Christ and the Law by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1915

Christ and the Law

By F. M. W.

THE law of ten commandments is an expression of the divine will. It defines the relations which should be observed by every human being toward his Maker and toward his fellow men. Indeed, the principles expressed in the law are the very outgrowth of these relationships. As soon as the first responsible being was created on this earth, it became necessary in the very nature of the case that the relationship of that being to his Maker should be defined. This is comprehended in the first four commandments. As soon as a second being was created, it became necessary that the relationship between these beings should be made known. This is clearly defined in the last six precepts of the decalogue.

The principles of this holy law were recognized before sin entered the world. They will be recognized after sin has been swept out of existence. Sin is a violation of these holy principles. 1 John 3:4. Sin caused a separation between man and his Maker. The atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ was to effect a reconciliation. Christ died to save man from the curse of the broken law, from the death penalty which the violation of the law imposed.

But the acceptance of this divine sacrifice does not nullify the law in the experience of the believer. The apostle Paul inquires, “Do we then make void the law through faith?” He replies to this, “God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin, the acceptance of him as the substitute to receive in the sinner’s stead the penalty of the violated law, shows that the law is a living, active force.

But, having been redeemed from the condemnation of the law, it is not for the believer to continue in sin in order that the grace of God may continue to abound toward him. Regarding this the apostle Paul declares: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Christ as man’s substitute not only paid the penalty which the law imposed by his death on the cross, but in his own life he met perfectly the requirements of the law of God. Rom. 3:21, 22. His death not only brings justification for the sins that are past, but through the impartation of his life the believer is enabled to live in harmony with the divine requirements. Says the apostle Paul in Rom. 5:8-10: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

We shall be saved by Christ’s life only as that life dwells within us. It is our privilege to say with the apostle, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” With this experience we shall be able to say of the law of God, as the psalmist declared the Lord would say of it: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

F. M. W.