The Law of God—What It Is
By H. W. Cottrell
In His wisdom, the immortal principles of God’s law are couched in the very existence and organization of both matter and spirit. These principles are fundamental to all divine law, both natural and spiritual. The Lord, recognizing in creation the fundamental, universal law of coöperation, said to the Son, “Let Us make man in Our image, . . . so God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him.” The spirit of coöperation is one of the essential principles in the law of divine government; and as the Father and the Son wrought coöperatively in the creation of man and all things, so God requires the coöperation of man, and that it be made manifest in his recognition and unselfish obedience to the divine governmental law as adapted to his needs on earth. Thus man, the creature, was placed here upon earth amenable to the Lord, his Creator, and as truly amenable to the divine governmental law of his God. He should have recognized that divine law directs all organic bodies in their action throughout the universe, and that he was not an exception to the rule. Failing to appreciate his relation to God, and to His law—adapted to man’s spiritual and physical development—and not discerning that through perfect obedience to the requirements of the hitherto unbroken law, limitless extension of life was his, also that of his posterity; he, by disobedience, sinned. The Law an Expression of His Will
The law of God is an expression of His will pertaining to the welfare of His created intelligences, both angels and men. It is therefore of universal application, and is designed to regulate the conduct of all men; for all come under His authority as Creator and Redeemer. The law of God is summarily and concisely comprehended in the law of Ten Commandments which reads (Ex. 20: 2-17): “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 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 day, and hallowed it.” “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” When God placed our first parents upon this earth, He ordained that if the principles of His law were strictly complied with, man would be in constant possession of the Lord’s righteousness, testified to by the law, which is a divine portrayal of His character. Paul affirms that “the commandment which was ordained to life,” he through transgression, “found to be unto death.” When the Lord reiterated His code of moral law—the Ten Commandments—in the hearing of all the people of Israel, we read, “And He added [spoke] no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone.” Deut. 5: 22. Paul, making reference to the event of the Lord speaking His law at Sinai, says, “And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more.” Heb. 12: 19. God calls the Ten Commandments the law. “And Jehovah said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law and the commandment, which I have written, that thou mayest teach them.” Ex. 24: 12, A.R.V. When the Ten Commandments were spoken by God, the law was complete. He needed not speak—add—more; so, “spake no more.” The Ten Commandments, therefore, constitute the law of God. They compose the eternal ten, which is the rule of moral conduct for man. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. 7: 7. In this utterance, the apostle makes specific reference to the seventh and tenth commandments of the law of God, the only law that makes sin known. The beloved, faithful, law-abiding John, gives corroborative evidence: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4. The law of God is the law of our heavenly King, and James thus defines it: “If ye fulfil the royal [kingly] law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. . . . For He that said, 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.” James 2: 8, 11. The law to which James refers, is evidenced by his quotation of the sixth and seventh commandments of the moral law. The Law Detects Sin in Embryo
It detects sin both in the motive and thought, as well as in the act. Matt. 5: 21, 22, 27, 28. It determines the sinfulness of sin; for “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3: 20); for “where no law is, there is no transgression.” The law of God detected sin in the “one man” (Adam) through whom it entered into this world. It detected it in “Cain,” who slew his brother. It has detected it in every human being who has lived from Adam’s day until now; so that every mouth has been stopped, and all the world found guilty before God; “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3: 19, 23. Man can not be justified by a violated law; not even by the law which was “ordained to life.” “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God . . . is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” Rom. 3: 20-23. It witnesses that the righteousness of God is manifestly a free gift through Jesus Christ, to all who repent of the violation of God’s law, believe, and receive the gift of His Son. It witnesses to the sinfulness of sin, irrespective of the social standing of men. The law of God enters the secret recesses of every soul, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned, whether it be the king on his throne, or the criminal behind the prison bars; for all are alike amenable to God and to His law; and no sin, however hoary and moss-covered by the lapse of ages, can be concealed from His moral search-light—the law of God. “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2: 12.