THERE is a blessing as well as a duty in the service of praise. Nor is there ever a time when a child of God has not reason to give praise to him, or when he will not find help to his own soul in sounding God's praises. Among the old poems of the Norseland, there is many a praise of the spirit of praise. Says Odin, in one of these poems: "I am possessed of songs, such as neither the spouse of a king nor any son of man can repeat: one of them is called the Helper; it will help thee at thy need, in sickness, grief, and all adversities;" and again: "I know a song which I need only to sing when men have loaded me with bonds; for the moment I sing it my chains fall in pieces, and I walk forth at liberty." Such a song as that it was which Paul and Silas sang at midnight, while in chains in the prison at Philippi. In the singing of a similar song every trustful believer in Jesus can find help and joy in the hour of his sorest earthly need. "In the day of my trouble He shall keep me," says David confidently; "and . . . I will sing; yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord." "It is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely."—S. S. Times.
Solomon on the Power of Prayer
By H. Clay Trumbull
"If any man trespass; . . . when thy people . . . be smitten down before the enemy; . . . when heaven is shut up, and there is no rain; . . . if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, . . . then hear thou in Heaven, and forgive." 1 Kings 8:31-36. It is a wide range of prayer that Solomon suggests in his petitions to the Lord; a range that takes in the sinner's direct relation to God; man's relation to his fellow-man; and material nature's relations to man. Solomon was a very wise man; but he had no doubt that prayer could be a means of influencing the Lord to send rain in its season, or out of its season. It is because so many of the "scientists" have less knowledge than Solomon, not because they have more, that they have doubts on this subject. Solomon had wisdom enough to trust God beyond his own knowledge. So far, Solomon is an example to every child of God.—H. Clay Trumbull.
The New Testament Sabbath.
IS THE Sabbath recognized in the New Testament? We ask this question because so many are apparently trying to make themselves believe there is no Sabbath day under the gospel. They say the believer rests in Christ, and that is all the rest he needs. But in the text, "I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28), the word "rest" is translated from anapausis, which here refers to rest or peace from a guilty conscience. Whereas sabbaton refers to the day on which ordinary business is to cease. In those passages which treat of comfort for a burdened soul, there is not the remotest hint that peace of mind in Christ is to supplant Sabbath observance. To suppose that forgiveness exempts from obedience to any of the commandments of God, is to deceive ourselves as to the conditions of forgiveness.
Had our Lord said, Come to me and I will be a Sabbath to you, there would have been some show of reason in claiming exemption from the observance of the seventh day. Except for the insistence of the objector, it would seem superfluous to say, Christ never represents himself as the Sabbath for his people.
Another contention is, that the apostle Paul sets aside the Sabbath. But a careful reading of Gal. 4:10, and its context, will show that the apostle fears that those converts from heathenism will turn again to the beggarly elements of pagan observances and festival days; and after the same manner does he warn the Colossian brethren against the festival sabbaths and new moons of Jewish national observance, which were well enough for that people, but were not designed for Gentile believers in Christ.
Now, to the question, Is the Sabbath recognized in the New Testament? there can be but an affirmative answer.
1. The custom of Jesus and the apostles was to resort to the synagogues for public worship on the Sabbath day. Of this custom there are no less than eighty-nine instances, expressed and implied. Examine Matt. 12; Luke 4; 23:56; Acts 13:5, 14, 42, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4, 11.
2. The existence of the Sabbath and the lawfulness of Sabbath observance are emphatically indorsed by our Lord: "Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day."—Revised N. T.
3. The object of the institution of the Sabbath is also stated by him: "The Sabbath was made for man,"—that is, for his use, for his good.
4. Jesus claims the Sabbath as his own: "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." As master and proprietor of the seventh day, it was proper for him to say what was lawful to be done on that day. By him the worlds were made (Heb. 1:2, 4); and therefore the order of evening and morning, the succession of seven days, and the special appointment of the seventh in remembrance of the Father's creative work, were all "by him." Hence in the days of his flesh it was right for him to claim lordship of the Sabbath. If he possessed it then, he possesses it now. There is not in the whole New Testament either jot or tittle to express that he has relinquished his dominion over the Sabbath.
