THE LAW IN THE GOSPEL PLAN.
By F. M. Burg
WHEN we urge that Christ obeyed the law, citing the scriptures that prove that fact, we are sometimes met with the objection: "Yes, that is all admitted; He obeyed, of course; but that He obeyed the Ten-Commandment law does not appear." As one point in identifying the law that our Saviour obeyed while on earth, attention is called once more to the request made by the people at Sinai that a man speak to them, they being unable, through lack of faith, to endure the grandeur of the scene when the law was proclaimed by the voice of Deity; also to the promise made at that time, and the fact that in fulfilment of that promise the Man Christ came and spoke with human voice the precepts of the same law. This should suffice, had we no other evidence, to answer the question regarding the identity of the law which the Man of Nazareth obeyed, and in which He is our example. But further evidence on this point is found in Rom. 5: 12, where it is said that "by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." In the verses following this to the eighteenth, mention is made several times of the offense of Adam, and also of all men upon whom condemnation had passed because of his sin; and with this is also set forth the provision made in the gift of God for the justification of all who had offended. Note carefully that the gift of God for the justification of man was occasioned by the transgression of Adam; for from this fact an important conclusion can be drawn. What law did Adam break, to pay the debt for which the Son of God had to die? Verse 19 says, "As by one man's disobedience [and that man was Adam], many were made sinners; so by the obedience of One [Christ Jesus] shall many be made righteous." From this the conclusion necessarily follows that our Saviour obeyed precisely the same law that Adam transgressed. There is no avoiding this conclusion. Then what law was this? Can we be certain regarding this important point which involves so much? We surely can be. We read in verse 20 that "the law entered that the offense might abound." When did the law "enter"?—At Mount Sinai, of course. And all know what law that was; that it was the Ten Commandments. Then why did this law "enter"? why was it given as it was there?—"That the offense [Adam's offense and the offense of all the world] might abound." There is only one conclusion from this, and that is that the Ten Commandments, the law given at Sinai, was the same law that Adam transgressed; for none other law than the law that he broke could make his offense abound. So with this unquestionable fact before us, together with the equally unquestionable fact above set forth, that Christ obeyed where Adam disobeyed, it follows conclusively and inevitably that the law given at Sinai, or the Ten Commandments, was the law which the Son of God obeyed while on earth, and in which He is our great example. Let us again briefly state the premises and the conclusion: Christ obeyed where, or obeyed the same law that, Adam disobeyed. Rom. 5: 19. That law was the one that entered at Sinai, the Ten Commandments, making Adam's offense abound. Verse 20. Therefore the law to which Christ rendered obedience while among men was the Ten Commandments, the law which He spoke on the mountain. So "He that saith that he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." 1 John 2: 6. V. Law-breakers Condemned.
From the scriptures before cited it is clearly seen that the law at Sinai was for all the world, and not, as is often claimed, for the Jews merely, and for a limited time. "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Rom. 3: 19. How many, then, are "under the law"?—"All the world." Then it is surely an untenable claim that the law was for the Jews alone. Note, too, the expression, "what things soever the law saith," says, not said, which tense of the verb would have been used were the law abolished at the cross, as is claimed by many. Says is present tense, and that is now, in this dispensation; hence proving that the law exists at this time. Notice also another present-tense form of the word used, which also shows the existence of the law now: "It saith to them who are [not were] under the law." Furthermore, there can be no question as to which law is referred to here. This is clearly shown by reading chapter two, where the apostle is reproving the Jews for transgressing the law, while making their boast in it and having the form of knowledge and truth which it contained. See chapter 2: 17-23. And this is the law of Ten Commandments, without question. Then it is settled that the law of Jehovah, given at Sinai to make the offense of Adam and of all men to abound, still exists and speaks to all who are under it (and that is all the world), in order that every mouth may be stopped and the transgressor become guilty before God. From Rom. 3: 19, already quoted in this article, it is clear what the above phrase means. It means to be guilty of transgression. In Gal. 4: 4, 5, the expression "under the law" occurs again. Notice the reading, "When the fulness of time was come, God11sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." Then those under the law needed redemption. Was that the Jews only? If so, the gift of God in His Son was for them alone, and the world at large has no part in it. No, "all the world" is under the law, and hence needs redemption. Then the expression applies to men who are sinners, and who therefore need redemption. And every soul of man or woman, from beginning to end of this world, is within this circumference. Then what is the object of the law?—To make the offense abound (Rom. 5: 20), that by it "all the world may become guilty before God." Rom. 3: 19. "By the law is the knowledge of sin." Verse 20; also chapter 7: 7. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3: 31.