Testimonies Concerning the Law.
IN a note on page 171, "History of the Bible," Dr. Kitto says: "Though the ten commandments were given to the Jews particularly, yet the things contained in them are such as all mankind, from the beginning, were bound to observe; and therefore, under the Mosaic dispensation, they, and the tables on which they were engraven, and the ark in which they were put, were distinguished from the rest of God's ordinances by a peculiar regard, as containing the covenant of the Lord. And though the Mosaic dispensation be now at an end, yet, concerning these moral precepts of it, our Saviour declares that 'one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." Bishop Hopkins, on the "Ten Commandments," published by the American Tract Society, pp. 19, 29, says: "Far be it from any Christian to indulge himself in any licentiousness, from such a corrupt and rotten notion of the law's abrogation; for so far is it from being abolished by the coming of Christ, that he expressly tells us he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Matt. 5:17. There is no duty required, nor sin forbidden, by God, but it falls under one at least of these ten words." A book on "Entire Holiness," by John W. Wallace, recommended by Methodist Conferences, on pp. 43, 45, says: "This law which we understand to be still in force, and by which it may be presumed God governs all rational and intelligent beings, is embraced in the moral code delivered on Mount Sinai. This is the moral law, the law that admits of no repeal, and needs no amendment; nor does it require any modifications in its application to any and all the unnumbered hosts that stretch along the line of moral agents." The Methodist Discipline says: "No Christian, whatsoever, is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral." Alexander Campbell says: "It is a poor apology for this expurgation of the decalogue, that it is so done in the Douay Bible; what myriads, then, through this fraud, must have lived and died in the belief that the second commandment was no part of God's law. It is clearly proved that the pastors of the church have struck out one of God's ten words! which not only in the Old Testament, but in all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded as the synopsis of all religion and morality."—Debate with Purcell, p. 214. The Genesee Evangelist says: "No reform can be successful and complete, which is not founded on the great fundamental principles contained in the ten commandments." David E. Thomas (Baptist) says: "The duties of the decalogue did not originate when the law was given on Sinai. The obligations always existed. They grow out of the very nature and relations of man. Every command given relates either to moral beings or things of a moral nature already existing. No new moral obligations were then originated. Remember the Sabbath day, implies its previous existence. This is no new enactment, but the observance of an old one. The Sabbath was made for man. Both his physical and moral nature absolutely require it. Christ came to explain, magnify, and fulfill the law. It becomes the Christian's rule of life, and is established by faith. Saints are made free from its curse. It is to be the rule of the Judgment day."—Christian Manual, pp. 231, 369. The "Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature," recommended by twenty-six Doctors of Divinity and six Doctors of Laws, on the fourth commandment, says: "It is unnecessary to dwell on the fact that its position in the midst of the moral law distinctly points to its perpetual and universal obligation." Mr. Spurgeon says: "The law of God is a divine law, holy, heavenly, and perfect. Those who find fault with the law, or in the least degree depreciate it, do not understand its design. There is not a command too many, there is not one too few; but it is so incomparable that its perfection is a proof of its divinity. No human lawgiver could have given forth such a law as that which we find in the decalogue."—Sermons, p. 280. Dr. Cummings, of England, says: "The law of the ten commandments is in its nature unchangeable and permanent. It was ordained by the Supreme Lawgiver as the infallible rule of life, to all men in every age of the world; in all places, under all circumstances, in every nation and generation of men on the earth. Not one jot or tittle of it was ever abolished, or diminished, or altered in the least degree, by the change of dispensation from Jewish to Christian."—Signs of the Times, pp. 23, 39. H. H. Dobney (Baptist minister), of England, says: "The excellency of the law is seen in its very nature. Generally, we mean by the law, that which is commonly called the moral law, presented to us in the shape of distinct commandments ten in number, prescribing to each one of us concerning God in the first place, and then concerning our deportment to all our fellow-creatures. These are illustrated, and their extensive bearing is shown by many other precepts which are scattered through the Scriptures."—Future Punishment, pp. 42, 43.