5. Christ was careful to announce, near the beginning of his ministry, that he had not come into the world "to destroy the law, but to fulfill," by which we understand to honor and to confirm the law, at the same time affirming that it is a sin for any one to break that law, or to teach men to do so.
6. Besides the foregoing, there are certain passages which show obligation to the Sabbath on the part of the disciples: "Pray ye that your flight be not . . . on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20. They "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. Hence Sabbath law was then in full force.
7. The claim that first-day, or Sunday, is the Sabbath under the gospel, rests upon the flimsiest pretext possible.
(a) In the New Testament it is called by no other name than first-day.
(b) It was not observed by the apostles either as the Sabbath, or as commemorative of the resurrection of Christ, or as a day on which to celebrate the communion.
(c) The observance of Sunday was brought into the Christian church as a heathen festival—"the venerable day of the sun"—and afterwards observed in honor of the resurrection. By order of the Council of Laodicea, Sabbath-keepers were cursed; and the whole power of a pagan Christian priesthood was necessary, during three or four centuries, to discourage Sabbath-keeping, and to establish the Sunday festival in its place. It is becoming more and more evident that the popular day is of man only, and its fame and power are justly waning. We view it as one of the works of Babylon, which must fall. When a Protestant claims Sunday as of Christ, the Roman Catholic replies that Sunday is an institution of his church. History supports him in this assertion, and the Protestant feels the weakness of his cause.
(d) On the other hand, there is everything about the Lord's Sabbath to make it honorable, agreeable, and joyful. Why should not every Christian celebrate it with delight, in remembrance of the Creator's work, and as his remedy for man against idolatry and atheism? We appeal to our fellow-Christians to awake from indifference to this oft-recurring question, and reject the Sunday tradition, to lay hold of the Lord's Sabbath, and rise to that consistency in Christian practice, the lack of which so greatly weakens the power of the gospel among men. They who love God, keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:2, 3.—Sabbath Memorial.
Strength of Will.
By Methodist Recorder
A STRONG will makes a strong character. A man who hesitates and turns aside from his purpose will never succeed. He lacks that tenacity and persistence essential to success. Men should not arrive at conclusions too hastily, but when they have been carefully and deliberately reached, they should be maintained with becoming firmness. A firm man who maintains his position from honest convictions, based on what he regards as sufficient reasons, is very different from a stubborn man who is determined to accomplish his purpose without regard to reason. Both have tenacity of purpose; but the one is strong because he is governed by intelligent motives; the other is weak because he is governed by prejudice and passion. Seek diligently to discover the right, and then maintain it because it is right.—Methodist Recorder.
Condemning Sin.
By Archbishop Tait
HERE, I fear, is a dangerous tendency of the age in which we live—to regard sin rather as a misfortune or a mistake, than a fault and corruption. No one can object to the generous impulse which leads us to make due allowance for those who grow up, through no fault of their own, under unfavorable influences; and a merciful God no doubt considers and makes due allowance for the inevitable disadvantages under which so many human souls are reared. But still, sin is sin, and right is right; and the true church of God never falters in its condemnation of the one and its upholding of the other. It is its special business to form and maintain an elevated public opinion, based on the standard of the word of God.
Life’s Real Heroes
It is well always to remember that life's real heroes are those who bear their own burdens bravely, and are ever ready to give a helping hand to others.
What Are "Christian Nations"?
"ANYTHING to make money," seems to be the motto of the nations. Christian countries have no hesitation in doing things that must, if continued, inevitably utterly wipe out of existence the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands of the sea, if they can only make a little money thereby. "Take," says the Independent, "the case of Madagascar, where rum merchants, aided by the English and American Governments, are trying to undo the work of our missionaries. Both the English and the American Government levy a tax of some two dollars a gallon on distilled liquors; but the English Government forced on Madagascar a treaty which made that people receive rum at an import duty of only thirty-three per cent., which was, in 1867, reduced to ten per cent., or about two cents a gallon. There are imported annually from Mauritius over 400,000 gallons of rum, which sells at about eighteen cents a gallon, and which, with native liquors, made from stills imported from Mauritius, is inflicting an injury which the missionaries find it hard to resist."
