrime had so increased in America that our nationin a state of civil war with a crimwas then virtuallyinal army of 4,300,000 active enemies engaged in "apredacious warfare against Near the closeof 1947 he reported this army at 7,500,000. Aftersix more years of recruiting, its present strengthmay well be near 10,000,000.In 1952 more than two million major crimeswere committedan average of a crime approximately every fifteen seconds. This record surpassesall previous years, and is an increase of 8.2 per centover 1951. But crime statistics of the first sixmonths of 1953 predicted another record-breakingyear. Well has someone said that America has "aperennial carnival of And our annual bill forthis perennial carnival is estimated at fifteen billiondollars !The number of juveniles among the two millionarrests of 1952 is staggering. In 232 cities of 25,000or larger population reported in the 1952 Bulletin ofthe F.B.I, arrests of minors were : 13 per cent of arrests for all causes; 11 per cent of all arrests formurder; 35 per cent of all arrests for rape; 37 percent of all arrests for robbery ; 47 per cent of all arrests for larceny ; 62 per cent of all arrests for burglary; 69 per cent of all arrests for car theft.Disintegration of the HomeThe American home is in a precarious state. Itsdecline is directly and closely related to America'scrisis of crime. The increase in the frequency of divorce is the index of the home's growing instability.Whereas in 1890 there was one divorce to seventeenmarriages, now there is one divorce to only fivemarriages.Studies show that one-third of juvenile delinquents are from homes broken by divorce or othercause. J. Edgar Hoover asserts that the disintegra-October 27, 1954tion of the American home is the greatest single factor contributing to juvenile delinquency. Nor can weforget that juvenile delinquents grow into adultcriminals.But the home is disintegrating, not only fromopen breakdown in divorce, but inwardly throughdecay. Drunkenness and debauchery, immorality andcriminality of parents are influences that corrupt thedeveloping character of children. How often we readof small children, left in squalor and filth, withoutwarmth or food, perhaps tethered to prevent theirwandering; while parents, "without natural affection,"seek their pleasure in a round of taverns anddance-halls.At the other extreme cultured homes too oftenalso fail their mission, in consequence of which asurprising degree of delinquency is found in thehigher economic levels. Parents of wealth give luxuries to their children without love, and indulge theirchildren without disciplining them.In Mr. Jones, Meet the Master, Peter Marshall isquoted as charging that we in America have moremoney, cars, picture-shows, night-clubs, radio, television, crime and divorce than any other nation, withthe result that "the modern child is brought up in adecent, cultured, comfortable but thoroughly irreligious home." This indictment, we should say, applies especially to America's so-called "betterhomes.""Lovers of Pleasures"This citation to Marshall points to the root causeof the decay of the American home. The interestsdominating American life have become materialsuccess and present happiness. Moral and spiritualideals have been surrendered to the clamor of physical desire. The ethics of righteousness has beeneclipsed by the ethics of pleasure "Let us eat anddrink; for tomorrow we die." 263