p. 194 | The Law and the Gospel

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 26, 1883

The Law and the Gospel.

"I and my Father are one." John 10:30.

THE Father and the Son were one in man's creation, and in his redemption. Said the Father to the Son, "Let us make man in our image." And the triumphant song in which the redeemed take part, is unto "Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever."

Jesus prayed that his disciples might be one as he was one with his Father. This prayer did not contemplate one disciple with twelve heads, but twelve disciples, made one in object and effort in the cause of their Master. Neither are the Father and the Son parts of the "three-one God." They are two distinct beings, yet one in the design and accomplishment of redemption. The redeemed, from the first who shares in the great redemption, to the last, all ascribe the honor, and glory, and praise, of their salvation, to both God and the Lamb.

But if it be true that the law of the Father and the gospel of the Son are opposed to each other, that one was to take the place of the other, then it follows that those saved in the former dispensation are saved by the Father and the law, while those of the present dispensation are saved by Christ and the gospel. And in this case, when the redeemed shall reach Heaven at last, and their redemption shall be sung, two songs will be heard, one ascribing praise to the Father and the law, the other singing the praises of Christ and the gospel.

This will not be. There will be harmony in that song of redemption. All the redeemed will sing the facts as they have existed during the period of man's probation. All will ascribe the praise of their salvation to God and the Lamb. Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses will join with the disciples of Jesus in singing of the redeeming power of the blood of the Son, while those who have lived since the crucifixion of Christ, saved by his blood, will join the patriarchs and prophets in the song of praise to the Father, the Creator, and Lawgiver. Therefore the law and the gospel run parallel throughout the entire period of man's probation. The gospel is not confined to some eighteen centuries. The dispensation of the gospel is not less than about six thousand years.

The word gospel signifies good news. The gospel of the Son of God is the good news of salvation through Christ. When man fell, angels wept. Heaven was bathed in tears. The Father and the Son took counsel, and Jesus offered to undertake the cause of fallen man. He offered to die that man might have life. The Father consented to give his only beloved, and the good news resounded through Heaven, and on earth, that a way was opened for man's redemption. In the first promise made to man that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, was the gospel of Jesus Christ as verily as in the song the angels sung over the plains of Bethlehem, the shepherds as they watched their flocks by night, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth good will to men."

Immediately after the fall, hope of a future life hung upon Christ as verily as our hopes can hang on Christ. And when the first sons of Adam brought their offerings to the Lord, Cain in his unbelief brought the first fruits of the ground, which were not acceptable. Abel brought a firstling of the flock in faith of Christ, the great sacrifice for sin. God accepted his offering. Through the blood of that firstling, Abel saw the blood of Jesus Christ. He looked forward to Christ, and made his offering in the faith and hope of the gospel, and through it saw the great sacrifice for sin, as truly as we see the bleeding Lamb as we look back to Calvary, through the broken bread and the fruit of the vine. Through these emblems we see Christ crucified. Abel saw the same through the dying lamb which he offered. Do we hang our hopes in faith upon Christ? So did Abel. Are we Christians by virtue of living faith in Christ? So was Abel.

Abraham had the gospel of the Son of God. The apostle says that the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham. Gal. 3:8.

Paul testifies of the Israelites in the wilderness, that they "were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." The gospel was preached to the children of Israel in the wilderness. The apostle says, "Unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them; but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it."

Moses and the believing Jews had the faith and hope of the gospel. Through the blood of the sacrificial offerings, they saw Christ, and by faith embraced him. Their hopes of the future life were not in the law, but in Christ.

"The law," says Paul, "having a shadow of good things to come." The typical system is but the shadow. The good things, of which Christ as a sacrifice and mediator is the center, are the body that casts its shadow back into the Jewish age. The bleeding sacrifices of the legal system were but the shadow. Christ, bleeding on the cross, was the great reality. Every bleeding sacrifice offered by the Jews, understandingly, and in faith, was as acceptable in the sight of Heaven as what Christians may do in showing their faith in the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ, by baptism and the Lord's Supper. The one was done in the faith and hope of redemption through the blood of the Son of God, as verily as the other may be. The gospel dispensation, which is the dispensation of the good news of redemption through Christ, has been six thousand years long.

The dispensation of the law of God is longer than that of the gospel. It commenced before the fall, or there could not have been justice of God any such thing as the fall. It existed as early as there were created intelligences subject to the government of the Creator. It covers all time, and extends to the future, running parallel with the eternity of God's moral government. Angels fell, therefore were on probation. They, being on probation, were consequently amenable to law. In the absence of law they could not be on probation, therefore could not fall. The same may be said of Adam and Eve in Eden.

The reign of sin runs parallel with the reign of death, from Adam until sin and sinners shall cease to be. And parallel with these, stretching through all dispensations, there has been the knowledge of the principles of the ten commandments, consequently a knowledge of sin.

The means of this knowledge has been the law of God. "By the law," says the apostle, "is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20. "I had not known sin but by the law." Chap. 7:7. As proof that this knowledge did exist immediately after the fall, see Gen. 4:7, 23, 24; 6:5, 11, 12. Also, Noah was righteous before God. Chap. 7:1. He was a preacher of righteousness. 2 Pet. 2:5. By his preaching right-doing, reproving the sins of the people of his time, he condemned the world. Heb. 11:7. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah were great sinners, excepting one man. Abraham interceded, saying, Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked? Gen. 13:13; 18:20, 23, 25; 19:7. The blessing of God came upon Abraham, because he obeyed his voice and kept his commandments. Gen. 26:5. Those who refuse obedience, experienced his wrath for their transgressions. The cities of the plain were condemned for their unlawful deeds. 2 Pet. 2:6-8.

As an illustration of this subject, I will briefly notice the murder of righteous Abel. Cain killed his brother, and, as a sinner received the mark of God's displeasure. Sin, says the apostle, is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4. Cain broke the sixth commandment; hence that precept existed in the time of Cain. "Otherwise he did not sin; for where no law, is there is no transgression." Rom. 4:15.

The foregoing positions relative to the law of God would meet with little opposition were it not for the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. The proper observance of the Bible Sabbath is not only crossing, but with many inconvenient, and not favorable to the successful prosecution of their worldly plans. The fearful and unbelieving shun its claims, brand it as a Jewish institution, and frequently assert that it was unknown to men until the Sabbath was proclaimed from Sinai. Sacred history, however, proves this statement to be false. It is true that Sabbath-keeping is not mentioned in the book of Genesis. But this does not prove that it did not exist during the long period covered by that brief record. The facts connected with the giving of the manna show that the Israelites understood the obligations of the Sabbath, that some of the people violated them, and were reproved by Jehovah, thirty days before they saw Mount Sinai. See Ex. 16:22-30.

(To be Concluded.)