THE LAW OF GOD THE ONLY RULE OF JUDGMENT.
By John Harvey Kellogg
Our opponents claim a wide distinction between the Law and the Gospel, and so do we. But they further claim that the Gospel is now the sole rule of duty, and will be the rule of future judgment. This we deny. We hold that the Law is the rule of duty, and the Gospel the means of justification. A rule of right will of course point out wrong, and as, "by the Law is the knowledge of sin," the Law is that rule. The Gospel is the remedy for sin. But the mediation of Jesus Christ will cease, and the question arises, By what rule will those be judged who have neglected or refused to avail themselves of the justification offered in the Gospel? Paul to the Romans gives direct testimony on this point. It will be noticed that verses 13-15 of chap. ii are enclosed in parentheses. Webster defines parenthesis, "A sentence, or certain words in a sentence, which interrupt the sense or natural connection of words, but serve to explain or qualify the sense of the principal sentence." In this case the explanation is in regard to the knowledge of the Law by the Gentiles. Bullion's Grammar says, "Parentheses include a clause inserted in the body of a sentence, in order to convey some useful or necessary information or remark, but which may be omitted without injuring the construction of the sentence." In this chapter the "natural connection" is between verses 12 and 16, as the intermediate verses being parenthetical, "may be omitted without injuring the construction of the sentence." These verses, 12, 16, read thus: "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." This testimony is as direct and explicit as language could be framed, and is overwhelming to the position of our opponents. It is most decisive as it introduces both the Law and the Gospel, and shows their relation. The facts stated are these: 3. The world will be judged by the Law. There is no scripture representing the Gospel as the rule of judgment. It does not say that "by the Gospel is the knowledge of sin," or that "sin is the transgression of the Gospel." The Gospel became necessary because of the transgression of the Law; and those who avail themselves of its benefits are justified, or presented faultless before God, as if they had never transgressed the law, while those who reject its provisions are judged and condemned by the Law for their transgressions the same as if there had been no offer of pardon through the Gospel, with this increase of guilt, that with their persistent rebellion against the government of God they have treated the offering of his Son, and the offer of pardon through him, with contempt. J. H. W.