p. 1 | The Sermon by Eld. J. H. Waggoner

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 9, 1875

The Sermon.

By Eld. J. H. Waggoner

THE LAW OF GOD.—No. 15.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

DOES GRACE ABOUND THROUGH SIN?

THERE is an expression in Rom. 3:5, 6, and a question in chap. 6:1, which together present a most important truth. The first says if our unrighteousness, or sin, commend the righteousness of God, or if we may do evil that good may come, then God would not be just to enter into judgment with us for our sins. If we by transgressing his holy oracles magnify his grace and thus glorify him, then he cannot judge the world. But Paul says of those who thus abuse the grace of God that their damnation is just. This certainly should lead all to examine their ground with all carefulness, especially if they have been inclined to make void the law through faith.

Chap. 6:1, presents the same idea, and is very explicit in statement. In chap. 5:20, 21, it is stated that in the gospel the grace of God has superabounded; it has abounded over our sins. Then arises the question, Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? At first view this would seem to be a needless point of inquiry, but on further observation we shall find that Paul, by inspiration, is following up the devious ways of the carnal mind. For this is exactly the position of all those who make void the law through faith, and claim that they are fallen from grace who keep the law. An illustration in familiar terms will make this more apparent.

A father, having ascertained that his son has violated one of his commandments, calls him to account for his sin; but being full of love and compassion for his son, he says,

“My son, for this transgression of my law you deserve to be punished; but I have no pleasure in your pain, and would that you would obey me, and thus not fall under condemnation and be liable to punishment. Now, I will forgive you this sin to show my love for you, and trust you will appreciate my love and kindness to you, and always obey me in the future.”

That this expresses the exact will of God toward us, see Eph. 2:4-8; Rom. 6:23; Eze. 33:11; Matt. 3:8; John 5:14. Soon after this display of mercy the father learns that his son has been guilty of violating his law again; and on being called to account he justifies himself as follows:

“When I transgressed your law before, your mercy was manifested in the forgiveness of my sin; and your love and mercy were never so strikingly manifested as then. To more fully develop those noble traits of your character, and give room for richer displays of your grace, I have committed other sins. And you will not be justified in punishing me, for my unrighteousness commends your righteousness, and my disobedience gives room for a display of your love and mercy. As I enjoyed your grace, which abounded over my transgression, I fear that, if I keep your law, I shall fall from grace. Therefore, hereafter, I will live only in your grace, and continue to transgress your law, that your grace may abound.”

Can any one for a moment suppose that a father, who knew that his laws were just, and who had any regard for his authority as a father, would be satisfied with this reasoning? But this is exactly the method of reasoning adopted by those who put grace in opposition to the law. They accuse us who keep the law of denying Christ, because through Christ our sins were once forgiven. To appreciate his forgiveness we must constantly trample on the law, that we may constantly enjoy new manifestations of his forgiving love! In earthly governments we consider that that man best shows his appreciation of a pardon who lives thenceforth a life of obedience. And why not under the government of God? Hath the Lord delight in the violations of his law, by which man is proved guilty in his sight? Opposers of the law claim that God is so greatly delighted with the sacrifice of his Son, that he is always pleased to have us come to him pleading the merits of that sacrifice. And so he is, provided we make him the minister of righteousness, and not the minister of sin. Rom. 5:19; Gal. 2:17. The text last cited is worthy of special consideration, because it so well applies to this point. “For if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.”

The sacrifices of the Old Testament were typical of that of Christ. They served to show God’s abhorrence of sin, and they illustrate the relation which the sacrifice of Christ bears to our obedience. The principle was fully stated to Saul, whose piety, willing to do more than God commanded, did not hesitate to do contrary to God’s commandment. Said Samuel to him, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Sam. 15:22. That this is the principle which governs the relation of sacrifice to obedience at all times and in all dispensations, is easy to show. Thus the Lord said by Jeremiah: “Behold I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.” Jer. 6:19, 20. Sacrifice in disobedience to the law is not acceptable to God.

As sacrifice is but a form of worship, and an expression of devotion, it follows that worship is not pleasing to God when offered without obedience to his law, as it is written: “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9. This principle cannot be evaded by saying, That was true in the past dispensation, but we have faith in Christ, by which we are released from obedience to the law. That is making Christ the minister of transgression. We claim that those sacrifices, being typical of that of Christ, were an illustration of the relation of his sacrifice to obedience to the law. Jesus and his apostles taught the same thing. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in Heaven.” Matt. 7:21. And when he reproved them for making void the commandment of God by their tradition, he said again, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matt. 15:9. And it was this professed faith in Christ of which the apostle wrote, “Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Jas. 2:20. What he here indorses as works, which vitalizes and gives efficacy to faith, is easy to discover; for he has just before inculcated obedience to the law, and quoted two of the ten commandments. And this relation between the law and faith is positively fixed in Rev. 14:12: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” By true, living faith the law is not made void, but established. Rom. 3:31. Dead faith evades the law; but such faith is found with the carnal mind which is not subject to the law of God.

