Friday, July 19, 2019

The Commandment- Holy, Just, and Good.


Excerpt continued….

It has been noticed that the governor must make a plain revelation of the law to which the subjects are amenable. This the Lord has done.

In the beginning the Creator talked with man in person, and made known to him directly the rules which were to govern his life. But the book of Genesis is not a book of law; it is a very brief history of the race, covering a period of more than two thousand years. We have frequent mention of men’s violation of law, with references to the law itself, but no code left on record in the book. But all nations chose their own way—”they did not like to retain God in their knowledge”—and he separated from the nations the seed of Abraham, to be a people to his own glory. After they had been in long servitude and under deep afflictions in the land of Egypt, he “took them by the hand,” as a father does his children, to bring them into the land of Canaan, and to lead them in the way of truth and righteousness.

While all the families of the earth were turning away from God, going farther and farther into the darkness of heathenism, it is not surprising that the people of Israel, oppressed in cruel bondage, should have imbibed much of the spirit of their surroundings, and retained but imperfect ideas of the sacredness of the divine law. That this was the case is proved by the readiness with which they worshiped the golden calf, after the manner of the Egyptians, when the circumstances would seem to forbid their yielding to the force of such superstitions. It was a wide departure from the faith and godliness of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Joseph.

In revealing his will to his chosen people, the Lord made known through prophets and priests, civil and ecclesiastical duties; but he taught them, and all who should come after them, to look with peculiar reverence upon the moral code, by proclaiming it with his own voice, and writing it with his own finger on tables of stone. That men have always considered the ten commandments a moral code, could only be expected from the manner in which it was given by Jehovah, and placed in the ark over which the high priest made atonement for sin; from its containing a summary of duty covering all moral relations; and from the teaching of the Scriptures in regard to it.

The Atonement - 44

When God brought Israel out of Egypt, he entered into an agreement or covenant with them, promising to regard them as a peculiar treasure above all nations, if they would obey his voice and keep his covenant. This they readily promised to do. Ex. 19:5-8.

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 
Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 
Exo 19:7  And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 
Exo 19:8  And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. 

 “Obey my voice,” and “keep my covenant,” are two expressions used by the Lord, referring to the same thing; for when they heard his voice, the third day after the covenant was made with them, he declared his covenant which he commanded them to perform. This was the ten commandments. Deut. 4:12, 13.

Deu 4:12  And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 
Deu 4:13  And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 

The word “covenant” is of such extensive signification that we can only learn its meaning in any text by the sense of the passage or its connection. According to the lexicons, and to Scripture usage, it applies to a great variety of things, as, a promise; Gen. 9:9-11; an agreement; Gen. 21:22-32; mutual promises with conditions; Ex. 19:5-8; a law; Deut. 4:12, 13; and a covenant of law may be the condition of a covenant of promises, as in 2 Kings 23:3. And so also in Ex. 19:5-8, the expression, “Keep my covenant,” refers to the covenant which he commanded unto them, and not to the covenant or agreement made with them. The agreement was based upon the condition, namely, “Obey my voice;” that is, obey that which he spoke to them when they heard his voice. They did not hear his voice when this covenant was made with them. Moses acted as mediator between the Lord and them. But the ten commandments were spoken by Jehovah directly to the people. This law in all things bears the pre-eminence above the revelations made through the prophets. It was not committed to Moses to bear to the people, as were the other laws. It bears the impress of Deity alone. The Lord also said that if they would obey this law they would be a holy nation.

Now it is an acknowledged truth that character is formed by our actions in reference to law; and the nature of the character is determined only by the nature of the law. Obedience to a bad law can never make a good character. It is hence evident that the character of the actor is the exact counterpart of the law obeyed. But we have the Lord’s own testimony, that if they would keep the ten commandments, they would be holy; that is, they would thereby form holy characters; and as their characters would be but a copy of

- 45 - J. H. Waggoner

the law, we have herein the word of the Governor of the universe that this is a holy law. As law is the basis of all government, and as the Government or law is a certain exposition of the mind, the character, or the attributes of the lawgiver, and as the character of man is according to the law which he obeys, it follows that to obey the law of God is to attain unto the righteousness of God, or true holiness. The conclusion is undeniable that the holiness derived from obedience to God’s law of ten commandments is that growing out of the divine attributes, as pure and changeless as Heaven itself. The law being a transcript of the divine mind, perfect obedience to the law would bring us into perfect harmony with God. Let no one object that by the law no such character is now formed, for Paul informs us in Rom. 2 and 3 that there are none who completely obey the law. And his testimony is corroborated by many other scriptures.

We are a fallen, degenerate race. The law cannot make us perfect, because of the weakness of the flesh Rom. 8:3.

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, …

But if we would see what the law would do in the formation of character where the weakness of the flesh was not manifested, where perfect obedience was rendered, let us look to Jesus, who said, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” He did no sin; he never strayed from the law of his Father, and a pure and holy character was the result. And this is not a strange result, as all must admit who consider the force of the texts of Scripture which will presently be quoted. As there cannot be diverse or unlike attributes of Deity, so there can be only one rule of holiness growing out of those attributes—one moral law for his Government. And upon obedience or disobedience to this law must all good and evil, life and death, be suspended. Therefore the following declarations apply to these commandments, or to this law, and to no other:— Lev. 18:5. “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments; which if a man do, he shall live in them.” Deut.30:15,16. “See I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments.” See verses 19, 20; chap. 11:26-28.

The Atonement - 46

Isa. 51:7. “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.” Ps. 19:7. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” Ps. 40:8. “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Also Ps. 119. Eccl. 12:13. “Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” Matt. 19:17. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Rom. 2:13. “The doers of the law shall be justified.” Gal. 3:12. “The law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them.” 1 John 3:4. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Rom. 7:12. “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” Verse 14. “For we know that the law is spiritual.” This law is also referred to in certain scriptures wherein it is called God’s holy covenant, and the covenant commanded. Deut. 4:13. “He declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments.” 1 Chron. 16:15-17. “Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. Gen. 26:3-5. “I will perform the oath which I swear unto Abraham. . . . . Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” For breaking this “everlasting covenant,” the inhabitants of the earth will be desolated with a curse, and burned up. Isa. 24:5, 6. By indignation against the “holy covenant,” was the man of sin, the abomination that maketh desolate, set up. Dan. 11:28, 30.

- 47 - J. H. Waggoner

As this law has sometimes been confounded with other laws, to which the foregoing declarations of Scripture will not apply, it will be in place to notice the distinction of laws.

(To be continued)

(Excerpt from-) THE ATONEMENT PART SECOND:
THE ATONEMENT AS REVEALED IN THE BIBLE
  (1884)

BY   ELDER J. H. WAGGONER


No comments: