NOT "LAW OR LOVE," BUT LAW AND LOVE.
By W.
UNDER the heading, "Law—or Love?" the Christian at Work of February 28 says:— "How pitiable the spectacle presented of Christians called into liberty, going back to the slavery of literalness, as witnessed in the observance of Saturday as their rest-day, many even going so far in their literalness as to drop the smile and recreation and mirth at sunset because ‘the evening and the morning,’ and not the morning and the evening, formed the Genetic day. And then what sticklers for the bare letter of the decalogue we meet with—as if those ten laws laid down for the primitive Hebrews were the Alpha and Omega of the Christian duties to-day—as if perfect love was not as far above these ten specific commands as heaven is above earth." Terribly afraid of literalness, some people are, especially if it is literal compliance with any divine commandment. But we notice that these same persons who make so much ado about the observance of the literal day required by the commandment, are very strenuous about the observance of Sunday, even going so far as to advocate the enforcement of Sunday observance by civil law. Now a query arises: If it is so terrible a thing to yield literal obedience to a commandment, what will they do when they get their much-desired Sunday law? Will they then consider it their duty to keep Monday? or do they think that only God’s laws ought to be treated with contempt, and that human laws should be kept strictly? Notice the admission that the observance of Saturday is literally in conformity with the fourth commandment. But the people who deprecate literal conformity to the commandment, are very regular in their observance of Sunday, and, as we have noted, advocate literal conformity to a civil Sunday law. From this we must conclude that the great requisite with them is to be at variance with the terms of the commandment. So long as people do not do exactly as the commandment says, they are satisfied. That this is not a harsh conclusion, is evident from the latter part of the paragraph quoted. Deprecating compliance with the letter of the decalogue, it says: "As if perfect love was not as far above these ten specific commands as heaven is above earth." That is to say that perfect love ignores the letter of the commandments. Thus the practice in regard to the fourth is consistently carried to all the ten precepts. The first commandment says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;" but perfect love, according to the Christian at Work, would scorn to be tied down to exact conformity to any such commandment, and would make gods of its own. The sixth commandment says, "Thou shalt not kill;" but, soaring far above servile obedience to the letter of the commandment, perfect love would lead a man to take the life of the first person he met. Why not? If it is so very pernicious a thing to keep the letter of the fourth commandment, it must be as bad to keep the letter of any other commandment. So, according to this theology, the only way a person can perfectly comprehend God is to steal, kill, commit adultery, and swear falsely. This, according to the Christian at Work, marks the free man. Surely not in vain did the Lord say, through his prophet:— "Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and bear incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not, and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" Jer. 7:8-10. We have no fellowship with the love that is so "perfect" that it ignores the simple, direct commands of the Lord. Said the psalmist, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19:7. Obedience to a perfect law will make a perfect man, and nothing else will; but obedience can be rendered only in Christ. God is love; the ten commandments are only an emanation from him—the expression of his perfectly righteous character; and so the ten commandments are only a law of love. So the beloved disciple says: "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. Perfect love can be manifested in no other way than in perfect obedience to the requirements of God, both in letter and in spirit. If the commandments are not kept in letter, they are not kept at all; for a man cannot keep the spirit of the sixth commandment and at the same time murder his neighbor. The Christian at Work has made a mistake in terms. To deliberately reject the plain letter of God’s commandments for ways of one’s own, is not perfect love, but perfect selfishness.