p. 5 | THE DIVINE LAW by John Wesley

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 24, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 47.

THE DIVINE LAW.

By John Wesley

Its Requisitions.

“The righteousness which is of the law” says, “The man which doeth these things shall live by them.” Constantly and perfectly observe all these things to do them, and then thou shalt live forever. This law, or covenant (usually called the covenant of works), given by God to man in paradise, required an obedience perfect in all its parts, entire and wanting nothing, as the condition of his eternal continuance in the holiness and happiness wherein he was created.

It required that man should fulfil all righteousness, inward and outward, negative and positive; that he should not only abstain from every idle word, and avoid every evil work, but should keep every affection, every desire, every thought, in obedience to the will of God; that he should continue holy, as He which had created him was holy, both in heart and in all manner of conversation; that he should be pure in heart, even as God is pure; perfect, as his Father in heaven is perfect; that he should love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength; that he should love every soul which God had made, even as God had loved him; that by this universal benevolence he should dwell in God (who is love), and God in him; that he should serve the Lord his God with all his strength, and in all things singly aim at His glory.

These were the things which the righteousness of the law required, that he who did them might live thereby. But it further required that this entire obedience to God, this inward and outward holiness, this conformity both of heart and life to His will, should be perfect in degree. No abatement, no allowance, could possibly be made for falling short in any degree, as to any jot or tittle either of the outward or the inward law. If every commandment relating to outward things was obeyed, yet that was not sufficient, unless every one was obeyed in all the strength, in the highest measure, and most perfect manner. Nor did it answer the demand of this covenant to love God with every power and faculty, unless He were loved with the full capacity of each, with the whole possibility of the soul.

One thing more was indispensably required by the righteousness of the law, namely, that this universal obedience, this perfect holiness both of heart and life, should be perfectly uninterrupted also, should continue, without any intermission, from the moment wherein God created man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, until the days of his trial should be ended, and he should be confirmed in life everlasting.

The righteousness, then, which is of the law speaketh on this wise: “Thou, O man of God, stand fast in love, in the image of God wherein thou art made. If thou wilt remain in life, keep the commandments which are now written in thy heart. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Love, as thyself, every soul that he hath made. Desire nothing but God. Aim at God in every thought, in every word and work. Swerve not, in one motion of body or soul, from Him, thy mark, and the prize of thy high calling. And let all that is in thee praise His holy name, every power and faculty of thy soul, in every kind, in every degree, and at every moment of thine existence. ‘This do, and thou shalt live;’ thy light shall shine, thy love shall flame more and more, till thou art received up into the house of God in the heavens, to reign with him forever and ever.” —John Wesley Sermons, vol. 1, p. 54.