A correspondent of a Mauritius paper, the Commercial Gazette, says that "the whole population have become inveterate drunkards, women and children as well as men;" that the women are becoming sterile throughout the country; and that, "if something is not done to stop this unlimited consumption of spirits, the bulk of the race will have disappeared from the face of the earth before the beginning of the next century, and those who remain will have just cause to curse the day upon which the white man invaded their country, under the pretext of showing them the way to Heaven." In a little while we shall be hearing that "civilization" has destroyed the Hova race. It is the civilization of rum and gunpowder, not of Christianity.
In the month of August, 1879, Messrs. Dunville and Co., distillers, of Belfast, shipped about a thousand cases of whisky, via Larne and Liverpool, to Cyprus. This island has but just escaped from Mohammedan misrule, impoverished and almost depopulated; and now Irish whisky, sent out by "Christian distillers," comes to the front, under the British flag, to complete the desolation.
Yet with these facts in view, with India, where English example has made a thousand drunkards where it has made one Christian; with China, where each day more than a thousand natives die the most horrible deaths, murdered by British opium forced on them at the cannon's mouth; with the South Sea island races rotting out from immoral diseases which the sailors of Christendom have left behind;—the only exceptions being islands that have no harbors where ships can lie;—with the liquor traffic driving the ploughshare of destruction not only through all Christendom, but through the virgin soil just opened in Asia and Africa for the reception of the good seed of the kingdom;—with all these horrible exhibitions of Satanic craft, backed up by the force of evil habit and the covetous greed of gain which rules the so-called Christian world;—with all these facts before them, dainty divines, dealing in a gospel of lavender and rose-water, draw glowing pictures of a good time coming, and tell us that the world's conversion is just at hand! Do such men know much about the world, or much about conversion? Or are they saying peace and safety when sudden destruction cometh upon them?—The Christian.
Sincerity and Inner Examination
If "sincerity" be sufficient, there is no need of, and no excuse for, opposing Christianity; since a man may at least be as sincere inside as outside the Christian pale and belief. "Blind unbelief" is no better than blind belief.—Sel.
THERE is something wrong within, among all those who are afraid to look within.—Seeker.
The Coming of a Literal Christ.
By Editor
THE words of Paul in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 have been considered. Reference is made to them again to show the parallel between this and other scriptures. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." Jesus also says that the trumpet shall sound when he comes. "And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 24:30, 31.
And when the Lord himself shall descend, and the trumpet sounds, the dead in Christ shall rise. See the words of Paul to the church of Corinth. 1 Cor. 15:51-55: "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." They who deny the literality of the resurrection, pervert this scripture, saying that it means that when the saint dies (or any other, in fact), the incorruptible spirit, or immortal soul, rises from or out of the corruptible—the body—and this is called the resurrection. We say they pervert it, because they directly contradict the words of inspiration. The text continues: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." The corruptible becomes incorrupt; the mortal becomes immortal. And so it was with Christ, the pledge and first-fruits of our resurrection. He was mortal; for he died. He was raised immortal; for "death hath no more dominion over him." Rom. 6:9.
And to this agree the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 15:42-45. Of the resurrection of the dead body, he says: "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit," or life-giving spirit. And this life is given in the resurrection. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. 3:4. "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 1 John 5:10, 11. Not in ourselves; not in "the first man Adam;" not in our natures, but in the Son of God, the only life-giver.
The reader must not think we are dealing in any fancy sketches in attributing to the non-literalists the wrong construction of 1 Cor. 15:53, 54, which we noticed; we have known the text to be thus expounded: The incorruptible shall leave this corruptible; and the immortal shall escape from the clog of this mortal. But the text says: "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." This language is unmistakable. We cannot hesitate to say that nothing less than a gross perversion can make it teach anything but a literal resurrection of the dead. We could give further explicit testimony; but if "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established," we need go no further; for we have given several times that number of the most explicit witnesses to the resurrection of the dead—of the bodies of the dead, of them that sleep in the earth.
