Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Law and the Gospel Go Hand in Hand.


THE SPIRIT OF GOD:– ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.  1877

Continued…

CHAPTER V.
THE LAW AND THE TESTIMONY
“To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa. 8:20.
The Lord by his prophet gave the foregoing rule as an infallible test for detecting certain systems of error now prevailing. In verse 16 we find the following order:— “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.”

We cannot imagine that God left so important an instrument as his law without a seal, and then required man to affix one to it. The Lord sealed his own law, but man has removed the seal, and it is now to be restored. The law must be sealed among his disciples, for it is among them that the seal has been removed. And as with the law, so with “the testimony.” Violence has been done to both in the professed church of Christ. The work of restoration is pointed out in the prophecies of the New Testament. But this is not accomplished without opposition, for thus speaks the prophet:—
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.
An explanation of the last expression is given in Rev. 19:10, which says, “The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.” Hence in the last days there will arise those who have these
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peculiarities: they will keep the commandments of God, which have been rejected or dishonored—they will restore the seal to the law, and thus present it to the world a perfect and complete instrument; and they will have the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy—they will “bind up the testimony,” which has been torn from its place in the church of Christ.

This relation of the law and the testimony is noted in the Scriptures in many places, and presents to us some interesting features of Acts 2:28, 29. Those religionists who deny the power of the Spirit and the perpetuity of its gifts through this dispensation, usually take antinomian ground, namely, that the ten commandments are abrogated and the gospel is substituted for them. Close observation of the ground causes us to remark that antinomianism and the Spirit of God do not go together. Therefore it is not surprising that they who oppose the law oppose also the doctrine of the gifts and the power of the Spirit. In developing this truth it is necessary to offer a few remarks upon the harmony of the law and the gospel.
The gospel cannot be substituted for the law. They are different in nature, and neither one can answer the purpose of the other. The object of the law is to form a good character; that of the gospel is to reform a bad one. The law is a rule of right action, and the gospel is a remedy for wrong action. Where no wrong exists no remedy is needed. Therefore, had the law been kept and never violated, no gospel would have existed, for it would not have been needed. This shows that Paul’s words are true without any qualification: “The doers of the law shall be justified.”
50 And thus is proved that the law contains all the elements of justification. The law is right, but man is wrong.
Says Paul:—
“For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14.
The law is a rule; the gospel is a means. As such they cannot be interchanged. Again the apostle says:—
“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. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:19, 20.
As the law is not the means whereby a sinner is justified, so the gospel is not the rule by which sin is pointed out—by which men are proved guilty before God. But some treat it as if it were such a rule, and reject the law. Yet no one can read the Scriptures to suit such a belief; no one will accept the following version of Rom. 3:20: “Therefore by the deeds of the gospel there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the gospel is the knowledge of sin.” Both truth and justice require that they shall renounce their cherished premise, as they will not consent to accept the necessary conclusion.
As the gospel cannot be substituted for the law, and as it would not have existed had there been no transgression of law, so it cannot now exist without law. If the law be abrogated, the gospel becomes a nullity, as no one would ask for a pardon where there was no possibility of conviction. Speaking of the redemption through Christ, the apostle says:—
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“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3:25, 26.
The harmony of the law and the gospel is precisely the harmony of justice and love in the divine character, and it is represented by the union of the Father and the Son. The Son saves only those who return to allegiance to the Father. Faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ is of no avail without repentance toward God. Acts 20:21. The will of the Father is a test of the doctrines of the Son. John 7:16, 17. And in vain they cry to Jesus, Lord, Lord, who do not the will of his Father. Matt. 7:21.
In Rom. 3:25, 26, it is shown that the sacrifice of Christ was necessary to vindicate the justice of God in justifying or pardoning the believer. God cannot suffer his justice to be trampled upon. His law and his government must be honored. Had it not been necessary to preserve his justice, God could have saved all sinners without a sacrifice and without condition. The violated law, which is holy, just, and good, has a claim on the transgressor which cannot be set aside—it must be satisfied. Infinite love could devise and infinite mercy could execute only such a plan of salvation as infinite justice could approve; for these are attributes of God, and they must act in perfect harmony.
When we have learned to “honor all the name” of God, and to respect alike all his attributes, we shall know what it means to “serve him with
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gladness and fear,” and to “rejoice before him with trembling.” And thus shall we unite the commandments of God with the faith of Jesus our dear Mediator. Rev. 14:12.
With these few remarks on the harmony of the law and the gospel we pass on to consider the connection between the law and the means of perfection in the gospel—the gifts of the Spirit.
The following text is often quoted in part, but the whole in connection is seldom considered:— “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Prov. 29:18.
The method of this statement is worthy of remark. The use of the disjunctive places the keeping of the law in contrast with the absence of a vision or of the gifts of the Spirit of God. Where there is no vision, the people perish; but where the law is kept, there is happiness or blessedness—they do not perish. The evident conclusion is that where the people keep the law, visions of the Spirit are vouchsafed to them. God by his Spirit leads his people to love and obey him, and where the gifts of the Spirit are acknowledged and received, there the law will be kept, and thus the people will be blessed, and God be glorified.

TO BE CONTINUED….

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