It is truly astonishing that men can be so blinded as to profess perfect love to God while willfully violating his commandments, when the Scriptures say, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments;” that they will claim to be completely sanctified through faith, when their rejection of the law proves that they have nothing but a dead faith; that they affect to receive wonderful blessings in prayer when they turn away from and reject the law, when the Scriptures say such prayer is abomination. Well did Andrew Fuller characterize the worship of such as “irreverent familiarity with God, and in some cases a daring boldness in approaching him; yet such is the strength of this antinomian delusion that it passes for intimate communion with him.” Antinomian delusion, indeed! where grace is supposed to dispense with obedience to God’s commandments, and his glory is enhanced by the neglect of his precepts!

Closely and necessarily connected with the subjects of justification and judgment is that of

THE JUSTICE OF GOD.

Though it has been considered to some extent we cannot forbear a further brief consideration of it in this connection.

Paul says that Jesus Christ was set forth for the remission of sin, that God might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

1. The apostles had opened this argument with the declaration that the doers of the law shall be justified. This shows the nature of the law; that it contains the elements necessary to justify a moral agent, and it is therefore moral, complete, and perfect, in every respect.

2. He says that men shall be judged by the law, in the great day, the day subsequent to the “day of salvation,” the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Paul before declared before the wise men of Athens that God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” Acts 17:31. And when he judges the world by his Son, who is now an advocate, he will judge them by the law.

3. He affirmed that they who keep the righteousness of the law are accepted with God, whether Jew or Gentile, while they who break the law dishonor God. Rom. 2:23-27.

4. He said that if the oracles of God which were committed to the Jews were made of no effect, God could not judge the world. Of course not, since sin is the transgression of the law, and the law is the measure of righteousness and the rule of justification. Without it, sin could not be imputed; no one could be condemned or found guilty. How reasonable it is that men must be judged by the law, and that God could not judge the world if he suffered his law to fail.

5. He has expressly stated that all the world are presented guilty before God by the witness of the law, for all have sinned, and that the knowledge of sin is by the law.

6. Having found the whole world guilty by the light of the law, he shows that they can only be released from condemnation, and have “the righteousness of God” conferred upon them, by faith in Christ. But this righteousness is also witnessed by the law, because the law is perfect, and holy, and requires righteousness of all men.

7. He shows that we are freed from condemnation and from sin “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Now we inquire, What would be the effect on the government of God if he should abolish such a law as his; and this in the face of a wicked rebellion waged against it? Certainly such a course on his part would give no evidence to the world that he was a just God. Justice on the part of a governor and a judge requires that he maintain the law, especially if the law itself is just. The judge who does not vindicate the law when it is transgressed is an unjust judge. The governor who will destroy a just law, or suffer it to be trampled upon without an effort to rescue it from violation, is an unjust governor. The advocate who will justify his client in the violation of a just law is the enemy of justice and of government.

Atonement, as Andrew Fuller well said, “has respect to justice, and justice to the law, or the revealed will of the sovereign, which has been violated; and the very design of the atonement is to repair the honor of the law.” This is true of the atonement of Christ, for it was his work to “magnify the law, and make it honorable,” to rescue it from the reproach which rebellion had cast upon it.

God could have rescued man from condemnation by simply abolishing the law which condemned him. But this, of course, would have been in disregard of justice, for the law was all the time perfect, just, and holy. The law is right, and man is wrong. There is a conflict between them. The law in strict justice demands the life of the sinner; for the wages of sin is death. How, then, can man be rescued from death, and God’s government be preserved, and his throne be free from reproach? But one way is possible. His dear Son, the mighty and the holy One, suffers death—the penalty of the law—to vindicate its claims, to show the strength of its obligations, and the impossibility of setting it aside to save any one from death. Through him we obtain pardon, and are restored to our allegiance to his Father. God accepts his sacrifice as a vindication of his own authority. Justice is honored, the law is maintained, and God may now be just and the justifier of all who accept Jesus as their sacrifice to the broken law. And this argument is closed with the most emphatic denial of the abolition of the law, and affirmation of its perpetuity: “Do we, then, make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.”

We rejoice that the law is not made void, because it is good. And not only this, but we rejoice that God will maintain and vindicate his justice. We rejoice that his justice is infinite, and that he will never suffer it to be dishonored. For in this we have an assurance of the stability of his word. If God would suffer a holy law to be trampled down, and never rescue it from reproach; if he would abolish a perfect, spiritual law to serve the cause of guilty, death-deserving rebels, we could have no assurance of the stability of his government, we could place no dependence on any principle, however sacred. “He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” Deut. 32:4.