The Law and the Gospel by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 15, 1875

The Law and the Gospel.

By James White

TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST CONSIDERED.

The apostle James illustrates the object and work of the law of God by that of a common mirror. In the one, we see the imperfections of the face. In the other, we behold the imperfections of the moral character. The apostle introduces the figure in these words: “If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.” James 1: 23, 24.

The figure is thus clearly set before us. And the application of this impressive figure is made in forcible words: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” Verse 25. In this scripture, God’s great looking-glass is termed the perfect law of liberty. In the next chapter it is called the royal law, and is applied to the Christian’s every-day life in a most searching manner. The apostle continues:—

“If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well, but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” Chap. 2: 8–10. And to place the matter beyond all cavil as to what is meant by the law of liberty, or the royal law, the apostle next quotes two of the ten commandments. “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.” Verse 11. And we also learn by this last verse that it requires the observance of all ten of the precepts of the moral code to be a commandment-keeper, while the violation of only one of the ten commandments constitutes one a commandment-breaker. Hence, the declaration that he who offends in one point is guilty of all.

And let it be borne in mind that the epistle of James was written A. D. 60, about twenty-nine years after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, and the day of Pentecost. The church had been fully established, and had passed down in the Christian age more than a quarter of a century when the apostle took up his pen to write. Consequently, what he said of the nature and work of the royal law, or the perfect law of liberty, and which he illustrated by a mirror, in the year of our Lord sixty, is applicable in all its original force in the nineteenth century.

The beloved John, whose epistles are so rich and thorough in Christian experience, speaks of both the Father and the Son as holding close relation to true believers in the Christian age. In this fact may be seen the relation which the law of God, and the gospel of the Son of God, sustain to each other in Christian experience, and in the great plan of redemption. John speaks of what he had seen and heard of the Word of life, which makes him a proper witness of Christ. But he does not by any means leave the Father out of the scheme of redemption from sin and death. John says:—

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1: 3–5. The statement of the apostle that “truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,” is worthy of especial notice. It is in wide contrast with that stripe of modern gospel which leaves the Father and the ten precepts of the royal law upon the background, and brings the Son to the front, as lawgiver, mediator, and redeemer, so that Christ alone sustains a close relation to Christians. If John was of this class we might expect him to repeat the popular revival strain, that “Christ is light,” and “Christ is love,” and “Behold what manner of love Christ hath bestowed upon us.” But the apostle brings the Father also to the front; and declares that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” Again he says, “God is love.” Chap. 4: 8. And again he exclaims, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.” Chap. 3: 1. John continues:—

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Verses 6, 7. Please notice:

That it is the Father that is represented as a body of pure light, in whom is no darkness at all. This is evident from verse 7, where Jesus Christ is called his Son.
That while Christians should seek to walk in the light as Christ is in the light, this is but a part of their duty. They should endeavor to walk in the light as the Father is in the light. They should come very near the Father by cheerful obedience to all the precepts of the divine law.
It is when Christians walk in the pure light of the Father, in obedience to all his commandments, that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all sin. The chapter closes:

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Verses 8–10. The apostle has written very pointedly and sharply in this first chapter of his first epistle. And as though fearing that feeble minds might be discouraged at the straightness of the way, he magnifies the grace of God through Jesus Christ in the first verse of the next chapter. Hear him:—

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” The beloved John has written pointedly that the church might be faithfully guarded against sin. And at the same time he has set before the erring the height, and depth and breadth of the pitying love of the Father through his Son Jesus Christ for those who are overcome by sin. Three parties are here introduced:—

The Father, the author of the divine law.
Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the sinner’s advocate with the Father.
The sinner who, having transgressed the law of the Father, needs an advocate with the author of the divine law.

“Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4. What law? “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Chap. 2: 1. The sinner is in trouble with the Father. He needs Christ to plead his cause with the Father, simply because he has transgressed the Father’s law. But if it be said that John speaks of the law of Jesus Christ then we inquire:

Is Christ an advocate with himself?
If Christ is the lawgiver in the Christian age, why should the apostle introduce the Father into the plan? Why not say: If any man sin against the law of Jesus Christ, we have an advocate with Jesus Christ, which is Jesus Christ? If it be objected that Christ cannot be an advocate with himself, then,
If Christ be our lawgiver, who is our advocate? The Catholic may answer, “The Virgin Mary.” But if the Protestants cling to the popular error that Christ is the lawgiver for the Christian age, then we press the question—Who?

Those who recognize the harmony of the law of God and the gospel of the Son of God in the plan of redemption will see the natural application of the text, and will feel the force of the great facts stated therein: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” J. W.