Upon these testimonies we base the hope of life on the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. Paul calls the coming of Christ "that blessed hope" (Titus 2:13); because when he comes, the dead in Christ shall rise immortal, and then—and not till then—is brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." Then the saints who have been under the dominion of death, shall rise glorious, incorruptible, immortal. Remembering the agonies of death through which they passed, they shout exultingly, "O death, where is thy sting?" Looking down upon the dusty beds which have long contained them, which they have now left forever, they triumphantly inquire, "O grave, where is thy victory?" And the translated saints, who have not slept, but who have been changed to immortality in the twinkling of an eye, as they are caught up together with the resurrected ones in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, join in the glad song of triumph, all uniting in the cry, "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." How strongly fortified is our faith in the precious promises through Jesus and the resurrection! How confidently we may say with the poet,—
"Here I can fix my hope secure;
This is Thy word, and must endure."
We have quoted a number of scriptures which say that the reward, the crown of righteousness, the crown of life, will be given at the appearing of Jesus. At the appearing of Jesus, the dead in Christ arise immortal, incorruptible, glorified. And Jesus has again located the receiving of the reward at the resurrection in Luke 14:13, 14: "But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." In view of these words, the apostle Paul was certainly justified in his expression in 1 Cor. 15:32: "If after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die." On these words Dr. Clarke comments as follows:—
"What the apostle says here, is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine that there is no resurrection; for if there be no resurrection, then there can be no Judgment, no future state of rewards and punishments; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline? Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can; for to-morrow we die, and there is an end of us forever."
Decisive as is this conclusion, we have not yet reached the climax of the apostle's great argument. There were those in his day also who denied the resurrection of the dead. To such, and against their heresy, was his argument on the resurrection directed. This being the case, the blindness of those in this day who deny the resurrection is inexcusable.
He starts out in this chapter by declaring unto them the gospel in its three great facts,—the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. To deny either of these facts is to deny the gospel. The certainty of his resurrection is shown in that "he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once."
Again: "He was seen of James; then of all the apostles." And last of all, he was seen of Paul also. He then frames his argument on this fact. "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?" Sure enough. Why deny that there will be a resurrection, a literal resurrection, if Christ was raised from the dead? Every one who denies or doubts the resurrection of the dead should take this question to heart. "But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen." And every one who denies the resurrection, ought to be prepared for this conclusion. And this is not all: "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain."
Thus we see that consequences of infinite importance attach to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The apostle so highly valued his argument and the conclusion that he repeated it in the following words: "For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." This carries the conclusion still further. If there be no resurrection of the dead, our faith is vain; our hope is vain; the sleeping saints are perished; and we are yet in our sins; our hope does not reach beyond the present life; for thus he says: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."
But we must remember that while all these consequences are suspended on the resurrection of the dead, the resurrection itself is suspended on the coming of the Lord. If there is to be no second advent of Christ,—if "the Lord himself shall" not "descend,"—then the trump of God will not sound; the voice of the archangel will not be heard; the dead in Christ will not arise; this mortal will not put on immortality; the saints will not be changed; the song of victory over death and the grave will not be sung; the crown of life will not be received; the reward will not be given; the saints will not appear in glory; they will not be recompensed; then our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins, and our sleeping friends are perished. We may then indeed sorrow even as they that have no hope.
We invite all doubting ones who think slightly of the advent doctrine, to examine this argument carefully, notice the apostle's words, and the declarations of the Lord himself, and see if every conclusion is not legitimate and unavoidable.
To be ashamed of the doctrine of the second advent, as many now are, is to be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the very essence and fatness of the gospel, because it brings the fruition of the gospel faith and hope. Without it there is no hope.
And we invite all those who question the literality of the second advent and of the kingdom, to test their theories by all the testimony of the scriptures we have presented. "How readest thou?" Are you satisfied to rest your faith upon a theory which apparently harmonizes with a few texts, while it manifestly perverts many texts, and destroys the very foundations of the gospel? The Lord is jealous of his word, and will hold us to account for the use that we make of it.
