THE SABBATH IN THE NEW COVENANT.
By T. H. Starbuck
In the prophecy of the new covenant the Lord says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." This language teaches that he will write the principles of his living law in the hearts of men, or so impress them upon the moral nature of man that he will live in harmony with their requirements. Ezekiel refers to the same thing in his thirty-sixth chapter. He says: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." These words teach that when God puts his Spirit in the heart of man, he will go in the way of God's statutes, or law. Therefore when the Spirit is in the heart, the law is there. It is the presence and power of the Spirit that puts the law there. In 2 Cor. 3:3 this work of the Spirit is explained: "Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart." This is a direct reference to writing the law in the heart under the new covenant. With the law written simply on tables of stone, it is impossible for man to obey it; but when the Spirit writes it in the heart, obedience is a possibility, for the heart with the Spirit of God in it is a heart inclined to obedience. When the Spirit does its work upon the mind of man, a new nature,—a new heart,—is created. Then the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit. Rom. 8:1-4. From these scriptures the following conclusions are gleaned:— - The law must be written in the heart in order to secure obedience to its principles.
- The object of the new covenant is to put the law in the heart and secure obedience.
- The Spirit is God's agent to do this work.
- When the Spirit does its work upon the heart, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the life.
- It follows, then, that the law and the Spirit are inseparable. The law is a living thing, and the Spirit is its life. The law is God's divine rule of conduct—the way in which the Spirit operates. When the Spirit is in the heart, the right way (righteous way, or disposition) is there. This righteous way is indispensable to the divine life, for without it it is impossible to please God. That life and the Spirit are inseparably connected with the law is proved by the words of Christ in John 6:63: "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is "the law of the spirit of life." Rom. 8:2.
It is clearly demonstrated that the law is embraced in the terms of the new covenant; but is it the same law that was written on the tables of stone? If it is the same law, it will logically follow that the Christian is to fulfill in his life all the precepts of that law written on stone. But if it is some other law, or even that law amended, the Bible will give us ample instruction. The law on the stone tables says, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Is this precept written in the heart under the new covenant? If so, then the seventh day is the Sabbath of the new covenant, and Christians who understand new covenant principles will keep it. The life and teachings of Christ will fully answer this question. God says, "This is my beloved Son; hear him." In an ancient prophecy are found these words: "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation." Ps. 40:8, 9. In this prophecy Christ himself is represented as the speaker. He says to his Father, "Thy law is within my heart." When this was written, the thought of a change of law, or a new law, had not entered the mind of man. It has direct reference to the law of the Father, and not to the so-called new law of Christ, which Antinomians advocate so much in modern times. There is no question then as to what law is intended in this passage. It was the Father's law, then so well known among the people of God. That prophecy was written about one thousand years before Christ came into the world. Four hundred years later Jehovah says, through Jeremiah, in a prophecy of the new covenant, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." Now Christ is the testator of the new covenant. Heb. 9:16. His death was the closing act in confirming and making it efficacious in the salvation of sinners. Read the eighth chapter of Hebrews, and carefully consider. It is believers in Christ who enter into the new covenant relation with God. Since his death the new covenant has been of full force. Men are not to wait till after the resurrection to enter into its blessings. Believers in Christ are having the law written in their hearts773here in this life. This operation of the Spirit upon the heart fits men for the immortality yet to come. About seven hundred years before Christ Isaiah had a prophetic view of the mediatorial work of our Saviour. He said of him, "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21. He had a view of the same law of which the others speak. The same Spirit revealed the same things to him which had been revealed to others. To magnify the law and make it honorable would be to reveal the power and spirituality in a higher sense than it had been commonly understood before. In the sermon on the mount it is clearly discernible that Jesus makes the law a changeless thing, to be taught throughout the dispensation upon which they were just entering, and he shows that it is so spiritual that it takes cognizance of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He teaches that it is to be taught and obeyed entire by those who enter into the kingdom of God. He added nothing to the new law, but revealed a spirituality and a love which had not been recognized before. The new commandment of Christ is the native love of the law, revealed in the sacrificial life and death of the Son of God. Men have sometimes died for their friends. This was the highest conception of love among men; but when Christ died for his enemies, he revealed a higher form of love than men had ever known. This was the supreme love of the law which was in his heart, or, rather, a new phase of that love, and constituted the new commandment of which he speaks. It was all there from the beginning, but men had never understood it. Jesus also removed the traditions which the Jews had heaped upon the law, and taught what things were lawful to do on the Sabbath day. He gave instruction concerning every precept written upon the tables of stone, thus showing that he had it all in his heart, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. In conclusion, then, how, do the teachings and life of Christ answer the question of what law is written in the heart under the new covenant? From the above premises, the following conclusions are drawn:— - Christ came with the Father's law written in his heart—the same law which was known among the people of God one thousand years before.
- He magnified that law and made it honorable by revealing the spirituality and love that were in it.
- He taught the law that was in his heart. He could teach no other, for to teach a law differing in any respect from that which expressed the Father's will would be violence to the law of God, and would be sin; but there was no sin in him.
- Christ kept the law that was in his heart. Without this obedience he could not do the Father's will, for his will was expressed in it.
- Jesus kept the Sabbath of that law which was in his heart. This is admitted even by Antinomians, for there is no question about it.
- Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant, confirmed it with the Sabbath law in his heart. After his death, which was the confirmation of it, no man could disannul or add anything to it. His disciples could not teach a new law, or one differing in any respect from that which was in his heart when he died to confirm it. Gal. 3:15.
- It is the Spirit of Christ that writes the law in the heart. But his Spirit could not write in the heart of man any law which was not in the heart of Christ; or a law which he neither taught nor kept.
We are to let that mind be in us which was in Christ. Phil. 2:5. That mind will lead men to follow his example in observing the Sabbath. Those who abide in Christ are to walk as he walked. 1 John 2:6. He walked according to the fourth commandment. If we walk as he did, we will also keep it. We are saved by his life. Rom. 5:10. We cannot be saved by his life without adopting it. But we do not adopt it unless our lives are characterized by the same obedience exemplified in his life. Christ's life is a representation of the manner in which God would have us regard his law. He obeyed it, because God was in him. We will obey it if God is in us: "For it is God which workseth in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13. Then the whole law which was written on stone tables is written in the heart in the new covenant. Those who are loyal to God, and fully understand new-covenant principles, will be consistent Sabbath keepers, and God's word says of such: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."