The Moral Law of Eternal Obligation.
By Editor
FROM Elder Smith's "Synopsis of the Present Truth," a notice of which appears on this page, we copy the following paragraphs, showing the eternity and immutability of God's moral law—the ten commandments:— "The laws against murder, adultery, theft, blasphemy, and idolatry, have been referred to, as necessary in, and common to, both dispensations. Let us inquire into the origin of these principles. God, as our creator, has a right to rule us. We, as his creatures, are under obligation to obey. There must be some law regulating this relation, and defining our duties. But man was not to be alone in the world. The earth was to be filled with inhabitants. All men would be under obligation to their fellow-men; and there must be some law regulating this relation also, and the duties growing out of it. Thus in two directions man was placed under obligation in the beginning; and these duties to God and to his fellow-men existed in the very nature of things; they began with man's being,—a necessary concomitant of creation itself. [NOTE.—When the author says that these laws began with man's being, the reader must understand that he is speaking only of them as related to man; they were in existence before the creation, and therefore of necessity began to be in force upon man as soon as he had a being, and not some time afterward.—Ed. SIGNS.] And these laws must endure as long as these relations continue; and until the relations change, the laws governing them can never change. "All this, remember, before ever man had sinned. And if he had never sinned, these laws would have existed just the same. They would have gone with him, not only till he was confirmed in holiness and happiness, but through all eternity. And they would have been the only laws to which he was subject. Now, when man fell into sin, how did it affect his amenability to these laws? It did not affect it in the least, as it did not release him from any obligation to God or to his fellow-men. "Here, then, we have well-defined laws, occupying a specific field of their own, and regulating a distinct class of duties; laws which existed prior to the fall, independently of the fall, and which were not affected by the fall. These may be justly termed original or primary laws, which were, in the very nature of the case, immutable and eternal." It may not be out of place to state that Seventh-day Adventists are not alone in regarding the principles here laid down as essential points of faith—the foundation not only of the gospel, but of God's moral government. Those who have read the works of the founders of the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist denominations, will not need to be told this. We have given extracts from these writings in the past, and shall favor our readers with still others.