We verily believe there are thousands who are making the sad mistake of loving their own opinion of the Bible, while they think they love the Bible itself. Such are not willing to bow to the evidences presented from the Bible unless they coincide with their opinions. They are ready to chide the Bible with vexed feelings if it will not prove what they have decided to believe. But all such have no genuine faith. They do not tremble at the word. They do not seek counsel of the Scriptures to regulate their faith and their lives by its teachings; but they decide what they wish to have for right, and103endeavor to make the Bible justify the desires of their own hearts.
Reader, may we not say, "We are persuaded better things of you"? Are you prepared to meet the Saviour on his inquiry, "How readest thou?" To read amiss, to pervert the testimony of the Most High, is only to bring upon ourselves confusion when the King shall come to reckon with his servants. May the Lord help us to read with such reverence and humility that it may be to our eternal good and to his glory.
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Life and Death.
By Editor
UNDER this head we find the following lines in a paper claiming the name of "Christian":—
"Life and Death are sisters fair;
Yes, they are a lovely pair.
Life is sung in joyous song;
While men do her sister wrong,
Calling her severe and stern,
While her heart for them doth burn.
Weave, then, weave a grateful wreath,
For the sisters, Life and Death.
"If fair Life her sister lost,
On a boundless ocean tost
She would rove in great unrest,
Missing that warm, loving breast;
Now, when scared by wild alarms,
She can seek her sister's arms—
To that tender bosom flee,
Sink to sleep in ecstasy."
We have no comment to make on this. As the paper publishing it claims to be pre-eminently Biblical in its faith, we will let the word of the Lord speak for itself.
Gen. 2:17: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Deut. 30:15: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil."
Prov. 8:36: "All they that hate me love death."
Isa. 28:15, 18: "Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement," etc. "And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."
Eze. 18:4: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Also verse 20.
Verse 32: "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."
Hos. 13:14: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plagues."
Rom. 5:12: "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin."
Rom. 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death."
1 Cor. 15:26: "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
Verse 54: "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
2 Tim. 1:10: "But is now made manifest [his purpose and grace] by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
Heb. 2:14: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
James 5:20: "He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death."
These are a few of the great multitude of texts which show in what light God regards death. It is the penalty, the result, the wages of sin, and the devil introduced it into the world. Christ came to destroy it, and, as the last enemy, not friend, of man, it will be destroyed. Let them make "a covenant with death" who hate wisdom; but we abhor death, and seek for life and immortality through the Life Giver, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jurisdiction of the Law.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
(Continued.)
WHILE we have been making the claim and proving it, that the law of God covers every possible act or thought, and that no responsible being is outside of its jurisdiction, some one has been looking for the verse which says that the Gentiles do not have the law, but are a law unto themselves. Perhaps this is as good a time as any to consider that text. An answer to it will also involve the consideration of the question why the ten commandments, since they have such universal jurisdiction, were spoken from Mount Sinai only to the Jews. Let us now read the passage above referred to.
"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; (for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another)." Rom. 2: 12-15.
A brief examination of Paul's argument in this chapter will be necessary in order to get a proper understanding of this text. It will be noticed that the 13th, 14th, and 15th verses are parenthetical, and are therefore secondary to the main argument. Therefore in stating the argument, we shall omit those three verses. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul has shown the terribly immoral condition of the heathen world; and in the second chapter he proceeds to show that whoever condemns the heathen, condemns himself; for all are guilty. God, he says, "will render to every man according to his deeds." To those who patiently persevere in well-doing, he will render eternal life; but to those who are contentious, and do not obey the truth (see Ps. 119:142), he will render indignation and wrath. And these rewards of good or ill will be rendered to every man, whether he be Jew or Gentile. "For there is no respect of persons with God. 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."
In the first two chapters of Romans, the apostle brings out the fact which is plainly stated in the third, that "both Jews and Gentiles" are "under sin," and that "there is none righteous, no, not one." In the passage under consideration, he states that, as a consequence, all who do not repent shall suffer "the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds." This will be done without regard to nationality; "for there is no respect of persons with God;" that is, it is not a man's birth, but his character, that gives him favor with God. It is the doers of the law whom he justifies, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, and not those who, as did many of the Jews, hear the law, but do not obey. All who sin, whether with the law or without it, shall perish.
