The Perpetuity of the Law by C. E. HOLMES

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jul 23, 1914

The Perpetuity of the Law

By C. E. HOLMES

C. E. HOLMES

There are many who claim that the fourth commandment was nailed to the cross at the crucifixion of Christ. Occasionally, however, we find one who distinguishes between the ceremonial law, which was fulfilled by Christ, and the moral law, which is eternal. One of the best statements regarding the establishment of the Sabbath and its perpetuity is made by Rev. David James Burrell, D. D., LL. D. He is pastor of the Marble Collegiate church, New York City, and president of the New York State Sabbath Association. Writing under the title “Some Mistakes About the Sabbath,” he says:—

“The first mistake made by Christian people is in supposing that the Sabbath law, as laid down in the Old Testament, was abrogated by our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Christ himself affirmed that he came ‘not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.’ The ceremonial law, in its symbols and prophecies, was intended to point forward to the coming of Christ; and at his coming it passed away, because it was fulfilled in him. So it is written: ‘He nailed to the cross the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way.’ But the moral law, as contained in the decalogue, is as eternal as the constitution of man. It was written in the nerves and fibers of the human system before it was transcribed on tables of stone. The fact that it was thus written on stone, if it meant anything, meant that it was to abide forever. It is difficult to see how any one could suppose that Jesus would select one of the ten precepts thus recorded,—and the very one which was expressed in the most positive terms,—and, leaving the others intact, abrogate that one.”—“Sunday Rest in the Twentieth Century,” page 205.

After quoting the fourth commandment entire, Dr. Burrell continues:—

“The opening word is significant: ‘Remember’! It is precisely as if God foresaw that the time would come when some of his people might say this commandment was intended to be only of temporary force, and thus forestalled it. Observe, also, the two illative conjunctions in which the rationale of the Sabbath is set forth: ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, . . . wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ The Sabbath is thus established

in the fact that God made the world in six creative days and then rested. This being so, is it not obvious that the law is of binding force so long as it continues to be true that God created the world in that way?

“If the Sabbath law, as thus formulated by God himself, were to be abrogated, it surely would not be done by his only begotten Son. Let me say it reverently, Christ would not have done this if he could, and, considering his relations with the Father, he could not if he would. He came into the world, ‘not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.’”—Id., page 206.