GOD'S HOLY LAW | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · May 13, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 19.

GOD'S HOLY LAW.

What Is the Law of God?

THIS is a question frequently asked. What is the law obedience to which is required of God at our hands? What are the commandments of God we are required to keep? Let us answer the question by a few texts of Scripture.

The law which we are required to obey is the law which points out sin; for "whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. This law therefore condemns all sin.

The law which condemns sin must teach that which is the very opposite of sin. "All unrighteousness is sin." 1 John 5:17. Therefore that law, the transgression of which is sin, condemns all unrighteousness, and in itself must embrace all righteousness. So we read, "All thy commandments are righteousness." Ps. 119:172. "Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law" (Isa. 51:7), a passage which can have no other meaning than that the law of God is his righteousness.

Both the apostles Paul and James clearly show what this law of righteousness is which points out sin, and that sin can be truly revealed in no other way. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." "Where no law is, there is no transgression." "Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 7:7. "If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he [margin, "that law"] which said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." James 2:9-11. The law which forbids killing and adultery and coveting is the Decalogue, the law spoken from heaven by the great Jehovah, the King of the universe. It is found in Ex. 20:2-17. It forbids other gods before the Lord, idolatry, and taking the Lord's name in vain; it points out the day of the Sabbath and enjoins its observance, inculcates duty to parents, and forbids murder, adultery, theft, false witness, and covetousness, and all the thoughts, principles, and motives which lead to these things. This law James calls "the royal law according to the Scripture," the Old Testament Scriptures; for the New was but then being written. He also declares it to be "the law of liberty," insuring liberty to the man who keeps it. James 2:8, 12.

This law is expressly called a "law" in the very connection in which is found the record of its giving. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." Ex. 24:12. The Revised Version reads, "And I will give thee the tables of stone and the law." Now what law did God write?—"And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God." Ex. 31:18. "And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." Deut. 4:13. And, further, to show that this law, so marvelously given, was complete in itself, to that completeness "he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me." Deut. 5:22.

It is by this holy law of God that men are to be judged. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14. What could be more reasonable than that God should judge us by the law which he has commanded man to observe? Nay, this must be the case: for we could not be condemned by the law which we are not obligated to obey. You would not try an Englishman for a crime committed on English soil by a law of France or Spain or Germany. Before the great tribunal of heaven the same law will judge all men. Says the apostle Paul, "For as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." Rom. 2:12. And James, in speaking of "the royal law," of the law which said, "Do not kill," and, "Do not commit adultery," enjoins the Christians he addresses to "so speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:12.

The law which points out sin, and which it is our duty to obey, is perfect, and therefore immutable and unchangeable. "The law of the Lord is perfect." Ps. 19:7. "All his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever." Ps. 111:7, 8. "My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law." Isa. 51:6, 7. And our Lord declares the same thing, even more explicitly, when he says, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt. 5:18. "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." Luke 16:17.

This is the eternal, all-comprehending law of God. It enjoins on its positive side of love all righteousness; it condemns on its negative side of prohibition all sin. It is the same in all ages, times, periods, dispensations. It was kept by faithful patriarchs, by holy prophets, and in every jot and tittle by our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in him applies his obedience to our own unrighteousness, and puts his mind, his Spirit, his life, within us, so that we shall bear "the fruits of righteousness," "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Why should men oppose this law? If it were obeyed, there would be no sin, no crimes, no jails, no execution of criminals, no unhappy homes, no strife between capital and labor—nothing to mar the fair face of God's creation. Read that law in Ex. 20:2-17. What is there wrong or unreasonable in each or any commandment? What is there wrong with Jesus Christ, in whom that law was fulfilled? Why should men oppose that law? Read the answer in the Word of God: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. But, reader, if you wish to be in different relation to that holy and beneficent and eternal law, confess your sins, believe in Jesus Christ, drink in of his Spirit, that the love of God may be shed abroad in the heart, and you will then say, with the psalmist, "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day;" or, with our blessed Lord, "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart."