The Law, Faith, and the Inheritance
WHEN God chose Joshua to succeed Moses, and to conduct his people into the land of Canaan, he said to him: “I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Joshua 1:5–8. “Is the law then against the promises of God?”—Not by any means. On the contrary, the law is the soul and life of the promise. The promise is, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” The law is the strength of promise,—it is itself a promise,—and on its stability and unchangeableness rests our faith in God, that he will do all that he has promised. So when the Israelites crossed the Jordan, they were instructed to follow the ark of the covenant of the Lord, which contained the law, and to keep9it well in sight. See Joshua 3:3, 4, 11, 13–17. Likewise when they compassed the city of Jericho, it was with the ark of the testimony at the head. “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down,” because the people were following God’s holy law,—walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Their faith did not absolve them from obedience to the law, but, on the contrary, it was manifested in their following it—walking in its track. Even so it is to-day; for the promise that was given to them is left to us. The inheritance of the land of Canaan, which is offered to us as well as unto them, is ours by the righteousness of faith; by faith which causes the righteousness of the law to be fulfilled in us. Though a nation should seize on the whole earth, and not have the whole of God’s holy law enshrined in their hearts, they could not hold it, except seemingly, for a time. The world empires of history have demonstrated this. They crumbled into dust, because they were not built on God’s law, and permeated with it. Righteousness alone exalteth a nation; not a modified righteousness consisting of custom and tradition, according to the will of the people, but the righteousness demanded by the ten commandments without the alteration or abatement of a single jot or tittle, and exemplified in the life of Christ. Why is it so essential that we understand the true nature of the inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed? Why should we know that the real inheritance was not the earth nor any part of it in its present sin-cursed state, but made new, and freed from every vestige of the curse, as Eden itself?—It is in order that we may, as we read the ancient, sacred records, learn the true lesson that they teach us,—that by the power by which God made the earth in the beginning, and will restore it again to its original state, we are to overcome sin and Satan working in our flesh, and thus be prepared for the glorious inheritance. All the deliverances wrought for ancient Israel can become ours in our struggle against sin. We shall overcome “as sure as the world.”—Present Truth.