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Christian Duty

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 13, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 19.

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Christian Duty

THE duty of the Christian, nay, of every man, is thus stated by our Lord: “The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” Subject to this are all other duties. Love to God in word, thought, and deed is to actuate all things else. If a man yield to do this, he will do all duties growing out of this; so it is not only true as a commandment, but as a fact, that he who loves God loves his brother also. 1 John 4:21. This love, this duty, is summed up in the keeping of God’s commandments. Eccl. 12:13.
It will be disputed by none that from a Christian point of view it, and it alone, is profitable—to do God’s will, to love Him as set forth above, to do those things that God has commanded. But it is a simple fact that God has nowhere told him to enter politics, to overturn governments, to use politic means to carry out the heavenly principles. God has set before man his duty in His holy law. He has given him an example in the life of Jesus Christ. He has furnished the power in the Spirit of God. On all political issues good men are divided. Is it probable that they are led by the Spirit of God? Is it profitable for the Christian to depart from the means and power furnished of God, and for the betterment of the world seek help in carnal means?