CHAPTER
III.
JUSTIFICATION
AND OBEDIENCE
(Excerpt
continued…)
The
relation of justification and obedience is precisely the relation of faith and
works. The Scriptures make this subject very plain, yet scarcely any doctrine
seems to be more misapprehended. The difficulty arises from a widely prevailing
and growing desire to put off the law of God, or to plead exemption from its
obligation. As law is the foundation of every Government, the divine Government
not excepted, we shall have to notice further the nature of our obligation to
the law in order to elucidate its relation to justification by faith.
There is a
peculiar expression in Isa. 51:6. The Lord says: “My salvation shall be
forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” That this refers to his
attributes or personal character, would appear improbable, even in the absence
of any testimony on the subject; for the idea of the abolition of his
attributes or of his personal righteousness is too absurd to ever receive a
notice. But if it refers to his law, which is the foundation of his righteous
government, the expression is reasonable and also necessary as a revelation.
And there is proof that it has this application. In Ps. 119:172, it is said,
“All thy commandments are righteousness.”
Now as the
character of the divine Lawgiver is best revealed to us through the revelation
of his will, and as his attributes must of necessity show forth in his
Government, the stability of his character is determined or shown by the
stability of his law; for it would be of little account to declare in words
that he was unchangeable, while he showed in action that he was not. Again,
this application is confirmed by the connection: “Hearken unto me, ye that know
righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.” Verse 7. We have quoted
the scriptures showing that God’s law of ten commandments is a rule of
holiness, of justification, condition of life, perfect, the whole duty of man,
etc., which identify it as the same law referred to in Isa. 51:6, 7, and Ps.
119:172, which is the embodiment of righteousness. Hence, they who say that
God’s law of ten commandments is abolished, directly contradict this scripture,
and are vainly contending with
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H. Waggoner
God.
Isa
51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath:
for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like
a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my
salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
Isa
51:7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose
heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their
revilings.
Psa
119:172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are
righteousness.
This view
may be strengthened by an examination of the Saviour’s words in Matt. 5:17-20;
but we only invite investigation of that text, and pass to the apostle’s
argument on justification.
Mat
5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am
not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat
5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat
5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but
whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
Mat
5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
What is
the import of the apostle’s declaration in Rom. 3:28? It reads:
“Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Does it mean that we now form our characters in Christian life without
works, or
without obedience to the law? So many seem to think; but we cannot.
1. That
view is highly unreasonable. We cannot form any character by mere feeling or
belief. It is only by actions, by deeds, or by works, that any character can be
formed.
2. It is
contrary to the whole scope and tenor of the Scriptures, as we shall try to
show. The idea of the text is presented also in verse 21 of the same chapter,
which we have considered in another place. It reads: “But now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets.” There is no difficulty at all if it is borne in mind that the
subject is that of justification to a sinner condemned.
Now it is
a truth so evident that no argument is needed in its favor, that a criminal
cannot be justified by the law which he has broken. Surely there is nothing so
strange in this that any need to be troubled to comprehend its force or
bearing. It is only by losing sight of the relations brought to view in this
chapter, and of the principles which must characterize the actions of a just
Government in dealing with transgressors, that difficulties are found. We are
indeed “justified freely by his grace, ”but on a basis which enables God to be
just while he is a justifier of the believer. This must never be forgotten if
we would honor his justice and his Government. Pardon must have respect to the
broken law. And as there can be no condemnation without law, for “sin is not
imputed when there is no law, or else justice will be disregarded. There can be
no determination of character, either good or bad, without the law. By the law
is the knowledge of sin. This is one direction in which the law imparts knowledge,
but not the only one. The law is a witness of the righteousness of God. The
apostle says that we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Cor. 5:21.
2Co
5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.
This means
that our
The
Atonement - 76
characters
are conformed to his revealed will. And the righteousness of God manifested in
us, through the faith of Jesus Christ without the works of the law, is just
this, that Christ removes our sin and places us before the throne of justice as
free, as sinless as though we had never broken the law. The law being the
measure of holiness, of perfection, and the only rule of judgment, is of course
a witness of the righteousness so effected. This cannot be denied. The
expression, “The doers of the law shall be justified,” is sufficient proof that
the law contains all that is necessary to justify the obedient; and the law
witnesses to the righteousness of God which is effected through faith in Christ
in the characters of the faithful, because it enforces and demands that
righteousness. We can readily understand why a sinner, a carnally-minded man,
restive under just restraint, whose heart is enmity against God, should desire
the abolition of such a law. But we cannot understand why a man who professes
to love God and to be loyal to his Government should desire its abolition; nor
can believe that the God of justice, who will bring every work into judgment,
will consent to its abolition. He has said: “My righteousness shall not be
abolished,” and we respect his word and bow to the rule of his righteous
judgment. Eccl. 12:13, 14; Rom. 2:12, 16.
