An Infallible Standard
By W.
It would seem that every reasonable man must recognize that God must have some immutable, infallible standard by which to try beliefs and acts, and that this standard must be of such purity as to be acknowledged by all, so unambiguous as to be readily understood, and given in such a way that its divine authority could not be questioned. The necessity for such a standard is found in the fallibility, mutability, and inconsistency of man's mind and nature. Many men imagine as real that which does not really exist. Many elevate conscience as a guide, when conscience simply means an early education, warped, twisted, and perverted. Conscience is one of the most elastic, ductile, and pliable of the elements which make up man's moral nature. Of itself alone it is not to be depended upon. It would be like regulating a clock or chronometer by itself. Many follow what they have come to believe to be the voice of God, but which in reality is the voice of the devil, or of a corrupted imagination controlled by the devil. They not only follow such a course themselves, but are determined that others also shall follow it. All along the ages are the marks of those who were a law unto themselves. No two of them agreed, and no one of them was consistent with himself. There is no way of testing such individuals in themselves; therefore there must be an immutable, infallible rule. God has given just such an infallible, immutable rule in the Decalogue. Its purity is acknowledged by all. Its language is simple, straightforward, and unambiguous. It was spoken by the voice of the Creator of the heavens and the earth in the presence of marshaled thousands, and engraved by His own finger in the tables of enduring rock, thereby showing its importance, unchangeableness, and divine authorship. To that law—to its integrity, purity, all-comprehensiveness, and immutability—every Bible writer who has spoken upon it has borne faithful witness. It has been reserved to latter-day Christians and prophets to depart from the testimony and examples of Holy Writ, and from the testimony and example of our Lord Jesus Christ. By them conscience is placed above the Word of God; feeling and "experience" are above faith in the Word; numbers count more than the testimony of the Bible; tradition is above the law of God. With one the church is the standard, with another conscience is the guide, with another it is something else. Certainly the infallible rule of God's law is demanded. Take two examples of the law as the one and only standard of belief. In speaking of the manifestations of the work of the enemy, and of those who will seek information from familiar spirits, or the spirits of the dead, the prophet Isaiah (8:20) says: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Says our Lord (Matt. 7:20-23): "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Twice the law is presented here as the standard; once as "the will of My Father" (see Ps. 40:8), and once in a negative sense, namely, God will not know those who work iniquity, or lawlessness, or lawbreaking. That prophet whose teaching would draw a soul away from God's law or Word is either wofully misunderstood or else is a false prophet. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord."