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THE LAW

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 6, 1876

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 47, No. 14.

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THE LAW.

By Jos. Clarke

“But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully; knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:8, 9. Then we conclude, after all, that Paul in his letters to the churches of Rome, of Corinth, and of Galatia, does not intend to do away the moral law, but to show how it is to be used; that is, that it should be used lawfully. How is it to be applied? Answer, Lawfully; that is, to convict the wicked, the sinner. Who are sinners? All the race of Adam before conversion.
Of what use, then, is the moral law? We reply in the words of Paul, It is for the sinner,—to convict and humble him, so that he may lay aside his pride, and accept pardon on the terms offered in the gospel.
What are those terms? Repentance of sin, and pardon through Jesus Christ. How is this pardon to be obtained? The sinner is to deeply feel his sinfulness, that he has lived in violation of the holy law of God, and is definitely to know the precepts he has broken, and with sorrow for his sins, he entreats the Lord to forgive him.
How is he to know that he has obtained pardon? Answer: “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:1.
But suppose that the person is set free from his sins, is he free from the law? Yes, if he continues under grace. What is it to continue under grace? It is to live so near to God as to keep the law of God in heart and life. But what if the person who is pardoned backslides from God? In just the degree that he backslides from God he falls from grace. Falling from grace, how does the law affect his condition? He is now a sinner again more guilty than before. The law is now his accuser; therefore he is now under the law. How, then, does Paul affirm that his brethren were dead to the law? Because his brethren were living near to God, and their sins being forgiven, and they obedient to the law, they were dead to the law, and the law was dead to them.
Does Paul instruct his brethren to believe that the law of God can ever condemn them again? Not while they love and obey it; that is, while they remain under grace, living near to God; but disobedience changes their condition to sinners; and he says at the outset of this quotation that the law is for sinners.
JOS. CLARKE.