Ecc
12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep
his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc
12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Rom
2:12 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
Rom
2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ
according to my gospel.
Many
stumble over the gospel plan because they make no difference between
justification and salvation.
If we had
regard only to original justice, there could be no difference; that is, if a
man had never sinned he would have been justified, and of course saved, by his
obedience.
But this
original or personal justice no one now possesses. Hence, while the principles
cannot change, and the rule of justification is ever the same, the means are
entirely different from what they would be if man had never sinned.
Here is
where many err. They suppose, or seem to suppose, that if the law ceases to be
the means of justification, it ceases also to be the rule.
They do
not judge of the law by its nature or original object, but from a partial view
of the position of its transgressor. The law, as a rule of right, will form a
perfect character, but cannot reform an imperfect one.
The rule
of the mechanic will determine or point out a right angle on the end of a board
he is framing; and if the board is square—if the angle is right, it is
justified or proved right by the rule. But if the angle is not right,
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H. Waggoner
the rule
will point out the inaccuracy, but will not make it right.
That must
be effected by another tool.
But if the
saw is the means of making the proper angle on the board, does the saw
therefore become the rule of determining angles or measurements? By no means.
And there
is precisely this difference between the law and the gospel. “By the law is the
knowledge of sin;” but the gospel is the remedy.
The law
points out the errors of character, the gospel reforms them. The law being the
only rule of right, “the doers of the law shall be justified.” Rom.2:13. This
is but plain justice; for no one can suppose that the man who did the law—who
obeyed God in all his life, would be condemned. But Paul also says that there
are no doers of the law—that all have sinned; and from this he draws the very
evident conclusion, “therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified.” Rom. 3:20.
So we are
justified now “freely by his grace;” entirely by faith; works do not enter into
our justification. And why not? Because, as the apostle shows, this
justification by faith has respect to “the remission of sins that are past.”
Rom. 3:25.
Over these
our future acts of obedience can have no influence or control. It has been
thence inferred that the sinner justified is under no further obligation to
keep that law by which he cannot be justified. But it cannot be that they who
teach thus realize how destructive is that view to every principle of right and
justice; how it dishonors the gospel of Christ; how it tends to pervert a holy
gospel of love to a mere system of license.
Of all the
abuse the gospel has ever received at the hands of its professed friends, this
is the deepest. It is contrary to Scripture, and to all just reasoning. Askthe advocate of
that theory if the law of his State will justify the thief in stealing, or the
murderer in killing. He will answer, No; the law condemns such actions. Ask him
how the criminal can escape the true desert of his crimes, and he will reply,
Only by the governor’s pardon. Ask again, If the law condemns the transgressor,
and he can be justified only by pardon, does that pardon release him from
obedience to the law, so that he may thereafter disregard its claims? Will he
affirm this? Will he tell you that that pardon thereafter becomes the rule of
life to such a man? And if the pardoned one should again be committed for
crime, will the jury try him, and the judge condemn him by the governor’s
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Atonement - 78
pardon, or
by the statute of the State?
Could we
get any to take the same unreasonable position in regard to the law of the
State that many take in regard to the law of God? Not one.
If angels
ever weep at the blind folly of mortals, it would seem that such teachings
furnish an occasion. To see men of talent, of learning, of apparent piety,
strip the plan of salvation of every principle of justice, pervert it to a
system of license, draw conclusions directly contrary to reason and common
sense, and argue on the divine Government as they would be ashamed to argue in
respect to the Government of the State, surely, this is enough to fill the
heavens with astonishment. This error is not altogether confined to those who
are called Antinomians. All those who teach that Christ did not suffer the
penalty of the law, that his death did not meet the full demands of justice,
but was substituted for its demands, really subvert the law by denying that the
gospel has honored its claims.
We think
that in many cases they are unconscious of the demoralizing tendency of their
position. This, however, will be considered more fully when we come to the
subject of the vicarious death of Christ.
Had man
never sinned, he would have been justified on the ground of obedience—by works.
Without
sin he could not have been condemned.
This shows
that justification is in works, provided that the works are perfect.
To deny
this is equivalent to affirming that man would have been condemned—not
justified—if he had continued in perfect obedience. And this is what we have
before said, that justification is in the law, but man lost it by transgression
of the law. It is obedience only that forms a right character. “He that doeth
righteousness is righteous.” 1 John 3:7.
Faith in
the blood of Jesus removes guilt, and presents us before the throne as
righteous by imputation; but faith, without works, does not build up character.
That is to say, that we are justified from past sins by faith without works,
but we cannot maintain that justification through future life by faith without
works. In this respect, “faith without works is dead.” James 2:20. And so Paul
instructs the brethren: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Phil. 2:12.
(To be
continued)
(Excerpt
from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE
ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
(1884)
BY ELDER J. H. WAGGONER
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