p. 9 | Here Are They That Keep the Commandments of God

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 19, 1909

“Here Are They That Keep the Commandments of God”

By George I. Butler

GEORGE I. BUTLER

Here we have another specification which will characterize the believers developed by the third angel’s message of Rev. 14: 9-12. What are the commandments of God here referred to? We answer, with perfect certainty, that the term “commandments of God” must clearly refer to the decalogue,—the ten commandments. These were spoken by God from Mount Sinai with a voice which shook the earth, and were written with his own finger upon the imperishable tablets of stone,—an honor conferred upon no other document under heaven: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” Ex. 24: 12. These ten commandments, therefore, themselves constitute a law. God calls them that. In the typical system they alone were placed in the ark, under the mercy-seat, over which the wings of the cherubim were spread, the typical representation of the throne of God, from which mercy and forgiveness come. Other laws were given, but no other law had such honor as was placed upon the decalogue.

The ten commandments are a summary of the moral law. Scores of texts of Scripture teach the truthfulness of this statement. For fifteen centuries all Christians have admitted it in their articles of faith, catechisms, etc. Some, however, claim that the fourth commandment was abolished by Christ, and that another day was substituted for the Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the weekly cycle.

What does our Saviour say in his great inaugural address, the sermon on the mount?—“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled [“accomplished,” American Revised Version]. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5: 17-19.

These words will forever stand as most conclusive evidence that the moral law is perpetual in its duration. As long as heaven and earth remain, not a letter or point of a letter will be removed from it. The context demonstrates that our Saviour was speaking of the ten commandments, because he quotes two of them in close connection: “Thou shalt not kill,” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

The apostle upheld in the strongest possible language the obligation of the law of God, even as Christ did: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Rom. 3: 19. In the verse following, Paul says, “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” John says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4. All have sinned,—broken the law,—and the moral law therefore condemns all mankind,—condemns them because they have broken God’s commandments; hence they must have a Saviour, or all are forever lost. By the law is the knowledge of sin; by the gospel is the cure for sin. Sin, or the breaking of God’s law, causes all the woe, sorrow, and curse of this wicked world. Therefore God’s law will stand and testify against sin as long as the world lasts. Not a letter of it has passed away: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3: 31. To establish is to make firm, immovable. The law then stands as a whole,—every commandment, every word, every letter, every point of a letter: “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7: 12, 14.

The law and its principles search every heart, and condemn all the transgressors thereof. The keeping of the ten commandments is one of the conditions of our final salvation: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22: 14. These words especially apply at the time when Christ is about to come; for in close connection we find this text: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”

This is not saying that we are saved by works, or that of ourselves we can keep the commandments of God. We can of our own selves do nothing. The law can not save; it can only point out the wrong. The gospel through faith in Christ furnishes the only remedy for sin. To every repentant soul Christ gives pardon full and free. He changes the sinful heart, imparts a new spirit and a new life, and writes upon the tablets of that regenerated heart his own law. Then in the joy of his new-found experience, his child exclaims, as did David of old, “How love I thy law.” The keeping of the commandments is accomplished by the power of the indwelling Saviour. The disciple gives proof of his love and loyalty by walking in the paths of obedience. We are saved by faith without the works of the law, but we are saved by a faith that works, by a faith which demonstrates its life and genuineness by walking in the footsteps of our blessed Example. Keeping the law does not put Christ into the heart, he enters the heart through faith; but Christ in the heart and controlling the life, says: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40: 8.

Hence the keeping of God’s commandments is a most important matter. The third angel’s message declares, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” This is one of the most prominent marks which will identify the last gospel church on earth. What is it to keep the commandments of God?—It is to keep all of them: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For that law which said [margin], Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2: 8-12.

1. God’s law is called the royal, that is, the kingly, law. It was given by the God that made the universe.

2. The law of God is that which convinces a man of sin; because sin is the transgression of the law, and by the law is the knowledge of sin.

3. In order to become one who keeps God’s commandments, we must keep all ten of them. The illustration given demonstrates that beyond all question. If we commit no adultery, yet if we kill, we become transgressors of the law. Hence, if we keep the commandment against murder and yet break the Sabbath commandment, we by the same process of reasoning will be accounted transgressors of the same law. Therefore,

to keep the kingly law we must keep all of the commandments composing that law. To fail to keep it, we need to break but one of them. The strength of a chain depends on the strength of each link. If one breaks, the chain is broken.

The great mass of professed Christians are breaking one of the commandments of God,—“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . . The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath [i. e., the rest] day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20: 8-11.

Keeping Sunday, the first day of the week, or any other day but the seventh, is not keeping the fourth commandment. It can not be. God did not rest on any other day of the weekly cycle. God’s rest day is the day God commands us to keep holy because he hallowed it and set it apart to a holy or religious use. A large part of the so-called Christian world has been trampling it under their feet for ages, and making it the busiest day of all the seven. But in the grand work of true reformation in the last generation before Christ comes, a people will be raised up who will honor all of God’s commandments alike. All were spoken by Jehovah. All are entitled to respect. Those who have committed this sin in ignorance will be judged according to the light they have had. But sinning in ignorance is no justification for continuing to sin when light has come. God is raising up a people whose message from God is to proclaim, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Will you not leave off your transgression of God’s law? Will you not cease sinning, and obey God’s commandments? It is blessed to do it. Blessed are they who keep his commandments; they shall have right to the tree of life, and live eternally in his presence. Come, dear reader, let us accept this message, and rejoice forever in his great salvation.

Bowling Green, Fla.