He Is Guilty of All

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 22, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 16.

"He Is Guilty of All."

THE apostle James says: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." How can this be? Thus: There are ten commandments in the moral law. That law rests solely on the authority of God. Here is a man who professes the most perfect submission to nine of those commandments, never willfully violating any of them. But concerning the remaining one he says: "I don't care for that one; I never did keep it, and I never intend to." Now that commandment rests on the same foundation as do the others, namely, the authority of God. Therefore, when the man defies that one precept, he defies God himself, and so defies the authority on which all the law rests. By his willfulness he shows that he keeps the nine commandments, not because he has any respect for the authority of the One who gave them, but because it chances to suit his convenience. In willfully breaking one commandment, he shows contempt for the Lawgiver, and thus is guilty of violating the whole law. God does not allow men the privilege of keeping just so much of his law as suits their convenience.