A TWOFOLD EXPRESSION OF THE LAW
By Elder T. H. Starbuck
THE PERFECTION OF THE LAW. NO. 4.
A TWOFOLD EXPRESSION OF THE LAW.
IN the plan of redemption God has promulgated his law to the world in a twofold sense,—in the living oracles from Sinai, engraven upon stone, and in the life and teachings of Christ. The principles of divine love, solemnly enjoined from Sinai in ten commandments, were practically exemplified in the life of "the Son of his love" on earth. The plan of redemption is God's moral government administered in a manner to suit the exigencies of the case. The mediatorial death of Christ was in strict harmony with the principles of the law. If this were not true, the law itself would condemn the sacrifice which God has made to save the lost. But the gift of his Son being in harmony with the claims of the law, he can be just in saving those who believe on Jesus. Rom. 3: 26. But the fact should be emphasized, however, that there is a well-defined boundary beyond which neither justice nor mercy can go. That boundary marks the distinction between loyalty and disloyalty to God on the part of the sinner. If he repents and becomes loyal to God, there is a principle of mercy in the law that forgives; and God can be just (in harmony with his law) in justifying the repentant, and the law itself witnesses to the correctness of the transaction. But if the sinner persists in his disloyalty, the principle of justice in the law condemns, for the wages of sin is death, and God can be just in the condemnation of such, and the law witnesses to the justice of the transaction. The law itself inspires the repentant sinner with hope, for it proclaims its Author to be merciful,—"showing mercy to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments." Second commandment. God is compassionate, and his law could not be perfect without responding to that trait in his character. A law without the element of mercy in it could but imperfectly represent the perfection of its merciful Author. The Decalogue is given in a form adapted to our condition in this life. It appeals to those who are transgressors of it. While it contains the universal principles of morality, it addresses sinful men, not sinless angels, or beings of some far-away world; and, though it pierces the sinner's heart, it indicates that God will show mercy to such as are inclined to obedience. A state of probation, such as that existing in this world, must necessarily terminate in a general judgment, in which the deeds of all men will be justly weighed, and rewards meted out accordingly. The Bible teaches that God has appointed a day for that purpose, and that the Decalogue is to be the final standard in that solemn tribunal. Everyone who has been made acquainted with its principles in this life is to be brought to the searching test of the moral law. It is the436measure of moral character. The practical heart, loyal or disloyal to its claims, will decide each case for eternity. But it would be unjust to use the law as an instrument to condemn the sinner, unless it had first offered him the opportunity of rendering obedience to its principles. In human jurisprudence it is presumed that the offender against secular justice has first had the opportunity of rendering obedience to the law which condemns his act. Men are born with inherent sinful tendencies. The natural trend of the heart and all surrounding influences incline toward sin. The probation in which man finds himself here is a state in which the native mercy of the law is manifested to him through the gospel of salvation. When transgressors are finally condemned to the second death on account of their sins, it will be an act of justice and not of tyranny, as it would be were it not that mercy in the form of what is called probation had first been offered them. The law of mercy is a part of the moral law. Were it not so, one part of God's moral government would be arrayed against another, which would show him to be the Author of confusion. If there is a higher law of mercy, as some think, separate and distinct from the Decalogue, these two laws would necessarily be opposed to each other. Any source of mercy separate from and not inherent in the moral law would antagonize its principles. It is conclusive, then, that the principle of mercy inheres in the Decalogue. The most sacred object in the earthly sanctuary was the ark of the covenant, containing the stone tables of the Decalogue. The covering of the ark, or mercy seat, represented the throne of God, from whence he communed with his people, granting pardon to repentant sinners. His administration of mercy must have been in harmony with the law deposited under the mercy seat. In the ark, with its throne of mercy, God represents to the world that his law is the foundation of his moral government—the principles from whence justice and mercy are dispensed to humanity. "All thy commandments are righteousness," and "righteousness and judgment are the habitation [establishment] of his throne." In the ark of his sanctuary God reveals himself to a race of sinners as the just and compassionate God, actuated by the principles of his perfect law. He could not thus reveal himself unless the law embodies the element of divine mercy. A desire for salvation on the part of the sinner is encouraged by the word of God and the Spirit of God. It is while in this state of mind that the law becomes a monitor to lead him to Christ. The design of the law is righteousness, and it inevitably responds to the transgressor's desire for a sinless life by bringing him to the Source of life. It was ordained to life. Its aim is life, and the aim of salvation is life. The two are in perfect accord—in fact, the latter is the outgrowth of the former. God's efforts to save those who are in the bondage of sin are in harmony with the claims of the law. What it designs is obedience and life. Jesus imparts both, and the aim (end, object) of the law is met. The law itself assists in bringing about this condition by converting the soul,—that is, turning it to the Author of the law. But while this operation is going on in the sinner's heart, if he turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer becomes an abomination. The very design of the law shows it to contain the elements of mercy. "The law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." In this passage mercy is clearly seen working out salvation to man through the channel of law. Grace cannot abound without the aid of the law. If it could, it would not have been necessary to promulgate the law to the world. It cannot be true that God dispenses mercy by other means than through his law. Mercy is not something invented to meet the emergency of sin. It is in the very nature of the changeless God, and man is made to understand his attributes through the operation of law, as set before the world in revelation. When the sinner is brought under conviction by the law, the experience described in Romans 7 takes place in his heart, and, if he lets the law take its legitimate course, he becomes a free man in Christ Jesus, and the righteousness of the law will appear in his life and character. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Because of the weakness of the flesh, the law cannot operate through it to work out this righteousness. It was because of this weakness that God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that the design of the law might be wrought out in him for us. While the active principles of the law could not operate through humanity, they could work effectively through humanity and divinity combined; and the native love of the law concedes to humanity all the blessed results that follow. The fact that it responds to the efforts of Christ for us is evidence of its native mercy.