In the 12th and 14th verses, we have the two classes brought to view—those who have the law, and those who have it not. There is no question but that the Jews had the law; they rested in it (Rom. 2:17), and by breaking it dishonored God. Verses 23, 24. And the 14th verse tells us plainly that those not having the law are the Gentiles. Before considering their case, we must not fail to note the fact that both the Jews who had the law, and the Gentiles who had it not, had sinned. They were alike guilty before God. Rom. 3:9, 19. Now "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), and "where no law is, there is no transgression." Rom. 4:15. Therefore it is beyond controversy that both classes here mentioned had transgressed law, and more than that, had been conscious of the fact; for "sin is not imputed when there is no law." So it is certain that the Gentiles had transgressed the law; yet the text says they had not the law, and that they "sinned without law." How shall we explain this seeming contradiction? Let us see. Read again verses 14, 15:—
"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another."
When God made man in his own image, he made him upright. Eccl. 7:29. Not alone in his physical form, but also in his moral nature, he was in the image of God. While Adam continued in this upright, sinless condition, the law of God was in his heart. We know this from Ps. 40:8, where David, speaking for the Messiah, says, "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." The existence of the law of God in the heart is manifested by the willingness to obey that law; and he who, as was the case with Christ, has the law perfectly formed within his heart, will render perfect obedience to the law. This was the case with our first parents in the garden of Eden.
But man fell from his high estate; he sinned against God, and thus marred the perfect copy of the law which had existed in his heart. The tendency of sin is to multiply itself; like the tares sown among the good grain, it will grow without any attention. So the first sin prepared the way for many more, till at last nearly all the world became wholly given up to sin. In Heb. 3:13, the apostle says that men become "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin;" that is, the more men sin, the less heinous does sin appear to them, until at last evil appears to be only good, and good evil, and they sin without the slightest compunction of conscience. This principle is something with which everybody is familiar. Now this progressive love of sin, and the indifference to it, is nothing else than the obliterating of the copy of the law which exists in a more or less perfect state in every heart. This work is not done instantaneously; it takes time for men to so completely obliterate the law from their hearts that they will feel no restraint. But when it is entirely gone, then man is in the condition in which he was just prior to the flood, when "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5. So long, however, as any portion remains in the heart, the Spirit is enabled to strive with man, and, by means of that law, to convict of sin; and this whether the individual knows anything of the written revelation or not.8
Now the Gentiles did not have the law written on stone and in books, as did the Jews; they only had that portion which still remained unobliterated from their hearts. Of course the Jews, having much more light than the Gentiles had, were far more responsible. The former would necessarily be judged by the fullness of the law; for they could not plead ignorance of any portion of it. If they sinned, justice required that the condemnation of the law should be visited upon them in full measure. But the Gentiles could be judged only by the light that they had. Since they had not the written revelation, that, of course, would not be brought up against them. They knew, however, the difference, in many things, between right and wrong; and by this they are judged. Had they lived fully up to the light which they had by nature, they would have been counted as doers of the law; but since they did not, since their own consciences condemned them, they must suffer the consequences. The Jews, having the written law, are judged by the law; and the Gentiles, not having the written law, perish without being brought into Judgment by it.
Perhaps this can be made plainer by illustration. The Jews had every one of the ten commandments in such shape that they could constantly be reminded of them, and know the extent of their claims. Now when they come into Judgment, it is no more than justice that the whole law should be held up before them, that the enormity of their guilt may be manifest. But here is a poor, ignorant barbarian, who, we will suppose, knew, by the light of nature, only two precepts of the law,—that it is wrong to kill and to commit adultery. His knowledge of the sinfulness of these acts is shown by his trying to conceal the fact when he has done one or the other of them. His own conscience accuses him. Now it is not necessary, in order to convict him of sin, that the whole ten commandments be held up, beside the record of his life. In the Judgment let the two precepts with which he was familiar be recalled to his mind. By these alone he stands condemned as a sinner; and since "the wages of sin is death," he justly perishes, without ever having seen the written law. Thus we see that all men, whatever their condition, are amenable to, and are to be judged by, the law of God. When Paul says that the Gentiles have not the law, he means that they had not the written revelation, but not that they did not have some knowledge of right and wrong, as defined by the moral law.