Eternal as Well as Moral
By J. W. McComas
“MASTER, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. . . . And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matt. 22: 36-40. It would seem impossible for a man to hold to these two commandments,—love to God and love to man,—without holding to the law. Moral duties and precepts are such as grow out of the attributes of God; and says the Book, 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” Creative power is the distinguishing attribute of the living God; and as soon as there was a creature formed by hands of love, there sprang into existence a relation between the creature and the Creator, which was indicated in the words, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. The first table of the law points out our relation to God in love, and is moral, for it pertains to those intentions and actions of which right and wrong are predicated. The second table of the law, which points out our duty to man, sprang into existence as soon as Eve was created; for says Jesus, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Morally, then, we are bound to serve God, because He created us, and all the blessings we enjoy. He says, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words,” and “in him verily is the love of God perfected.” John 14:23; 1 John 2:5. In that life which has no end, man continues his love toward God; for “there shall be no more curse” there. Man lost this love by his own act of disobedience; but each may, by his own choice, through Christ be brought back into harmony487with God's will, and again this love will come into his heart. Then his peace will be “as a river,” and his righteousness “as the waves of the sea.” Man is a candidate for a holy land (2 Peter 3:13), with a holy law in his heart (Rom. 7:12; Heb. 8:10), to worship a holy King (Isa. 6:3), to dwell with a righteous people (Isa. 60:21), in a kingdom of peace which shall have no end” (Isa. 9:7). Man's continued stay in the Garden of Eden depended upon his obedience and love to God. So man's return to that happy home will depend upon his obedience; for says the Word, “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.