The Perpetuity of the Royal Law
Or, The Ten Commandments Not Abolished. Advent
and Sabbath Tract, No. 4.
By J. N. ANDREWS
Continued…
At the present time we have a case precisely parallel. The
professed church of this day hold a tradition which they say came from Christ
and his apostles. On the authority of this tradition they suppose that they are
amply justified in violating the fourth commandment. Like the Jews they even
think that they are serving God more acceptably by keeping a tradition that
contradicts his commandment, than they would be in keeping the commandment
itself.
The rebuke which Christ applied to the Jews, falls with all its
force upon the heads of such: "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of
none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you,
saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Verses 6-9.
"And behold, one came and said unto him,
Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he
said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is
God; but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto
him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit
adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy
father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Matt.19:16-19.
Let us carefully consider these words of our
Lord. The young man came to him with the most important question that he could
ask. The Saviour returned to him the most simple, direct and appropriate
answer. Jesus said to him, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments." The young man, who, it is evident from the narrative,
thought himself already observing them all, asked Jesus, Which? In answer,
Jesus quotes from the second table, five of the ten commandments; and to this
list he adds the second of the two great commandments on which hang all the
rest. It is often said by our opponents that if we would name only those
precepts which our Lord enjoined upon the young man, they would be happy to
agree with us; that Christ did not name the fourth commandment, which is not
therefore obligatory upon us. We reply that the fourth commandment is no more
omitted than is the first, the second, the third and the tenth, and also the
first of the two great commandments on which hang all the rest! Does any one
believe that the young man might violate all these and yet enter life
eternal?
There can be but one of two positions taken with
respect to this text: 1. When the Saviour said, "If thou wilt enter into
life, keep the commandments," he named all the commandments which the
young man should keep; or 2. When the Saviour said "keep the
commandments," he enjoined obedience to them all, and then in answer to
the young man's inquiry, pointed him to the precepts of the second table,
namely, his duty to his fellow-men, as that in which he was most deficient.
If the first position be correct, it follows that
the young man could enter into life in the character of an idolater, a
blasphemer, a Sabbath-breaker, and with an heart full of covetousness; for our
Lord omitted to specify any of those precepts which define our duty to God, and
he also omitted the tenth commandment: "Thou shalt not covet." This
position needs no refutation, and we turn from it to the other.
That the second position is correct, namely, that
Christ enjoined obedience to all the commandments, and then in answer to the
young man's request, pointed him to the second table, and to the second of the
two great commandments - his duty to his fellow man - the following facts
plainly evince:-
1. This is exactly what is recorded in the text. 2. The view that
Christ specified all the precepts which the young man should observe has been
shown to be false and unreasonable. 3. When the young man insisted that he was
blameless in regard to his duty to his fellow men, our Lord applied a test to
him which undeceived him at once. 4. When Christ said, "If thou wilt enter
into life, keep the commandments," he spoke in harmony with his own words
in Matt.5:17-19. There he had declared that not even the minutest particle
should pass from the commandments till the heavens and the earth should flee
away, and that whosoever should violate one of the least of them, should be of
no esteem in the reign of heaven. Then, our Lord being allowed to explain his
own words, it follows that to keep the commandments, is to observe every one of
them; and that the willful violator of the least one, shall have no part in the
kingdom of God. And the apostle James, as we shall thereafter see, establishes
in the clearest manner the fact that whoever understandingly violates one of
the ten commandments is guilty of breaking them all. What will those say to
this who affirm that the young man could keep the commandments, and yet violate
every one that defines our duty to God the great Law-giver?
"Then one of them which was a lawyer, asked him a question,
tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Matt.22:35-40.
Many mistake the question here proposed to Jesus, and read this
text as though the lawyer had said, Master what is the great commandment which
you will give to take the place of the ten commandments? The question was not
asked on that wise; and those who present this scripture as evidence that
Christ gave a new code to take the place of his Father's law, labor under a
serious mistake. The question related to the original law of God; what is the
great commandment in that?
Christ answered this question by pointing out the two great
immutable first principles on which hang all the law and the prophets:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind." This is the sum of our duty to God: on this
hang all those precepts which define our duty to him. "Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself." On this precept hang all those commandments which
contain our duty to our fellow men. This is the sum of them, and out of this
they all grow.
The Saviour did not abolish the law of his Father by these two
precepts; for they were as ancient as any part of the law of God. Deut.6:5;
Lev.19:18. He did not then hang the law and the prophets upon them; for they
had ever hung there; nor did Christ teach that on these two precepts all the
law and the prophets were abolished. Nay, he showed by this the immutable basis
on which the law of Jehovah rests. These two great precepts are, as all admit,
unabolished. And the law of God which hangs upon them is like them, immutable,
and, must abide as long as they endure.
"And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of
the law to fail." Luke16:17. Then it is easier for heaven and earth to
pass than for one of the commandments of God. How hard then must it be for
every precept of the law of God to be abolished and a new law of God enacted to
take its place. Easier could heaven and earth be destroyed and new heavens and
a new earth be created! Should God abolish his great constitution and establish
another in its stead, that event would not only be marked as distinctly as the
establishment of the original constitution by himself at Sinai, in person, but
it would present even a more extraordinary spectacle than for heaven and earth
to flee from the presence of him that sits upon the throne!
It is an important fact that our Lord in
presenting portions of the law of God, always brought them forward as such;
that is, he appealed to the law of his Father, as a living authority, and
quoted from it, not as giving authority to what he quoted, but presenting those
quotations as the authority for his statements. This fact evinces that Christ
was not engaged in re-enacting a part of his Father's law, as some are ready to
affirm. Our Lord did not act in the capacity of legislator with his Father's law.
He was its expositor; and as such he laid open its length and breadth and
spirituality. Even the golden rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them," our Saviour bases on the fact that this
was the law and the prophets. Matt.7:12. So that this most admirable saying was
not given to take the place of the law of God and the prophets, but as a
precious truth resting on their authority.
The scriptures which we have quoted must suffice
to show the nature of Christ's teachings respecting the law of God. It shows
that by his teaching he did not abolish the commandments of God. It also
evinces that Christ not only taught that it was easier
for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the law to fail, but that
he also taught, until heaven and earth
pass a single tittle shall not pass from the law of God; and that whosoever
would enter into everlasting life must keep the commandments of God, even the
least of them. We will now consider the second question.
To be continued…
No comments:
Post a Comment